“Hannah?” I called as I rushed into our apartment. Tossing my bag on the kitchen counter, I raced to her room.

She sat on her bed and slipped on a pair of black pumps. “I have to.” Dressed in a black skirt and a low-cut top, she wore her dealer’s outfit, though now it hung more loosely on her frame.

“No.” I closed her bedroom door and plastered myself against it. “You don’t.”

“If I can count cards in Pauly’s gaming room and rig the winnings for one of his own players, I can make up for what I lost. What we owe.” Her tired, sunken eyes met mine.

I shook my head. “And what if it goes wrong again and you get in even deeper with him or worse, someone else? Huh? What then?”

“I can count cards.” She stood, though the heels made her wobble.

“I know you can. That doesn’t mean you should.”

“This time Pauly will be in on it. It’ll be easier.”

“No.” There was no way I was letting her get mixed up with the wrong people again. Guilt flowed over me like a cold rain. A year ago, I’d been so fixated on trying to go legit with a job and a future in the city that I’d let Hannah fall through the cracks. She’d been such a bright spot in my life, but I’d let predators dull her shine.

When her boyfriend at the time found out she could count cards, he’d taken her to various gambling dens all over the city. With her help, he’d made a killing. But that all ended when Pauly caught on during a game. When Hannah got busted, the boyfriend disappeared, and she came to me for help. I had no other option. I dropped my budding life in Manhattan and moved to Jersey City to help her out of the mess.

I refused to let a sleazy man like Pauly take any more from her. Not again. “We’re going to beat this, and then you’re going to school.”

She sighed, the sound rattling in her lungs. “It’s too late for me.”

“Don’t say that!” I walked to her and folded her in my arms. “You’re young. The whole world is out there for you. I’m going to give it to you. And I’ll handle Pauly.”

“I don’t know if you can. He’s cruel.” Her sad voice tore at me.

“We’ll win this, even the score, and never look back.” I squeezed her. “You don’t have to count cards for assholes ever again. But I do expect you to start community college in the fall, then transfer to MIT.”

She snorted.

“No pressure or anything.” I released her and wiped the tears from her pale cheeks. “Have faith in me to solve this.” I glanced to her pile of Rubik’s Cubes. “You read numbers. I read people.”

“I know.” She kicked her shoes off. “I wish it was the other way around.”

“You know what Ma always said.”

She nodded. “We all have our gifts and our curses.”

“Right.”

Her big eyes watered again. “Am I your curse?”

I put my hands on her shoulders. “No, you’re my sister, and I love you.” Emotion crept into my voice, but I forced it away. It was my turn to be the strong one. Hannah needed me, and I wouldn’t let her down.

“He’s going to come for me. Any minute now.”

As if on cue, a bang sounded at the front door. Hannah folded in on herself, fear overtaking her earlier resolve as she sank onto her bed.

“Stay here no matter what you hear.” I opened her door, stepped into the hall, and closed it behind me. “Lock it,” I said through the wood. Once I heard her click the handle, I walked to the front door where the banging hadn’t subsided.

“Okay, okay. I’m coming.” I took a deep breath and peeked through the eyehole, expecting to see Pauly’s slick grin. “What the hell?” Willis stood outside, his glasses askew and concern writ large across his face. I swung the door open and he burst past me, his fists up.

“Where is he?”

“Who?” I cocked my head to the side, unsure if I should laugh at the display of nervous aggression or be pissed that he’d figured out where I lived.

“Pauly.” He peered around at the neat but tiny kitchen and living room.

I closed the door and leaned against it. “Not here, Sparky.”

“Oh.” He dropped his fists. “Are you okay?”

A frozen piece at the deepest part of me melted. “Did you come here to save me?”

“Well.” He straightened his glasses with his index finger at the bridge of his nose. “I thought you needed help. And with the way you bolted, and how worried you were, and all that…” He shrugged, the Thundercat on his shirt shrugging right along with him. “I just didn’t want you walking into some kind of trouble.”

I couldn’t stop my smile. “So, you thought you’d show up and be the hero?”

“Something like that.” He held a hand up. “But I’m a feminist. Don’t get me wrong. You can take care of yourself. It just seemed like you could use—”

“Some muscle?” I stepped closer to him and ran my palms down his ridiculous t-shirt.

