Page 55 of Vengeful Vows

Patrick’s face goes suddenly blank. “Fair enough.”

Now everything’s awkward, and I guess I’ve made it that way. I just don’t like to tell everyone that she abandoned me when I was a kid.

Declan puts an arm around my shoulders. “Bree won a lot at slots, too,” he says, even though I’d only won that first little bit.

“I told you the slots were amazing!” Paige says. “Lara won fifteen grand in one pull once.”

Lara beams. “I did. It was that big one, you know, the one right by the door? They say it never hits, but it certainly hit that night.”

I smile and listen, nodding, as they tell me about their last Vegas trip. It’s fun to hear their stories, and eventually Patrick loosens up.

“You want to hear the one where Declan got arrested?”

Declan chokes on his wine.

“Da—”

But Patrick continues, “He’d won nearly eighty thousand at Blackjack. And I keep telling him, boyo, go around the tables. Different dealers. They’ll think you’re cheating. But he wouldn’t listen. So, what do you think happened?”

I look at Declan, grinning and remembering the night that the guards came after us.

“They accused him of cheating?”

“Absolutely! Threw him in the casino jail, but the cops didn’t have any proof, so they let him go. He was banned from Caesar’s Palace by twenty-one.”

“Then how did we?—”

“An alias, princess.”

“What’s your alias?” I ask, and then blink. “Do I have an alias?”

“Eliza,” Declan answers. “And I’m James.”

“James and Eliza.” I giggle at the strange sounding names. “What about our last name?”

“Smith.”

I burst out laughing at the absurdity of it.

“Mr. and Mrs. Smith? Really?”

“I told you it was hackneyed,” Gray pipes in, and I’m laughing even harder as Declan pouts in my general direction.

It’s a fun dinner, and we’re all laughing and talking until dessert is over.

Paige clears her throat. “I have an announcement to make.”

All eyes turn to her.

“So… um… I want to find my own place.”

“What? Absolutely not!” Patrick is so red I’m waiting for fumes to come out of his ears.

“Come on, Da. I’m an adult, but most of the time, I feel like everyone around here forgets. I just want to try it. Please? On a trial basis?”

“Paige…” Patrick sighs. The silence around the table is so heavy it is almost palpable.

“Dad, I need to know if I can survive out there without being sheltered all the time. Please!”

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