Hooked on the Game (The Sterling Shore Series #1) (15 page)

"Fine," Margaret mumbles.  "I just need my purse.  You may want to call Raya and make sure she's okay."

I look up to Kade.  "They don't know we're here?" I whisper.

"My rental car has been here all day, and neither of us bothered to turn on the lights," he whispers back, kissing my neck in small intervals.

"How did you get here from the bar?"

He leans up and gently strokes my hair with the tips of his fingers.  "I walked.  Well, I ran actually.  Tag wanted me to cool down, so he refused to give me a ride."

"Why was Tag with you?"

"He met up with us at the bar.  He was supposed to swing by and pick you up, but you were already gone.  I tried calling a dozen times before we got to the bar." He sighs out hard, letting his eyes fall from mine.  "I'm sorry I lost it.  I just saw you with Lyle... and I saw red.  It was... stupid, but I've been falling for you for so long... it just.. I couldn't-"

I kiss him to shut him up before I start to cry.  I've been desperate to find a way to tell him how I felt, and all along he felt the same way.  He smiles as he kisses me harder, and in that moment the rest of the world is shut out as he coils around my body.

Hurried footsteps wake me
as someone yells for Kade.  I gasp and jerk the cover over my head and my bare body just as the door swings open.

"What the hell?" Kade asks sleepily, sitting up in the bed.

His bare lower half is very distracting right now.  How can I listen in when all that is right there - so close to me?  My scandalous eyes wander over his morning firmness, and like a lusty fool, I lick my lips, hoping he hurries this conversation along.

"Sorry," Tag grumbles.  What's he doing here?  "Your mother called and said Raya never came back last night.  She's pissed at you, and your parents both went out looking for her.  Her bags are in her room.  For some ungodly reason, your mom thought she might have crashed with me at my place.  I told her I knew you had it bad for her, and I'd never cross that line.  She didn't believe me."

Tag almost sounds like he's pouting, and I stifle a giggle.  The cover slowly falls back, revealing my crimson face, and I look up to see Kade smiling down at me.

"As you can see, Raya is perfectly safe," Kade says with a daring tone while lying back, barely keeping his center covered.

Tag bursts out laughing as I clutch the cover to my chest, keeping everything hidden and safely tucked out of sight.

"Fucking finally," Tag snickers, shaking his head.

"That's what I said," Kade mumbles, glancing down at me with a small grin.

I roll my eyes.  This isn't the wakeup call I wanted.  Not at all.

Tag picks up his phone and dials a number as Kade pulls me to him and kisses my cheek, my nose, and then my lips, making me feel like all of this wasn't just a one-night deal.

"Good morning," he murmurs softly with his dazzling grin.  "Still good?"

Still good?  Good doesn't even have a place in my vocabulary right now.  I feel perfect.

"Definitely," I mutter, refraining from getting too crazy on him.

"Yeah," Tag says loudly, drawing my attention toward him as he talks on his phone.  "She's safe... No, she was here all night...  Where did I find her?" Tag turns to us and my eyes grow wide.  Surely he wouldn't.  "Kade's bed."

"Oh no," I groan, covering my head again which prompts a laugh from Kade.

"Tell my mother I'd never let Raya wander the streets all night.  I wouldn't have been here if she had been missing."

He almost sounds a little irritated, which is sweet, oddly enough.  I start kissing his side under the sheet, and his hand drifts down to start caressing my back.

"You can get lost now," Kade says to Tag when my lips start to stray and drift toward the piece of his body that wants my attention.

"I bet," Tag teases, but his voice disappears as the door to the bedroom shuts.

Kade pulls the cover back just as my mouth closes over his erection, and his breath heaves out from his lungs.  Now that he's mine... this is going to be fun.

Chapter 14

Tailed

"When you win every hand, someone can figure out you're cheating," Dad gripes, sulking while leaning back as I toss down my perfect twenty-one.

"Of course they do, but they can't prove it.  That's the part that matters," I joke, reminding him of the speech he used to give me when I'd accuse him of cheating.

He grins and shakes his head as I deal out the next set.

"Next time, I'll deal."

"Nah," I mutter, grinning.  "You're a recovering addict.  It's best if you don't."

He laughs as he glances at his cards.  "Hit me."

I toss him a card, and he holds up a hand to let me know he's staying.  I check my cards and grin at the two tens and an ace.  He never learns.

"So you're still with him?" he asks as I reveal my perfect set once more.

He rolls his eyes and groans as he tosses his cards back at me.

"Yes.  We've been together for three weeks now.  He's taking me to some vineyard that's about an hour away today.  I'm supposed to meet him at three."

Dad glances at the clock on the wall and then back to me.  "Does he treat you good?"

Better than good.  In the past three weeks, I've damn near fallen in love.  I keep telling myself it can't happen this soon.  It's hard to listen to my inner voice of reason when Kade goes out of his way to make each day with him seem like a fantasy.

"Yeah.  Real good," I murmur with a sheepish grin.

"Glad to hear it," he says with his own salacious grin as he leans back.  "They say I'll be getting out earlier than planned, since Brody has been pulling some strings for me.  I'm assuming you won't be coming to live with me?"

I frown a little.  I've gotten used to waking up in Kade's bed with his arms around me.  I realize it's stupid to start living with a guy when you first start dating, but we were already living together, and we found out it was impossible to sleep in separate rooms when we knew the other was so close by.  Now, it'd feel like we were moving in reverse if I moved out.  Wouldn't it?  So confusing.

"I haven't really thought about it as much as I probably should.  But we'll see.  I need to get going," I murmur while standing up.

"Are... Am I... Will I get to meet him?" Dad asks as he stays in his chair, doing his best to keep the angst out of his tone.

