Luscious Craving by Cameron Dean Page B

the silver slid along skin already scraped raw.
Surrender is a voluntary act
, I thought. An act of will that seems like defeat but, in the end, brings its own kind of triumph.
    And at that moment, the manacles snapped free and I felt myself begin an endless fall through what I had just chosen of my own free will: the darkness.
    ----
    Nine
    Las Vegas
, present
Candace
    Early the next evening I was back at the Scheherazade. After an entire day of getting nowhere with my con investigations, I had decided to come into work for two reasons. First, if I got as familiar with the overall tournament setup as I could, maybe it would be easier, come New Year’s Eve, to spot where something was going wrong. And second—a far less noble reason—was that I wanted a distraction against further thoughts of Ash, even if that distraction meant wearing the
I Dream of Jeannie
uniform.
    I walked toward the poker area. I saw Michael sitting at one of the tables. I didn’t think he noticed me, but it was hard to tell for sure. He had his sunglasses on and seemed to be staring at the center of the table where the dealer was putting out the flop, three cards faceup that all the players used to make their best hand.
    Then I saw another familiar man standing a dozen feet from the area marked off for the tournament. Senator Cabot Hamlyn . It was impossible to pick up a newspaper without reading about the brilliant New England senator who appeared destined to be the Democratic presidential nominee.
    He was even better looking in person, tall with an Ivy League polish. I watched him walking past the tournament tables, chatting with the players, seeming engaged and interested in what each player had to say.
    Randolph Glass was just a few steps behind him, a chic blond woman on his arm. I hadn’t ever given Katherine Glass much thought. I just assumed—based on comments from Bibi and a few from Randolph —that she was an unappealing bitch. In fact, Mrs. Glass was Grace Kelly–gorgeous. She appeared gracious and had a friendly word for everyone at the tournament. She laughed at something her husband said, her hand on his arm.
    They were the perfect image of a power couple. Worse, a power couple who shared intimate jokes and looked comfortable together. Bibi wasn’t going to be happy.
    I walked into the tournament area and went over to Michael. He had a huge stack of chips in front of him and looked relaxed. Things were obviously going well.
    “Would you like something, sir?” I asked.
    “I would.” He wasn’t playing that hand, but he was watching the other players, looking for anything that might help him the next time he bet.
    “And what would that be?”
    “What would
you
recommend? I need something on the rocks to ease the heat here.” His smile made it clear that I was the cause of the heat. It was the first time he had seen me in my costume. “Can you get me an All Night Long?”
    I gave him a wide-eyed innocent smile. “Let me check with the bartender, sir.”
    “I was hoping
you
could answer that.”
    I returned to the bar with my drink orders, my thoughts circling back to Ash once more.
You have to hold him at arm’s length, Candace
, I thought. I knew how persuasive Ash could be. Getting too close to him again was a risk I was not prepared to take. I had already been down that road.
    I gave my drink order to the bartender and turned to watch the activity in the casino. Everything seemed normal. The calm before the storm?
    One of my favorite coworkers appeared at the bar. Marlene has been a cocktail waitress at the Sher ever since Randolph took it over. She dropped a folded napkin on my tray. “For you.” She nodded toward the tournament area. “From the guy at the middle table with the dark glasses.”
    I opened it. Michael’s note was to the point.
    Dinner?
After this round. Choose the place.
    Picking up another napkin, I scribbled a message.
    Can’t tonight.
Previous plans. Sorry.
    I folded it and gave it to Marlene