Page 98 of Double or Nothing
He hands one to me, the cool glass meeting my fingers, before lightly clinking our flutes together. The sound is delicate, a perfect note that rings in the air. “Let’s make a toast to the new year. I’m excited to see where it will take us.”
I smile up at him. “Me too.”
“How is it possible that we crossed paths at exactly the moment we did?” he continues. “Think about it. We found each other by accident and instantly you became the center of our universe. If you had left the casino two minutes earlier or if I hadn’t been walking through at exactly the right moment, we never would’ve met. Now that you’re in our lives, I can’t imagine an existence without you. Before you came along, I never realized what I was missing.”
He reaches down and tilts my chin up so he can gaze directly into my eyes. “I love you, Jade. We all do. I know Jade isn’t your real name, but you’ll always be Jade to us. Jade is the girl we fell in love with, who hypnotized us from the very first moment. We’re all worried about what your plans might be now. Please stay here in Vegas with us forever. Not for a few weeks or until you find another location to run the scam. We want you by our side permanently. We need you.”
His words resonate deep within me, reaching my very soul. It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that we’re all together now. A month ago, I was a hacker, a solitary figure lurking in the shadows, who made my living by blackmailing evil men.
Now every day I’m living a dream.
How did I ever get so lucky?
Meeting Seven, Kit and Vulcan is more than I ever could’ve fantasized. I always thought the term ‘soulmates’ was made up, nothing but a wild fantasy.
Now I realize it’s true.
“I love you, too, Seven.” I reach up to gently graze his short beard with my fingertips. “More than I can say. By now, all of you probably are aware I’m not good at expressing my feelings, but I’m working on it. I never want you to doubt me. If I can’t always tell you how I feel, I’ll try to show you.”
“I can work with that,” he says, giving me one of those sexy winks I find so endearing.
His smile, full of promise and love, is all the assurance I need.
“I don’t know how or why we met each other, only that it’s right,” I say, my heart swelling with emotion. “As if it were always destined to happen. Thank you for kidnapping me that day and setting all this in motion. You saved me, and I’ll always be grateful to you for that.”
“No, you saved us,” he says. “Now our lives are wide open with a million prospects. Together, there’s nothing the four of can’t accomplish. The sky’s the limit!”
“It’s hard for me to believe this is all real,” I say, smiling at him. “Or is it another elaborate illusion of yours?”
“It’s as real as it gets. We’re all yours, if you’ll have us.”
“Oh, I’ll have you,” I tease, my lips curving into a playful smile. “Wait until after I get my midnight kiss, then you’ll find out. I’ll have you all night long if the three of you can handle it.” My words are a playful challenge, but behind them lies a promise, a commitment to sharing a future full of love and excitement.
“Is that a dare?” he asks, arching an eyebrow at me. “Who cares if my brand-new blockbuster show starts tomorrow? Sleep is for sissies. Give me two hours of sleep and I’ll be good to go.”
“I’ll need more sleep than that because there’s no way I’m missing your new show.”
“Hey look! There’s Leroy!” Seven suddenly says when he spots him moving through the crowd. “He’s hard to miss, even in a mask. What the fuck is he wearing?”
Instead of a Venetian mask, Leroy’s face is covered by a giant cat mask that is three times larger than it should be. It doesn’t do one thing to conceal his identity.
“Leroy! Over here!” Seven yells at him and waves. Leroy grins when he sees us and hurries our way. “Nice mask,” Seven teases him when he reaches our side. “What are you? A background dancer in a Broadway production?”
Leroy laughs good-naturedly. “I borrowed the mask from my nephew. He was the lead in a high school play.”
“It suits you, Leroy,” I tell him.
After ordering a round of drinks at the bar, we find an empty table in a corner to sit and watch the crowd. While the men make plans for Seven’s big show tomorrow, I watch the door.
Eva and Natasha are impossible to miss when they walk in together. Natasha is stunning in a low-cut, long black evening gown. Her blonde hair is pulled up high and elegantly styled. Dangling diamond earrings and a black mask with feathers completes her outfit. Eva is perfection in a bronze evening gown.
Natasha glances around the room, searching for me. When her gaze lands in my direction, I lift my hand in greeting. Smiling slightly, she nods discreetly back at me, a shared understanding passing between us.
“Are you ready for the last dance of the year?” Seven turns to me. “Less than ten minutes until midnight and we haven’t danced a single time tonight. We should end the year properly.”
He stands and reaches down a warm hand to me. I don’t tell him the last dance of the year is also my first. Taking his hand, I allow him to lead me onto the dance floor. He slides one hand around my waist and clasps my hand with the other.
“You’re beautiful this evening,” he says to me as we sway softly to the music. He pulls me close into his arms and I loop my arms around his neck. Suddenly, there’s a tap on his shoulder from a man in a black mask.
