The Big Blind (Nadia Wolf) (13 page)

The man at the station nearest to me flicked his eyes up in my direction then back at his station of monitors. “Caleb’s been losing all night.”

“Do you know how much he lost?”

“I would guess a quarter of a million.”

Chapter 8

A loss of a quarter of a million to me would be the end of the world, but to a player like Caleb, it was more like a kick to the groin. Either way, I wouldn’t wish it upon him . . . maybe a little. What was clear to me – Caleb was on tilt; his emotions were controlling his game. Since I’ve known him, he’s never been on tilt.

“Can you pull him out?” I asked the security officer.

“He has plenty of money. If he wants to lose it, that’s his business.”

I turned to Greyson. He must have overheard the conversation and nodded. One word to the security manager and moments later a plain-clothes security officer entered the high stakes room and whispered something in Caleb’s ear. Caleb nodded though his jaw was clenched tight. He had his remaining chips paid out and left.

“What did security say to him?” I asked the security officer.

“They don’t say much. He probably just asked him to give up his seat for the next player. It saves the player from any embarrassment. He could have refused.”

I nodded. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I took a peek and read Caleb’s name on the caller ID. I wasn’t ready to talk to him. After a quarter of a million dollar loss, I doubted Caleb was ready to talk. And I was on Greyson’s tour, so I ignored the call and pocketed my phone. I would have to face him eventually but not now.

I continued my tour along the wall of monitors. In one, I observed workers moving stacks of money in a sterile room. In another, I spied a man and woman making out in the lobby. I halted and gave them a second peek. Greyson had stepped close to me and viewed the monitor too.

“This is nothing. Sometimes the camera catches couples who don’t make it to their room.”

“Really? They just go at it wherever they happen to be?”

He smiled. “Unless we reach them in time to prevent it.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to see all that so I continued on my path. Something caught my eye. I stepped back and bumped into Greyson. He held me in place so I wouldn’t topple over.

I leaned closer to the monitor. “I recognize him. He was standing in the parking lot across the alley when we left the theater.”

I don’t know what made me notice him. There was something still and calm about him; like a person watching and waiting, not caring how long it took. The man that was leaning against the car behind the theater was now standing outside the casino staring dead center into the security camera. Greyson glanced at the monitor. A muscle in his jaw twitched. He tightened his grip on my waist.

“Hey, there’s no reason to give me a bruise.”

“Sorry.” He released me and called the security manager over. “Bring him in,” he said, pointing to the monitor.

“I only said I saw him at the theater. Why do you want to bring him in?”

“I have outstanding business with him.”

“Who is he?”

“I thought I knew the answer to that question, but I seem to be mistaken.”

Greyson turned to the security manager. “He’s already moved out of camera range. Make sure to find him and keep security on alert.”

The manager nodded and was already giving orders through his radio.

Greyson blew a calming breath and peered down at me. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, sure. Don’t you want to know if they find him or not?”

“I already know they won’t find him. Let’s not think about him.” His hand rested in the small of my back. “Let’s go to the restaurant. I’ll buy dinner.”

“I can’t say no to that.”

He guided me through the back hallways, around the casino floor, and in to one of the fancier restaurants. Crisp white linens covered the tables and a person designated to remove the crumbs after each course stood ready and waiting.

“We can’t go in there,” I said.

“Why not?”

“Because we aren’t dressed appropriately.”

“They’ll serve us.”

“Only because you’re the boss. I wouldn’t feel comfortable. You can’t go throwing your money at people and buy your way.”

“Most people like it when I throw money at them.” A playful smile twitched at the corners of his mouth.

“I don’t want to be a part of your money throwing,” I said.

A little of my stubbornness was showing through. But I didn’t feel comfortable in a setting where I was way underdressed, and outclassed too, with a man who could easily fit in any situation life threw him.

“Where would you like to go?”

“I could go for a gigantic burger with fries.”

He chuckled. “You don’t care about me throwing my money around; you just want a burger. Let’s go,” he said, capturing my hand.

I noticed my hand was becoming comfortable in his. Instead of knocking out my breath each time he touched me, it was more of a zing with oxygen still being allowed to flow to my brain. I welcomed the change since I appreciated my brain cells and would like them to stay healthy.

We strolled into a restaurant that appeared as if it was under water. Colorful tropical fish swam in the glass walls and darted back and forth.

Caleb was seated at a corner booth with Catarina draped on his arm. His jaw was visibly clenched, but he made no attempt to remove Catarina from his side. So much for Lupier and Greyson; now she’s glommed on to Caleb. I briefly wondered at her indiscretion, hopping from man to man. Then I realized I didn’t care.

“Greyson, I hope you don’t mind, but I think Catarina found your replacement.”

He observed the couple in the booth and chuckled. “Do you want to stay or go?”

“Let’s stay. I’m famished.”

Caleb glanced up from his menu. Our eyes caught for a moment but it felt uncomfortably longer. Greyson slid his hand to the small of my back, showing me to a booth at the other end of the diner and we both scooted in.

Service was noticeably better dining with Greyson. We ordered within seconds of sitting down, and they had the food to our table in five minutes.

“The staff knows you, don’t they?” I asked as I chomped down on a fry.

“I make it a point to know my staff and to climb down from my tower as much as possible.” He winked. “Why?”

“No reason. It was just an observation.”

“Tell me about yourself.”

