The Family Jewels by Christine Bell Read Free Book Online Page B

realized it hadn’t been about the money. In fact, four days had gone by and she hadn’t spent a dime of the three hundred forty-three dollars that had been tucked in the billfold or even touched the credit cards.
    No, she’d taken the wallet because, as crazy as it seemed, she wanted to take a piece of him with her. Something she could look at on those days when she felt nothing but defeated and remember how wild and alive she’d felt in his arms, dancing around that room, matching wits with him.
    She glanced behind her again before tucking her forefinger beneath the flap and tearing open the envelope. With a quick tug, she freed the silky card inside and read the single line of text.

    K eep it . It was worth every penny.
    -J

    H er pulse clamored wildly as she held the note to her chest. It was vague, but intriguingly so. One thing seemed clear. He wasn’t angry at her, and that relieved her mind way more than it should. But his words could be translated so many ways. Did he mean the dance was worth every penny? Or their time together? Or the fact that she’d unintentionally flashed him her cookie when she’d landed?
    Whatever the case, there was no question that she’d spend hours --maybe even days-- trying to decode his message, and wouldn’t that be a fun distraction. But whatever he’d meant, she’d clearly left an impression, and the thought warmed a place inside her that had been cold for far too long.
    “There’s a deuce at table four for you,” the hostess said as she tottled past, toward the kitchen.
    Sadie nodded absently and tucked the card into her apron. Obsessing over a man she’d likely never see again wasn’t going to pay the bills.
    Guilt stabbed at her as she realized while she was all gooey and giggly over some stupid flowers, her sister was prepping to get her feeding tube. It was time to drill down and focus. She’d work tonight and then head straight home to work on a new plan of action. Waiting until the fifteenth was out, so that left only one alternative as far as she could see, and that gave her two days to prepare.
    She was going to hit Hannigan on poker night.

5
    “ I ’m all in ."
    Alistair pushed in a stack of purple chips and four of the five men at the table groaned.
    He'd been doing it all night, like a fiend. The constant pressure and aggression was taking the fun out of it for most of the guys who'd come more for the booze and camaraderie than for the game. That clearly wasn’t the motive for Alistair, though. Once the chips were on the table, his eyes had gone glassy and all that chatter he seemed so fond of faded to silence.
    Because Alistair Hannigan had a serious gambling problem.
    Jake had long suspected it when he’d last vetted the man’s finances. While Alistair was still very wealthy, there had been a steady decline of liquid assets over the past few years in spite of an increase in revenue. That meant he was bleeding money somewhere that couldn’t be accounted for. As Jake watched the other man scoop in his winnings with trembling hands, he knew for certain that Alistair himself was the leak.
    Another flaw to exploit.
    The thought thrilled him to no end. Recently, his carefully orchestrated plan that had been years in the making suddenly felt like a lifetime. Anything he could do to advance the timeline was fair game. Especially now that he also had Mike and the NYPD breathing down his neck.
    It was time to make a move, even if it was a little risky.
    With the estate staff having already been sent home for the night, and the host’s attention fixated so intently on the action, if ever there was a chance to make something happen, tonight was it. Now to be patient and not force the issue. He needed to make sure Alistair was thoroughly distracted before slipping away.
    The next two hours dragged by as Jake bided his time. He'd just folded pocket kings --the winning hand-- to Alistair’s nines, sacrificing a twenty thousand dollar pot when he made his move,