5. Five
FIVE
T wo weeks into my new job, I was ready to quit.
Kyla was a monster. I couldn’t stand her.
Weirdly, I understood where she was coming from, however.
If my sister had lost a prime gig to nepotism, which was essentially what I was benefitting from, I would’ve been agitated too.
That didn’t mean I was going to give up my position.
It also didn’t mean I was going to hold back on the ranting.
“She’s awful.” I rolled to my back on Olivia’s penthouse floor and stared at the overblown chandelier overhead. “She hates me.”
Olivia sat on the couch, her fingers absently stroking her stomach. She was starting to pop. Unless you were in the know, her stomach was small enough that it could’ve been mistaken for a food baby. Only a jerk—or an idiot—would ever risking asking if she was pregnant.
“Do you want me to say something to her?”
I immediately shook my head. “That will make things worse.”
“I’m only technically management, though,” Olivia argued. “I’m in accounting. That means I’m not as scary to the department heads. She might take an admonishment from me better than she would if Zach were to drop the hammer.”
I gave her a sidelong look. “I don’t want to put you in that position.”
“And I don’t want you to be miserable.”
“I’m not miserable.” That was a lie. Kyla was definitely making my life miserable. Thankfully, the extra money I was bringing in each week on tips made that misery bearable. Barely.
“You look miserable.”
“I’m just … frustrated.” I really didn’t want her going to Kyla. That would make things worse. The woman was good at her job even if she was mean to me. I couldn’t be responsible for her losing that job after more than a decade of service. That didn’t sit well with me. “I blame Ronan.”
Confusion knitted Olivia’s eyebrows. “Ronan? Ronan who?”
I laughed, assuming she was joking. “Ronan Hawthorne. Who else?”
“Ronan Hawthorne?” She was scandalized. “Now, that’s a name I haven’t heard in about thirteen years. What’s he up to?”
“Other than driving me crazy every time I see him in the employee cafeteria you mean, right?” When I saw the look on her face, I realized I’d made a mistake. A very grave mistake.
“Our employee cafeteria?” Olivia had no idea what I was talking about. How was that possible?
Then I remembered what Ronan had said. He was flying under the radar at Stone Casino. That was on purpose. It had never occurred to me that Olivia hadn’t noticed him. She’d been living at the casino for almost two years at this point. How was it possible they’d never crossed paths?
She was almost never on the casino floor, my inner voice reminded me. She spent all her time in management spaces. Even if she saw Ronan in passing, she might not be able to place him. Just because his face looked familiar didn’t mean she would immediately jump to him being a high school classmate.
“I… You… We…” I had no idea what to say.
Olivia could read me better than anybody. Even better than Sharon, who was the only person who had known me my whole life since the father I didn’t have a single memory of had left when I was a toddler. Olivia was the only person who could see right through me.
“Are you saying that Ronan Hawthorne—son of Norbert Hawthorne, the owner of Hawthorne Casino—works in our casino?”
My mouth went suddenly dry. “I…”
Raucous voices took over the room as Rex and Zach entered the penthouse.
They were dressed in shorts and tees because they’d just finished playing basketball on the casino courts with their local league.
Olivia had mentioned they planned to drop in long enough to change their clothes before heading out again.
“Did you know that Ronan Hawthorne is working at our casino?” Olivia demanded of her husband as he crossed into the living room.
Zach, his hair unruly and sweaty, gave his wife a peculiar look. “Who?”
“Ronan Hawthorne,” she replied, accepting his welcoming kiss on her cheek. “Norbert Hawthorne’s son. We went to high school with him.”
“I remember him.” Zach perched on the arm of the couch. “What do you mean he works at our casino?”
Olivia pointed at me. “He’s driving Tallulah crazy. She said he works here.”
That wasn’t exactly what I’d said. Well, it was. I hadn’t meant to say it, though. “It’s not a big deal.” I refused to make eye contact with Zach. “I just… It’s nothing.”
“It doesn’t sound like nothing.” I could feel Zach’s eyes on me, but I didn’t meet his steady gaze. I couldn’t.
“You’re not talking about the dealer, are you?” Rex asked. He walked to the refrigerator and helped himself to a bottle of water. “His last name is Jones.”
I gave him an odd look. “Who is Ronan Jones?”
“We went to high school with him. He was in the same grade as you and Livvie.”
“No, that’s Ronan Hawthorne.”
“Jones,” Rex countered. “I remember him. He was a mathlete with Livvie.”
Olivia made a face. “He was not a mathlete. Ronan Hawthorne was on the football team.”
