10. Jezebel

CHAPTER 10

JEZEBEL

P riest would have condoms in the nightstand. He might have been a fool when it came to women, but even he wasn’t dumb enough to get a member of the one-minute wives club pregnant. Cole carried me into the bedroom—I managed to swipe the teddy bear into the laundry hamper as we passed—and set me on the bed, then unbuttoned his shirt. He was dressed smarter today, in suit pants and a white dress shirt with the top button undone. No tie. Damn, he was so pretty. And this apartment was cursed because whatever affliction Priest suffered from when it came to the opposite sex, it was affecting me too.

I pulled off my T-shirt.

And hoped Priest had replaced the mattress after wife number six because the thought of him— Never mind. Thinking wasn’t my strong suit right now. Cole unbuckled my belt, and I raised my hips so he could wriggle my jeans over my hips. Marcel had bought the jeans as a “sorry your life sucks” gift when I couldn’t fit the cast into my regular pants, and I looked as if I was about to skateboard into a hip-hop video .

“What happened to your leg?”

I glanced down at my thigh and saw a dark shadow where blood had seeped past the stitches onto the underside of the dressing. To lie or not to lie? That was the question.

And for me, there was only one answer.

“My friend has a California kingsnake who’s a real escape artist, and he got out again. I mean, the good news is that I found him.”

“He bit you?”

“I think he was scared. The worst part was that he coiled around my leg and wouldn’t let go.”

“Did you get it checked out by a doctor?”

“He said it was nothing to worry about. Maybe you could just take my mind off the problem instead of talking?”

“Is that a good idea?” Cole asked.

“I’m not a china doll. You won’t break me.”

“Bella, you’re literally on crutches, and your thigh is injured. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Then the door’s that way.”

He hesitated, and for a moment, I thought he might actually leave. Which would have been for the best. But after a moment, he hooked his thumbs into my panties and slid them down.

“Good choice,” I murmured as he nudged my legs apart and settled his face between them. There were far better uses for this man’s mouth than talking. He said he wasn’t a man who paid for sex, but if he charged for it, he could make a fortune.

And he insisted on doing all the work. Cowgirl was out of the question, but I wouldn’t have been averse to doggy with a side of spanking if he’d let me do anything other than lie on my back. It was strangely sweet. Which was another red flag. Bastian had been overly considerate in bed, and I’d tucked the dark parts of myself away, ready to compromise in the search for a perfect relationship. But now I had no idea how much of him had been real. Looking back, I thought that perhaps he’d been too nice. Too good to be true.

Because our whole relationship had been a lie.

But Cole wasn’t Bastian. As far as Echo could tell, his life was in San Gallicano, and if Brax hadn’t lost his mind and decided to get married with twenty-four hours’ notice, our paths would never have crossed at the Black Diamond. I hadn’t even decided whether to attend the ceremony until an hour before he said “I do.”

The pills were wearing off when I came for the third time, and a sharp twinge of pain shot up my thigh. I gritted my teeth as Cole buried his face in the crook of my neck and grunted his release.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m glad your car broke down,” he said as he rolled off me. “Back in a second.”

He headed for the bathroom while I sorted through the jumble of feelings in my head. I wasn’t entirely unhappy that Thelma had thrown another mechanical tantrum, but I was angry with myself. I should have been able to resist temptation. On the other hand, I didn’t have anything critical on today’s schedule, and Priest was always telling me to loosen up. More than once, burnout had been mentioned. I denied that, of course, but secretly, I felt charred around the edges.

And I’d never admit it, but the two-night stand with Cole hadn’t been terrible either. He remembered what I liked from the first time around, and he’d given me a repeat performance. Would another visit to his house be out of the question? Obviously, I’d have to make damn sure I wasn’t followed this time, but I could put cameras outside just in case. Maybe motion sensors too, and? —

“I’d better head off.” Cole stooped to pick up his shirt, and I propped myself up on my elbows. His tone had changed. “Thanks for a good time.”

“You okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because thirty seconds ago, you were inside me, and now you’re running for the door. You’re buttoning your shirt up wrong, by the way.”

He glanced down, sighed, and began undoing the buttons. “Look, it’s fine. You made it clear there were no feelings on your part, so…” He shook his head. “No regrets.”

What was wrong with him? I sprang to my feet, then instantly regretted it when red-hot pain exploded in my ankle. Fuck. I stumbled across to the bathroom because what the hell had happened in there? It was spotless, a small room with the soul of a hotel en-suite and a frosted window with a leaf pattern. The toiletries looked unused, including…ah. The man’s shaver on the vanity. And who had left the toilet seat up?

“I use that to shave my legs,” I blurted. That was only half a lie. I used to borrow Bastian’s shaver sometimes when he wasn’t around.

Cole paused, one leg in his pants.

“I might be a bitch, but I’m not a cheater,” I told him.

“I thought… I don’t know what I thought. I don’t want to break up a relationship.”

“There is no relationship. You think I’d have brought you here if I had a boyfriend?”

“I kind of invited myself.”

“True. But I didn’t have to let you in.”

He sank onto the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry. I guess because I’ve been in the other guy’s shoes, I always jump to the worst conclusion.”

