I look at Justin and he rolls his eyes. Here we go.
“Hey, baby. Long time no see.”
“Natasha.” He gives her a curt nod and turns towards Mandy, making it clear that we need to be going.
Natasha is someone Justin once had a thing with. To say it was casual is an understatement. She asked him out a few times and he finally agreed, but mostly because he thought it would end the infatuation. Natasha is a former housewife of Vegas, and is always on the front page of every gossip magazine. Her ex-husband was caught embezzling and she famously divorced him while he was in jail, and sold her story to anyone with a microphone. I don’t know how she ended up in this poker tournament, but we didn’t make the booking. We agreed to host and the other hotels already had the schedule in place.
From what Justin said, he and Natasha had dinner one night, and she kept pushing for more. He said it was never anything beyond a dinner, but I always felt like there was more he wasn’t willing to tell me.
Mandy seems to read the situation and moves to step between Natasha and us. “Thank you for coming out to support your charity tonight, Mrs. Woods, I didn’t know you’d be in attendance.”
Natasha looks annoyed, but raises her chin and smiles wide. She’s always aware of when the cameras are rolling. “Yes. If you’ll excuse me.” She moves around Mandy and gets close to Justin. She puts her hands on his chest, and I see Justin shiver, and not in a good way. I’m trying not to cause a scene, but I can see he’s uncomfortable. “It’s been a while, handsome. I just wanted to come over and say hello, see what your plans were tonight.”
To his credit, he realizes cameras are probably catching all of this, so he leans in and gives her a kiss on the cheek, whispering in her ear. Her eyes go wide at his words, and then her hands drop as she takes a step back. Her face is a picture of shock for just a moment before her practiced smile is back in place. “It’s always good seeing old friends.” She smiles at him and then looks at me, giving me a wicked smile. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again soon.”
With those words, she turns and walks back to her table, and everyone goes back to their games. We exit the event, Mandy on our heels as we go back to our personal elevator.
“I’m sorry about that. She must have been a last minute entry into the tournament. She had to have paid to take Mr. Conway’s position. I didn’t see him at the tables. I take full responsibility for this.” Mandy hangs her head in shame like we are going to fire her for something like this.
“Calm the theatrics, Mandy. It’s all right. Just keep an eye on her, and let Mark in the pit know she’s to remain on this side of the casino by any means necessary.” Justin pauses, letting Mandy acknowledge what he’s said. “And under no circumstances is she to stay in the hotel tonight. Understood?”
“Yes, Mr. Cortez.”
As Justin and I step inside the elevator, I enter our code for the penthouse. “Just make sure everything is perfect for Stella tomorrow. That’s the main priority.”
Mandy smiles brightly at me and gives us a mock salute. “Aye,aye, captains.”
When the doors close, I look at Justin and open my mouth. But before I can speak, he holds his hand up.
“I didn’t want to talk about it then and I don’t want to talk about it now.”
“If there’s something I should know, now’s the time.”
He looks at me and then looks away, clearly trying to decide if he should tell me something. After a second he shakes his head. “It’s nothing. She’s not a problem.”
“What do you mean, ‘it’s nothing’? What? What is nothing?”
He closes his eyes and sighs deeply. “The night I had dinner with Natasha, something happened. I was just trying to be polite and then forget the night ever happened. I hardly said five words with how much she talked. She was so persistent, and she just wouldn’t leave me alone, so I agreed and suffered through it. I thought maybe if I ignored her, she’d get annoyed and leave. Apparently it didn’t work out that way. I swear to God I never touched her…” His words trail off, and I know I’m going to have to push him to tell me the rest.
“But?”
“But somehow I ended up in her hotel room naked.”
I reach over to hit the stop button, pausing our ascent to the penthouse. “You did what?”
“Believe me, I know how it sounds. I had one glass of wine, and all I can think is that maybe she tried to roofie me. I went to the restroom once, and then another time I had to take a phone call, so she could have done it during either time I was away from the table. I swear the chick is psycho.”
“What happened, Justin?” I’m trying not to lose my patience, but I need to know the whole story.
“When I came to, I was in her hotel bed, and she walked out of the bathroom in lingerie. From what I could tell, she was shocked that I was awake, and then irritated she hadn’t been able to seal the deal. I don’t think she’s too smart because between the roofie and the headache from the roofie, there was no way my guy was in working order.” He rubs his eyes, looking embarrassed and aggravated. “I grabbed my clothes and ran out of the room naked, getting dressed in the hallway. I couldn’t get away from her fast enough. There’s no way I touched her, and I know she had to have help carrying me up to her room.”
“Didn’t you check the cameras?”
He looks at me like I’m an idiot. “Don’t you think that would’ve been the first thing I did? Unfortunately we weren’t here.”