Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
She released the gas, letting the minivan grow further away. Putting on her turn signal, she moved into the right lane and onto the next exit. Glancing down the road, she caught a final glimpse of the van before it disappeared from sight.
Soon. Soon, this task would be done. Bell Hartley would be dead. Dario Capece would be punished. Robert would be pleased, and Gwen’s marriage would be saved. All thanks to her.
It would be the biggest test Robert Hawk had ever given her.
So far, she had failed. But soon. Soon, she would succeed.
* * *
BELL
“I’d like you to stay in the suite tonight.”
I looked over, halfway through a Sudoku puzzle I had already screwed up. “Tonight?” I made a face. “I’ve got laundry to do.” With my last two weeks filled with work, Dario, and exams, my dirty clothes pile had accumulated into a mountain. Now that the semester had ended, I had no excuse.
“Do it there.” He rested one hand on the steering wheel, his other on my thigh.
“You want me to go home, pack up all my dirty laundry, and take it to The Majestic?” I laughed. “No.”
“You know, we have services for that.”
“I don’t want some stranger going through my dirty clothes.” Though… maybe I could get over that. The thought of never doing laundry again was definitely tempting. I turned the page and started a fresh puzzle.
“You can do laundry tomorrow. Just stay there tonight.”
I looked up, curious at his insistence. “Is it a sex thing? You had one taste at what I’ve got, and now you need it every night?”
He chuckled. “It’s not a sex thing.”
“Is it my sparkling personality? You need more of it?”
He grinned and released my thigh, stealing my hand and pulling it into his lap. “Guilty. I am addicted to your sparkling personality.”
“That’s a common issue, you know.” I straightened in my seat. “I have to send certified letters and hire professionals to handle the personality stalkers. It’s exhausting.”
He lifted my hand and ran his lips over my thumb, then gently nipped it. “I will try not to be exhausting. And I refuse to accept certified letters.”
I giggled when he flicked his tongue over my knuckle, the flutter reminding me of his talent against my clit. I shifted in the seat, and his gaze darkened.
“You’re lucky you’re wearing jeans. If you were in a skirt right now…” He shook his head, his eyes on the road.
“If I were in a skirt, I’d have my panties pulled to the side and your fingers inside me.”
He made a sound low in his throat, one that sounded suspiciously like a growl. “Dirty girl.”
I laughed. “Not … yet.”
I unbuckled my seatbelt and flipped up the armrest. He watched the action, his mouth curving into a smile. Then, I took full advantage of the minivan’s lack of center console and got on my knees, unzipping his pants and taking him into my hand. As we grew closer to Vegas, I showed him exactly how dirty my mouth could be.
* * *
GWEN
Her husband was nervous. She could see it in the stern jerk of his head at the waiter, the way his fingers drummed on the table, the adjustment of his tie.
She waited until their drinks were served, then leaned forward. “What’s wrong? Is it something that happened in San Diego? Or…” She looked down at her place setting, moving the silverware into a neat row. “Has my father done something?”
Ever since that lunch with her father, she’d been filled with a sense of dread, the weight of an impending event. She’d tried to follow its thread, tried to figure out its source. Nick at the ranch? Something with Dario?
“Your father hasn’t done anything.” He smiled at her, a gesture meant to reassure her. It didn’t work. She’d seen enough of his smiles to know which ones meant what. There was the smile he gave when he was amused. The one that spoke of fondness. The one that was forced. The one that hid something.
This smile was that last sort.
She sighed. “Just tell me. Whatever it is. You’re driving me mad.”
His jaw tightened, and he finally, after a long period of silence, nodded. “I’m in love with someone. The new waitress I met.”
In some ways, it was as unexpected as a bomb. While she had fallen in love with Nick, Dario had always been the casual one. All the women he’d been with … none of them had kept his interest or posed a threat to her. Sure, the women had developed attachments to him. It was hard to be around Dario and not fall in love with him. He was so big, so impressive in everything he did. She remembered the night she met him—before he ruled over Vegas, back when he was just a casino general manager. Even then, he’d taken her breath away. So sexy. So brooding. So intense and charismatic. When he’d looked at her, it had been as if he really saw her. When he listened to her, it was as if he took each word in and valued them.