Mystic Militia (3 page)

“He did, which gives me a tiny flicker of hope. Why bother setting up a meeting if he doesn’t have the money?”

“Because he wants more.”

Tori sighed as she reached for the massive handle on the gilt-and-glass door. She’d only agreed to indulge Ryan after he agreed to meet her in a casino lounge. Then she’d asked Jillian along for moral support. She wasn’t afraid of Ryan, but she knew him well enough to avoid his theatrics. That was the problem with performers. Their entire life was an act. Musicians, actors, dancers, illusionists, she’d had it with all of them. Jillian was the only exception to the rule.

“If he even hints that he wants more money, we get up and walk out.” She used her indignation to heave open the heavy door. Cold air gushed out into the humid evening, making Tori shiver and then sigh.

“Fine by me.”
Jillian slipped in behind her before the door swung shut. “I never understood what you saw in him in the first place. You can do
much
better.”

“He made me laugh. After three years with
TJ
, I was ready for a little laughter.” She’d honestly thought
TJ
was “the one”. He was a brilliant musician with the dark, brooding good looks that attracted females like kids to an ice-cream truck. Tori had fallen fast and hard, indulging all her bad-boy fantasies for one incendiary summer. But the ego that made
TJ
so mesmerizing onstage created conflicts and challenges in their relationship. His first love was, and would always be, his music and Tori wasn’t willing to come in second place.

The bustling lobby branched off beyond the registration desk. On the right were posh boutiques and specialty shops; on the left was the main casino floor. Jillian took the lead as they ventured farther into her domain, bright colors and the slightly dissonant drone of slot machines and excited gamblers. The lounge was nestled against the back wall of the casino. The floor plan was designed to keep visitors weaving their way through the attractions like mice in a maze.

Tori stayed away from the Strip whenever she could, but her work as a set designer made complete avoidance impossible. She was one of the army of peripheral players, the backstage specialists that the public never saw and seldom thought about.

Heat caressed the right side of her body. Her skin tingled and the fine hairs on her arms rose as if charged by static electricity. She slowed and looked
around,
trying to figure out what had caused the odd sensation. She was surrounded by slot machines and impatient pedestrians, nothing that accounted for the sudden rise in temperature or the tingling.

An angry voice drew her attention to the men facing off in the adjacent aisle. One was dark-haired the other blond, both tall and muscular. And each was extremely attractive. Were they body builders or fitness models? They were dressed casually in jeans and T-shirts, but something about them seemed…foreign.

“
Niiice
,” Jill whispered, giving Tori a playful nudge. “You take one and I’ll take the other. I’ll even let you choose.”

Before she could reply, the blond turned his head and looked right at Tori. Bright turquoise and framed by thick dark lashes, his gaze seemed to surround her and draw her in. The tingling heat she’d felt before washed over her entire body. It was
him
. This man was the source of the heat.

He took a step toward her and Tori panicked. She pushed past Jillian and hurried along the walkway, hoping to blend in with the crowd.

“What’s the matter with you?” Jillian rushed up beside her and grabbed her upper arm. “He was coming over to talk with you.”

“Exactly.”
Tori twisted her arm out of Jillian’s grasp. “I don’t do casual sex and the last thing I need right now is an emotional entanglement.”

“But he was gorgeous. They both were. Not just nice looking. They were hotter-than-hell, melt-your-panties-off gorgeous.”

“My panties need to stay right where they are, so retreat was the only option.”

“Fine.”
Jillian harrumphed and hooked elbows with Tori. “You’re my best friend, so I’ll support your decisions—even when I adamantly disagree with them.”

Tori squeezed Jillian’s forearm. “I can always count on you.”

It was early evening, so the lounge wasn’t crowded. After determining that Ryan had yet to arrive, they chose a table easily visible from the main entrance. A doorway on the other side of the room allowed customers to enter from a different section of the casino, but anyone arriving from outside would enter through the main door.

“Hey, Tori.
Jillian.”
Jeff came out from behind the bar and approached their table. “It’s always nice to see two lovely ladies.” With the obligatory greetings out of the way, annoyance made his dark eyes flash.
“Any clue where your sister is?
She’s been MIA for the past three days.”

“Really?”
Tori tried not to let her frustration show. This was the fourth job she’d gotten for Angie in the past three years. If
Ang
screwed this up too, she’d… She’d probably find her another job. Angie was her baby sister. She couldn’t help being protective of the little scamp. “I’ll text her and see if I can find out what’s going on. I didn’t realize there was a problem.”

“Summer’s ending. Everyone’s getting restless. She’s probably just blowing off steam. I don’t want to replace her if something legitimate has gone wrong, but she’s leaving me no other choice.”

“I appreciate that. Let me see what I can find out.”

“Thanks.” He shifted into server mode again and smiled. “What can I get you?” They both ordered diet cola and he laughed. “If you’re not in this for the booze, why come to a bar?”

“We’re meeting her useless ex,” Jillian volunteered. “We wanted home-field advantage.”

Jeff winked at Tori “I’ll watch for flying glasses.”

It wasn’t much of an exaggeration. Ryan had eroded her calm to the brink of violence before she’d finally kicked him out and she hated being that out of control.

Using another irritant to distract her for a moment, she dug her phone out of her purse and sent a quick text to her sister. For some reason Angie would often answer a text when she’d ignore a call. A few minutes passed and she didn’t respond to the text, so Tori activated the call. It went directly to voice mail. “
Ang
,
it’s
Tori. Call me or text. I know you haven’t been to work for three days. You’re
feaking
everyone out. I’m not pissed. I’m worried. Call me.”

“Do you think something’s wrong or is she just being Angie?”

