5. Five #2
Since I didn’t appear to have a choice in the matter, I laid everything out. Rex had only heard parts of the story, so he laughed when I described sitting on Ryder so Ronan could bind his ankles and wrists.
“Oh, that’s priceless,” Rex said with a laugh as I was wrapping up. “I need to pull the video from the cameras in there so I can watch that.”
“We’ll have a full viewing,” Zach agreed. “With popcorn.” He smiled then realized Olivia was frowning at him. “I didn’t want you getting worked up, baby. I just thought it was better this way because you wouldn’t be afraid.”
“I’m not afraid,” Olivia fired back. “I’m mad.”
“Well, you have a right to be mad. We’ve got security personnel stationed at every door to the casino now, though. If he tries to come back, he won’t get inside.”
That seemed like an impossible undertaking to me. I didn’t voice my opinion. “I think it’s nice that you want to protect her,” I said to Zach instead. “You’re a very good husband.”
Rather than thank me for my sentiments, Zach gave me a dirty look. “You’re not getting out of this. I might be in the doghouse, but you’re not out of trouble either.” He used his puppy dog eyes on Olivia—the ones she said she couldn’t resist—and then focused on me. “Spill the beans on Ronan.”
I was caught, and everybody knew it. On a world-weary sigh, I held out my hands.
“I don’t know what to tell you. I was as surprised as anybody when I saw him.
” That was the truth. It didn’t compute for him to be working at Stone Casino.
I was still digging to figure out why. “When I asked him about it, he just said he didn’t want to work for his family. ”
“Do you believe him?” Zach was serious.
“I have no reason not to believe him.”
They tried to make it look casual, but the expressions Rex and Zach shot one another were impossible to miss.
“You’re not going to fire him, are you?” I felt sick to my stomach at the possibility.
“He shouldn’t be here,” Zach replied. “His father is one of our chief competitors.”
“He’s a good worker, though.” I was assuming that. I didn’t actually know. “Maybe he and his father have cut ties or something.”
“Did he tell you that?”
“No. He did help wrestle down your father, though. I wouldn’t have been able to do that myself.”
Zach fell quiet, contemplative.
“On top of that, the news that Ryder was here hasn’t been made public,” I pressed. “That means Ronan didn’t sell the story when he could have. He also didn’t send it through those bougie gossip channels that all the casino owners use.”
Zach smirked. “Bougie gossip channels?”
“How would you refer to them?” I challenged.
He tilted his head, thought about it, then shrugged. “That fits. I don’t disagree with your take on this. It’s weird to me that he’s here, though.”
“He wasn’t hiding.” Why I was arguing so vehemently for Ronan was beyond me.
I simply couldn’t be the reason he got fired.
What if he really did need the job? I understood, more than most, what it meant to live in fear of losing the very roof over your head.
Was that unlikely for Ronan? Yes. Still, I couldn’t shake the belief that he didn’t have the Stone family’s worst interests at heart.
He was minding his own business. “I saw him talking to you the other day,” I said to Rex.
“I was talking to him,” Rex agreed. “When I thought he was somebody else.”
“Isn’t that proof that he isn’t hiding? Maybe he didn’t realize you thought he was somebody else.”
Rex worked his jaw. When he glanced over at Zach, he was resigned. “He is a good worker. He kept your father’s presence under wraps.”
“It’s still weird,” Zach insisted.
“Well, maybe we should keep him in his position and start watching him,” Rex suggested. “Then we’ll be able to ascertain if he’s up to something and if we’re facing an actual threat.”
Zach didn’t consider it long. “Fine,” he grumbled. “I guess that works.” He moved toward his wife. “You’re not going to be mad at me if we go out for drinks as we planned, are you?”
Olivia shook her head. “No, but I might punish you for my enjoyment when you get home tonight. You’ll like that, though.”
Zach chuckled and dropped a kiss on her lips. “I look forward to that.”
“Don’t make me kill you,” Rex snapped. “That’s still my baby sister.”
“Your baby sister is having my baby,” Zach reminded him. “I think you should get over it.”
“Also, you had a baby with Zach’s sister,” Olivia pointed out. “You definitely need to get over yourself.”
Rex rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’m heading to my room to take a shower. I’ll catch you downstairs in thirty,” he said to Zach.
Zach shot him a thumbs-up and then disappeared down the hallway, leaving me with a curious Olivia.
“What?” I demanded, fidgeting when her steady stare became too much. “Why are you looking at me that way?”
“Because you hate Ronan Hawthorne.”
“That’s hardly news.”
“He stood you up for prom.”
I frowned at the memory. “I haven’t forgotten.”
“Okay, that’s good.” Olivia was the pragmatic sort, and that was on full display today. “If you remember that and you hate him, why did you just fight so hard for him to keep his job?”
“It’s not for the reason you think,” I replied.
“And what do I think?”
“Don’t.” I wagged my finger at her. “We both know what you think.”
Her smile flattened. “I’m just curious. Seriously, you were pretty insistent that he keep his job.”
How was I supposed to explain this to her? She wasn’t rich. Well, not until she and Zach fell in love for real. While she had never been quite as poor as me, she couldn’t understand the constant fear. I had to try to explain it to her.
“I can never be responsible for somebody losing their job,” I replied simply. “I can’t be the one who causes them to lose their home … or their car … or even their kids. That’s just not who I am.”
Reality smacked Olivia in the face, and she straightened. “That wouldn’t be on you. That would be on him lying.”
“He didn’t lie, though.”
“No.” She rubbed her cheek. She obviously had questions, but they were for me and about me. It wasn’t actually about Rowan any longer. She didn’t ask her questions, and I was grateful. “Do you want to go downstairs for ice cream?” she asked, changing the subject.
I let her because it was easier. “Is the baby having cravings?”
She nodded. “Yes, and they’re chocolate chip cookie dough cravings. It’s very specific.”
I could eat some ice cream. I missed drinking nights with my best friend—a double shot of whiskey sounded better than a double scoop of ice cream—but a hot fudge sundae wasn’t the worst idea. “Then we can go to the upstairs balcony and spy on all the people on the casino floor.”
“You want to spy on people?”
I shrugged. “Why not? People watching is my favorite form of entertainment.”
“As long as I get my ice cream, I’m up for everything.”
I beamed at her. “Now, we’re talking.”