He wanted to trust Annie. He wanted to believe her when she said she didn’t have any knowledge of Tessa’s involvement. He wanted her confession of love and offer to stay beyond the tournament to be more than just a ploy to protect her sister.
But he was a cynical, practical businessman and knew better. If a person felt the noose tightening on them, they would say or do anything to save themselves. Or someone they loved. The truth of the matter was that Annie had come to Vegas to play poker and get a divorce, not for a reconciliation. Her offer might be nothing more than a bargaining attempt.
Or perhaps she really did mean it and was conflicted about her knowledge.
Either way, when the tournament was over, Nate was fairly certain he would lose Annie no matter what was said or done.
Hell, he wasn’t certain if he’d ever had her back in the first place. He had no real way of knowing if Annie cared about him or anything but her tournament. But, damn it, he cared. He didn’t want to choose his life’s work over Annie. How dare she put him in a position where he had to choose between doing the right thing and losing out on their chance at happiness together?
Gabe’s voice startled him out of his thoughts. “It gets worse. Look at your schedule for today.”
He flipped open the file, grabbing the page. It was easy to find Annie’s name among the rapidly dwindling roster. She was playing on table six today. His finger ran over the list, pausing at the other names there. So was Tessa. “How the hell did they end up at the same table? That’s against tournament regulations. Patricia wouldn’t do that. She knows better.”
“Yes, like you said, someone is tampering with the schedule. Normally someone would complain, but they’ve both been doing so well, the other players might be happy to see one knocked out. This could be a positive development,” Gabe reasoned. “At this point, we don’t have enough evidence to get Tessa or Darrell, and even Keith Frye’s testimony won’t get us much unless we can use it to pressure one of them to confess. We need more time, and only one person in that group is going to make it through to the final table tomorrow. If you could get Annie to let Tessa win, we c—”
“Impossible,” Nate interrupted. There was no sense in letting Gabe go on. “She’d never go along with that. This tournament is everything to her.”
Gabe sighed. “Okay, well, how about getting her to help us expose them somehow? If she saw what happened yesterday, she knows how they work. She tells us, we watch closer. Maybe we can catch them in the act. Or if she sees them do it again, she can tip us off. Give us some sort of signal.”
“That’s a lot of ifs, Gabe.”
The security manager frowned. “You don’t think she’d do it? She wants to win, doesn’t she? If Tessa is cheating, it’s possible that Annie might not make it to the next round. I don’t know about you, but that would irritate me, even if it was my sister.”
Nate nodded. He was right. If given the choice, Annie would choose the tournament.
Gabe said something else, but Nate didn’t hear him. His mind was deeply entrenched in the best way to approach Annie. It was a delicate subject. No one liked cheaters, but it was even worse in their culture to be a snitch. They’d gone to a hell of a lot of trouble to keep her spying a secret, not that he’d minded, but now that it involved Tessa, he had no leverage.
If she wouldn’t help him voluntarily, he’d have to set aside their personal relationship and play this game as he would with anyone else.
* * *
Annie made it to the tournament area that morning without seeing Nate or Tessa. To tell the truth, she was relieved. She needed to focus on her game, and seeing either of them would just remind her of the rock and hard place she was wedged between.
She checked in and was assigned to table six. Only a few tables were left, with the top nine players advancing to the final table. If she won today, Annie would have made it further than she had in any tournament. She’d be guaranteed a handsome payout even if she went out on the first hand.
Even with everything going on, she couldn’t help but grin with excitement as her game chips were reissued and she made her way across the loudly colored casino carpeting to begin the game. It was enough to make a girl’s heart flutter with nerves, like kissing her first crush.
Only two other players were sitting at her table when she arrived. She recognized them both by face but couldn’t remember their names. They were good to have made it this far, but their streak would end. Annie would see to it.