Sin (Vegas Nights 1)

“I should start a dating website type thing and use that as the tagline.”

“Joint venture.” He put his cutlery down. “We could go into business together.”

“No offense, but I’m only here for my own curiosity. I can’t imagine you running a dating service. Not to mention it wouldn’t be good for business if I ended up murdering you.”

“I’m the perfect gentleman.”

It was my turn to quirk an eyebrow.

Damien held up his hands. “Have I tried to come onto you?”

I stared at him. Just stared. Now that was a statement not worth dignifying with a response.

“Never mind,” he muttered.

I rolled my eyes. “Back to the bar.”

“Yes. Let’s go back to that. Good idea.”

Was he…embarrassed?

He couldn’t be. There was no way in hell he was even capable of feeling such an emotion, let alone showing it. But, he sure as hell wasn’t comfortable.

I’d take discomfort, if only for my own amusement.

“Scarlet gives introverts a place to find like-minded people. I’ve seen people set dinner dates because of the book the other person is reading.” I drew a circle on the table with my fingertip. “People are around others who understand them, and that’s hard to find when you’re an introvert. Besides, there’s nothing better than making a date because of a book.”

“Why?”

“Because books are easy to talk about.”

“So are movies, and since they make movies about books…”

I shook my head. “They attempt to adapt books into movies, but anyone with half a brain cell knows the books are always better.”

“I think you just called me stupid. Again.”

I froze.

He grinned, his eyes twinkling with silent laughter. “Do you always get this passionate about books?”

Yes. “Not always. I just really like books.”

“Interesting.”

Was it?

Seven

Dahlia

We fell into a companionable silence as our appetizers were cleared and our main dishes brought to the table. I didn’t think my passion for books was necessarily interesting. It wasn’t exactly a unique love, but somehow, I got the feeling that Damien didn’t say “Interesting” and mean it in the traditional term.

Like, he didn’t want to know more about it. He just wanted to slot that piece of knowledge into the puzzle of my life that he was clearly putting together.

The longer we sat in silence and ate, the more Mia’s words from our conversation filtered through my thoughts. The man sitting opposite me was ruthless and determined, and perhaps, a little bit dangerous. It was a terrifying combination, but one that fit flawlessly with the thought I’d just had.

Damien Fox wasn’t trying to win me over with seduction. He was using it as a sidebar to find out as much about me as possible. He was building a picture of my entire life, using mental note cards to put information into order until he found that one break in my life he could use to his advantage.

The problem was, I didn’t think I had one. If the bar was struggling or I didn’t want to run it, it would be an easy thing to exploit.

That was what he really wanted to do. He wanted to find a weakness and exploit it for his own good.

I knew he was underhanded, but I didn’t know he’d be dirty about it.

No, that was a lie. I knew he’d be dirty about it, but for some reason, my conclusion sent a shiver of shock across my skin. How far would he go to get what he wanted? Would he create a situation I couldn’t back out of? I had financial clout that others might not have had in the past, but I wasn’t so naive as to think that I was richer than he was.

I could hold my own, that much was for sure. But if he did create a situation I couldn’t get out of, would I be able to hold my reputation?

Of course, it was all theoretical at this point. Not that it mattered—I had to be ready for any situation. One thing was for sure, though. I’d spent all my time looking into him as a person, when I should have been looking deeper into how he runs his business.

He wasn’t a stupid man, and there was no doubt that it wouldn’t be easy to find that info, but unless he wanted to hand it over, I had no choice.

He wasn’t letting the idea of owning my bar go away. He wasn’t going to give up. Tonight had proved that. I needed to be prepared for who this man really was because my gut was telling me I hadn’t scratched the surface of Damien Fox. For good or for bad, I wanted to be ready.

I would fight for The Scarlet Letter, even if it took everything I’d had. I’d go down swinging if it meant holding off his outrageous arrogance for just a little bit longer.

“You look like you’re in deep thought.” Damien’s voice broke into my inner battle cry.