Page 17 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 1

I got into the limo and scrambled to the side. The driver put my pilfered luggage in the trunk along with the woman’s things.

She entered smoothly and her driver shut the door. Her onyx-colored gaze set upon me, and I felt like a bug under a microscope about to be dissected.

“What is your name?” she asked.

“Are you taking me to the cops?” I asked, ignoring her question.

She shook her head. “No. I’m taking you to the hotel where I have my offices.”

“Why?” I croaked, wondering what it meant that she was taking me to her workplace. Which happened to be a hotel.

“Because you said you needed a place to stay tonight. I’m in the position to provide you with one.” She smiled primly.

“I don’t understand. Why would you help me when I just tried to steal from you?” I frowned.

The woman adjusted the watch I’d tried to steal and smiled almost sweetly. “Let’s just say I’ve been in your position before. The kindness of a stranger can go a long way. Now what is your name?”

“Maia.” I cleared my throat. “Maia Fields.”

“Nice to meet you, Maia. You can call me Madam Alana.”

The slamming of the door on the toilet stall next to me snapped me out of the reverie. I stared down at the wallet I’d taken off Mr. Salt & Pepper.

Rhodes Davenport was his name.

Address on his ID stated Los Angeles, California. Must be here on business or pleasure. Though I never understood why anyone wanted to come to Las Vegas for pleasure. It was a shit hole. A place where people lost their houses and college funds for their kids, all in the hopes of winning big. There was a saying in Vegas: The house always wins. And it did. It was fact, and yet people came to Sin City by the droves, desperate to change their lives for the better.

Never happened, but they kept coming.

I scanned the rest of the info on the card. He was thirty-eight years old, six feet even, and two hundred and twenty pounds. He had several credit cards I didn’t care about, including a fancy-ass black American Express. Those meant the guy I’d grifted from was obscenely wealthy. Only people that had bookoo bucks had one of those. It was like finding a unicorn. I could easily rob this man for thousands and he’d likely not even notice. Then I thought back to the bratty-ass daughter with him. She’d been a piece of work. Demanding he carry her bags, talking to him in that bitchy tone I noticed spoiled teens often used.

The fact that he even cared should have meant something to her.

And then I’d swooped in and had taken his wallet and phone. Goddamn. It suddenly made me feel like shit. He’d been super sweet to me too. He'd worried I’d been hurt when I was the one who’d created the entire incident in order to steal from him. I looked in the long space that held cash. It was loaded with green bills. A few hundreds, a couple fifties, and a wad of twenties. I pocketed the cash and left the rest.

I’d give it back. The phone, too, even though it would have scored me a couple hundred with my contact.

I fought with myself internally as I watched Rhodes from a distance, speaking with his daughter at the baggage carousel and then walking outside.

If I was going to let my conscience lead, I needed to move now. I approached the teenager who’d just gotten off the phone.

“Hey, um, I ran into your dad earlier and he dropped these.” I handed her the phone and wallet.

“Ugh, he’s so dumb. How could he lose his wallet and phone at the same time?” Her expression twisted into an ugly one that did nothing for her natural beauty.

“Stranger things have happened. Besides, he was making sure I was okay. He blocked my fall and ended up slamming into the concrete. If you’d been with him, you might have seen it. He was a real hero. Prevented me from getting hurt,” I added for some insane reason, talking him up to his kid.

Why was I defending my mark?

I was losing it. Must have been. It was the only explanation.

“A hero? My Dad? Pffftttt. Hardly. He never does anything that isn’t work related. Unless he’s trying to annoy me.” She sighed dramatically and wrapped a long curl of blonde hair around her finger.

“Maybe he just wants to connect with you?” I asked flippantly.

What. The. Fuck.

I was getting too involved. I needed to shut this down ASAP.

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