My heart almost breaks.  "Of course you will.  I just have to find the right time to... explain you.  You're my father.  I love you.  You'll definitely meet the guy I've been living with."

His bright smile returns and he stands while the guards come to escort him back.  "Soon, Raya.  I promise I'll do my best to make up for all the time we lost."

I smile and wave while walking out, letting the guard escort me in the opposite direction.  My life is starting to come together, and I just got a job offer from Silk, the club that was for members only.  It recently opened to the public full time, and now I'll be waiting tables for extra cash, making myself a little more self-sufficient.  It's another new start, and I'll be there as soon as next Monday.

Since I was a little girl who stood crying on the sidewalk as men in black suits wrestled my father to the ground, I haven't had peace.  He was bloody and beaten when they cuffed him, and he never deserved a bit of that.  He never fought them, yet they acted as though he'd resisted arrest.  I was forced to watch it, and I think it hurt him more than me to know I witnessed it.

He'd never physically harmed anyone, and though he was a con, I always considered him a Robin Hood sort of thief because he never took more than someone could afford.  He didn't rob from the rich and give to the poor, so I don't consider it noble, but I don't consider it unforgivable either.  Maybe I'm warped for feeling that way.

I know what he did was wrong; I'm not an idiot.  But I also know the impossible feat it is to be perfect.  I don't feel guilty for loving my father in spite his faults, just as I no longer feel guilty for being the daughter of Ray Drivel.

Now that peace I lacked is filling me, making me whole.  Maybe it's because I'm about to have my father back, maybe it's because Kade and I are so lost in each other, or maybe it's a little bit of both.  I'm almost certain Kade is the main reason.  I feel... accepted, wanted, needed, and desired.  It feels good.

When I walk out of the prison and into the blinding light, I see the rear-end of a Audi pulling out.  That's... odd.  I saw that same Audi at the bus station.  I remember it because it has the same darkly tinted windows my eyes couldn't penetrate.  And the license plate is the same: HUPRIDE.  I don't know what it means, but it stands out enough to remember.

I pull out my phone and dial the number I never wanted to have to use.  When your father is helping put dangerous conmen in prison, there's always the fear of retaliation.

"Brody Sparks," he says into the phone, seeming distracted.

"Hey, Brody, it's Raya."

"Well, I'll be damned.  I've been hoping you'd call to say you're moving in with your old man.  I could use all the help I can get to keep him out of trouble."

I'd smile, but it's hard to focus on anything right now.  I really can't drag trouble into Kade's life.

"Um... can you do me a favor?"

"Yeah, sure.  What's up?"

"Will you look up a tag for me?  I think I was followed here, possibly.  With Dad helping you out... I just want to be safe."

"Shit.  There shouldn't be any link from your father to the cases he works, but I'll check it out."

I spell out the tag for him and watch as the black Audi disappears into the heavy traffic just down the road.

"I'll look into it, but, Raya, I have to ask... Have you done anything that might have... I don't know, drawn unwanted attention?"

Imagine that; the daughter of a con being accused of doing something unsavory to piss someone off.

"Call me if you can help; otherwise, I'll deal with it myself.  You're not the only one with resources to finding out tag numbers."

I hang up before he can say anything.  I shouldn't get so pissed when people assume the worst, but there comes a time when it just gets old.  What happens when I tell Kade?

Trying not to dwell on the endless possibilities, which all seem bleak, I head out to the taxi that is waiting to take me to the bus station.  Brody could take days or weeks to get back to me.  I know someone else; someone who won't care to bend the rules and help me out.

Though I'm not overly fond of the gray area I usually avoid, Kade is more important to me.  I can't take any risks.

I dial the number that my father would kill me for using this way.  He answers on the third ring.

"Joey here," his gruff voice says, making me smile.

He always sounds like he's ready to kill someone.  I suppose I'm twisted to find comfort in a voice like that.

"Hey, Uncle Joey.  It's Raya."

"Raya?  Well I'll be damned, girl.  What're you doing?"

I tell the cab driver where to go, and then I lean back in my seat.  "Just got finished visiting Dad.  I think I had a tail.  You care to check into the tag for me?"

"Damn straight I will.  What was it?"

I spell it out for him, feeling more confident in getting answers than I did before.

"I think I actually have an app for this," he says, relieving me.  That's awesome.  So it's not illegal.  "It might be tomorrow though.  I'm in the middle of hac-"

"Don't tell me," I chuckle out, and he snickers as well.

"Sorry.  I don't usually slip up like that over the phone.  I've missed you, kiddo."

"I've missed you.  How's Sindell?"

"She's the same.  In and out of trouble.  Since she turned twenty-one, I've aged ten years.  I wish she'd take a note from you."

I sigh out, thinking about my wild cousin, Sindell, who had a rougher life than I did, since she knew all the scams her dad was and
is still
pulling.  At least my father sheltered me the best he could, and I had my mom to guide me better.  Sin makes me look like an amateur with card tricks and pool cues.  It was always fun to watch her work a room and leave with stacks of cash, but I couldn't ever do it myself.

"Thanks for doing this, Uncle Joey.  I suppose I'll be seeing you soon... when Dad gets out?"

"You better believe it.  As long as that dick Fed doesn't come hang out with us.  I don't need him looking into my business."

I chuckle.  Definitely don't need Brody around Uncle Joey.  I'm surprised he's stayed out of jail.  He doesn't have a tenth of Dad's IQ, but Dad always pulled bigger jobs, drawing in more skilled FBI agents.

My father and Uncle Joey were raised differently than most people.  My grandfather is still a con to this day, and he's good at it.  I don't condone it, but I still love them.  It's all they know.  I'm just thankful I was able to break the cycle.

The question is... can Kade accept it the way I have?  Because I can't change where I come from.  No one can.