Chapter 32
AMELIA
Iwaited in the closet with my arms crossed over my bra, whispering silent prayers that Jude would be able to pull off whatever asinine plan he’d concocted.
The moment I felt the train begin to rumble and move, I dashed across the walkway and dove into our room.
I told myself that Jude was already back.
That he was waiting for me. He’d have that lazy smirk on his face and say, “Told you, little fox.”
He wasn’t.
The roomette was empty, save for our backpacks. My gut sank, but I did exactly what he said and locked the door before rummaging around for a backup shirt.
Then, I waited.
Footsteps sounded outside the door as people began to mill about, but still, no Jude. I stretched out on the cot we had shared and closed my eyes as I sank into his lingering scent.
A soft knock at the door startled me. What if it’s not Jude? What if it’s the men John Valentine had sent after us?
The train began to pick up speed as we left the station behind. The knock sounded again. “Come on, little fox,” Jude said from the other side of the door. “I ran to make it back on the train, and you know how I feel about running.”
I flipped the latch and yanked the door open as Jude scooped me up with that cocky grin on his face. “You ran for me?”
“Of course I did.” His eyes immediately lowered to my mouth. “I’ll never stop chasing you.”
Friday, June 6 | 9:20 p.m.
“You’re ready,” Jude said as he shuffled the deck of cards and slid them back into the box. “Don’t overthink it.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one who has to win tonight.”
“Like I said. Don’t overthink it.”
“I’m gonna get caught,” I muttered as I sat up and stretched my legs out on his bed while he zipped up his bag. I had been practicing for the better part of the last leg of the trip. My eyes ached from staring at cards, but the view out the window made up for it.
In another life, I would have loved to take a cross-country train ride.
Thirty-five hours of bouncing from the Chicago skyline to the plains of Kansas through the Colorado mountains to the desert in New Mexico and Arizona was otherworldly.
I loved how the earth made me feel small when life was too much. It made it easier to breathe.
“You know,” Jude said as he sat opposite me and stared out the window. “There’s an Amtrak line that goes down the West Coast. Seattle to Los Angeles.” A soft smile crossed his face. “It’s been on my bucket list for years.”
I let out a slow breath. “I bet that’d be beautiful.”
Jude stroked his hand down his cheek where his beard used to be. Now, it was covered in day-old stubble. “What are you gonna do after this?”
A caustic laugh slipped free. “If I make it out . . .”
He shook his head. “Don’t think about that. Make plans. Decide what you’re going to eat afterward. Get excited for the next game you want to watch or movie you want to go see. Tell yourself you will make it out.”
“Fine. What are you gonna do after this?” I sassed.
He didn’t even hesitate. “I’m gonna find you.”
I jerked away from the window and stared at him. It wasn’t the resolve in his words that startled me. It was the words themselves. “What do you mean, you’re going to find me? Why wouldn’t you be with me? You have to help me get the money to Valentine.”
“I will,” he said. “But there’s business I have to attend to after things end in Vegas.” He reached across the bed and squeezed my hand. “And then I’ll find you.”
The truth was in everything he didn’t say.
He had walked away from John Valentine’s organization without a second thought, and he had done it for me.
He had put his life on the line for me. If there was anything I had learned about John Valentine, it’s that he was one hell of a vindictive man.
There would be recourse for Jude’s actions.
It made me physically ill to think about what that would be.
I slid across the bed and curled up between his legs as he wrapped his arms around me. “Tell me the plan again,” I said quietly as I traced abstract shapes across his chest.
“We’ll arrive in Kingman and then take the bus to—”
“No, tell me the plan once we get to the casino. I’ve never played with a partner before.”
Jude kissed the back of my head. “Don’t think of me as your partner. You’re playing alone. I’m just your eyes and ears.”
“What’s my story?”
“Make a splash.” He kissed my temple. “Don’t blend in.
Win big. Win fast. You’re not staying, so don’t go for subtlety.
Vegas casinos are looking for card counters who are sneaky.
Ones who don’t want to be seen. They’re looking for people who work in teams and wear disguises and have flagmen to mark which tables are hot.
Go in loud. Clean house. Be excited. Have the night of your goddamn life and walk out with your head held high. They won’t be expecting that.”
