“Your brother’s doing very well.”

The woman’s name was Rose and she had bright blue eyes, a friendly smile, and an equally friendly demeanor. That demeanor hid the fact that she had a ferociously protective streak—I’d made sure of that, too.

I couldn’t just leave Nicky’s future in the hands of someone who wouldn’t watch out for him the way I did.

“And he’s working eight hours?” I asked, disbelieving.

The program was designed for those with special needs to be integrated into the service industry.

I’d fought, bought, and bargained to get Nicky into the short training program that would give him the tools he needed to live more independently. Then, after he got his certificate, I fought, bought and bargained again.

Rose and I were walking around one of the hotels involved in the program and this one was perfect.

It was the one I needed.

I even promised to design clothes for an upcoming charity fashion show for one of Rose’s friends if she’d help me get Nicky a job at this hotel. I threw in one extra off-season fashion show the following year if things went well.

Then I outright pleaded.

“You realize, of course, that I can’t make guarantees,” Rose said again as we toured the hotel. She introduced me to two of her students who were already working there as part of their training. They looked so happy. One helped at the concierge desk. Another assisted at the front desk.

That was what I wanted, for Nicky to feel like he belonged, like he was doing something that mattered.

And he’d be close.

“I understand.” I shot Rose a smile and nodded. I knew she couldn’t make promises, but with everything I’d thrown into my side of the deal, I was sure she wanted what I could give her as much as I wanted what she could give to Nicky.

This hotel was in the same complex where my penthouse was.

It was also directly across the street from the elegant resort hotel that housed the show LeVan headlined with two illusionists, Sly and Mac.

I knew their names. I knew their work. I knew as much as I could know about them, because they were a part of his life. I even knew some of their pasts, because LeVan used to talk to me about them.

But that was almost two years ago.

After Mother got too weak to live in the house alone, her paranoia got the better of her. She no longer had a string of nurses coming to her home to tend to her. They all refused to work with her. She stopped trusting our longstanding housekeeper too, and at that point, insisted that I had to move in with her.

I refused.

Then her lawyer called, reminding me on her behalf that Nicky’s once-a-month visitation schedule was a courtesy, not a right. Siblings had no rights in the eyes of the law, not when a parent persisted the way Mother did.

I caved.

I’d let her have what she wanted—my presence, until she took her very last breath. And now, my time was my own.

“Doesn’t he look ready?” Rose asked. “Doesn’t he look happy?”

Staring at his eager face, I let myself hope again. “He does. He looks very happy.”

Rose and I paused at a window that overlooked the Vegas Strip, and she gestured outside. “You do know there are a few other hotels we’re connected with that are very close to your home. Casino Torrid recently came on board.”

“No.” Even though a part of me leaped at the thought of a connection to LeVan so quickly, so easily, I shook my head.

I had to make sure Nicky was comfortable, that he understood his new life first.

Soon, LeVan, I thought. Soon.

“You think he’ll be ready to start the shadowing process on time?” I asked, more out of a need to get my thoughts away from the man who dominated them all the time.

“Oh, he’ll be ready,” Rose said, laughing. “I’ve never seen a young man thrive as he has. He’s so happy to just…be, Thea. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Yes.” I couldn’t return her smile. I knew all too well what it was like to simply need to just be. After living under the shadow of our mother, just being was all we’d wanted for a very long time.

* * *

“I got over five hundred dollars, Thea,” Nicky announced proudly, showing me the slip from the ATM. He’d been to the bank today with his group and one of the tellers went over deposits and withdrawals, then how to use the ATM machine.

His face had still been lit up when I’d picked him up after putting in some hours on my current workload. I had several custom dresses in the pipeline for longtime customers, but I wasn’t taking on anything new until we were more settled here.

It was a good thing because my nerves couldn’t handle the stress of anything else. Just trying to think about how I was going to find the courage to contact LeVan, what I was going to do once I saw him.

Kiss him. Touch him. Wrap my arms around him and tell him I’d never let him go again.

But how was he going to react when he saw me?

I’d imagined his answer.

It had been played in front of a live, televised audience when he and the guy who’d later become his current partner were chosen to perform with a big-time local magician, along with a few other small-time acts as part of a fundraiser back in Louisiana.

I’d watched from my apartment, my breath trapped inside my lungs.

I’d been waiting for some sort of response, some sort of answer. Naomi hadn’t told me that he’d been too pissed off—who could blame him—to really give me much of an answer the day she’d gone to see him. Maybe I’d been waiting for a letter in response to mine, but trust LeVan not to do things in normal style.

I’d been crying by the time he’d wrapped his arms around the dark-haired woman in the illusion—a Sleeping Beauty sort of twist, complete with the appearance of a dragon. Nicky had watched the special with me and had laughed and clapped, not once understanding the meaning behind it. But he’d recognized LeVan.

“It’s Magic Man,” he’d crowed, recognizing his friend and calling him the nickname he’d given LeVan ever since he’d pulled the queen of hearts out from behind Nicky’s right ear.

Now, still glowing with the excitement of his newfound fortune, Nicky waved the slip of paper from the ATM at me once more. “Five hundred dollars! I could buy you dinner, Thea. Can I buy you dinner?”

Charmed, I shook my head. “You don’t need to do that.”

“But I want to,” he said, his enthusiasm dimming. “You always buy me stuff. Let me buy dinner.”

“Okay.” I acquiesced, because keeping that smile on his face was tantamount. “What are you in the mood for?”

“You pick.” Face eager, he caught my hand and squeezed, tugging me along down the sidewalk with him, looking at everything and everyone. All of Vegas delighted him. From the beauty of the fountains at the Bellagio to the bedraggled costumes people wore as they posed with tourists for a few bucks. I’d told Nicky we’d pick a day to come down here and do just that, but he had to wait for me.

He’d sulked, but agreed. Now, though, the various Darth Vaders and crew were forgotten as he waited for my answer. “Well…” I thought about it. Dining out with Nicky could be an adventure. Sometimes a good one, sometimes a tense one, but always an interesting one.

“Someplace nice,” Nicky said, cutting into my thoughts.

“Okay.” His idea of nice didn’t always run side by side with what someone else might think was nice. “How about sushi? We can go to one of the hibachi restaurants you love so much.”

“That’s perfect.” He carefully folded the ATM slip and tucked it into his pocket. “It won’t cost the whole five hundred, will it?”

“No.” If I’d said yes, he still would’ve insisted on taking me out. His innocence, the goodness of his heart never ceased to amaze me and I was so grateful that Melody hadn’t crushed that part of him. “Come on, let’s walk around and see what we can find.”

“Okay.” Happily, he continued on by my side. “They have magic shows here, Thea. Look.” He pointed at one of the marquees blazing overhead. “You think they are good like LeVan? Or is he the best?”

“LeVan’s absolutely the best,” I replied somberly.

“Maybe we can go see him do magic again sometime.”

I squeezed his hand. “I will make sure of it.”