Page 16 of He's All In

“Let’s not worry about that tonight.” He puts the plate in front of me, and there’s a giant steak with a baked potato and macaroni on it.

“This is a lot of food,” I tell him, and then I see he’s buttering a roll for me. When he adds it to the overfilled plate, I laugh. “I can’t eat all of this.”

“Then no dessert.” He winks at me.

“Hey.” I pretend to pout, and he shrugs.

“Be a good girl and eat.” He nods to my plate and the rest of the containers. “I’ve got more for Marco when he’s ready.”

I pick up the fork and dig in while Luke puts away the rest of the groceries. For a big man, he moves swiftly, and every movement is precise. Then I recall how easily he read me in the car that first day I met him.

I might not know who Luke truly is yet, but it’s clear he knows what he’s doing and is likely three steps ahead of us all.

Chapter Ten

LUKE

After Kelly ate dinner, I told her to go take a shower while I carried Marco’s food downstairs to him. We ended up gaming for a while, and he asked me some questions about what it is I do for a living. He’s a bright kid, and I could tell that he understands a lot more than anyone gives him credit for. Well, maybe not Kelly. It’s clear she thinks he’s the best kid in the world, and so far I can’t disagree.

After he eats and we talk, he can hardly keep his eyes open. He tells me goodnight as I climb the stairs back to the main floor and set the alarm again. There’s an extra system I like to set at night that’s triggered by motion throughout the house.

On the top floor are spare rooms, but none of them have beds. This isn’t my residence full-time, so I don’t have it set up for more than one or two people to stay. That means it’s the couch for me tonight, but I want to check on Kelly first.

When I nudge open the door of the bedroom, I’m kind of surprised to see her still awake. The bedside lamp is on, and she’s sitting up reading a book.

“What have you got there?” I ask, and she looks up.

“Oh sorry.” She closes it, but I wave her off.

“Don’t be sorry. You can have anything you want.” I don’t miss the way her eyes dart over my body before she holds up the book.

“Whose is this?”

I cock my head to the side so I can read the title and then I smile. “Mine.”

“You like Harry Potter?” She looks skeptical as I go over to the dresser and grab some pajama pants.

“Who doesn’t?” When I glance back at her, I notice she’s wearing the shirt I got out for her earlier.

“I guess me?” She shrugs. “I’ve never read it. We didn’t have a lot of books around our house. Although I’m sure that’s not a big surprise.”

I walk over to the closet and pull my shirt off. I can feel her eyes on me as I toss it into the hamper and then unbutton my pants. When I look over my shoulder, I see her quickly turn away before I take those off too and pull on the pajama pants.

“It was one of the first things I remember reading in my foster home,” I say as I walk back over to the bed.

“You were in foster care?” I nod, and she gets a sad look in her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I had it pretty good with the places I stayed. The first home had a ton of books, and I remember them telling me I could have as many as I wanted. I didn’t read much, so I just grabbed the first one I saw. They didn’t have a TV, so there wasn’t much else to do.”

“What happened to your parents?” Kelly asks quietly, and I decide to throw caution to the wind and stretch out on the bed beside her.

She’s still tucked under the blankets while I’m lying on top, so that makes this totally not sexual. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.

“My birth mom died right after I was born, and I went into the system. My bio dad was in and out of jail until he died a few years back. Nothing special.”

“Sounds familiar.” She turns on her side to face me, and we stare at each other for a long moment. “Will you tell me who you had to call earlier?”

“My foster brother Maxim. He did some data work for me in the past, and I asked him for help. He made it look like the transaction took place. I wasn’t going to give your father the money, but he made it look like I did. It gives you some breathing room.”

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