I groaned as I sank deeper into his chest. “Easier said than done. I like playing subtle games.”
Jude’s scruff abraded my neck as he kissed my shoulder. “Never once have I been able to take my eyes off you. You are the furthest thing from subtle.”
Neither of us said much of anything as we finished the final leg from Flagstaff to Kingman.
Thanks to the onboard showers, we were able to freshen up before disembarking and boarding the bus to Las Vegas, which was necessary after a day and a half on the train.
What I hadn’t prepared for was the blistering heat once we arrived in Arizona.
We had been spoiled in West Virginia with the high elevation, cool mountain air, and thick tree cover.
After a sweltering, nerve-racking, hours-long wait at the Greyhound station, we finally boarded the bus for Vegas.
I was wheezing as we lumbered across the state line into Nevada while the air conditioning spat and sputtered.
Frankly, it would’ve been better for the bus not to have it at all.
The half-assed effort from the AC was a sick tease.
We were unceremoniously delivered to the Las Vegas Strip in the early morning hours and dumped onto the sidewalk with only our backpacks full of cash and snacks. Any other day, it would’ve been a great combination. But the moment my shoes hit the ground, the nerves set in.
“Come on,” Jude said as he took my hand and nearly dragged me through the crowded bus station. Since he seemed to know where he was going, I didn’t say a thing.
Maybe it was because of his past life as a Navy SEAL, but Jude had an impeccable sense of direction. Not once in our entire cross-country trip had he used a GPS.
I used a GPS to get around New Haven.
There was something different about him today. Throughout the remainder of the train trip, his head had been on a constant swivel. Now that we were in Las Vegas—where I was certain he would be twice as uptight—he was the exact opposite.
I thought maybe we’d immediately catch a ride to the casinos. Or maybe grab a quick bite to eat. Instead, he dragged me into a high-end boutique. It struck me as odd that a retail store would be open this early. Then again, I suppose Vegas never really slowed down.
The crisp air conditioning mixed with luxury perfume was a shocking change after weeks of unadulterated mountain air and public transportation.
My eyes glazed over at the racks of bespoke garments and mannequins dressed to the nines.
Walking around a well-lit store like I was supposed to be here was an out-of-body experience.
I stuck out like a sore thumb with my box-color dye job and thrift-store clothes.
I immediately turned and ran smack-dab into Jude. “People will recognize us,” I whispered. “We need to lay low and get to the casino.”
Instead of throwing me over his shoulder and hauling ass to hide me in a dark alley, Jude just smiled and fingered the ends of my hair. “We’re not hiding today.” He cupped my cheeks and drew my lips to his. “I want you to have a good day to remember me by.”
“Jude—” But before I could push back on it or question the cryptic sentiment, I was gently pushed into a dressing room. A moment later, Jude knocked on the door, waited for me to open it, then reached in and hung a selection of cocktail dresses on the hook on the back of the door.
The world spun as I looked at the tags. I had never wanted for anything, but I wasn’t accustomed to three-digit garments.
“Aren’t we supposed to be saving money?” I hissed as he closed the door.
“I budgeted for this,” Jude said as he took the fitting room next to me. I heard the click and slide of his belt coming out of the loops of his jeans.
“Will you stop being secretive? It makes the sweetness less sweet,” I snipped.
He craned his neck to peek over the partition that separated his dressing room from mine. The fact that he could because he was so tall was both hot and annoying.
“Will you stop arguing for five minutes and just have a good day with me, little fox?” His words were curt and annoyed, but he begged with his eyes.
I was a goner.
Reluctantly, I pulled the first dress off the hanger, stripped out of my jeans, and wiggled it on.
Jude let out a low whistle, and I spun to find him watching me over the partition.
“Will you stop looking!”
“Nothing I haven’t seen before,” he said with a cocky grin before bending to pull on a pair of pants. “Try on the black one.”
“Were you also a personal shopper in a past life?” I asked as I unzipped the first one and grabbed a little number that was made entirely of black sequins.
“No. But it’s been three weeks since the day you walked into the Four Horsemen, which means I’ve had plenty of time to fantasize.”
I arched an eyebrow as I tugged the zipper up the side.
