Chapter 10 Nova
NOVA
“Okay, spill it. What’s going on with you?”
Of all times for me to zone out, I discreetly glanced toward the windows beyond our table for the man currently in charge of watching over me. Laura’s question brought to a screaming halt any illusions I had over my distractedness going unnoticed.
“Nothing, really,” I insisted in response to her gentle but knowing laughter. “I’m serious!”
“That’s why you keep looking outside like you’re waiting for something to happen?
I would probably have a better conversation with you if I stood outside and talked to you through the glass.
” She tossed her lustrous, golden locks over one shoulder before adding, “At least then, you would pay attention to me.”
“Ow, really? Is that what I’ve been doing?” I reached across the table and squeezed her hand. She deserved better than that. “I’m sorry. I am distracted. A lot has been going on.”
“Getting acclimated to life back home?” she asked, her voice heavy with sympathy. Sure. Let her think that.
“Yeah, I’m not exactly thrilled with some of the decisions Dad has made with the casino.” Let her think that too. It wasn’t exactly a lie, even if I still couldn’t believe he was behind it.
“He’s always respected your smarts, right? And he was all about you going to Oxford for business. He’ll come around,” she predicted, smiling brightly because, as far as she knew, it was that simple. If only.
“I’m sure you’re right,” I agreed because there was no other option. “But now I feel like I owe you another dinner. Next time, I’ll actually pay attention.”
With her eyes narrowed, she said, “It’s a good thing we’re friends, and I know how to find you.”
She wasn’t the only one who knew how to find me, and that was the problem.
I hadn’t seen the guy with the ponytail or anybody else who looked strange or threatening in the past couple of days, but then maybe I wasn’t looking as intently as I did before, knowing there was someone doing the watching for me.
It was a strange feeling, the sort of thing I could get used to.
And that was wrong because I couldn’t get used to it.
I still had to rely on myself, on my wits.
I couldn’t let Vaughn or anybody else do the thinking for me.
Funny. I used to feel safe in this building, though if I were having dinner at the casino, it was normally delivered to Dad’s office.
We would talk up there and share stories about our days.
He might ask for my advice—almost jokingly when I was a kid, but more seriously as time went on, and I showed an affinity for business.
Those memories had kept me warm during the early days in England when I was a fish out of water, thousands of miles away from home and longing for something familiar, something comfortable.
I would think back on all the times we’d spent under this roof while people gambled and celebrated far below us.
I made it a point to show my face here tonight so Dad might get word I was around.
He’d supposedly been too busy to see me since Saturday.
In the few minutes I’d managed to grab with him on the phone, not only had he complained about being slammed with work, he’d urged me to take a little time to rest, relax, and enjoy myself before moving on to the next phase of my life and career at the casino.
Strange. There was a time I would have loved him for that.
I would have felt almost smug, having such a doting father who cared so much about my well-being.
Now, only suspicion resulted from such a decision.
Nico must have told him I was outside his office.
There was no way he hadn’t. And now, Dad would go out of his way to keep me at arm’s length like I was still a child who might forget what I’d heard if given enough time.
To think he didn’t know what I had seen.
He didn’t know I witnessed that sad scene downstairs.
I never got the chance to tell him and had no idea when I would at this point.
This was too big of an issue to talk about over the phone.
Besides, I wanted him to look me in the eye.
Maybe I could talk some sense into him, convince him to stop working with whoever was connected to this bullshit.
But when could I do that without Nico lurking around?
Part of me wondered as I settled the check if I could have a minute alone with him now.
A couple of glasses of wine had given me a little extra courage, so much so that by the time I hugged Laura and promised to follow up in the morning, I was determined to go upstairs rather than head outside where my guard could see me.
It was once I left the restaurant through the rear door leading to the casino floor that something else occurred to me.
It was Friday night. Hadn’t Nico said something about Friday when he was with Dad in the office?
Yes, it would be a week tomorrow, meaning this was the night he’d referred to.
I checked my phone for the time—five minutes to nine.
The time the van would leave with the new so-called shipment.
There was a choice in front of me. Go upstairs, where Nico could very well be in Dad’s office, or go out to confirm what that ghoul meant when he was talking about shipments.
I was running out of time to see for myself.
I could go up once I was sure, and Nico could get fucked if he thought his presence would intimidate me.
One of the benefits of being raised in this casino was knowing how to get in and out no matter where I happened to be.
There were too many people wandering the floor for anyone to notice me almost hugging the far wall until I found the nearly hidden panel which, when pressed, sprang open to give me access to one of the service hallways running around the building on three sides so staff could quickly move from one end to the other without guests getting in the way.
A handful of staff members walked it now, though they were all new enough that none of them recognized me and vice versa.
I walked quickly, with purpose, keeping my gaze focused straight ahead.
They would probably forget they ever saw me.
It wasn’t them I was worried about, anyway.
It was what I would do if I found what I suspected I would find.
How could I confront my father? Would Nico intercept before I had the chance?
There was so much uncertainty I almost stopped, reconsidering what could only be considered a vague plan in the first place.
What was the alternative? Losing hour after hour of sleep as those poor women continued haunting my dreams? There was no getting them out of my head. Even the privilege of enjoying a meal like the one Laura and I had just shared was something those women couldn’t experience.
I had to do something.
I couldn’t turn away.
Finally, I came to the end of the hall, where I could turn left or exit through the door leading outside. With my heart in my throat, I turned to my right and eased the door open onto a cool, dry night.
