Page 37 of Risky Bet

He nodded. “You’re right. But I clearly need to do a better job. I’m working on investigating every member of my board and every staff member that had access to my signature stamp. I’m learning that entirely too many people had access to it and that’s definitely going away.”

She blew some stray hairs out of her face. “I need to just be on my own and think for a while. I’m going to my room. I would appreciate a heads up if you think they’re going to come search my room.”

He watched her stand and take one of the pizza boxes with her.

“Rylee, I’m really sorry.”

She bent and kissed his cheek. “I believe you. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

12

♠♠♠

Back in her room, Rylee sat on the bed with her beer and a box of pizza and tried to process how she felt. On the one hand, she felt used and tricked. On the other, he was genuinely contrite and clearly going through a lot. Not to mention, their chemistry had been off the charts and there was no sign that he knew who she was when they first met. Her mind drifted to their first kiss, their first scene and their first time to make love.

She’d taken a lot of risks and bet big on Memphis Foster, and if she weren’t careful, she would lose everything.

How was she going to figure out the right thing to do?

Her phone rang.

“Mom, I told you I would talk to you in the morning.”

“I know, but I needed you to hear this. Everett Miller called me tonight.”

“Who?”

“Everett Miller. He’s the CEO of Miller Holdings.”

Her eyes went wide.

“When did he call?”

“A couple hours ago. He wanted to let me know the company was returning my initial investment with an additional fifteen percent. We’re going to be fine, honey. You can come home if you want.”

If Memphis had a hand in this, it would have been between their blow up this morning and their meeting in the gym.

“That’s fantastic, Mom. Now hire a damn financial adviser and listen to them.”

“Rylee, please. You know how I feel about that language.”

“I’m serious, Mom. You’ve almost lost everything too many times. The things you do with your money are way riskier than anything I do at the poker table.”

Her mother was likely rolling her eyes, but she didn’t care. The woman needed to learn.

When she ended the call with her mom, she scrolled to the entry for Memphis and clicked the message icon.

Thank you. I don’t know what you did or said to Everett Miller but thank you.

He didn’t respond at first and she thought maybe she’d been wrong about him being involved, but as she was changing into pajamas, her phone dinged.

You’re welcome. I’m sorry. I miss you.

As she was thinking of going to sleep, her phone lit up with a phone call. It was Carla. Fuck, she’d forgotten her friend mentioned wanting to visit Vegas. Reluctantly, she hit accept on the screen.

“I have the next three days off. I’ll be in Vegas at three tomorrow afternoon.”

“Do you just not believe in saying hello?”

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