Page 31 of Betting Blind

“I can only imagine.” She rolls her eyes and by all that is holy, I find the strength to fight the urge to turn her ass pink beneath my hand. She takes note of my clenched jaw and innocently says, “Proceed.”

“Secrets,” I whisper seductively. “Answers. I don’t want you naked in front of me. I just want you to be honest. Can you handle that?” I ask and place one card face down on the table for each of us. She nods. “We’re playing five card stud,” I state and deal another card to each of us, this one face up. “Try to build the largest hand with the cards you’re dealt.”

I spend the next hour explaining the rules in detail to her. Showing her examples of hands and what card sets hold more value and which ones to avoid. She picks up on some things quickly, but others take a few times before she gets the hang of it. I walk her through the details, patiently explaining card values and dealer etiquette. All while watching her facial features closely, looking for any misstep, but finding none. Perhaps I can get what I’m looking for quickly.

“So if I get two kings and three fives that’s a good hand?” she asks and reveals her cards. Guilt pulses through me as I watch her innocently tapping the two kings.

“Yes. And that means you win because I only have a pair of fours,” I explain patiently. My stomach dips when she directs a bright smile at me. Her chin dimples and had I been standing my knees would have buckled. I can’t find her attractive. She’s tearing my family apart. “Let’s play a real hand. Winner gets a truth.”

“I don’t know, Declan, that seems a little too much. I can’t just go spilling company secrets to anyone with a high hand. I don’t know if I’m comfortable with losing secrets. Or clothes,” she adds quickly before I can suggest switching to strip poker.

“Darling,” I whisper, my voice low and rough. “I think you and I both know that you have given up much more than a few pieces of clothing to get something that you want.” I watch with satisfaction as my tone does its job. She squirms in her seat and swallows hard. Her bottom lip slips between her teeth but says nothing.

I fight a shudder as I imagine my teeth pulling at that lip. That’s all the answer I need. I deal a new hand and promptly lose. “Fuck,” I mutter under my breath.

“What are you really doing here Declan?” she asks as I shuffle the deck again.

“I’m looking for answers,” I repeat honestly and meet her gaze. “My brother is obsessed with you and I want to find out why.” She nods as I flip more cards out. My hand is higher. My turn to ask. “What were you doing at the sex trafficking warehouse?”

She freezes and looks up sharply. “He told you?” I nod once and wait. “I was blowing off some steam. I get… Restless sitting behind a computer all day.”

I win again. “My other brother is heartbroken that you left him on read,” I state. “Care to tell me about Silas?”

Her shoulders tense again. “Met him in a coffee shop. I’ve been busy.” Her eyes dart around the room nervously, and I know that I’ve caught her off guard.

I nod again and deal another losing hand for myself.

She bites her lip and meets my eyes. “I have two out of the three,” she says slowly and leans forward, her expression morphing into something dark and seductive. “When are you going to fold?”

Her question takes me by surprise, and I almost laugh. This woman is night and day. I can’t get a good read from her. “I don’t bend, sweetheart, I’m usually the one doing the breaking. The question is…” I lean forward and level her with a dark gaze. “When am I going to break you?”

Her cheeks flush, and I can see her breath catch in her throat. My cock twitches in my trousers. I’m starting to see the appeal. I grin and deal my final hand.

She looks down at the cards and shakes her head. “Must be beginner's luck.” She reveals a full house. I flip my own cards and frown. “What a shame,” she says softly and rises to herfeet, her sultry voice sending a jolt straight to my dick. “Dead man’s hand.” Her heels click across the floor as she heads to the door. “Better luck next time.” Without waiting for a response, she disappears through the door.

Her words tumble through my mind like a rockslide. How would she know that hand if she’s never played? Why did she not seem too rattled when she found out that I knew about the guys? What was she really doing here?

I sit staring at the pair of black eights and black aces lying across the table while nursing a semi-hard cock. There’s no doubt in my mind that we are going to have to get her out of our systems, and the only way to get her out is to get our dicks in. We need to fuck her, and soon, before the whole assignment blows up in our faces.

I pull my phone to my ear and make a call. “Find the masks, boys, because we’re going out to play,” I say and am met with silence. I know both Hayden and Silas know what this means, and a part of me considers that this might be a bad idea, but the other part wonders if we should have done this the night we found her in that alley covered in blood and sin. The one thing I know for certain is that Emelia has ghosts that she’s trying to keep in their graves.

She’s keeping secrets, and I intend to unearth them all.

Chapter 18

Emelia

I pull up the security feed of the conference room I just left and rewind the video until I see Declan’s large frame enter the room. I play the video back and watch his facial expressions. I study his behavior. I memorize the way he moves his shoulders when he’s tense and how he cocks his head to the left when he’s confused. That portion of the video feed plays on repeat as I stare at the screen and contemplate.

To an extent, they know that there are more things happening behind the scenes here, but they haven’t even scratched the surface. My involvement is minimal at best in their eyes. I smile and click across the keyboard, bringing up a saved file from my home security feed. The video starts and follows Hayden and Silas as they creep through my living room and rummage through my bathroom. There’s no sound from the feed, but I know exactly what happens next.

My smile widens as Anubis, my black, long-haired Shepherd, stalks into view with his teeth bared. A giggle escapes my lips as the boys back out of the room slowly. I watch as Hayden crouches and tries to entice Anubis with what I can only imagine is puppy talk. When the dog lunges forwardand the two men literally tumble down the stairs and out of view, I double over with laughter. It’s a shame that my outdoor cameras are down because I would have loved to watch them tuck tail and run.

“What’s so funny in here?” Hector’s deep baritone does nothing to sober me.

I wipe the tears from my eyes and rewind the last fifteen seconds of the video. “Look at these idiots. I literally cannot.” I can’t stop laughing as I watch the video again. And again. And again.

Hector leans his face closer to the screen and frowns deeply. “Are they in your fucking house?” he bellows and white knuckles the edge of the table the computer screens are sitting on.

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