My throat felt dry and tight. “It’ll clean me out, Mick. I have to pay for school.”
“Oh, you can make it back in no time,” he said, waving his hand dismissively.
“When is your deadline?” I asked.
“Monday mornin’. Midnight,” he said, unapologetic.
“You don’t have to give him a fucking dime, Pigeon,” Travis said, tugging on my arm.
Mick grabbed my wrist. “It’s the least you could do! I wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for you!”
America slapped his hand away and then shoved him. “Don’t you dare start that shit again, Mick! She didn’t make you borrow money from Benny!”
Mick looked at me with loathing in his eyes. “If it weren’t for her, I woulda had my own money. You took everything from me, Abby. I have nothin’!”
I thought time away from Mick would lessen the pain that came with being his daughter, but the tears flowing from my eyes said otherwise. “I’ll get your money to Benny by Sunday. But when I do, I want you to leave m
e the hell alone. I won’t do this again, Mick. From now on, you’re on your own, do you hear me? Stay. Away.”
He pressed his lips together and then nodded. “Have it your way, Cookie.”
I turned around and headed for the car, hearing America behind me. “Pack your bags, boys. We’re going to Vegas.”
Chapter Fifteen
CITY OF SIN
Travis set down our bags and looked around the room. “This is nice, right?”
I glared at him and he raised his brow. “What?”
The zipper of my suitcase whined as I pulled it around its borders, and I shook my head. Different strategies and the lack of time crowded my head. “This isn’t a vacation. You shouldn’t be here, Travis.”
In the next moment he was behind me, crossing his arms around my middle. “I go where you go.”
I leaned my head against his chest and sighed. “I have to get on the floor. You can stay here or check out the Strip. I’ll see you later, okay?”
“I’m going with you.”
“I don’t want you there, Trav.” A hurt expression weighted his face and I touched his arm. “If I’m going to win fourteen thousand dollars in one weekend, I have to concentrate. I don’t like who I’m going to be while I’m at those tables, and I don’t want you see it, okay?”
He brushed my hair from my eyes and kissed my cheek. “Okay, Pidge.”
Travis waved to America as he left the room, and she approached me in the same dress she wore to the date party. I changed into a short gold number and slipped on a pair of heels, grimacing at the mirror. America pulled back my hair and then handed me a black tube.
“You need about five more coats of mascara, and they’re going to toss your ID on sight if you don’t slather on some more blush. Have you forgotten how this game is played?”
I snatched the mascara from her hand and spent another ten minutes on my makeup. Once I finished, my eyes began to gloss over. “Dammit, Abby, don’t cry,” I said, looking up and dabbing under my eyes with a tissue.
“You don’t have to do this. You don’t owe him anything.” America cupped my shoulders as I stood in front of the mirror one last time.
“He owes Benny money, Mare. If I don’t, they’ll kill him.”
Her expression was one of pity. I had seen her look at me that way many times before, but this time she was desperate. She’d seen him ruin my life more times than either of us could count. “What about the next time? And the next time? You can’t keep doing this.”
“He agreed to stay away. Mick Abernathy is a lot of things, but he’s no welsher.”
We walked down the hall and stepped into an empty elevator. “You have everything you need?” I asked, keeping the cameras in mind.