Page 104 of All Bets Are Off

“It wouldn’t have mattered who beat him,” I replied. “He was still going to melt down like a twelve-year-old.”

“You’d better not be talking about me,” Dad raged as he followed us. “I am not behaving like a twelve-year-old.”

“You’re right,” Olivia declared as she turned to face him. “You’re acting worse than a twelve-year-old. Rex showed more grace when I beat him at Monopoly when he was eight.”

For a moment—just a split second really—I thought there was a chance my father was going to lash out with his fist. I’d never seen him so furious. His face was red, and his eyes were practically bulging out of his sockets.

I instinctively stepped between Olivia and him. If he was going to throw a punch, he was going to hit me, not my wife.

Dad didn’t go that far, though. He did bring his fist up in front of him, clench it, and glare at Olivia as if she was his sworn enemy for life. Then he proceeded to gnash his teeth and glare at her.

“Maybe we should go,” I said.

“That would probably be good,” Dad agreed, his breath coming out in heavy gusts. “In fact, that’s my recommendation. Head on out.” There was a challenge in his eyes when he glared at Olivia.

For her part, Olivia didn’t seem all that worried. In fact, her gaze was on my father’s wrist instead of his face.

“That’s an interesting watch,” she said to him.

Dad looked down at the watch, then back at her. “What about it?”

“An infinity symbol,” she replied, “It’s just a catchy design.”

“Well, it was an expensive watch. I would hope it was a catchy design.” As if remembering who he was, the power he wielded, he straightened. “I doubt it would look good on you.”

“Oh, I don’t want it,” Olivia replied. “It’s a bit garish for my taste. I just find the symbol interesting.”

I had no idea where she was going with this, but it was a conversation for later. “Let’s go,” I said to her. “We’ll have a nice dinner when we get back to the strip. Then we’ll go for drinks wherever you want.”

“Don’t tease me,” she deadpanned.

I grinned. “Even the Purple Zebra.”

Dad looked horrified. “Why would you possibly go there?”

“It’s one of our favorite watering holes,” Olivia replied. “We won’t ask you to join us.” She cast the watch one more glance. I wanted to know what she was thinking but knew better than to ask in front of my father. “As always, it was a pleasure seeing you. I can’t wait until we do it again.”

With that she took my hand and gave it a tug toward the parking lot. Apparently, family time was over.

I was relieved … but perturbed. Exactly what had just happened?

25

TWENTY-FIVE

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?” Zach implored as he watched me spread the piles of paper I’d been working with regarding the casino finances across the floor. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

I gave him an amused look. We’d spent the day and a half following the croquet tournament in a protective bubble, just the two of us. He’d suggested we head out to camp again, but it didn’t seem worth the effort when we’d only get about twenty-four hours of bliss. It was a lot of work to set up the tent and haul everything to our spot from the car. Instead, we’d camped in his bedroom, although he’d started referring to it as “our” bedroom. Almost all of my stuff was in there, except for the stack of romance books I’d kept around to annoy him. They were still stacked on the nightstand in my old room.

“We didn’t even get dressed yesterday,” I reminded him as a knock sounded on the door. “Aren’t you sick of me yet?”

“You would think I would be,” he replied. “Not even a little, though.” He strolled to the door and opened it, surprise registering on his face when he realized it was Rex. “Hey, man.”

“Hey.” Rex gave Zach a fist bump, a holdover from when they were kids. “What’s the haps?”

I glared at my brother. “That is the most ridiculous saying,” I complained. “It’s so … eighth grade.” I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

“Aw. Are you feeling left out?” Rex strolled over to me, kissed the top of my head, then made a fake farting noise with his butt near my face before throwing himself on the couch. “Happy now?” he asked as I debated how many different ways I could kill him and get away with it.

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