Page 5 of All In

She ended the call and flopped back on the mattress, unsure of what to do next. The house seemed eerily quiet without Memphis and his attorney moving around.

Tightening the belt on her robe, she stood and made her way downstairs to find something to eat. When she’d made a sandwich, she sat in the den and flipped through channels on the TV. “Ah fuck,” she muttered when she hit a local news program. There was footage of Memphis carrying her out of the Pink Sapphire. He justhadto be dramatic, didn’t he? If this footage made it to Arizona where Memphis’s headquarters were, there was no way her mother wouldn’t know who she was seeing before midnight.

She sent a text to Memphis.

Looks like we made the evening news

She stared at the screen for several seconds, hoping for an immediate response. When she didn’t see dancing dots, she set the phone aside and focused on the TV. She’d switched it to a World Series of Poker tournament. Though she’d been on the circuit for a few years now, she hadn’t made it on to too many televised events. The only reason she wanted that was because it meant she was winning and making a splash. She was good at what she did, even considered herself top tier, but there hadn’t been enough opportunities to play with the elites she was watching on screen now. Someday, her name would be on the list of WSoP winners. She was sure of it.

Rylee checked her phone after she finished her sandwich, but there was still no response from Memphis. Feeling caged in, she jogged up the stairs and discarded her robe, exchanging it for jeans and a sweater. After lacing up her shoes, she went outside intent on exploring the grounds behind the house. Some fresh air would hopefully help.

Her phone buzzed as she walked, and she glanced at the screen hoping for a message from Memphis. It was her mom calling instead. She rolled her eyes but answered the call.

“Rylee, your aunt Vicky says you’re on the news with Memphis Foster. He was carrying you out of the hotel. Is this the man you’re seeing?”

She sighed. “Damn it, Mom. Aunt Vicky needs to mind her business.”

“Language, Rylee, honestly. Are you going to answer me?”

“For fuck’s sake,” Rylee muttered under her breath. She cleared her throat. “Yes, Mom. I’m seeing Memphis Foster.”

“He’s a criminal, Rylee. He was mixed up in the scam that almost bankrupted me. How could you?”

“Jesus, you’re dramatic. He wasn’t mixed up in it. In fact, he’s the one who got you your money back so you should be thanking him.”

“I just don’t know what to say. How did you even meet him?”

“I got hired to teach him and some of his friends how to play poker. We just hit it off.”

“And now you’re going tomarryhim?”

Rylee leaned against a tree and lifted her head toward the sky, praying for patience. “I want to. If he asks. But he hasn’t yet, so calm the fuck down.” It was petty of her to throw the f-bomb in but sometimes she couldn’t help herself. Her mother was the one who could get under her skin faster than anyone.

“Listen, Mom, I need to go. We’ll talk again soon. Tell Aunt Vicky to stop meddling.”

“I’m worried about you, Rylee. You don’t just marry someone you met a week ago.”

“So, we’ll get married in a year after we’ve lived together for a while. For now, we’re going to spend the next three weeks at his house in Vegas having a lot of sex. Now I really have to go.”

She jabbed at the screen to end the call but not before she heard her mother’s offended gasp. It made her grin.

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