Page 12 of He's All In

“Bring her back before midnight,” my father orders as he looks me up and down like a prized horse he’s trading.

Luke crosses his arms over his chest and sighs. “And if I have the clean money wired tonight?”

“Then you can have her for the whole night.” My father smirks, and I want to vomit. “That should be worth something.”

Luke doesn’t look at me as he walks farther into the office and holds out his hand to my father. “Deal.”

“Just remember if you want more, we’ll renegotiate a price tomorrow.” He shakes his hand, and once they’re finished, my father nods to me. “Go with him.”

“Shall we?” Luke leads me out of the office without waiting for my response.

In the living room, Marco is standing where I left him, but Jackson is pacing back and forth. I don’t dare meet his eyes as I take Marco’s hand.

“Come on, Luke is taking us out for a few hours,” I tell him, and disappointment flashes across his face.

No one says a word when we step onto the elevator or when we exit the building. Luke is totally silent as he takes us to his car down the street. We get in, and as soon as Luke pulls away from the curb, Marco speaks.

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere safe.”

I want to believe him, but he was a little too chummy with my father. To my surprise, Luke takes the corner a little too sharp, and then he speeds up. The sound of the engine is loud, and I grab on to the handle of the door.

“What the hell?” I say, and he does it again before blowing through a yellow light just as it turns red.

“Making sure we’re not being followed,” he says as he checks the rearview mirror. “And you’re not going back tonight.”

“What? Really?” Marco perks up from the back seat.

“Or tomorrow morning.” Our eyes lock for a long second before his go back to the road.

“He knows who you are,” I remind Luke. My father is going to kill him.

“So he does.” Luke slips in and out between a few cars before taking a quick turn and then another.

“This is so cool!” Marco says excitedly. “How did you learn to drive like this? Can you teach me?”

“No!” I snap before Luke can respond.

“It’s part of my job.”

“As a thief?”

“I’ve never stolen anything in my life, sweetheart.” A smirk plays on his lips. I want to believe him, but this isn’t a fairy tale. Knights don’t come rushing in to save the day, and I’m sure he has his own agenda.

“Then what are you going to do about my father? He won’t take this lightly and not because he’s actually worried about us. His ego will have him hunting you down.”

“I do the hunting, Kelly.” Luke hits a button on the dash then keys in a code. He slows down as he comes around another corner and I’ve lost track of where we are. There are buildings all around and up ahead I see a garage door opening. Luke pulls in, and the door is already closing behind us. We’re enclosed instantly, and everything goes black.

“Where are we?” I ask, hating the dark.

Lights flicker on, and Luke opens his door. “One of my safe houses.”

“Are you like a spy or something?” Marco asks before jumping out. I go to chase after him, but Luke’s hand comes down on my thigh, halting me.

“I lied,” Luke admits.

I should be scared, but for some reason his touch is calming. “What did you lie about?”