“Hmm . . . I play poker for a living. I help Frankie out two days a week at the chapel where I also live. My parents live back home in Colorado. My life is really routine. Except, I have a notion that will change now that Frankie has appointed himself as my manager.” I shuttered.

“Where did you learn the card tossing tricks?”

“I didn’t have much of a life in high school. I had a handful of close friends, but my hobby was poker and my friends didn’t understand. So, while they were off being girls, I was learning my newest trick in the basement. But I made money by betting with my dad’s friends. They bet me I couldn’t do a trick, and I bet them I could. Most of the time, they owed me.”

Greyson cracked a smile.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing. Just a visual of you as a teenager popped into my head. But don’t worry, it was a cute image.”

“It’s really not cute. What about you? Tell me about the Greyson Miller that isn’t found in the pages of Forbes.”

“There isn’t anything fascinating about me.”

“You saying that only confirms my suspicion there is.”

I studied his face and my eyes drifted to his hair. His dark hair would look sexy tousled from bedroom activities. I would love to run my fingers through his hair, curl them in his thick locks and lead his lips to mine.
Whoa!
Where did that come from? Maybe I should go see a doctor about my head. I don’t have insurance, but I think they might take credit cards.

Greyson shifted in his seat. His leg moved against mine. Heat traveled the length of my leg and didn’t stop.

“I bet,” I said to Greyson, trying to regain my composure, “you eat an entire bag of jelly beans at Easter, and you love rollercoaster rides. You probably had a dog growing up. His name was . . . Artie.”

Greyson laughed. “I hate jelly beans. I do like rollercoasters but haven’t been on one in about fifteen years, and I had a dog named Sammy.”

“That wasn’t so hard. I now know three things about you that magazine readers don’t.”

He touched my hand resting on the table. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, I inhaled the burger. I think I need to leave before I eat the dessert case.”

“Do you want dessert to go? It’s going to be a long night.”

I smirked. “In that case, can you buy me one of every thing?”

“I didn’t have to twist your arm or anything.”

“I’m easy to please.”

We were left standing with two boxes each packed full with slices of pies and cakes.

“I was kidding,” I sputtered. “You’re going to have to help me eat these.”

“They’re all yours.”

I caught a glimpse of Caleb and Catarina as we left the diner. She was curling his hair around her finger. Caleb looked up in time to see Greyson and I leave. His face never changed. It was either his stone-hard poker face, or he couldn’t care less.
Sometimes, I hate poker.

We deposited the dessert boxes on the kitchen counter.

“Do you want to watch a movie?” Greyson asked as he walked the length of the room to pick up the remote.

“Okay,” I said, ogling Greyson as he walked.

Greyson handed me the remote. “Pick whatever you want.”

“What if it’s really girly?” I asked as I sat on the couch.

The girliest I’ll watch is a romantic comedy. Any girlier and I become nauseated from the sappiness. I was just testing the boundaries to see what he would say.

He placed himself next to me. “Girly is fine.”

His phone buzzed. “They didn’t find him,” he said, reading the message.

“The guy in the camera?”

He nodded. “I didn’t think they would.”

“Who is he?”

“No one important enough to worry about,” he said, hooking his arm around me to lean on him while I flipped through the movie choices.

I couldn’t concentrate on the movie listings when I was tucked against Greyson with his arm around me.

There was a knock on the door. Greyson slipped out from my weight, freeing me from his mind-control hold. He kissed the top of my head as he stood. A happy tingle trickled through my scalp. He was going to have to stop doing caring little things if we were going to make it another twenty-two hours together with our clothes still on. But right now, I wouldn’t mind if they were scattered all over the floor.

Greyson opened the door to let Jason and Steffi in. Jason was disheveled and clearly stressed. Even his clothes were rumpled as if he slept in them. He cast his gaze in my direction and then at Greyson. Greyson didn’t give him an explanation for my presence.

“I’ve been trying to get in touch with you all night,” Jason said to Greyson. “I didn’t realize you had company and didn’t want to be disturbed.” He shot another glance in my direction.

I hoped he didn’t think I was one of Greyson’s disposable girls. Just the thought of it made my teeth grind.

“What do you need?” Greyson asked.

“It’s about the tournament fiasco. Insurance will cover the loss, but the police are questioning Jeff’s employment with us.”

“He wasn’t employed with us.”

“According to our books he is.”

Greyson’s eyes narrowed. “Find me his employment information. I want to know who hired him and why.”

Jason nodded and left with Steffi. Greyson stood still; his thoughts were elsewhere.

“You wouldn’t have hired that Jeff guy, would you?” I asked him.

“No, that guy was bad. I still can’t figure out how he fits in with the theft.”

“Maybe he was partners with someone and the partner decided he wanted all the money for himself.”

“If that were true, wouldn’t they just kill him after he helped transfer the money out of the building? It must have taken a lot of planning to move the money out the door without anyone seeing anything,” Greyson said.

“And a working knowledge of your security system.”

“You might be right. I’ve been thinking of all the angles. I didn’t want to believe the most obvious because I never assumed it would be possible. The theft might have been an inside job. The person who hired Jeff might be the thief.”

“It would explain how the theft could be pulled off without a single camera capturing any thing.”

“Right now it’s not even about the money but the security breech. I can’t believe this could happen under my watch.”

“Could the guy you’re looking for have anything to do with this?” I asked.

“I hope not. But like I said before, I didn’t know him as I thought I did.”