Page 120 of All Bets Are Off

A husky voice moved in at my back as warmth suffused me. I didn’t have to look over my shoulder to know who it was. Zach had been coming in and out of the conference room I’d commandeered for my forensic accounting project at regular intervals. For months. It helped that I was only two doors down from him. That made office nookie—that’s what he called it … and maybe I played the game a bit too—so much more convenient.

“I think I’m done,” I replied, taking a step back so I could look at each white board that had been erected—so many that there wasn’t much extra space to move around in the room—in turn.

“You’re done with what?” His arms moved around my waist, and he nuzzled his face in my neck. “You’d better not be talking about me.”

He might not have been able to see my eyeroll, but he was familiar enough with my mannerisms to know it was there. “Don’t start.”

“Don’t start what?” His lips grazed my neck.

“You know.” I extricated myself from him just enough that I could turn and face him. The love on his face was evident, and even months after we’d said it for the first time, I marveled that he was mine.

“What are you thinking?” he asked when I’d been quiet for several seconds.

“I’m thinking that I never knew you could be mine. I just … never thought it was possible.”

“And now that you have me?” His eyes twinkled with flirty intent. “Do you pinch yourself every morning?”

“That’s you.”

“Yes, well … you’re just so pinchable.” As if to prove it, he pinched my butt and caused me to give him a dirty look. “Ah, there’s that face I love so much.” He cupped my chin and gave me a lingering kiss that was only disturbed because someone decided to clear his throat in the open doorway.

“You guys are officially gross,” Rex complained as he walked into the room. He was used to finding us in random places on the executive floor at this point. We usually had our tongues down each other’s throats, our hands up skirts and down pants, and bras hanging from doorknobs. He was horrified each and every time.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Zach pulled me tight against his chest, not letting me escape, and fixed my brother with an annoyed look. “If you know we’re being gross—your word, not mine—why do you keep tracking us down? It’s as if you want to be grossed out.”

Rex shrugged. “It’s better to catch you before things get out of hand, right?”

“If you say so.”

“I know so.” Rex tugged on a hank of my hair, proving himself the ultimate older brother. “Your mom wants you inthe executive office. She thinks she has a final plan for going forward.”

“Really?” I perked up. Cora had been working on “the plan” for what felt like forever at this point. She’d also managed to end the dancer strike the first week after Ryder was ousted. Once she’d publicly committed to their plan, the other casinos had fallen in line. The club owners had no choice but to acquiesce once that happened.

“Are you sure you’re okay with Opal being named Chief Executive Officer?” Rex asked.

Zach nodded without hesitation. “She’s more prepared. She’ll be good at it.”

Since Ryder had lost his position, the rest of the Stone family had banded together to form an immovable wall. They’d put their combined knowledge together, and Stone Group was running better than it ever had.

Ryder still complained of course. He had a position on the board, but he had so few shares now he had almost no voice in what happened with the company. I had no doubt he was trying to figure out a way to come back into power—that’s who he was after all—but right now, he was basically impotent. Even his mistress was squawking about leaving him. He was taking care of her and their child—barely—but neither of them were happy with their new living arrangements. They’d been moved to a regular room on the second floor of the casino … far, far away from where Zach and I lived.

Cora had filed for divorce—it seemed the prenuptial agreement Ryder had signed at the behest of her father was ironclad—and she was the one swimming in money. Since the house had been bought with Stone Group funds, he didn’t even get a chunk of that pie. He was well and truly screwed, only bringing in about twenty grand a month. By a normal person’sstandards, that was a lot of money. By his standards, he was practically destitute.

I laughed about it whenever I saw him, which was fairly often now that I was working on the executive floor. I wasn’t technically a part of the accounting team. Currently, I was considered a consultant. Zach was insisting that I be brought on full time, though, and everybody with the last name Stone—except for Ryder of course—was backing the move. I’d found several other creative accounting “errors” in the books. Cora had paid the money back so that wouldn’t be an issue, but she was holding the money over Ryder’s head to get him to sign off on the divorce without fighting it.

He was not happy about any of it.

“Well, they’re all in there,” Rex said. “They want to hammer things out so they can get the PR team working on a press release. Once Opal takes charge, then it’s going to be a free-for-all with the press.”

“Don’t they already know something is going on?” I asked. “I mean … your father had to publicly resign. They must suspect that things aren’t exactly copacetic in the Stone family.”

“I’m sure they’ve been digging,” Zach confirmed. “That’s why we have to get ahead of them. I’m all for making the announcement this week.”

“Okay, well … I’ll go tell them you’re on your way.” Rex sent us a significant look. “Just for the record, you don’t have time to be gross before you’re expected to meet with them.”

Zach snickered. “There’s always time to be gross. It’s okay, though. My plans for your sister can wait until after the romantic dinner I will be taking her on later this evening.”

“So gross,” Rex muttered as he disappeared from sight. Then, because he was Rex, he yelled from the hallway. “So, so gross!”

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