“What else should I think?”
“That maybe I was offered a part. A good part. Something I would be perfect for.” Her tone was insistent, defensive.
“I thought you were done with Hollywood.”
She hesitated slightly before saying, “I am.” But it was a telling pause.
What happened to all her protestations about how difficult her life as an actor had been? Was all of that merely a defense mechanism to keep disappointment at bay? When the opportunity came along to resume her acting career, would she jump at it?
“Of course I am,” she insisted, her voice gaining conviction. “I have a life here in Las Vegas.”
“But if this opportunity had come along five years ago and you had to choose, which life would you have picked?”
“That’s not a fair question.”
Her protest told him her answer was not to his liking. “You’d have chosen to stay in L.A.”
“Probably. But only because acting was all I knew. Moving to Las Vegas and taking over the running of this hotel wasn’t an easy decision for me to make. I had no experience. Frankly, I was terrified of making a mistake.”
“Everyone makes mistakes.”
“Yes, but do everyone’s mistakes mean millions of dollars are at risk?” With a deep breath she clamped down on her escalating aggravation until her composure returned. “All this speculation is a waste of time. What I might have chosen to do five years ago has no bearing on what I do today.”
Relief washed over him. She wasn’t going to leave Las Vegas. Leave him. “I guess I jumped to the wrong conclusion.”
She widened her eyes dramatically. “Was that an apology?”
“No.” He pulled her onto his lap. “This is.”
His kiss let her feel all his frustration and longing. The emotions she aroused troubled him. How could he mistrust her and still want her this much? Saying it was simple lust didn’t ring true. She’d become his last thought at night and his first one in the morning. He was mesmerized by her beauty and intrigued by the layers she kept hidden.
“Feel like ordering room service in my suite?” she asked him once he’d let her come up for air.
“Maybe later. I want to check out the files in the storage unit.”
“They’re not there.”
“Where are they?”
“I had them moved to a secure records storage unit this morning.”
“I wish you’d told me that’s what you were doing.”
“Why? They’re perfectly safe. Grady was eager to get to work and I feel better with them someplace secure.”
“I’m not convinced keeping the files is a good idea.”
“I can’t part with them until someone I trust goes through everything. Plus, their historic value can’t be measured until we know what’s there.”
“Wasn’t last night proof of how dangerous they could be for you? Tiberius lived awfully well for a man whose casino was barely staying out of the red.”
“What are you saying?”
“If it was a plot for a TV series, what would you deduce?”
“That Tiberius was blackmailing people?”
“That may have been what got him killed.”
“Even if I had a clue what to look for, I’m not planning on blackmailing anyone.”
“Maybe not—”
“Maybe not?” She interrupted in mock outrage. “Definitely not.”
“Very well, then. Definitely not. But just because you and I know that doesn’t mean Tiberius’s victims know that.”
Nonplussed, she stared at him for several seconds. “Then I guess the smartest thing for me to do is get with a lawyer and make certain that if anything happens to me, the files go public.”
Her calm determination impressed the hell out of him. This was no scared female in need of rescue. She was a woman who survived by her wits as well as her beauty.
Logan tightened his hold around her waist. “Then I guess until you meet with an attorney, I should plan on sticking with you.”
“Twenty-four/seven?”
“Whatever it takes.”
Scarlett had chosen to have Madison’s birthday party at Fontaine Chic’s poolside nightclub, Caprice. During the day, the pool offered a sexy Mediterranean beach-lounge vibe. At night when the well-dressed young crowd showed up, it became an extension of the club.
With all of Madison’s Las Vegas friends too young to drink, Logan had voiced concerns that the eight teenagers would get into trouble, but Scarlett had met the kids and knew that even if they partied on a regular basis, they understood that abusing her trust would lead to all sorts of misfortune in their future.
Everything would go smoothly. It had to. She’d given Logan her word that Madison’s party would be as safe as it was fun. Nothing could get in the way of that. It was the reason she was double-checking her arrangements prior to showtime. She wanted to make sure all the waitstaff knew the kids were underage and shouldn’t be served alcohol no matter what sort of identification they produced.
After an afternoon at the pool, Scarlett had arranged for them to enjoy a suite at Fontaine Richesse. There would be fabulous food, a birthday cake at ten, and later the boys would be escorted home in a limo while the girls enjoyed a slumber party.
Madison had been over the moon with the arrangements, cementing Scarlett’s status as the coolest boss ever. Logan had accused her of buying Madison’s good favor, but his street cred had risen significantly when he’d agreed to Scarlett’s plans.
Scarlett was standing at the entrance to the club when the first of Madison’s guests arrived. Two girls and the boy Madison had been dating for the past couple of weeks. Trent was tall and lean with serious eyes. He had been captain of the basketball team in high school and third in his class. Under his influence, Madison had begun talking more and more about going to college in the fall.
“You all look like you’re ready to have fun,” she said, nodding to the doorman to let them through the velvet rope. “I booked you into cabana four.”
“Is Madison here?” Trent asked.
“She’s having lunch with her uncle,” Scarlett answered. “I expect her any minute.”
“She thinks you’re the best to do all this for her birthday.”
The teenager’s earnest declaration made Scarlett’s heart bump. “I’m happy to do it. You only turn eighteen once.”
As her gaze followed Trent and his two companions across the pool deck, Scarlett thought about her own eighteenth birthday. She’d been doing some pretty hard partying in the year leading up to it. The crowd she ran with in Hollywood had been wealthy and wild, hitting clubs, doing whatever they felt like. She stood watching Madison’s friends and tried to remember when she’d last known such innocuous delight.
“Don’t worry, Scarlett,” the bouncer told her, misinterpreting her melancholy as concern. Dave had biceps the size of full-grown trees and a nose that looked as if it had been broken a few times. “We’ll keep an eye on the kids. Everyone knows that Madison is Logan’s niece.”
“Thanks,