He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing under the stubble. “Yeah.”

“That was sweet of you.” I stood up on my tiptoes so I could speak into his ear as I dug my nails into his abs. “But how’d you get my address?”

“Youch!” His arms wrapped around my waist, strong bands that glued me to him and rendered my fingernail assault useless. “Doesn’t matter.”

“It does,” I hissed. “What else did you find out?”

“Nothing. I swear.” He leaned back so he could lock his gaze with mine. “I only found out what I needed to. Just to make sure you were safe.”

I relaxed a tiny bit. Hannah’s door edged open down the hallway, and she peeked out.

“It’s okay.” I tried to back away from Willis, but he held me tight.

His gaze lifted. “Who’s that?”

“My sister, Hannah.”

She crept down the hall, her eyes still wide. “Hi?”

“This is Sparky. The one I told you about.” I snapped my fingers, a signal to my sister that the game was afoot. “I’m Scarlet.” We’d been running games our entire lives. She’d fall right in with the Scarlet routine.

Willis shook his head. “My name’s Willis, not Sparky.”

“Hi, Willis.” She put her hand out to shake.

He took it, giving me an opening to scoot away, though I missed his body heat and the enjoyable feel of him against me.

“Nice to meet you. I hope everything’s okay?” He wouldn’t get anything out of Hannah, but she had that wide-eyed innocent look to her—the same look that made her the perfect ringer for card games.

“We’re fine.” She glanced at me, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips. “You never told me he looked like this.”

A blush crept into my cheeks, the heat making me feel like I was sixteen again. “I said he was a cute nerd.”

“Yeah.” She appraised him. “But he’s a built, cute nerd. Hot. You forgot that part.”

“Crackerjack.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Fine.”

“Crackerjack?” Willis had puffed up during Hannah’s “built” commentary, his Thundercat on full display. Now he gave me a curious stare.

Hannah swiped her hair over her shoulder and shot me a dirty look, though I could tell she didn’t mean it. “You always call it before I have a chance.”

“What is Crackerjack?” Willis persisted.

“A delicious, crunchy popcorn snack that comes in a box.” I reached for the door handle. “Now, as you can see, we’re perfectly all right here. So you can go ahead and—”

A boom rattled the door, the thunk of a meaty fist shaking it on its hinges. I jumped, then flipped the nearest deadbolt right as the handle began to turn from the other side.

“I know you’re in there, Hannah.” Pauly’s voice.

I pointed to the hall, and Hannah dashed away and disappeared into her room. Willis stepped up, but I pressed my finger to his lips, which turned down in a frown. He’d morphed into a wall of tense muscle, every sinew pulled tight.

“Go away, Pauly. We already have a deal.”

“Let me in so we can talk.” The handle shook.

“Not a chance.”

Another boom. “Don’t be such a bitch.”

Willis tensed even more, his hands curling into fists. I shook my head and mouthed “don’t.”

I had to get Pauly away from the door before things got out of hand. “You’ll have your money when I said you’d have it. No sooner. Stop sniffing around here like a starving dog.”

“Send Hannah out.”

“No.” With a shaking hand, I silently turned the second deadbolt.

He beat on the door, and for a moment, I feared the old timber would give way. The pounding stopped, and I could hear him shuffling around in the hallway.

“I could get in there if I really wanted to.” His sinister voice vibrated close to the door jamb.

“Hey, asshole. You step foot in here and you’ll be whistling out your dick!”

I shot Willis a death glare, then a confused glare, because what kind of threat was that?

“Who’s in there?” Pauly’s voice vibrated with aggression.

“Your mom!”

I slapped my hand over Willis’s mouth. “My cousin. He’s visiting from Wisconsin.”

“He’s going to need to cut his visit short, or I’ll take him for a little ride out to Jersey. One way ticket.”

A chill went through me, because I knew how serious Pauly was with the threat. He was more than just the lowlife that managed to bust Hannah at counting cards. He was a killer for one of the larger organizations in the city. When I’d found out Hannah had gotten caught, I was sick. When I found out Pauly was the one she’d been cheating, I started packing. But it was too late. He would have found us no matter where we went. And now we owed him the money he lost to the other players at the table that night. Fair? No. Inescapable? Yes.

I tried to add a calming note to my tone. “He’s going back soon.”

