Chapter 41
PAIGE
More players drop out, one after the other. West has to fold after half an hour and comes to stand with Nora and Amber. The pile in the center grows larger.
“Houses, a boat,” he answers, when I ask him what has been wagered. “I had to put in an old heirloom necklace.”
Nerves make it hard to stand or sit still. Rafe and James are still playing. Some of the others have already left, but Alvaro is there too. They’re opposite one another.
“Finally,” Nora murmurs when Alvaro writes out something on a note and tosses it into the pile. Alex’s castle. I haven’t seen him much since he had to withdraw from the game.
And then it’s just Rafe and Alvaro left. Alvaro, who is not nervously playing with his cards or double-checking them. Alvaro, who seems perfectly calm and staring intently over the table.
Judging by what the stranger told me, that means he’s bluffing.
James goes to check on Alex. The nerves are strung high amongst the entire group. I keep thinking of what the waiter said and the look on Rafe’s face as he plays out the remaining game. What did he drink?
He doesn’t look the least bit bothered. He’s in complete control when he decides to call Alvaro’s bluff.
The silence in the room feels oppressive, and Amber reaches out and grabs my hand tight. We’re all watching intently.
The croupier asks Alvaro to show his cards.
He flips them over with a muttered curse and reaches for his glass. And there’s nothing there. He doesn’t have a strong hand.
Rafe flips his own hand. A pair of eights, and combined with the board, he has three of a kind.
“The victor tonight is Raphael Montclair,” the croupier calls out, and collects the variety of items that have been wagered from the middle of the table. Deeds, envelopes, checks, jewelry and poker chips.
“Holy shit. It worked,” Amber breathes. Rafe and I haven’t told anyone about the tip we received from the stranger on the roof.
The stranger who left after seeing Nora and Amber down here.
Vivienne walks up to Rafe. They spend a long time talking, and I look around for Alex. It’s his castle we’ve won back. Where is he?
He’s nowhere to be seen.
“We should leave,” West says, and there’s relief in his voice. “We’re done here.”
Rafe comes to join us. His eyes are locked on me. You’re both going to have a very fun night tonight, the waiter said.
Was there some kind of aphrodisiac in the shot? Heat prickles at the back of my neck. I have no clue how they work. Is it Viagra? What does that do to men?
Maybe he doesn’t know what he’s taken yet either.
We start heading toward the back of the yacht. Alex and James are already there, talking quietly by the railing.
Alex’s face turns into a smile when he sees us. He slaps Rafe on the back. “Knew I could count on you,” he says.
Rafe pulls out a piece of paper from his suit jacket. It’s folded twice over, but I can see dark sprawled writing through the thin paper. A handwritten deed? “This cost all of us,” he says.
“I know, I know,” Alex says. “I’ll repay you.”
He reaches out for the piece of paper, but Rafe pulls it back. There’s a hard set to his jaw. “No.”
The air seems to crackle.
“I won. So I’m going to own the castle for you,” Rafe says, “until I trust you won’t gamble it away again.”
Alex’s face looks furious for a split second. But then it breaks into an easy smile. “If you want me to win it from you, that’s fine. I can do that. Just name the time and place.”
West and James share a look, and it’s clear there’s been a conversation here I’ve not been privy to. “Start by restoring it,” James says. “Lord knows it needs it.”
“We can’t all have a museum taking up half of our homes,” Alex snipes back.
“Come on. Let’s go somewhere quieter,” Rafe says, and his hand finds my waist. Like it belongs there. “Paige and I have to tell you something.”
We end up in the back of an SUV that drives us all back to the hotel. It’s too tight of a squeeze, and Nora sits half in West’s lap near the back.
I end up sitting in Rafe’s lap.
There’s no other space, and no one seems to bat an eye either. His arm comes to rest around my waist to keep me locked in place. I tell them the story in the car, everything I can remember about the stranger.
There’s complete silence afterward.
Then West curses, and Amber puts a hand to her mouth.
Rafe’s hand on my waist tightens, and I shift slightly against him. There’s something hard beneath me. It takes me a moment to realize what it is.
And then I go very still.
You’re going to have a very good time tonight. And he’s hard from nothing but me in his lap. Rafe doesn’t speak another word the entire drive home, and his arm on my waist is so still it feels like he’s holding on to me like an anchor.
It’s long past midnight, and the others head to their hotel rooms. See you tomorrows are thrown out, and James steers Alex away from the hotel bar and toward the elevators.
Rafe is quiet beside me. There’s high color on his cheekbones.
When the elevator doors close behind us, he turns to look at me.
“I behaved,” I say.
His eyes dip to my mouth. “Yes.”
“But you took a shot.”
“Yes,” he mutters, and runs a hand through his hair. “I know. It was a mistake.”
“The waiter said it’s… that it will make…”
He rests a hand next to me on the wall. There’s something almost feral about his expression. “Make me what? Tell me.”
“It’ll turn you on.”
“No,” he says. “It’ll just make me harder and hornier once I am turned on. And then you went and sat on my lap.”
“There was no space! You pulled me onto your lap!”
“I know I did,” he mutters, “and I’ll pay the price for it all night.”
It’s hard not to feel a rush of pleasure at the words. Him wanting me is a tangible thing I can rely on, a terrifying and soothing reality.
“You asked for a kiss if you won.”
“I did.” The elevator dings, and he pushes away from me with a low groan. “But you can’t kiss me tonight, Wilde.”
“Can’t handle it?”
We walk through the corridor to the suite that’s ours.
One bed to share.
“No,” he says. He opens the door and holds it open for me. “I really fucking can’t.”
“Did you pack the gift I gave you?”
He gives me a furious look and shrugs out of his suit jacket. The answer is no, that much is clear, and my hand twitches at my side. It’s rare to see him frazzled.
“What are you going to do?” I ask him. My voice comes out breathless.
“What do you think?” he says, and tears off his cufflinks. He leaves them on the low table in the living room. “I’m sleeping on the couch tonight. You can have the bed.”
“Scared to be too close to me?”
“Yes,” he growls, and walks into the bathroom.
I have a choice. I can help. Or I can leave him alone.
It doesn’t take me long to decide.
I follow him.