Chapter Six
Peeking in from the doorframe of the dining room, I watched him come out of what could only be his bedroom. Head bowed, long fingers working to button up his sleek white dress shirt. Hair slick and wet, hanging slightly crooked on his head.
I decided to make my presence known then, shuffling slowly into the room, acting more disoriented than I originally was. Although, I didn't have to act that much due to my still quivering muscles.
He looked up when he sensed me come in the room, eyes lifting to observe me, fingers halting momentarily before continuing their motion, fixing the last button.
"Morning sleeping beauty." He stated with a teasing tone, eyes going back to their previous position, a playful tone lacing his words. "Looking for something?" He continued, moving to enter the open concept kitchen.
He smoothly moved around the place, as I took a seat in one of the dining table chairs, the material soft beneath me, relaxing my muscles. He walked over to the side-by-side fridge, taking out a bottle of crisp water before grabbing a glass from an overhead cabinet, taking quick strides towards me.
"Here. You had quite a bit to drink last night." He ended with a chuckle, placing the objects on the table beside my hand, before walking back towards the kitchen.
I really wanted to ask if that was the only thing that happened last night, but I decided not to. Instead I filled the glass with the cold liquid to the brim, taking a big gulp, sighing a little as it helped my scratchy throat.
My eyes shifted towards him, as he continued to prepare what appeared to be an omelet for himself. My head still throbbed, and it felt I had a lot less control of my body than I usually did.
"You're the boss of this place?" I asked, taking another sip, lips moving before my mind could catch up. I didn’t have a plan of what I was going to do next. And that made me anxious.
Considering the start of this conversation, I guess I'll just have to find out as it happens.
He lifted his head a bit, looking up from the eggs he was busy cracking, a small teasing smile never leaving his lips before answering, "Currently, yes I am."
I was a bit taken aback from his words. Good looking, well dressed, kind of depressed, owner of a huge casino, and judging from his smooth skills in the kitchen, a good cook. What a combination.
"Who else is in line?" I asked, deciding to just say what came to my lips.
His eyes shot up at the statement, hardening a little, his hands stopping their movement.
"You were quite loud. Woke me up. I didn't mean to eavesdrop." I quickly explained, coming up with a false story.
I saw his muscles visibly tense, as his head bowed down, fingers gripping the edge of the counter he was working on.
"How much did you hear?" Came his voice, more guarded from his previous stance, as he glared at the salt shaker sitting in front of him.
"Bits and pieces." I added, "Enough to forge an idea of the situation."
He sighed deeply, eyes momentarily closing before he grabbed the bowl of beaten eggs and dumped it into a pre-heated pan, a sizzling sound rushing from the mixture.
"What they're doing to you is unfair. And what they're asking you to do, even more so," I added, hands starting to tremble from the uncontrolled stream of words tumbling from my mouth. This was bad. I was basically digging my own grave.
"Yeah you think I don't know that?" He harshly stated, clearly irritated from the situation he was stuck in. His lean fingers came up to pinch the end of his nose, shoulders tense, standing over the omelet bubbling away.
I had an idea of where I was going with this. A general thought that required to be more precisely presented. It didn't come from my brain, my still throbbing brain. At that moment it felt that those words came from my heart.
Because although my hands trembled and my lips tinged, my heart was perfectly content. Like I was doing something right.
"I can help you." Were my next words, as I turned my head to look at him still standing over the now over cooked omelet. His head perked up a little at my statement, his fingers leaving his nose and rubbing over his eyes, as if he was tired already, and the day had just started.
"Yeah? How so?" He stated with a sigh accommodating his deep voice, shifting to grab a wooden spoon from the holder, picking at the liquid omelet before shifting it around the pan.
"They only need to believe you’re like them, yeah?" I stated, moving from my position and walking towards the wide-open space over the counter that gave a view of the kitchen, leaning a little on my hands resting on the counter when I reached it. "Like they don't need solid proof you're sleeping around, just something to ease themselves with, like to be sure you're a perfect fit as the owner of the casino."
His head had turned towards me, giving me his full attention as I continued my speech, blue eyes shining at me as he listened with concentration.
"And as far as I know, for some reason I get you extra points. So here’s my proposition." I stated, leaning more towards him as he took a couple steps towards the counter, standing directly opposite of me.
"Somehow, we make them think that you’re sleeping with me, for a couple of days continuously, until they are sure your activities are similar to theirs, and they can stop pointing fingers at you."
His expression turned to disbelief, still not understanding the terms. "This is so foolish. They would never believe that we're fooling around." He added, shaking his head. He quickly plated the browned eggs on a flat plate, dunking the frying pan in the sink in the back corner.
"Why not? It's not like they're going to come in here and check to make sure you've slept with me." I added, crossing my arms. "As long as you're gone a couple of hours, as long as there's a relatively believable rumor spreading, they would have nothing to worry about."
"And what would you get out of this, miss 'I-didn't-eavesdrop'?" He turned his gaze to me, sharply taking me in, sarcastic words dripping from his lips.
What would I get out of this? The big question I too would've asked. But honestly speaking, I didn't know. My heart did apparently, as it happily took lead and cut off connection from my throbbing brain screaming at me not to get myself in anything related to the casino business.
"A fresh start for my family." I blurted out. "A new place, better home. Financial stability. And authorized treatment for my father."
In theory, that was all I wanted. But really, what I actually wanted was peace of heart. Where I never had to feel the tell-take plummet that lead to a traumatic event in my life. Someplace where I could finally just be content with life.
So, if helping this millionaire in a fake set-up got me a chance at what I desired, there was no way I would not take it.
He reached for the salt and pepper shakers, eyes concentrated, features drawn. He was thinking, planning. Like anyone would. There's so much that could go wrong. But it could also go right. It only depended on how willing someone was to get it right.
He rapidly shook the little bottles, spicing up his burnt breakfast, before letting a deep sigh escape his lips, hands coming up to run his stubble coated cheeks.
"Are you sure this will work?" He looked at me intensely, blue eyes holding mine captive. At that moment I realized, how desperate he was, how much he was willing to make this work. To safeguard his position.
My brain told me to pull out. No. Don't do it. Again, and again and again. I didn't need to get myself involved in matters so sensitive, a world so new to me. It would only end in more troubles than I already had.
But despite my brain telling me not to, as my heart screamed yes, I stated, "Worth a try isn't it?"
He sighed again, closing his eyes to think yet again. It all seemed so crazy to him. It did to me too. An attempt at something I had always strived for, in exchange for some semi-difficult acting and hopefully not my life. I was getting out of here alive.
Suddenly, he jerked his head up, standing right in front of me holding out his hand towards me, determined eyes boring holes in mine.
"Nova Riche. I’ll take you up on the offer." Deep, raspy voiced words added to their effect. "But if anything goes wrong, I'll see to your end myself."
Yeah. Definitely getting out of here alive.