Page 49 of House Rules
I can’t help but roll my eyes. “Right, okay. A different question.”
“If you must,” Con says. “But we both know that was your real question.”
“What are you going to do now that you’ve been kicked out of school?”
“They’re going to let me back in.” He says it with utmost confidence, like there’s nothing to worry about. And maybe there isn’t. God knows they’ve bought everything else they wanted.
Including me.
My lips twist in a scowl. “Okay. What are you going to do after school?”
He lets out a low, humorless laugh. “As if I have a choice. I will take over the family business. All of the Titan-Wynn properties, and you know that wehave hundreds across the globe. This is just the one that I prefer to stay in.”
“Why?”
“Why do I like staying here, or why don’t I have a choice? What does it matter? I’m trying to watch porn because I’m horny as shit. The hookers won’t get here for a couple hours, and instead of enjoying it with me, you’re being fucking chatty.” Con pushes me off his lap and stands up. “C’mon. We’re going down to the casino. Maybe some poker will take this edge off, since you’re clearly not doing it.” He pulls me to my feet and tugs me toward the door.
Inwardly, I seethe.Whose fault is that?I want to ask. I don’t know what this push-pull is supposed to be accomplishing, but I don’t like it.
At the lobby floor, we step off the elevator and enter the resort casino. The security guard standing at the door doesn’t even blink; owner privilege, I suppose.
Releasing my hand, Con seats himself at one of the poker tables. I move to sit in the seat next to him, but he grabs my hips and pulls me onto his lap.
“Deal me in,” he says, dropping a lot of bills on the table.
I look around, but I don’t see any of the others. I’m guessing Atticus is still upstairs in his suite, but Maverick and Storm should both be down here somewhere. How am I supposed to keep track of them if they’re not all in the same place?
Or maybe Maverick and Storm went upstairs, and even now Atticus is up there telling them how he found me poking around in his room? I found nothing and took nothing, but that doesn’t matter where they’re concerned. It’s a violation.
I chew my lip, anxiety rising higher with every passing hour. I need to find something I can use as leverage, and my windows for doing so are pitifully small. If what Sarah said is true, then the mob is getting impatient, and I don’t know how long they’re going to be content waiting for me to come to them.
“What are you looking at?” Con snaps.
“Just looking to see if the others are down here,” I say, not really thinking about it. Con’s body tenses beneath me, and I wonder if I just fucked up.
“Oh, what’s wrong there, pretty boy?” one of the other men at the table sneers. “You not manenough to take care of that little honey on your own? She gotta call in reinforcements?”
“If I were you, I would shut that fucking mouth, you hillbilly motherfucker,” Con says, standing up with no warning. I go crashing to the floor.
I hit the floor hard, my palms slapping the carpet as my dress rides up. Heads turn. Laughter and gasps sound. A flash of a camera phone blinds me for a moment, and I yank the hem down, rage and panic tangling like wire in my throat.
By the time I’m back on my feet, trying to straighten my dress and balance on these ridiculous heels, Con has his hands around the other man’s throat, and security is trying to pull them apart.
I’m so fired.
16
Con
I watchwith the same smug expression I always have when security breaks up a fight that I start and they kick the other guy out. Phoenix, however, is standing next to me, her arms crossed as her gaze scans the casino.
“What the fuck is your problem?” I bark.
She should be easy by now. Soft around the edges. Breaking in like a pair of custom boots.
But instead, she’s coiled tight and unreadable, and for the first time in weeks, I’m not sure I know what to do with her.
She looks at me and raises a single eyebrow, but doesn’t say a damn thing. Something is up with her.Something is making her jumpy, and I don’t think it’s just the mind games the boys and I have been playing with her.