“I wouldn’t have pegged you as someone who liked playing dress-up with his girlfriends.
” The moment the muttered word slipped out, my mouth went bone-dry.
Jude lifted his eyes and stared at me over the partition, slightly startled. “I—I didn’t mean . . . I’m not—”
His smile was slow and bashful as he looked down to fasten the buttons of his dress shirt. “Don’t take it back.”
I fastened the hook and eye that held the dress together and studied it in the mirror. “I don’t think this is the one.”
“Why not?” Jude asked from his side.
“Because my ass is hanging out of the bottom. I need more than four inches of fabric back there.” I unzipped the dress, slipped it back onto the hanger, then grabbed the last of the three.
The final dress was a little longer, hitting mid-calf, but had a slit that came dangerously close to the hip of my panties.
The sleeves and midriff were sheer, but it had a section of full-coverage fabric that wrapped around my boobs.
The skirt half of the dress hit just above my belly button.
The whole thing was a deep merlot that reminded me of the red neon glow of the sign outside the Four Horsemen.
Jude leaned against the partition and rested his arms on the top. “That’s the fucking one.” He let out a low whistle. “You look dangerous, sweetheart.”
I smoothed my hands down the front of the dress and took a look in the mirror. “You think?”
“Yeah. I do.” Jude slipped out of his dressing room and let himself into mine.
I raked my eyes up and down as I took him in.
The fitted slacks and dress shirt might as well have been painted on him.
When my gaze landed on his shoes, I smiled.
Still the same ol’ motorcycle boots that had certainly seen better days.
“I think it’s too much.”
He stood behind me and studied our reflection in the mirror. “For the next few hours, I want you to stop thinking.”
That would be impossible. Not with the constant “what ifs” that swirled in my mind.
I grabbed a pair of heels that matched the dress and stuffed our street clothes into our backpacks.
We paid for the clothes—in cash—then had the clerk clip the tags so we could wear them out of the store.
On the way out the door, Jude stopped at the fragrance display and added a spritz of cologne from a sample bottle for good measure.
I did the same with a rather lovely floral perfume, then we raced out, hand in hand, like we had just robbed a bank.
Jude led me two doors down to a blowout bar that washed, dried, and set my hair in bombshell waves.
A makeup artist attacked my face while a nail technician tackled my fingers and toes.
Jude stood sentry against the wall like he was my personal bodyguard.
We dined at a legendary steakhouse for an early bird dinner, gorging ourselves on four decadent courses, before grabbing tickets to an acrobatic show.
Watching the athletes leap and flip from the trapezes was utterly mesmerizing.
But so was he.
He was multifaceted, always surprising me with a new side to him that I didn’t expect. I was never bored. I could barely catch my breath and I loved it.
“This is really extravagant,” I said with a laugh as we tumbled out of the theater and ran down the sidewalk. “But we need to—”
Fountains exploded behind us in an ostentatious display of lights and music. Jude cupped my cheeks and kissed me. Onlookers cheered, whistled, and hollered. It probably looked like we had just gotten engaged or something.
But that wasn’t it at all.
We were living.
That, in itself, felt like the most monumental accomplishment.
The kiss turned into laughter as the spray from the fountain showered us in a mist. I threw my hands up to protect my hair, but Jude grabbed them and pulled me into a dance.
Every preconceived notion I had about Jude Greear disappeared as we waltzed in the middle of the Las Vegas Strip without a care in the world.
I threw my arms around his neck as he swung me around. I couldn’t help but laugh. For all the fear and danger we’d experienced, he’d also given me a freedom I hadn’t felt since I was a child. He’d given me time to sit back in awe of the world around me.
Living was a privilege that not everyone was afforded.
Jude had inadvertently given me the greatest luxury.
“Thank you,” I whispered as he gently lowered me to my feet.
With one last kiss, he asked, “Did you have a good day?”
“You gave me the best day.” I stroked one of the tattoos that peeked out of his collar—a trident. “But I need to thank you for all the rest of our days too.”
Something glimmered in his eyes. Maybe it was the reflection of the city lights. But it seemed deeper.
“Come on,” Jude said as he took my hand. “One last thing.”