“Yes.” He straightened up, a smile of pride curling his lips. “I was happy to be able to make the Sapphire everything it could be. I pretty much grew up running the halls and doing my homework in my father’s office. When the hotel was passed on to me, I knew it was important to keep my grandfather’s dream alive.”
“What about your mother?”
The light of pride in Nate’s eyes dimmed, his smile fading just slightly enough for her to notice. “I haven’t seen my mother since I was twelve.” His words were cold and matter-of-fact. “She got tired of the casino life and took off one night.”
Annie felt a sharp pang of guilt stab her in the gut like a knife. He spoke impassively on the topic, but she could tell it was a sore subject, having happened to him so young. No wonder he seemed to be so focused on punishing Annie for abandoning their marriage. She’d not only left him, but she’d jabbed him in his most tender spot. Hit his Achilles without aiming.
She swallowed hard and shifted her guilty gaze down into her coffee cup. “I didn’t know that.” Would it have kept her from leaving? Probably not. But she might have handled it differently if she’d known about his mother. That was just one more reason why marrying a stranger was so treacherous. You had no idea how badly you could really hurt someone and not even know it.
“How could you know? I don’t talk about it.”
“I know, but...” she began, but couldn’t think of what else to say other than the most overdue words of all. “I’m sorry I left like she did. It was cowardly of me not to talk to you about the anxiety I was having. If I had known about your mother, I—”
“Don’t,” Nate interrupted, his jaw tight. “Don’t handle me with kid gloves like I’m damaged somehow, because I’m not. You didn’t hurt me, Annie. I wouldn’t let you.”
He turned his back to her and put his empty mug in the sink. Glancing quickly at his watch, he said, “Go get dressed. Gabe will be here soon.”
* * *
Nate was already in a bad mood, brought on by an uncomfortable night’s rest and the miserable and near-constant ache in his groin from being so near to Annie. Talking about his mother had been the damned cherry on his day so far. But even then, he couldn’t help but be amused by the animosity between Gabe and Annie. They were glaring at each other across the table as though they were the feuding couple. They’d been silent and still for the past few minutes as Nate gathered paperwork from his desk and brought it over to the conference table.
“We’re on the same team,” he reminded them.
His words did little to unwind the tension in Gabe’s shoulders. He was suspicious of Annie, and nothing Nate said or did was going to change it. Gabe was good at reading people. Nate tried not to ask him too much about the things he’d done when serving in the military, but he knew Gabe’s instincts were always spot-on. He hoped his friend’s suspicion of Annie was just residual distrust from years ago, but there was no way to know for certain. Annie was a stranger. His wife...his past lover...but still a stranger.
Gabe opened his portfolio and focused on the task at hand. “I’ve done quite a bit of recon. Talked to a few of my sources. Here’s a short list of our most likely candidates.” He slid the paper with ten or twelve names on it across the table to Annie. “These might be your best bets to start with.”
Nate watched Annie review the names, her face betraying none of her opinions. She had one of the best poker faces in the game. “If I had to put my money on one of them,” he said, “I’d bet on Eddie Walker. He reeks of it, but he’s slippery.”
Annie nodded but again didn’t offer any information she might have on him. Nate was certain she’d heard something about Walker over the years. He was practically notorious for never getting caught red-handed. It had always confused Nate because, to be honest, he didn’t seem that bright. But apparently he had a mind for dirty dealing. Or he had a silent partner who was the real brains behind the operation.
“You can go ahead and cross off Mike Stewart,” she said, her face still blank, as though they were perched in front of playing cards instead of paperwork. “And Bob Cooke.”
“How can you be so sure?” Gabe challenged.
Annie shot a lethal gaze at his head of security. “You brought me into this because I have inside knowledge of these people,” she said sharply. “If you contradict everything I tell you, this whole ruse is pointless. I’m telling you they’re not cheats.”