Raising the Stakes

Gray, she’d say, Gray, I have to ask you something and I know it’s foolish…

And then he opened the door and saw her, and guilt flashed in his eyes like lightning. He’d tried to hide it but she knew what she’d seen, and it terrified her.

“Dawn? Talk to me.”

She took a deep breath. “Gray. I have to ask you something.”

“Anything. You know that, sweetheart. Let me shut the—”

“No!” She shook her head and shifted free of his hands. “No,” she said carefully, “don’t.”

“All right.” A muscle ticked in his jaw. “What do you want to know?”

“Do you… Have you ever…” Her mouth felt as parched as the desert. Just do it, she told herself, just say the words and get it over with. “It’s about my husband. Do you know him?” She kept talking; she knew she was babbling but she couldn’t seem to stop. “Have you—have you had dealings with him? Gray

? Please. Don’t look at me like that. Tell me. Tell me that you don’t know Harman…”

“Darling,” he said softly, and reached for her.

She slapped at his hands. “You do!” She wanted to scream but she had to hold on, hold on; she needed to know everything. “You know him. And you came to Las Vegas to find me.”

“Dawn. It’s not that simple.”

“Yes. It is. It’s very simple. You and Harman. God, oh God, you know each other!”

“Dammit,” he said, his word rough with anger, “will you listen?”

“I did. Oh, I did. I listened to all your lies, you—you—” She caught her lip between her teeth, bit down until she felt the tang of blood. “Did you come to Vegas looking for me?”

“Jesus, if you’d just—”

“Yes or no?” Her voice rose. “Just yes or no, Gray. You can manage that, can’t you?”

He stabbed his fingers through his hair, paced in a tight circle before facing her again. “Yes. Okay? That’s why I came to Vegas. To find you. And yes, I know Kitteridge, but… Dawn? Dawn!”

He reached for her as she swung away from him and she flailed out with her fists, pummeling him while she sobbed for breath. Gray cursed and caught her wrist. She kicked him in the shins and he grunted with pain but held on.

“Dawn,” he said desperately, “listen to me—”

“I did,” she panted, “I listened and God, I wish, oh I wish…”

She jerked a hand free, reached back and picked up something from the table. Gray saw the blur of her hand and then pain exploded in his temple. She slugged me with the phone, he thought in wonder. Then the room began to spin. His hand fell from hers and he dropped to his knees. Blood dripped to the carpet.

A couple of minutes dragged by before he could get to his feet, walk unsteadily into the bathroom and peer into the mirror. He had a cut over his eye and the odds were good he’d also have an impressive shiner in a couple of hours. The lady swung one hell of a mean telephone.

He winced as he soaked a towel in cold water and pressed it to the wound. Time to go to Plan B—except he didn’t have a Plan B. He’d never imagined Dawn would confront him before he had the chance to—

“You son of a bitch!” Keir exploded through the door, slapped a hand in the middle of Gray’s chest and shoved him against the wall. “What did you do to Dawn?”

“You’ve got the question wrong, O’Connell. It’s what did Dawn do to me?”

Keir jerked his head back and took a look at Gray’s face. “Jesus.”

“Exactly. And if you don’t get your fist out of my gut, I’m just liable to toss my cookies all over your shoes.”

Keir dropped his hand to his side, took a step back and glared at Gray. “Security tells me you manhandled Dawn Carter.”

Gray barked out a laugh. “You’ve got it backward.” He dipped the towel in the basin and wrung it out. “And what’s Security doing, keeping tabs on your guests?”