The blonde who’d crossed below in the atrium almost made my heart stop.

For a minute, just a minute, I’d thought maybe…

But then she’d hooked her arm through that of the man next to her and urged him to the counter.

Not Thea.

It had to be another woman, I’d forced myself to accept. Probably here on a date. Probably a tourist. There were always a few locals in the audience, but for the most part, tourists were the majority.

That was good, because tourists were always easier marks than someone who lived in Vegas. This was a land of glitz and glamour, facades and lies, and if you lived here long enough, you figured that out.

After another lingering look down the four floors that separated us, I turned and leaned against the railing, facing Mac and Sly. “You boys want to meet up, play cards after the show?”

“Shit.” Sly smoothed a hand back over his bright red, wavy hair. “I want to find some random chick and get laid. Just like what I did yesterday and the day before. What makes you think I’d hang out with you two sons of bitches?”

“Mostly, the fact that you pretty much always want to get together after a big show?”

That came from Mac, his subtle smile barely changing his tanned face. His green eyes didn’t reflect much of his amusement, but at least he wasn’t hiding behind the shades of his sunglasses tonight. He often did. He often put those shades on and didn’t emerge from behind them for days. For all I knew he slept, ate, and showered in the damn things.

All so he didn’t have to see a face that reminded him of a monster he hated.

We all had our own demons or our own ghosts. The thought had me glancing back down to the atrium, looking for the blonde.

But she was already gone. Lost to me. What did it matter? It wasn’t Thea. Couldn’t be.

“I still can’t believe you went and cut off those dreads, dude,” Sly said, unaware or not caring about how distracted I was.

Reaching up, I ran my fingers across the back of my neck, bare for the first time since I’d been a boy. I’d started growing my hair when I was nine or ten, had been in dreads by the time I was fifteen. Not having that heavy weight resting against my neck and shoulders felt like something was missing.

“What made you decide to get rid of it?” Mac asked, curiosity in his eyes.

“I needed a change, that’s all.”

And because one morning, I’d woken up hard as granite at the image of Thea’s hands gripping my hair as she rode me.

Maybe it was time to make all sorts of changes.

But cutting those ties to the past was going to take a lot more than cutting off some hair.

* * *

“Wow. I mean, Devin X…Sly Strange and LeVan.”

I hadn’t bothered with an extra moniker. I hadn’t seen the point.

Judging by the rapt look on the face of the young man in front of us, I could tell he didn’t care.

I shook his hand and nodded at the manager who’d accompanied him to the large studio area where Sly, Devin, and I always sat and shared a drink before the show.

We also made it a habit to speak to our opening act and tonight, that was this kid.

Man, he looked young.

His name was David Eagle.

It was a nice name, I thought. Could even be his real name.

“Oh! Wait…honey!”

The starry-eyed David winced, some of the stars leaving his eyes as he blinked at the sound of that voice. “Shoot, I mean…shit.”

The attempt to cover a polite shoot had me smothering a grin as he looked back at the door. “That’s um…it’s my fiancée. I told her I’d ask if she could come back, but I told her to wait by my room. I’m so sorry—”

“Won’t be your fiancée long if you do things like that,” Mac advised, lifting his highball glass. “She’s welcome to join you as your guest.”

There was an emphasis on your guest, but David didn’t pick up on it.

I knew that.

Devin knew that.

Sly knew that.

And even though she hadn’t heard it, David’s fiancée Clara knew it, too.

She lingered over the handshakes, smiled and leaned in to show off her cleavage while next to her, totally unaware, the sweet kid who was her fiancé was excitedly telling our stage manager about the piece he’d put together that had landed him the chance to make the Las Vegas circuit.

He was, like so many other new acts, the winner of some sort of reality TV show.

But unlike some of them, part of his appeal was just him. I hadn’t had to watch his act to get that.

He was a downhome boy, like Mac and me, complete with the Southern drawl. He had an aww shucks manner that I’d never had.

It was charming as hell.

It was also real. The kid was naïve.

I figured that out pretty damn fast when his fiancée finally sidled over to me and hooked her arm through mine. “You know…Davey tells me that you’re absolutely his idol. He’s from Louisiana too, ya know.”

She pronounced it just a little heavy on the drawl for someone who wasn’t from the South. Loosy-anna.

But I smiled and nodded. “That’s the truth, ma’am.” Disengaging my arm from hers, I moved over to my partners and lifted my glass. “It’s about time, gentlemen.”

That wasn’t the way we usually wrapped things up before a show, but they’d picked up on the same thing I had.

None of us wanted to let her try to bait us on a hook while her fiancé stood there unaware.

Micky, our stage manager, smooth as always, came rushing forward.

“Well…it’s time for all of us to get moving then. David, if you would…and Miss…?”

A few minutes later, we were alone.

Alone.

That word resounded oddly alone in my mind but I knew why.

* * *

“You’re the magic man.”

Something about the way the kid blinked at me and watched me with wide, focused eyes had my nerves twitching.

“That’s right, son,” I told him, studying his face as my assistant brought the table out.

