Risking It All...: A High Stakes Seduction / For the Sake of the Secret Child

Now she was thinking about him as John?

What was happening to her?

* * *

The next morning she arrived early enough to be the first person in the offices. She’d just settled into browsing through some figures, when John’s deep, melodious “Good morning” made her jump. Which was ridiculous since she sat in his office.

“Hello, Mr. Fairweather.” She said it as primly as possible. She didn’t want him to have any idea of what he’d been doing to her in her dreams last night.

“Mr. Fairweather? Don’t you think we’re a little beyond that? In fact, I was thinking I should call you Connie.”

She blinked rapidly. “No one calls me Connie.”

“All the more reason.” He sat down on the opposite side of the round table. “What’s your nickname?”

“I don’t have one.”

“I don’t believe you.” He leaned back. “What do your folks call you?”

“Constance. It’s what they named me, so I guess they like it. What do yours call you?”

“John.” His eyes twinkled. “So you do have a point. You look great this morning. Did you finally get some sleep?”

Constance felt heat rising to her cheeks. “I did, thank you. The Holiday Inn is very nice.”

“I’m sure it is.” He cocked his head. “Shame about the twenty-minute drive.”

“I don’t mind.” Why was she getting flustered?

“I’ll try not to take it personally.”

Of course she was getting flustered. He was staring right at her and flirting.

She watched as he rose from the chair, bowed slightly and left the room. She stared after him, through the open door. Part of her wanted to slam the door and sag against it; another much less reliable part of her wanted to run after him and call, “But wait!”

She closed the door quietly, but resisted turning the lock. As soon as she sat down again, her phone rang and she jumped as if she’d been stung. It was Nicola Moore from the BIA, according to the display. She answered it with as much professional dignity as she could manage.

“Hello, Constance. How are things?”

“Fine. Everything’s fine.”

“I heard about the fire. I hope that hasn’t shaken you up too much.”

“It was a shock, but luckily there was no loss of life.” She kept quiet about John’s role in helping at the fire. There was no need for Nicola to know how much time they’d spent together.

“Have you had a chance to get to know some of the key players yet?”

She hesitated. She wanted to say, I’m an accountant. I’m better with numbers than people, but she knew that would be unprofessional. “Sure, I’ve spoken with several.”

“Don’t be afraid to get a feel for their personal business. That can often be the most revealing information.”

“Uh, sure.” Her response wasn’t too professional. Still, the request seemed odd. Maybe she just wasn’t familiar enough with this kind of work. She knew the BIA regularly conducted audits of various Indian ventures, so they must know what they were doing. “I’ll do my best.”

She frowned as she hung up. John had done a pretty good job keeping her safely sequestered in his office and away from people. Maybe it was a good idea to move around and take a look at the numbers from the casino floor. There was no reason she couldn’t observe the tellers in action, taking people’s hard-earned money. It might help stir up her righteous indignation, which seemed to have cooled a bit. She needed to remind herself what this whole enterprise was all about. From an early age, she’d been taught that gambling was wrong, and she still didn’t like it much.

She shoved the cap on her pen and put away the latest files she’d looked at. All predictably clean and tidy and all columns adding up to the right amounts. Maybe she was taking John’s operation too much at face value. Time to get out there and look under the hood. Feeling like an intrepid reporter, she lifted her bag and headed for the door. She scanned the floor quickly to make sure John wasn’t around. Nope. Just two employees sitting quietly at their computers, so she headed downstairs.

She approached the area where the cashiers sat with some trepidation. They were behind a barrier, like at a train station, but it was decorated to look more like an elegant bar than a check-cashing joint. To gain entrance she’d have to go in through the back, and she wasn’t sure if they’d let her.

She opened a door marked “staff only,” rather surprised that it wasn’t locked.

“Can I help you?” A pretty girl with long, curly black hair stood in the hallway behind the door.

“My name’s Constance Allen, I’m—”

The girl thrust her hand out. “I know exactly who you are. John told us you might want to see back here. I’m Cecily Dawson. Come in.” She smiled, though Constance saw a hint of suspicion in her eyes. Hardly surprising under the circumstances.

“Is it okay if I watch the cashiers for a while?”

“Sure, follow me.” She led Constance into the large room, where all the cashiers sat along one wall facing out. Cecily beckoned to a dark-skinned man standing behind the row of cashiers, tapping something into his phone. “Darius, this is Constance Allen.”

He pocketed his phone and walked toward her. “A pleasure to meet you, Constance. John told us all about you.” His handshake was firm and authoritative. He held her gaze, and her hand, with confidence. He was almost as dangerously handsome as John.

“Is there somewhere I can sit down, out of the way?”

“No need to be out of the way.” He touched her arm, and she stifled the urge to flinch. “Come stand with me and watch the whole operation.”

“Darius manages the cashiers. He’s always on the lookout for trouble.”

“In whatever form it may arrive.” He shot her a dark gaze filled with mischief.

Constance blinked. “I don’t want to get in your way.”

“If you’re in my way, I’ll move.” His half smile contained a hint of suggestion. He was flirting with her, too? Maybe this was part of their shtick at the casino. Constance was beginning to regret coming down here. “Each cash register records a sale in our central system and all the records are checked four times a day against the takings. I watch the customers to see if anyone’s acting suspicious. It’s my job to look for cracks in the system, too, so let me know if you think we could improve upon anything.”

“Do you get a lot of suspicious activity?”

“Not so far. We have a lot of controls in place to prevent employees from getting tempted to put their hand in the till. That’s more of a problem than the customers at some casinos.”

“Are you all members of the Nissequot tribe?”

“Cecily and I are, and Brianna at the end.” He pointed to a blonde girl counting out cash at high speed. “Frank, Tessa and Marie are just hoping to marry into the tribe one day.” He grinned when Marie, a middle-aged woman in a conservative suit, turned to blow him a kiss. “But we’re one big happy family.”

His phone beeped and he checked the screen. “Our fearless leader is heading this way,” he said to the cashiers. “Look like you’re working.” He winked at her.

Constance pretended she hadn’t seen it. And now John was coming? She braced herself. The cashiers dispensed money with warm customer service and brisk efficiency. They joked and seemed to be enjoying themselves. It wasn’t like this at Creighton Waterman. Joviality was frowned upon. In fact, one junior accountant, Daniel Bono, had recently been let go for smiling too much in meetings, or at least that was the rumor.

Customers were streaming into the casino, which struck Constance as a little odd since it was a Wednesday morning. “Why are so many people here at this time of day?”