Page 122 of Brazen Mistakes

“Look at the shape of his eyes, the angle of his chin,” I say.

“Beautiful, I’m sure you’ve spent a whole lot more time staring at RJ’s jawline than I have.”

I scoff and turn back to the computer. There’s only one way to know for sure.

A few clicks later, it’s obvious. A photo of the mystery man with Trish and another girl, most likely Jade, is his profile picture. “Shit.”

Jansen’s face crumples. “Damn it. We need to call RJ. Get him here soon.”

“How bad is it that we’ve let Maurice Moore join our table?” I ask as the dealer calls everyone back, a new hand dealt while Jansen and I confer.

Jansen deflates, not getting up. Eventually he answers. “Once he gets going, he ends up betting enough to lose the house. RJ’s parents’ house. Every time.”

As if he can hear us, I watch RJ’s dad as he peeks at his cards, tapping a chip against the edge before pushing mostof his pile to the middle of the table. I glance at Donna, her expression horrified.

“How does he know Donna?” I ask, suddenly worried about RJ’s mom.

“No idea. I’m going to go get Trips up here, then call RJ. I’ll text Walker so he knows what’s up.”

I nod, turning back to RJ’s dad as he holds.

Time dilates as I watch RJ’s dad play, only breaking my attention when my phone buzzes. I pull it out, finding a message from Walker.

He’s leaned across the bar, chatting with Donna. The message has one word: work.

That makes sense. At least she didn’t say they were dating. Even so, I’m worried. This is the opposite of helping RJ’s dad.

I text Walker back a thumbs-up, then pull up RJ’s number. After a breath, I message him, using the code they set up.

Does your dad like hot coffee?

Not the clearest message, but hopefully dad plus danger will get his attention.

Nothing comes back, my foot tapping against the floor.

A shadow falls over my shoulder, and I click the laptop closed. The exceptionally bland man I noticed earlier perches on the arm of the chair, his mask a scarf style like Zorro, and I tense.

“How could they put such a lovely creature to work?” he asks.

I stand, already moving to the bar. “Because there’s more to a woman than her looks,” I bite back, leaving the strange man behind.

Walker’s ready for me, pulling a stool behind the bar for me to sit on. I slide my laptop onto a shelf and perch there, keeping RJ’s dad in my line of sight, the other man blending in well enough that I’ve already lost him. Walker wraps himself around me like a blanket and a little tension leaves me. Not much, but it’s something. “It’ll be okay,” he whispers in my ear, and for some dumb reason, I feel like crying.

“Will it?” I ask, not turning.

“What do you know about RJ’s dad?”

“That he has a gambling problem. A bad one.”

Donna slides to our side of the bar with a smile. “Hello, dear. I disappear for a few months, and they find a new addition.” She holds out her hand, and I take it. “I’m Donna.”

“Clara.”

She seems to have caught where I’m looking. “Don’t tell me you’re curious about my plus-one, too.”

“Why aren’t you playing? It didn’t look like you wanted to give up your seat.”

She shrugs. “I’ve been trying to cut back. I was worried playing might become a problem. But a masquerade? How could I turn down that invitation? And Maurice has been bugging me to try out your game for a while. So I asked. I was surprised his wife was okay with him coming out on New Years, but who am I to judge?”

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