Page 62 of Gambler's Conceit

As soon as I’m out of the penthouse, I grab my phone to send a text to Caleb.

Definitely from New Bristol or around there. He’s not in a good place right now. Sorry.

I don’t get an answer, and I sigh. Well. There’s no sense in hanging around. I say goodbye to the night guards on my way out and head home.

Maybe a good night’s sleep will make this better.

FIFTEEN

SEVEN

I stare down at Nacho,who’s head butting against my hand and has been ever since I sat down on the bed. I don’t understand what happened tonight. It had started out so well with the drag show, but then it had quickly devolved as Vortex had made it clear he’s not actually interested in me. He’d just wanted to ask me questions, probably for Caleb.

And if he’s not interested in me… Then what? It’s not like it matters. There’s still Caleb, who’s made it clear he’s not going to lose interest any time soon. I don’t know what I’d do if he did. I’m slowly adding to my stash of money, but I keep losing at blackjack, so it isn’t going as quickly as I’d like.

Not that it matters. I still have to figure out how I’m going to get out of here when the time comes.

I should’ve played Havoc harder. He’d been right at the point of no return, and I’d only had to say a few words… But I wasn’t ready. Not yet. Not with less than a thousand bucks and the knowledge that Caleb could set someone on me if I tried to vanish.

My blood runs cold at the memory, and I stare darkly at the door to my bedroom. I’m not stupid. Caleb knows more than he’sletting on, and that isn’t good for me. I’m almost as far away as I can get from the east coast, but it still doesn’t feel like it’s far enough.

Especially since Vortex seems to know exactly where I’m from.

Fuck.

How muchdothey know?

Too much.

I get up, ignoring Nacho’s pathetic meow of displeasure, and start to pace until he scrambles off of the bed and gets underfoot. I grab him, holding him against my chest and burying my face in his soft fur.

He starts to purr, and I wish it could soothe some of the frantic edge from my mood. I want to sleep, but I’m too agitated. There is one thing I could do to distract myself, to exhaust myself, and I’m crossing over to set Nacho back down on the bed before I even realize I’ve made up my mind.

I head to Caleb’s room, shutting both Nacho and Miss K out. It takes my eyes a moment to adjust, but I see his sleeping form.

It must be nice to sleep so peacefully, devoid of nightmares and without miserable thoughts plaguing your existence.

I strip down, leaving my clothes carelessly on the floor, then crawl into bed with him.

He’s wearing a t-shirt and sweats. That five o’clock shadow is on its way to being a real beard.

And his eyes are still closed.

I get closer to him, but even with me entirely in his personal space, he doesn’t wake.

It pisses me off.

I yank the blanket off of him, determined to wake him as rudely as possible now, and he starts to stir. There.

“Hi,” I say flatly. I should be trying to seduce him, but I’m not in the mood for plain old sex. I want him to dominate me, tohurtme, and he’s not going to do that if I’m nice and gentle about it.

“Seven? What?” Caleb props himself up on his elbow and rubs his eyes. “What time is it?” He squints in the direction of the electronic bedside clock, then sighs and picks it up to stare at it. “2:43? I just fell asleep.”

“Sucks for you,” I say. “I can’t sleep at all, so.” I shrug.

Questions float in my mind, and I want to know whether he put Vortex up to that little questioning session at the ice cream shop. Vortex tries to be nice enough, but I doubt he has the resources to have orchestrated any sort of real search into my past.

He was a little too on the nose for it to have come from anywhere but Caleb.