“Your girlfriend cheated on you? ”

“My fiancée, but yeah.”

“I could poke out her eyes if that would help?”

The offer earned me half a smile. “It was a long while ago.”

“But it still hurts.”

“Yeah. It does. But enough about my problems; we’re supposed to be having a good time here.”

“I don’t mind listening to your problems, just as long as you don’t expect me to unload my baggage in return.”

After all, knowledge was power.

“You have baggage?” Cole asked.

“Doesn’t everyone?” I settled back onto the bed. Much as I hated to admit it, Doc Martinsson had made a good point about resting. “I know you said your boss was cool, but don’t you have to go back to work at some point?”

“Trying to get rid of me?”

“Trying not to get you fired.”

He lay back down beside me, hands behind his head. “I might have skated around the truth there. Technically, I am the boss, even if I have no idea what I’m doing.”

I turned onto my side, head propped up on a hand. “How does that work? Did you sleep your way to the top?”

Thankfully, he took it as the joke I’d intended. “No, my uncle died, and I inherited his business as well as his house. One day, I was chilling on a boat in the Caribbean; the next, I found myself responsible for keeping hundreds of people in jobs and running a casino that’s drowning in debt.” He sighed dramatically. “Most days, I want to walk out the door and just keep on walking.”

We knew about the Galaxy and had an idea of the debt, but the fact that Cole hated the place was new information.

“A casino?”

“The Galaxy.”

“Wow. Couldn’t you hire a manager to run it for you? ”

“There’s no money to pay a manager. I can’t even pay myself.”

“Have you considered selling the place?”

Another sigh. “Yeah. That was my first plan. But the only decent offer is from the casino next door. They want to knock the place down and turn the land into a golf course.”

“Great, another golf course. Because the water levels in Lake Mead haven’t dropped far enough yet.”

“Exactly. But it’s not only the environmental impact, it’s the staff. They’d all lose their jobs, and in this economy, it wouldn’t be easy for them to find new ones.”

“So what’s your plan?”

“At the moment? I don’t really have one. I’m still going through the finances and records, trying to work out where we can cut costs. The staff already got together and offered to take a pay cut if it would save their jobs, but I don’t think it’ll be enough. I’m not a businessman. Yes, I’ve been running my own business for several years, but that’s just me, the boat, and a couple of casual deckhands when I need them.”

“Are you covering the debt payments?”

“I think so.”

“You don’t know for sure?”

“We’re covering what we owe to the banks, barely. But soon after I got here, a guy showed up in my office. Jimmy. He said Uncle Mike borrowed money from him, but I can’t find any paperwork, and he hasn’t produced any.”

Okay, this was new.

“So he was a con artist?”

“I don’t know. I hope so. The first visit, he was polite, but then he came back two weeks later and told me I’d be sorry if I didn’t start making the payments.”

A chill ran through me, and it had nothing to do with the AC because that was woefully inadequate.

“Sorry in what way? ”

“He didn’t get into the specifics, just said the payments were two hundred thousand in arrears and he knew where I lived.”

Uh-oh. Who didn’t like paperwork but were fond of threats? Loan sharks. Could Uncle Mike really have been that stupid? Desperate men did desperate things.

“How were you supposed to make the payments? It isn’t like casinos keep piles of cash lying around these days.”

“Bitcoin. He left me a card with a Bitcoin address. I’ve told security not to let him into the building again, but…” Cole trailed off, and I knew why. Security at the Galaxy wasn’t that good.

“Bitcoin? That sounds hinky.”

“The Galaxy was the first resort on the Strip to accept payment in cryptocurrency. Bitcoin and Ethereum. I think it was one of Uncle Mike’s last-gasp schemes to make the hotel profitable again, and it did generate some publicity, but the financial controller says there’s not much available in the crypto accounts. Wallets? I think they’re called wallets.”

You didn’t keep the crypto in the wallet. The crypto lived on the blockchain, and the wallet merely held the keys to access it—I’d learned that much from Echo.

“What’s the address? Maybe a geek could find the owner?”

“I left the card on my desk, but I think the cleaner must have picked it up because now I can’t find it. Not that it matters. Even if the company owes the money, we can’t afford to settle the debt right away.”

“Did Jimmy pay you a visit at home?”

Cole shook his head. “Could be he was just trying to scare me? A con artist, like you said.”

It was possible. But would a con artist send four gunmen to a man’s house to scare him? Unlikely. Until now, the evidence had suggested those men had come for me, not Cole, but what if he’d inherited more than a failing casino? What if Uncle Mike had left him a whole heap of trouble?

“Anything’s possible,” I said. “Do you carry a gun?”

“Hell no.”

“Maybe you should start?”

“No way. I hate those things.” Awkward. Hope he never looks in my purse. “I also hate the idea of going back to work, but the Galaxy won’t run itself. The staff aren’t used to making decisions.”

“Most people would take the golf course money and run.”

“I couldn’t sleep at night if I did that. Maybe I can’t save the Galaxy, but I have to at least try.”

And I had to track down Jimmy. Because if he was the man who’d sent the thugs to Cole’s home, then the Galaxy wasn’t the only thing in danger of coming to an unpleasant end.

Fortunately, I knew just the woman to help me.