He nodded and kissed her again, this time a claiming that left her breathless. Once he’d gone upstairs she put the eggs up and snagged some coffee. By the time she’d finished it and made her way up to their bedroom, Jay was dressed and looking impossibly sexy in a black suit and silver and green tie she’d bought him. One of his tattoos peeked out on the top of his left hand, part of an intricate script listing the names of friends he’d lost overseas. When she met his gaze again, she saw that familiar hungry look as he watched her.
“Go,” she said, close to jumping him again. Then they’d truly be late. “Or we’ll both get fired.”
He snorted at that. It would take more than that for their boss to fire them. They’d have to burn down the casino for that to happen. “I’ve got something special planned for tonight, so don’t be late getting home.”
She paused at the unreadable note in his voice, but nodded. His little surprises were always fun—and always sexy. “It looks like it’s going to be a low key kind of week.” Of course by saying that she’d probably just cursed herself for a manic one.
Another kiss and he was gone. Moving into gear she showered and was getting dressed when her cell rang. No one called her this early except her boss. Hell, she probably had jinxed herself. When she saw the caller ID she frowned, not recognizing the number. But it was local. “Ellie here.”
“Eleanor Johansen,” a familiar, hated voice from her past said with a dripping kind of smugness that made her want to reach through the phone and punch him.
Feeling her blood turn to ice, she collapsed on the edge of the king-sized bed, her knees giving way upon hearing Kevin Murrell on the other end. He wasn’t supposed to be out of prison for another fifteen or twenty years. “How’d you get this number?” she demanded, thankful her voice didn’t shake. She knew she should just hang up on him, but she needed to find out what this creep wanted. And when he’d gotten out of prison, because she didn’t think he could be calling from inside.
He made an obnoxious tsking sound. God, how had she ever thought she was in love with this moron? “Taking your mother’s maiden name isn’t enough to hide from me.”
“I’m not trying to hide from anyone.” And she wasn’t. Not truly. She’d just wanted to put distance between her past self and who she’d become. “I take it you’re out. Good behavior?” She couldn’t hide a snort of disbelief.
A long pause before he spoke again and this time he didn’t hide the bite of annoyance in his voice. “You’ve changed.”
“If you mean I’m different than that pathetic seventeen year old who thought you hung the moon, then yeah, I’m very different. Why are you calling me?” Finding her legs again, she went to her bedroom window and slightly pulled the curtains back. She knew she was likely being paranoid, but she wanted to see if this bastard was watching her house. She wouldn’t put it past him. Not when she had something he wanted.
“You know why. I want my belongings.”
Ice settled into a hard ball in her stomach as she had to confess the truth. “I’ve got most of it, but I don’t have all of it.”
Another pause, longer this time. “How short am I?”
She closed her eyes, rubbing her temple. “About fifty.” Meaning fifty thousand dollars. For all she knew he was being monitored by the police or even the criminal he’d stolen from in the first place. “I didn’t expect you out for a few more years.” Because she would have replaced the money by then, with him none the wiser. She wasn’t sorry she’d taken it, not when it had given her a path to schooling and a better life. Kevin had stolen half a million from a low level mobster before getting arrested for something completely unrelated. Since Nevada was a three-strike state and he’d committed his third felony robbery of a residence with a deadly weapon, he’d been locked up and was supposed to have been kept there for a good long time. Looked like the justice system failed again.
He was silent again, but this time when he spoke she could practically hear the glee in his voice. “No bother then, you can return what you’ve still got and do me one little favor. Then we’ll call it even.”
She swallowed hard, knowing his type of ‘favor’ wasn’t something she’d be willing to do. Especially not if it was worth fifty thousand to him. She was tempted to hang up on Kevin, but knew it would be a mistake. He’d just harass her in person. “Favor?”
“You’re going to help me rob the Serafina. And if you don’t, I’m going to rip apart the pretty little life you’ve made for yourself. I’ll start by telling De Luca you stole his money.”
Without responding she ended the call, fighting the panic bubbling up inside her. She wasn’t sure if Carlo DeLuca would actually believe she’d taken his money, but she couldn’t take the chance he did and came after those she loved.
Fighting panic, she went to her closet and grabbed a small suitcase. Staying here like a sitting duck wasn’t the answer. Her phone rang again, but she ignored it as she started grabbing clothes from the closet she shared with Jay. For a brief moment she thought of confessing everything to him, but knew she couldn’t. Because he’d want to go all protector male on her and the type of people Kevin associated with didn’t play by any rules.
They were true criminals who had no problem killing others to get what they wanted. She couldn’t drag Jay into that. She loved him too much. Plus, deep down, she knew that her sweet, perfect Jay wouldn’t understand the decisions she’d made at seventeen. She’d had obstacles she refused to let stand in her way and had made some hard decisions that she didn’t regret. But Jay hadn’t grown up like that and he wouldn’t get it.
He’d judge her, look at her differently and in the end, he’d cut ties with her anyway. No, she’d have to cut and run to keep him safe and to keep her own secrets safe. Once she’d figured out this mess and put some distance between her and Kevin, she’d call Jay to let him know she was okay. Until then, she couldn’t pull him into the gutter with her. He didn’t deserve it and she’d never put him in danger. This is what she got for thinking she could actually be happy.
Chapter 2
Ellie smoothed a hand down her black pencil skirt as she handed her boss Wyatt his planner with detailed notes about his meetings and other agendas for the next month. She had three different alerts sent to his phone for meetings, but he was old school and liked to have a physical reminder on hand. Probably because he’d learned to tune out the alerts. “Remember, the meeting next Tuesday is very important, Wyatt. You’ve put it off twice already and—”
“I won’t miss it,” he said, taking his planner and setting it down without looking at it. He star
ed at his laptop, his fingers clacking away on the keys as he spoke. “Besides, you’re coming with me to that one. I don’t know why you’re so stressed today.”
She bit her lip, trying to find the right words. Impossible ones she just needed to get out. Maybe the silence was more weighted than she realized because he looked up then, his blue eyes electric in their intensity.
“You are going with me to that meeting?”
“Wyatt, I’ve enjoyed working for you more than I can say.” She smoothed her hand down her skirt again, a stupid nervous habit.
His expression went flat. “You’re not quitting.”
She blinked at his forceful tone. “I appreciate everything you did for me when I graduated.” He’d given her a job right out of school. She’d just gotten her Master’s in business administration and had been hungry to work. Landing a position with one of the richest men in the country had been a dream come true. She worked her ass off, but he compensated all his employees well and she loved what she did. Leaving this position was one of the hardest decisions, but she knew she had to do it. Once she told Kevin that she’d been fired—a tiny lie—she wouldn’t be able to help him with whatever plan he had to rob the Serafina. This was the only way.
Frowning, Wyatt stood, pushing his chair back before rounding his desk. Wearing a custom-made pinstriped suit, the tall man with midnight black hair and electric blue eyes that were so damn intense as to be scary was giving her all his focus. She didn’t like feeling as if she were under a microscope, but stood her ground.
Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned against the front of it and faced off with her. Even though he wasn’t as tall as Jay, the man was certainly intimidating. She’d seen him use this glare with business associates and even enemies before and had never thought to be on the receiving end of one of his ‘looks’. “Are you giving your resignation?” he asked quietly, disbelief threading through every word.