But he wasn’t ready to jump on the bash-Preston bandwagon either. As conflicted as JT was about his father, he put a high value on loyalty.
“If that’s true,” he said, his tone neutral, “all the more reason to break with the company and my father.”
Determination flared in her eyes. “Or you could stay and fight for what’s yours.”
While JT appreciated her spirited defense of his inheritance, he’d been contemplating the wisdom of staying with Stone Properties for a couple years. It was worse now that he had seen the company’s financials.
“I hate being powerless to stop him from taking apart all that my grandfather built.”
“I can understand that.” Without warning her gaze sharpened. “These plans of yours, do they mean you’re leaving Las Vegas?”
Was she hoping he wouldn’t? The thought of not seeing her every day made him grim. Did it bother her as well?
JT searched her eyes for answers, but saw only curiosity. With Violet, what you saw was what you got. Her openness fascinated him. She never seemed to worry about guarding herself against hurt or disappointment.
It was a major factor in why he’d never pursued her.
Not long after he’d arrived in Las Vegas, he’d run into his uncle and Violet at a charity event. Despite his instant attraction to the twenty-three-year-old, he knew better than to act on his interest. The bad blood between her adopted father and his biological one was a significant barrier. So was JT’s playboy lifestyle.
Before he’d moved to Las Vegas, JT had made quite a name for himself in Miami’s social scene. Going at life at a reckless pace whether it was fast boats, expensive cars or unavailable women, he hadn’t cared whom he hurt as long as he displeased his father.
He liked Violet too much to subject her to his unhealthy family dynamic. Besides, she wasn’t a good choice for him. Unlike the women he usually pursued, she would expect things from him. Things he couldn’t give her. Openness. Joy. Trust. In order to be with her he’d have to surrender the defenses that muffled his emotions and protected him from pain and disillusionment. She’d lure him out of his comfortable dark cave and require him to find happiness. How was he supposed to do that when his childhood hadn’t given him the tools?
His father believed anything that got in the way of business was bad. As a kid, JT had had that philosophy hammered into his head. His mother had been weakened by her hunger for love. Being ignored by the domineering husband she adored had made her life hell, and she’d started retreating into drugs and alcohol around the time that Tiberius left town. By the time he turned twelve, JT was used to being ignored by his parents, forgotten by his grandfather and alienated from his uncle. Nor was there any family on his father’s side. The only person who’d showed any interest in him was his grandmother and she split her time between Miami, Virginia and Kentucky.
Traditional family. Love. JT had never grown up with these things.
Being around Violet gave him a glimpse of what a normal personal life could be. The love she had for her sisters, her mother and Tiberius made him long to be included in her circle. But he couldn’t take the steps needed to put himself there. Nor could he leave well enough alone either. The need to connect remained. A tantalizing temptation. One of his deep, dark secrets.
So he visited Fontaine Chic night after night and sat in the bar. He craved a relationship with Violet, but had no idea how to go about having one. In casino terms, he was betting the minimum. He’d never win big, but he wasn’t going to lose everything either. Playing without risk was not how he lived. He got a rush from flinging his body into danger, but gambling with his heart was something else entirely.
“I don’t know what the future holds,” he responded at last. “Will you miss me if I go?”
The question caught her off guard. Her eyes widened and her lips parted, but no words came out. Usually their exchanges hovered on the verge of personal without either of them crossing that line. Tonight, he’d changed the game by giving her a glimpse into what was bothering him, by trusting her with his plans for the future.
“I’ll miss your business,” she retorted with a wry smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. She uncrossed her legs, signaling their conversation was at an end.
“Violet.” He caught her hand before she could rise. The casual contact created a complex chain reaction in JT’s gut. He wanted her. That had never been in doubt. But what lay below the lust was dangerous beyond belief. “I’m really sorry about Tiberius.”
He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and released her. It rattled him how hard it was to relax his fingers and set her free. What he wanted to do was draw her into his arms and let her soak the shoulder of his suit coat with her tears. He knew it was impossible. They didn’t share that level of intimacy. The fact both relieved and frustrated him.