“He better. If I catch him out and he gets mouthy with me again…” He ended on a low laugh that sent fire ants skittering down my spine.

“He won’t.” I kept my hand over Willis’s mouth, and he let me. He could have swiped my hand away and talked more shit, but my fear—which I was telegraphing like Samuel Morse—must have given him pause.

Pauly coughed and slapped the door once more. “Watch yourself. All of you.”

“Yep, will do.”

“Time’s a ticking.” He chuckled. “Tick tock. If you don’t have my money, Hannah needs to get back to the table.”

Bile churned in my throat. “I’ll have your money.”

“You better.” He shuffled around, and then his footsteps receded down the hallway to the stairs.

My knees knocked, but I stayed upright and peeled my hand from Willis’s mouth. He reached for the door handle.

“No!” I slapped his hand away.

“Let me go after him, have a talk.”

“Not a chance.” I shook my head vehemently. “He’s not the kind of man you just talk to.”

“Then I’ll do what I have to, just as long as he leaves you alone.” He stepped closer and cupped my face. “Don’t worry.”

“Please don’t.” I pressed my back against the door. “I’m begging you.”

A furrow formed between his eyebrows. “You don’t beg.”

“I know.” I put a trembling hand on his chest. “That’s how real this is.”

He covered my hand with his, the steady beat of his heart thumping against my palm.

I wanted it to keep beating. “Let’s sit down and just chill out for a minute.” I gestured toward the cramped living room.

He eyed the door. Grabbing his chin, I pulled his face down to me. “Please?”

“Tell me what crackerjack means.”

“What?”

“Tell me what crackerjack means and I’ll let him go…for now.”

Done. “It means dibs. I called dibs on the prize at the bottom of the crackerjack.”

“I’m the prize?” He smirked.

“Yes, you’re a temporary tattoo of a fat dragon. Well done.”

He snorted. “Way to knock me back down to earth.”

I pointed to the closest chair. “Have a seat. I’ll pour us a drink.” My mask had slipped, and I needed a minute to get it back in place. There was no way that Willis could understand just how dangerous Pauly was.

“Since you put the kibosh on my heroic rescue, I might as well.” He sank into the chair, then shifted and grimaced. “I really love how adventurous wicker is. Always trying to poke me in the ass.”

I laughed, high and verging on hysterical. “Try the futon. It squeaks, but doesn’t have any broken pieces.” Walking the few steps to the kitchen, I pulled two glasses from the narrow shelf next to the fridge. “Hannah, you can come out,” I called.

“I’m good in here,” her voice wafted down the hall. “Jeopardy’s on. Lots of math questions.”

I didn’t believe it for a second, but I wouldn’t push her. Willis’s gaze never left me as I poured two whiskeys and returned to him in the living room.

“Thanks.” He took the glass from me and sipped. “It’s still a.m. Looks like we’re turning into Linda.”

“There are worse things.” I shot a glance at the door.

“Tell me what’s going on.”

I settled back into the futon. He took a bigger swig and moved to sit next to me, his scent reminding me of his bed, the night we’d spent together, and the fun we’d gotten up to this morning. How could that have happened only a couple of hours before? It felt like days had passed. Or maybe Pauly’s threats had aged me a few years.

“It’s nothing for you to worry about.”

He gave me an incredulous look and drained his glass. “Stop bullshitting me. You’re in big trouble with that asshole. Something to do with money you owe. How much and why?”

I weighed my options. Telling the truth wasn’t one of them. Implicating my sister in a criminal enterprise wasn’t high on my list of to-dos for the day. “I have it all under control. It’ll be handled in a couple of weeks.” I took a swig and swallowed, setting fire to my throat. But I needed the burn. Needed it to remind me that my sister and I stood on our own. No matter how much Willis wanted to help me, I didn’t need it. More than that, I didn’t want to tarnish him with my life. I could pretend all day, every day, that I was someone else. Glamorous, smart, witty—all of the above. But that wasn’t me, and it never could be. Willis was too good for me. That’s why I had to lie to him. Because when he learned the truth—that I was nothing more than a con—he wouldn’t look at me the same. They never did.

“How do you have it under control?” He motioned toward the door with his glass. “That didn’t look like control.”

“Remember when I told you that you’re out of your depth? Now you’re drowning.”

