Page 91 of High Roller

“Because I wanted to make sure it was legit, and I wanted to focus on losing them instead of on you losing your shit.”

He has a fair point, but I suspect Victor won’t see it that way.

Surprisingly, he doesn’t protest.

“You’re sure you lost the tail before you got here?”

“I had Bellamy on the cameras for me. She sent license plates to Luke to run for me. We’re as sure as we can be.”

Victor nods tersely. “I’m putting in for a few days off at the casino.”

Owen shakes his head. “We need to keep things business as usual. You’ve got security out here and we’ll take turns keeping an eye on your guests.”

Victor grips the counter, and I can tell he’s biting his tongue.

“I’m not going to try and escape if that’s what you’re worried about,” I offer. My momentary contemplation in Owen’s driveway was enough to put me off the idea, and there’s definitely no way for me to get anywhere all the way out here in the middle of nowhere.

He narrows his eyes as if he wants to say something to me, but he changes his mind.

“We’ll touch base after I get home and dig into who was in those cars,” Owen says.

“They’ll have covered their tracks,” Victor grumbles.

Owen winks at me as he heads for the door. “Probably. But we can learn a lot about a person based on how they cover their tracks.”

When Owen is gone, I stand awkwardly in the foyer looking between Grace and Victor, who haven’t moved.

“Is there a bedroom or somewhere I can lie down? I’m exhausted.”

Grace jumps up and looks at Victor. “I can show her.”

Victor nods. “Thank you, butterfly.”

I follow Grace quietly up the stairs to a large guest room with its own bathroom. “You should be comfortable here. If you need anything specific, let me or Victor know. There’s a den down the hall where you can read or watch TV. The only room we’re not really allowed in is Victor’s office, but he keeps that locked.”

I nod and squeeze her shoulders. “Thank you, Grace. I know all of this is hard on you.”

She laughs and waves her hand. “It’s just another day in the life of The Sin City Suits.”

I look at her with a questioning stare. “Sin City Suits? Is that what they call themselves?”

“It’s mostly an inside joke. I think it’s fitting. I’ve never met four, five now if you count Tobias, men who look that good in suits. And they all have very particular preferences about the suits they wear. It’s a little comical, given their backgrounds.”

It makes me chuckle, but Victor hollers for Grace to get back downstairs before I get the opportunity to say anything else.

When I’m alone, I sit on the bed and contemplate how the hell I ended up here. I should be strategizing with my team about how to handle a divorce without completely ruining myself financially. Instead, I’m sitting in a criminal’s guest room lusting after two people I can’t have.

Chapter 28

Grace

Victorsoundsangryashe shouts my name from the bottom of his stairs, so I quickly say goodnight to Lili and head in his direction.

He is pacing at the foot of the stairs when I reach him, and I touch his arm to slow him down.

“Is everything OK?”

He stops and stares at me for a moment, as if he didn’t realize I was there. “It’s complicated, Mariposa. There are things you don’t know. And some things no one knows. And I suspect they are impacting all of this. We are missing essential information we need to figure out what to do next.”

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