Page 207 of Push

“Tobes,” I said, resting a hand on his arm. “Leave Liam alone.”

Both heads whipped around to stare at me, and I cringed back into the expensive velvet. Rushing to Liam’s defense was a misstep. The last thing I wanted was to draw more attention to his discomfort around women.

Not that Toby was bothered.

He shrugged and went back to scanning the crowd. Nothing much happened in Liam’s lonely corner of the casino, and I’d already distracted myself by picking up the drink menu. I almost choked on air when I glanced over the prices—one hundred dollars, and not for a bottle, for aglassof wine.

Toby’s hand shot out and grabbed my good knee. “Gwen.” His voice was a hurried whisper. “You’ll never believe who’s here.” He jerked his head toward the gaming area. “Ian!”

“What a coincidence,” Liam drawled.

Coincidence, my ass.

Sure enough, when I followed Toby’s gaze, Ian sat at one of the gaming tables, playing cards. He pushed a pile of chips, and his finger tapped the emerald green felt. There was a gravity to him I hadn’t seen before.

Frowning, I gave Liam a sideways glance. “What’s Ian playing?”

“Blackjack,” he answered. “Sometimes, he plays one of the dice games, but I’m told he’s got a soft spot for cards. Mr. Cooper has good days…and bad.”

Toby turned to Liam with a matching frown. “How bad?”

The undisguised contempt in his voice hinted that he’d drawn the same conclusion as me. I’d bet the whole pile of chipssitting in front of Ian that his bad days lined up with the dodgy transactions recorded in the clinic books.

“Bad enough to have a revolving line of credit with the Morellis,” Liam said. “One he hasn’t been efficient in repaying since Daddy Sullivan stopped bankrolling him. And if he doesn’t owe them for the steady stream of coke he burns through, he’s on the back foot with the gambling.” Liam fluttered his eyelashes. “Or so I’m told.”

A whoop of excitement erupted on the other side of the room. My eyes snapped to Ian. His grin was tight but satisfied as the dealer pushed a pile of chips his way. He raised his hand in a silent salute to the men around him, accepting their congratulations with a stiff nod. He’d needed that win.

My fist clenched.How dare he?That was our money, ourlife, that he gambled away.

Toby’s big hand curled around my fist.

“I’m okay,” I reassured him softly.

“I’m not,” he said, matching my low tone. “But if my hands are on you, it means they aren’t wringing Ian’s damn neck.” Toby’s frown turned to Liam. “How long have you known?”

“Not long,” Liam admitted. “We have shared acquaintances, but the events of the other morning sent me burrowing down this particular rabbit hole.”

Toby raked a hand through his hair. “What a shitshow.” Defeated, his head lolled back on the lounge, his glance turning sideways. “What do we do now?” he asked me.

“Well,” I said. “I think we count on the money from the clinic being as good as gone.”

“I don’t care about the money. Idocare about him running up debts with bad dudes and adding your name to the mix. That selfish fuckingbastard. This shit has to stop.” Toby lurched forward, but I pressed my palm into his chest to stall him. “Gwen.” His voice was a warning.

“Don’t you‘Gwen’me. You’re not charging over there and getting yourself thrown in jail. Nothing changes, okay?” Toby turned away, nose in the air, so I forced him to look at me by touching his cheek. “Okay? We keep moving forward with the police.”

“Gwen, that’s not enough—”

“Ian’s playing a dangerous game, Tobes. We need to keep out of it.Completely.No contact. We keep our noses clean and try to live as normally as possible. Trust me.”

Trust was the trump card. Toby threw his hands up and flopped back against the lounge. “Ihatethis.”

“I hate feeling powerless, too,” I admitted. “Ian’s responsible for some of the hardest days of my life, but we can’t focus on the pain. We need to focus on our family and what’s best for all of us. I know in my heart this is the right thing to do. Ian’s doing a fantastic job blowing himself up without our help.”

Toby wasn’t satisfied with my plan…at all.His eyes slid to Liam. “You sure you won’t reconsider setting me up with the guy who can speed up this blowing-up process?”

“Toby!” I hissed. “Tell me you didn’t!”

“Can’t,” he grumbled. “I promised to be honest.”

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