High Card: A Billionaire Shifter Novel (Lions of Las Vegas Book 1) by Ellis Daniels May

Author:Ellis Daniels, May [Ellis Daniels, May]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blue Spruce Press
Published: 2015-06-20T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

SUMMER

MY BREATH CATCHES in my throat.

“Did you say…a hundred thousand cash up front?”

Landon nods.

“Riiight. Okay. Now I know you’re full of shit. You can take me home, Landon.”

“I’m not full of shit. I have the cash. You can get it tonight.”

That gets me thinking.

A hundred thousand cash is solid bank. For someone like me, it’s a life changing amount of money. Enough to pay all my debt. Buy a house for moms and me somewhere far away from this town. Not a huge house, but good enough. Maybe with a park nearby. It’s enough to buy mom’s meds and put me through school—

A multi-tiered roofline appears up ahead. Landon’s desert getaway is built in a small valley between two hills of jumbled boulders. There’s not another building or person for miles. We could be on the moon. The only sign of civilization are the airplane lights arcing across the twilight sky. Planes carrying winners and losers to and from Sin City.

Suddenly the last few hundred yards of road lights up. Small, motion-sensor LED lights have been spaced along the road. Then the lights in the hideaway flicker on and the building glows, dream-like in the darkness. It’s much larger than I expected, level after level built into the slope. Entire walls are made of nothing but windows. The design hugs the landscape, seems like a natural part of it. Beautiful gleaming redwood interiors walls are offset by polished white concrete countertops. The main living area is two stories tall. There’s a gorgeous modernist chandelier made of glass or crystal hanging from the ceiling, and obviously expensive art on the walls.

I grew up in Vegas. I know what money is.

But still.

Four hundred thousand dollars to sniff out a potential scheme? On nothing more than an old family rivalry and a hunch? And Landon’s dropping the cash like it’s pocket change. Which it is, to him. It’s easy to forget just how rich the rich are. How different they live.

I need to keep that in mind.

When I’m dealing with Landon.

Best not to get swept up in the fantasy.

Best not to fall into the trap of believing I belong here.

I look at the hideaway again, then force myself to remember my apartment. The ratty carpet and roaches. The single bedroom and the fold-out couch I usually sleep on.

Hunger makes me sharp.

Knowing where I come from—who I am—keeps me on my toes.

I need to be on my toes if I’m going to keep from getting myself killed during this job. I wasn’t exaggerating about the Abatelli family to frighten Landon off. They’re vicious.

I could go to them. Tell them what Landon suspects. Rat him out. The family will be in this town long after Vegas crushes Landon Stone. Trouble is, it’s tough to gauge how Luca Abatelli would react. He might give me a few bucks. Say thanks kid. Or he might have a meathead put a gun in my mouth. No one likes a rat.

Still, between Il Potere and Landon..they’re the surer bet, by a long shot.

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