Tori had been friends with Jillian ever since the sisters came to Las Vegas nine years ago. Jillian had watched Angie’s cycle repeat more than once, so she understood Tori’s frustration. “I don’t know. The first time this happened, I called hospitals and police dispatchers.
Made a complete fool of myself.
Now I’m afraid I’ll shrug it off and she’d be in real trouble.”

Jillian reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

“I’m not sure there’s anything
I
can do. Angie’s not a child anymore. She needs to feel the consequences of her decisions or she’ll never learn from her mistakes.” It was a concept Tori compromised each time she rushed in for the rescue. She knew that and yet she couldn’t stand by and watch her baby sister suffer.

Angie had been fifteen when their mother died, leaving Tori to finish raising a rebellious teenager. Everywhere they went in San Diego reminded them of their mother. And Angie had developed a circle of friends as rebellious as she was, so Tori convinced her that they both needed a fresh start. New York was too damn cold, so they agreed on Las Vegas.

“What if Ryan blows you off?” Jillian fiddled with the cardboard coasters as they waited for Jeff to bring their drinks.

Tori shook off the past with a sigh, focusing instead on the present. “He called me. Why would he blow me off now?”

As if to prove her point, Ryan came ambling into the lounge. His wavy blond hair was longer than the last time she’d seen him, but the shaggy style only added to his surfer-boy charm. Faded jeans hugged his lean hips and a brown bomber jacket hung from his shoulders, making him appear almost skinny. A secret smile bowed her lips. Ryan hadn’t seemed skinny until she compared him with the buff stranger in the casino. Now
that
was a man.

Ryan looked at her as he crossed the room, obviously gauging her level of hostility. Apparently deciding he needed to ease into the situation, he approached Jillian first. He flashed a blinding smile and bent down to give her his best Hollywood kiss on each cheek.

“Damn, girl, you get better looking every time I see you.” He laughed as he pulled out a chair and sat across the table from them. “You should make a point to see me more.”

Tori rolled her eyes at the tired line. She’d heard him recite it countless times before. “Do you have my money or not? I’m really not in the mood for your bullshit.”

His devil-may-care façade dissolved as he looked at her.
“Nice to see you, Tori.
It’s been too long.”

She decided not to be a bitch and ask him about the money again. She’d already made it clear that the money was her only reason for being here.

The side door to the lounge swung open and she automatically turned her head. She didn’t care who was entering the lounge. She was just tired of looking at Ryan’s insincere face. The dark-haired Adonis from the casino crossed the threshold, followed immediately by his blond friend. Her heart fluttered and her stomach did a little flip. What the hell was wrong with her? She’d never gone all weak and tingly over a man before.

“I think he followed you,” Jillian leaned in and whispered, but her giddy expression was enough to make Ryan turn his head to see who had caused the fuss.

“Who is that?” He growled the question as if he had the right to be pissed off by her reaction.

“No one,” Tori stressed.

The strangers walked over to the bar and the dark-haired one unfolded a piece of paper and handed it to Jeff. Jeff looked at the paper then shook his head and handed it back to the hunky stranger. Were they cops? More like private investigators. Neither one of them had flashed a badge.

“They haven’t officially met, but they had ‘a moment’ in the casino.” Jillian lightly elbowed Tori in the side. “Want me to ask them to join us?”

“No.” Ryan scooted closer to the table. “I have the money.” He pulled an envelope out of the inside pocket of his jacket and tossed it onto the table. The flap opened enough for Tori to see the stack of bills inside and the strangers were forgotten. “I’m a man of my word. Sometimes it just takes longer than I’d planned to keep my promises.”

She reached for the envelope, thrilled to have the confrontation finished, but he covered it with his hand and formed his famous half-smile. She’d fallen for that practiced expression once too often not to see through its appeal. Ryan was a self-absorbed, irresponsible jerk and no amount of superficial charm would make her trust him again.

She firmly grasped the envelope and tugged. “Let go. This is what I came for. The conversation is over.”

“I understand your frustration and I won’t stop you from leaving once you’ve heard me out.”

“I’m not interested in anything you have to say.”

“You’re a shrewd business woman.” Ryan paused for another smile. Didn’t he realize that she ground her teeth every time his lips parted? “I know you’re in-between projects and I have an idea that is sure to be a hit.”

None of his other ideas had been hits, so she couldn’t imagine why he persisted. “Not.
Interested.”
She pulled on the envelope, but his fingers were stronger.

“Five minutes. Give me five minutes to explain.”

“Let go of the envelope and I’ll sit here for exactly five minutes.” She could endure anything for five minutes if it meant Ryan would be out of her life permanently.

He sighed clearly frustrated by her persistence.
“Elements of Illusion.”
He quickly began his explanation, though his hand still rested on the envelope. “Water is the new rage up and down the Strip. All of the shows are incorporating some sort of aquatics into their acts. I want to take the concept a step further.”

“Let him talk,” Jillian said. “I’m intrigued.”

She shot her friend an annoyed look, but didn’t interrupt Ryan.

“I want to feature all four elements, water, fire, earth and air. And I want to weave it all around some sort of story.” He moved his hand and she slid the envelope to her side of the table. When she didn’t immediately push back her chair and leave, he went on. “I’ve already started working on the illusions.” He reached inside his jacket and pulled out three stubby candles.

“Seriously?”
She picked up the envelope and moved it to her lap. “Any street corner hack can light a candle.”

“Can they do this?” He made a dramatic gesture toward the first candle. It sputtered to life with a suspicious sizzle, but he didn’t stop there. He moved his hand closer and snapped his fingers then pointed toward the second candle. The flame jumped to the second candle and the first blinked out.

“Okay, that was sort of cool,” Tori admitted begrudgingly.