And right away, I heard them—the men talking to each other, two of them farther up on my left, smoking cigarettes with their heads on a swivel, keeping watch.
A glance behind me revealed nothing but an empty alley where dumpsters sat in a long row, souring the air.
Farther ahead was the glow and glamor of the Strip.
So many people were out there, living in a fantasy world, high off the lights and the sounds and the potential of striking it rich.
Few people ever did, but that didn’t matter.
It was all about the dream. Those dreams would die awfully fast if those people knew what was going on here, not so very far away.
As soon as the two guards moved deeper into the lot, I tiptoed closer to the corner of the building. This was where I’d seen them before and where a black van now waited near the loading dock. I didn’t want to find it, but there it was. Plain as day.
“Keep it moving,” an armed man muttered, and the group of women clustered close together in a trembling, whimpering group began moving as one toward the van’s open door while my heart dropped like a rock.
Now I knew. What I witnessed last weekend was not a one-off thing. These were other girls, different girls, but the situation was the same. They had no choice but to get in that van, herded at gunpoint. Forced. And what would happen once they arrived at their destination?
How could I stand here and watch this without trying to stop it? How could I expect to make a difference? I had to do something. Even if I regretted it, I would regret my silence so much more.
I opened my mouth, sucked in a breath. “Wait—”
That was all I managed to get out in a weak, trembling voice before a hand clamped over my mouth, silencing me. I squealed behind it, but the sound went nowhere. A thick, steel band snapped around my waist, pulling me in close against what felt like a brick wall but was more likely a chest.
This was it.
I went one step too far.
I never knew when to leave well enough alone.
I had spent a week telling myself I was wrong, that I had misunderstood when deep down inside, I knew the truth all along.
And now, because I was so damn determined not to accept what was right in front of my face, I was about to pay the ultimate price.
Dragged away, unable to scream for help.
I would disappear, just like these girls.
“Shut up. Stop it!” The voice was a rasp against my ear, fierce yet soft. “It’s me, goddammit! Be quiet! Stop kicking!”
That wasn’t Nico’s uncaring voice, nor was it Nico’s wiry body I was pressed against. It was a body I was intimately familiar with, large and firm like granite wrapped in flesh.
That, plus the spicy, musky scent of Vaughn’s cologne, instantly made the fight drain out of me. I was shaking in relief by the time he let me go, the two of us cloaked in an inky shadow. Still, he held me against the wall, but at least I could breathe without his massive hand over my face.
“What are you doing here?” I whispered.
“I was going to ask you the same question,” he snapped in a voice as soft as mine. Like silk, only dangerous. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I…” It was all over. I knew it, even if I didn’t want to admit it. Answering him honestly would be the same as admission. “I had to see. I had to be sure I was right.”
“That’s what you saw the night of the wedding?” His head snapped to the side, his eyes narrowing as he stared through the darkness toward the parking lot. The men’s voices were still faintly audible with an undercurrent of anger and threats running beneath them.
“Yes.” Finally, I could admit it. I had to admit it. He had caught them in the act the way I had. And now, he was in just as much danger as I was. “Why did you have to come here?”
Again, his head snapped around, this time so he could glare at me.
“Are you seriously doing this now? I was across the street and figured I’d take a look around,” he whispered.
“Good thing, too, since I just kept your ass from making a stupid mistake. What did you think you were going to do? Stop them?”
“I… I don’t know,” I had to admit. What was it about this man that made admitting I was wrong so painful? This wasn’t me. I didn’t normally act this way, only with him.
I also didn’t normally marry complete strangers, so maybe he was the problem.
A problem still holding me in place with his arms on either side of me, with his unrelenting, rock-solid chest against mine. My heart was pounding, my breath came in short gasps, and that was probably why I inhaled so much of that addictive cologne of his.
And I was supposed to believe he was my salvation? The answer to the danger I was in? “Let me go,” I whispered. Because if I stayed this close to him for much longer, there was no telling what sort of stupid thing I might do next. He had a way of making me forget I was supposed to be intelligent.
“No.” That was it. A single grunt.
“It wasn’t a request. You need to let me go.”
“Not until they’re gone,” he insisted, his mouth close to my ear, close enough that goose bumps erupted everywhere.
It had to be the adrenaline still coursing through my system.
It would pass soon. It needed to, or else I might not have any choice but to hump this man half to death against a brick wall.
Of all times for my body to betray me. How was I supposed to think when I was too busy trying to keep my legs closed?
“I really wish you had told me the truth before now,” he grunted out, his breath teasing my skin.
I closed my eyes, wishing more than anything I could forget the world falling apart all around me in favor of what was happening right here and now between us.
I was only human. I was also terrified, heartbroken, and completely unsure of what to do next.
Vulnerable, in other words, and he was right here, so strong, commanding, and someone I could rely on.
It was an intoxicating combination. How was I supposed to resist?
Pulling his head back slightly, his brilliant green eyes met mine. “I could have made sure you didn’t risk your neck like this.”
“Why do you care about my neck?” I challenged, both confused and annoyingly painfully aroused by the possessive tone he took.
“Because it’s a nice neck, holding up a nicer head. And if you don’t care about it…”
“I never—” There was no chance to remind him I’d never asked him to care, thanks to the sudden presence of his mouth over mine, covering it, claiming it, giving me exactly what I didn’t know I needed at exactly the worst possible time.
We had no business doing this, now or ever, but especially not while hiding the way we were.
It was completely wrong, totally dangerous, and much too good to stop.