“I’m talking about Ronan Jones,” Rex insisted. “He’s the guy working as a dealer.”
For one terrible moment, I wondered if Ronan had gotten his job under an alias.
I disavowed myself of that notion almost immediately.
A prospective employee had to show identification and go through a background check to work at Stone Casino.
Even though I’d gotten my job through nepotism, I’d gone through the same process.
I’d even, briefly, wondered if I wouldn’t be hired because of my mother’s colorful record.
Thankfully, that hadn’t become an issue.
Olivia held up her hand to silence everybody. Her gaze landed on me. “Does Ronan Hawthorne work in the casino?”
I couldn’t lie to her. She was my best friend. “Yes,” I said on a sigh. “I saw him a few days after I started. I’ve seen him a couple times since.”
Olivia moved her attention to Rex. “Do you know who Ronan Hawthorne is?”
“I remember the name. That’s not who works in the casino, though. I’ve talked to Ronan Jones multiple times. Like I said, he was a mathlete with you.”
“I was never a mathlete with anybody named Ronan Jones.”
“I like how we’re ignoring that my wife was a mathlete,” Zach said. “I forgot what a geek you were.” He lightly flicked her ear.
Olivia murdered him with a glare. “Being a mathlete is cool.”
Zach snorted. Then he registered the serious look on his wife’s face. “You’re the coolest person I know,” he said to save himself.
Olivia rolled her eyes until they landed on Rex. “I was a mathlete with a guy named Robin Jones.”
Rex opened his mouth—likely to challenge her memory—but he stopped himself. “Robin Jones.” He looked to be searching his memory. “That’s right. I remember now.” He worked his mouth, but no sound came out.
“So Ronan Hawthorne does work here?” Zach straightened. “Is that what you’re saying?”
All eyes moved toward me. “I plead the Fifth,” I said finally, discomfort rolling off of me in waves.
“You can only plead the Fifth if you don’t want to incriminate yourself.
” Zach left the couch and moved to the laptop on the kitchen table.
The penthouse was bigger than a standard room, with a full kitchen and sitting area as well as two bedrooms. Zach and Olivia never ate at the table, however. They used it as a small office.
I watched him type on his computer. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but I had an idea. I kept my face impassive, my mind moving a mile a minute as I tried to figure out a way to protect Ronan.
It wasn’t that I liked him. I most definitely did not.
My memories of him were dark and dreary, and I hated his attitude.
But I couldn’t be the cause of him losing his job.
That was something I couldn’t live with.
If he was fired because he was a poor employee, that was on him. I’d heard nothing of the sort, however.
“Ronan Hawthorne,” Zach said after a full minute of silence. “He’s right here, under his real name.”
Rex moved to stand behind Zach and look at the work entry. “That’s the guy I thought was Ronan Jones.” His eyebrows knitted when he looked up at me. “Why is he working here if his father owns a casino of his own?”
I shrugged. I hated being put on the spot like this. “You should ask him.”
“I’m asking you because you seem to be the one in the know.”
I sighed, the sound long and drawn out. “I don’t really want to do this. Can we talk about something else? I know. How did things go with Ryder when you went to get him out of the storage room?”
Olivia darted an accusatory look toward her brother. “What now?”
“Oh, good job,” Rex lamented. “Now, she’s going to get worked up.”
What in the hell? Did Olivia not know what had gone down in the storage room three days ago? How was that even possible? “I definitely don’t want to have this conversation,” I complained.
“Join the club.” Rex pinned me with a glare before turning a placating look toward his sister. “It’s not a big deal.”
Olivia was having none of it. She folded her arms across her chest and split glares between her brother and husband. “Why does it feel as if I’ve been left out of a very important news update?”
“Ugh.” Zach left the computer and walked toward his wife. “If you’re going to be mad at anybody, be mad at me.”
“Oh, I’m mad at you.”
“I just didn’t want you getting worked up,” Zach explained. “My father has become… unhinged … as of late. When he showed up at the casino, he surprised us all.”
“I wasn’t surprised,” Rex muttered.
Zach pretended Rex hadn’t spoken. “He was threatening to make a scene, so Tallulah and one of the dealers tied him up in the storage room and left him for Rex.”
“What?” Olivia was rightfully flabbergasted.
“Was that dealer Ronan?” Zach asked me.
I opened my mouth, debated, then decided it couldn’t possibly hurt to tell the truth. “Yes, he was the one who decided to tie him up. We found zip ties in the closet, so it wasn’t that hard.”
“Okay.” Olivia rubbed her forehead. “I think I’m going to have to hear the whole story.”