We were supposed to be setting up for my regular bits, a quick sleight of hand while I helped myself to anything and everything this young man had in his pockets. Behind the stage, Sly was setting up for one of his sword acts.

But I had a feeling the standard sleight of hand wasn’t going to work as well this time around.

My assistant Dina came striding out in her sharp, sleek dress—a column of sparkling blue. She had a wheeled table in front of her.

Theatrically, I stepped forward and held up my hands. “Ladies…gentlemen…pardon me while I make plans for after the show.”

Dina stopped in a huff and planted a hand on her hip, going along. “You only wish, LeVan!”

“Oh, come on, honey…”

Closer to her now, I bent and murmured in her ear. “We’re swapping out. Bring out the cards…” I continued to murmur, keeping it fast and short.

She signaled that she understood—then jerked back, gaping at me. “Why in the world do I work with you, LeVan? I swear…” With that, she spun and stalked off, hips twitching in a way that made the sparkles on her dress throw shards of light all over the stage.

Going back to the kid who’d been selected to come on stage, I smiled at him, reaching into my jacket. “So, do you like cards?”

His eyes lit up. “You know I do, LeVan!”

The audience started to laugh.

They’d seen the same thing I had and I bit back a curse. There was something different about this kid, but the world wasn’t always nice to people who were different.

And this kid wasn’t a kid, either.

I could see fine lines fanning out from his eyes. He was probably closer to my age than I’d realized.

“Come on…let me show you one of my favorite tricks.” I whipped my hand out of my jacket—and a bird flew out.

The dove flew off to the left, not caring that his act was playing a little bit earlier than normal. As long as Pietro got fed, that was all he cared about.

My friend from the audience burst into bright laughter.

It was infectious, and thankfully, most of the audience who responded did so in the same way.

Keeping everything on a bright and easy note, I walked him through the trick, even going so far as to show him how to do it—on the easy scale.

The audience responded the way I’d hoped and applauded like mad, even when he went back to his seat, pumping his arms like a champ. I lost track of him as the darkness wrapped back around the audience, cueing up for the next act.

“Now…let me pull a rabbit out of my hat…” I grinned at them, then pulled a hat out of thin air.

* * *

One thing we did with our show was bring any and all participants backstage for a brief meet and greet.

I didn’t much care about meeting anyone but the kid—

Not a kid, I corrected myself.

But I’d wanted to meet him.

Normally I got names from everyone I brought on stage, but I’d been too busy working the audience, him, the stage, all of it to keep anyone from reacting in a way that would’ve simultaneously pissed me off, hurt him, and ruin the show.

Searching for him, I sipped on my ginger ale and made the rounds for what was taking on the typical cocktail party atmosphere.

None of us ever drank at these things.

We also didn’t flirt, didn’t take anyone’s phone number…this was purely for PR, a rule we’d set up a long time ago.

“That was sooooo sweet the way you handled that.”

The gushing, overly sweet yet utterly fake tone of her voice caused me to tighten my jaw briefly, but I tried to relax and not show my reaction so clearly on my face.

Looking over, I saw David’s fiancée standing there. I couldn’t remember her name, nor did I care enough to jostle my brain and reach for it. “Handled what?” I asked blandly. Before she could answer, I cupped her elbow and started to walk. “Your fiancé did fantastic tonight. I hope you’ve congratulated him. The crowd loved him.”

“Oh, but of course…” She beamed at me, her wide brown eyes glowing. “You know, I was hoping to talk to you about that. Was there anything…” She paused then, trying to slow our pace.

Wasn’t having it. I knew just where this was going. I’d been down this road a time or three.

“I’m afraid I can’t offer you any pointers, ma’am. Now if he wants to ask, he’s welcome to, but this sort of thing works better from one artist to another. I’m sure you understand, and no, it won’t work better if we talk about it in private so you can explain it better. I’ve had it explained all sorts of ways and it always boils down to the same thing.” I gave her a polite, cool smile, but it wasn’t real. It said everything my words hadn’t—I know your game. We all do.

We came to a halt and she tilted her head, studying me.

The smile fell away from her eyes as well.

“You should be more friendly,” she said, laying thicker on the drawl. “You never know where it will get you later in life.”

“I don’t rely on my friends to get me places, thanks.” I let go of her arm and gestured to David. “There’s your fiancé now.”

I turned to go and had almost reached Mac and Sly when a shriek rang out.

“You stupid boy! And you…if you can’t control him better, why do you even take him anywhere?”

I didn’t have to look to know who it was—or who the boy was.

But I looked anyway.

For a moment, though, the world fell away.

It literally…just…fell away, like the world’s greatest magician had just pulled the world’s greatest illusion and I’d never seen it coming. It was an almost beautiful unmasking, really, the way the veil of time peeled back and I saw the kid—the kid—as who he really was.

Nicky.

Taller, broader through the shoulders—the body of a man. A man’s face and a man’s body, but still those child-like eyes. And now, those child-like eyes were wide with horror and humiliation as he gaped at the woman in front of him.

Then I couldn’t even see him, because another woman pushed him gently behind her.

“Thea,” I whispered.

And then I had to lunge forward to get between David’s rude as fuck fiancée and the woman I loved.