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there was always someone new I didn't know in the apartment. When they weren't still there when I came home, I could smell that they had been.
    With Luke having clearly communicated how little he values Rose's life, I don't tell him or Vincent about the trouble she caused. I just tell them how one of Solandro's crew showed up at my front door a little over two weeks ago with a picture of Rose tied up and gagged.
    Solandro wanted a meeting -- I met him. He gave me initial instructions, a fake ID and six hundred dollars to get to Vegas and await further instruction. I didn't hear from him again until the day I went to Masters' casino. We met again and Solandro provided me with the lenses and another thousand dollars seed money for the table. Teaching me the marks, he told me the dealers weren't in on it and that I must wander the floor until I found a table using the marked cards.
    I finish with telling them how Solandro and my father ran jobs in the past, using me half a dozen times or more. Once the details of the last few weeks are out and breakfast is over, Vincent leaves.
    Luke, who has spent the entire interview standing behind the couch where I cannot see him, takes a seat next to me. "More tea, Marie?"
    I shake my head, suddenly afraid to say anything. I haven't forgotten, not for a second, what transpired between us in this room. I have no idea what might trigger that behavior in him again or whether I can resist another round of his touching me.
    "Good. I've been waiting to get down to terms."
    I risk looking at him. While his voice is smooth and relaxed, tension lines frame his eyes and mouth. I don't want to ask, but I do. "Terms?"
    He blinks, slow and sensual, then nods. He rests an arm along the back of the couch then curls his hand around my opposite shoulder. "You want to get Rose back alive. You don't trust the cops to do it for you or you never would have stepped foot in my casino. Now you're facing jail and so is Tommy."
    Biting my lip, I inhale sharply. Luke hasn't said anything incorrect yet. If I had gone to the police, they would have focused on my warrants and put me in jail. Even if they had believed me about the kidnapping, Solandro isn't ransoming Rose for a bag of money -- he wants to test his new method for cheating casinos so he has an unlimited supply of money. The only difference between the scenario I faced two weeks ago -- Rose dead and me in jail -- and the one I face here in Luke's interrogation room is time and the chance that Tommy will also go to jail.
    "I have resources the Vegas and L.A. police departments can only dream of, Marie. I can make your arrest warrant go away, too." Luke wraps his free hand around my knee. "For a price."
    I inhale again, my first breath still unreleased.
    "You are the payment." Leaning in, he presses his lips against the side of my neck.
    The first kiss settles like a warm blanket over my body. The second one, a little lower down my neck, makes me wet. I want to move away from him, but I am already at the end of the couch.
    His hand skims across my thighs and I practically levitate with pleasure.
    I understand my body's reaction, but Luke's motivation eludes me. He has a casino full of beautiful women, showgirls, waitresses, call girls...half, if not all, of them would drop their panties or thongs in a heartbeat if he so much as smiled at them.
    Does he actually want me?
    Not possible. Quality and beauty surround him. The way the penthouse is furnished, his expensive suits -- all of it is here by his choice. Choosing me is inconsistent with his past behavior, so I am certain that some facet of his game is escaping me. No other explanation fits.
    He growls, the sound sensual but menacing. "Is that a no?"
    Glancing at him, I realize that I shook my head in rejecting the idea that Luke Masters finds me attractive. Now he thinks I am turning down the offer. I have to correct him before he withdraws it, but I can't admit why I made the gesture or how everything but