“Didn’t I tell you about my degrees? Your metaphors are no good here.” He leaned closer and put a hand to my cheek. “Just tell me.”

I wanted to melt into him, to spill everything. His eyes, the crooked glasses, the cute-as-hell t-shirt, and the man beneath it—all of it was like some sort of truth serum. But the truth wasn’t my friend. In fact, I was allergic.

“I think I’ve given you the wrong impression.” I pulled away from his touch. “I don’t need your help. I’ve done just fine without you.” Steeling myself, I replaced my mask. “And I think it’s long past time for you to leave.” I rose, walked to the door, and started flipping the locks free.

He followed. “Are you always this stubborn?”

“Name calling will get you—”

He whipped me around, a startled cry caught in my throat as his lips met mine. This wasn’t a tentative kiss. No. This was utter domination. He ran one hand into my hair and gripped, craning my neck back. I opened my mouth, and his tongue seared a path inside. I pressed my palms against his hard chest, and he wrapped an arm around my waist and lifted until my toes tickled the floor. He tilted my head, giving himself free rein over me as heat flushed my skin and wetness pooled between my thighs.

I moaned into his mouth. He swallowed the sound and continued to plunder me with his expert tongue. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing my breasts against him. My nipples hardened almost painfully, and each bit of pressure on them sent sparks through my veins, straight to my clit. His breath became mine as he refused to let up.

The feel of him, the delicious heat that threatened to burn both of us on the spot, enveloped me. I gave myself up to it, reveling in his kiss until he finally came up for air. I dragged breath into my lungs as he kissed my throat, his lips dotting a trail of desire to my collarbone where he nipped at my fevered skin.

“Willis.” I wrapped one leg around his hips.

He stopped kissing me and met my eyes. “That’s the first time you’ve called me by my name.”

My bruised lips parted on a pant. “Slip of the tongue.”

“I thought you’d never ask.” He brushed his mouth against mine.

I captured his bottom lip between my teeth and bit down. A low groan rumbled from his chest, vibrating against me as he backed me into the door. Our lips meshed again as he pressed against my hot core. Thick and hard, his cock teased me with promises of pleasure. I moved my hips, rubbing on him like an animal in heat as he took my breath away in another soul-touching kiss.

A creak in the hall told me Hannah’s door was opening. I froze.

“What?” Willis pressed his forehead to mine, our noses brushing as we both breathed as if we’d run a mile in heels with a bear chasing us.

“Hannah.”

“Everything good out here?” Her tentative voice barely reached us.

Willis dropped me to my feet, and I hurriedly adjusted my dress.

“I’m good. Sparky here was just leaving.”

Hannah leaned against the wall beside her door. “I didn’t mean to break up a good thing.” Her cheeks reddened. “My bad.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Not fine,” Willis hissed between his teeth, but he stepped back.

“Thanks for stopping by.” I opened the door.

He gave me a hard stare, which didn’t help the wet panties situation even a little bit. Riling him up had definite benefits, but I needed to stop the runaway train that I always seemed to be riding whenever we got too close.

“I’ll see you Friday night, okay?”

“Meet me for lunch this week.” He leaned against the door jamb, preventing me from shutting him out.

“I can’t. Busy.”

Hannah piped up, “She’s free Wednesday.”

“Hannah!”

“Sorry, Scarlet.” She gave me a sweet smile. “But it’ll be good for you.”

“Great.” Willis nodded. “Wednesday, lunch.”

“I don’t think—”

“Meet me at my office.” He eased out the door but kept one foot in the way so I couldn’t close it. “I’ll have lunch delivered.”

“She’ll be there.” Hannah walked to my side and jostled me with her elbow.

I huffed at the railroading. “Fine.”

He smiled. “Be there or I’ll come here since I know where you live and all.”

“How did you find out, by the way?” I would torch whoever ratted me out.

“You aren’t the only sneaky one.” He turned and strode down the hall, his cockiness giving me way too many feels.

“Wait, where’s your office?” I called after him.

“You’ve been there. Know it intimately.” He opened the door to the stairs and gave me a killer smirk that toasted my insides until I was all melty. “My apartment. Noon. If you don’t show, I’ll find you.”

My thighs went up in flames as he disappeared into the stairwell. Hannah, next to me, peered out the door after him. “That was the hottest threat I’ve ever heard.”

You and me both.