Sucker Bet (Vegas Vampires #4)(9)
Author: Erin McCarthy

"Brittany had a girl. Ava Coco Renee Atelier."

"Now that’s a hell of a name."

Gwenna laughed. She couldn’t tell from Nate’s still expression if he liked it or not, but she suspected he thought it was a bit much. "Britanny’s husband is French." And a couple of hundred years old, but Nate didn’t need to know that.

"But they live here?"

"Yes. Like I said, my brother is married to Brittany’s sister, Alexis. My brother owns a casino here."

"Which one?"

"The Ava."

"Wow." Nate looked impressed. "He owns it?"

"Yes." Gwenna hoped he didn’t think she was bragging. But Ethan had always been successful because he worked hard. Beyond hard. He was exhausting in his productivity.

"But you’re not American."

It wasn’t a question. She shrugged. "No. I’m British. I’ve been living in York, but I came here for my brother’s wedding last August, then came back in December and decided to stay."

"Is your ex Roberto in England?"

Gwenna glanced at him in surprise. Had she said Roberto’s name? She suddenly realized she couldn’t read Nate’s mind. Most humans came across easily to her, their thoughts floating across her consciousness like white noise until she tuned in, but with Nate there was only silence. Maybe that was because he was a detective, and used to shuttering and shielding his emotions.

"No, Roberto lives here."

"So why would you want to be where he is if he’s harassing you?"

It felt like an accusation. Gwenna was tired as hell of having to explain herself, of having to work her life around Roberto and all her mistakes. "Why should I let him keep me from living by my family?" she asked, hearing the defensiveness in her voice.

He lifted his coffee cup and drank from it. Those eyes watched her, and she realized there was no judgment there. "You shouldn’t, unless your personal safety is at risk."

Sighing, she ran her fingernail across the cocktail napkin her coffee was resting on. She’d painted her nails a rather bright red the day before, which was uncharacteristic for her. But she’d suddenly felt the urge to be bold. "My personal safety isn’t at risk. Honestly, Roberto would never hurt me. And he can’t really get close to me anyway, not if I don’t want him to." Of course, he had just knocked on her suite door earlier that night. But she could have called security if necessary. "Ethan has staff that keeps an eye on Roberto. And me for that matter." Ethan thought she had no idea that he had her followed on occasion, but she was well aware of it.

She knew everything.

And she was a bird in a cage. Or to be more accurate, a bat confined to her cave.

"Staff? Like bodyguards?"

Nodding, Gwenna realized this probably wasn’t the best topic for conversation with the detective who was investigating the murder she had discovered. Lunatic ex-husbands and personal security… she was bound to either convince him she was guilty of something, or send him screaming away from her and the mess her life was.

The first would be disastrous, the second disappointing.

Because the truth was, even at the crime scene, she had been aware that Detective Thomas was a very attractive man, in a rough sort of way. Sipping the coffee carefully, she checked out Nate’s muscular arms and chiseled face. Definitely good-looking, and she could absolutely appreciate that. It had been a long three centuries in York, and it occurred to her that his muscular build could very possibly keep up with her immortal strength. Or at least close enough to satisfy her. Hell, she suspected it wouldn’t require much to take care of her at this point… some days it felt like a warm breeze might do the trick, and Nate looked like a very sexual man. He could give her a run—or a ride—for her money. Not that she would actually do anything about it, but it was a pleasant fantasy in the quiet, warm shop.

"You’re lucky you can have security like that. Hopefully it will keep your ex from ever getting physical with you." Nate held up his hand when she started to protest. "Look, I know you don’t think he ever would. And maybe he wouldn’t. But I’m a detective. I’ve seen the result of domestic violence, and sometimes these guys snap when you least expect it. Just be careful, okay?"

"Sure." She couldn’t get offended because she saw Nate’s sincerity, and he had the kind of job that would expose him repeatedly to violence. Violence like she had discovered that night. "How long have you been a detective?"

"Five years. Beat cop for eight years before that."

That would put him in his early to mid-thirties. "You don’t look that old."

He laughed. "I feel old enough to retire tomorrow."

Gwenna smiled. "But you wouldn’t. You enjoy it, don’t you?"

"Yeah. I do. It’s rewarding." He picked up his coffee and drank.

"My sister-in-law used to be a county prosecutor. Alexis Baldizzi. Maybe you know her?"

His eyebrow went up. "Sure, I know her. Great prosecutor. Cutthroat. I heard she married that crazy rich British casino owner…" He winced. "Oh, shit, that’s your brother, isn’t it?"

That struck her as amusing. Ethan really would hate to be labeled as crazy, but to mortals, he was simply an eccentric rich casino owner. To vampires, he was president of the Vampire Nation, and a political powerhouse. She laughed. "Yes, that’s my brother, Ethan. He is all of the above, and he and Alexis got married last August. I came here for the wedding, like I said, and decided to stay."

"I bet your brother and your sister-in-law had no idea you were planning to meet some guy in a train station, did they?"

"Why would they need to?" Gwenna lifted her chin up, hearing the censure in his voice. She had to remember that if she were mortal, agreeing to meet Slash like that would have been incredibly stupid. But what Nate didn’t know was that she was a vampire, and hard as hell to kill. Nor could any mortal injure her or touch her against her will. Her strength, speed, and reflexes gave her a thorough advantage.

"I guess they wouldn’t. Because if they had known, I’m sure they would have stopped you, like any sane person." Nate shook his head, like he still couldn’t believe she had done something so ridiculous.

"No one can stop me if I make my mind up."

"Well, that’s narrow-minded and dangerous."

"I didn’t think it was a big deal. It was a public place."

"And probably just a place to meet you, so he could take you somewhere else in private to rape and kill you, and no one would even know where to start looking when you turned up missing."