Lang, Chloe - Running Wilde [The Brothers of Wilde, Nevada 3] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) (8 page)

Dallas tasted the rage on his lips. “Then let’s get the facts. I say we confront our brother.”

“Won’t work, bro. You know him.” Denver’s tone was so even. “Let me keep working on trying to find out who could’ve cut her brakes. Phoenix, you get closer to Selby.”

“I can do that.”

“Great, I think Selby is sweet on you. Shouldn’t be too hard. Find out what you can about Austin.”

“I’m on it.”

Denver continued, “Jackson, you work the Malcolm angle. You’re a lawyer. Scare the hell out of the prick.”

“Gladly. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll pound his head into the ground until he talks.”

“That’s my lil’ bro.” Denver laughed. “Dallas, you’re still up to bat to make sure Jessie stays safe.”

“Happy to do it.” He vowed that not a hair on her head would be harmed.

“Guys, don’t you think it would be best to not share more with Jessie until we know who’s behind this?”

Phoenix and Jackson nodded.

Until Dallas and his brothers knew who wanted Jessie out of the picture, he would keep the full truth from Jessie, even though he hated it.

* * * *

Dallas walked through the door of the Hotel Cactus and entered its lobby.

Aunt Maude looked up and put down the phone’s receiver she was holding. “I was just about to call you.” She shook her head as if she’d just seen the Devil himself.

“What’s wrong?”

Just then, Jessie rushed down the stairs. Her makeup had run down her face. She must’ve been crying.

The moment their eyes locked, she yelled, “You! Liar!”

“That’s what’s wrong, nephew. Someone called her and told her about your family. The whole thing.”

“Who the hell would do that?”

“Don’t know. She just rang me from her room and asked me if it was true. I had to tell her. She deserved to know.”

Fuck!

“You’re an asshole, Dallas. All you Wilde brothers are assholes. Were all of you in on this? Even Austin?”

“No. He didn’t know.”

His aunt shook her head. “Let me give you two some space.”

“Please, Maude. Stay. Everyone else in Wilde seems to know what’s going on in my bed.”

“No, hon. Not everybody. If you need me, I’ll be in the back.” Maude walked through the door behind the hotel’s reception desk.

Jessie glared at him. “Go figure. The brother I’ve not slept with nor have any intention of ever sleeping with is the only honest one of the bunch.”

“He called you?”

“No. I don’t know who the man was that called me. Doesn’t matter. Austin has made it really clear how he feels about me. I’m a professional nuisance to him. That’s all. At least he’s been honest.”

“Please, you don’t understand.”

“I understand plenty. I might’ve been duped into trusting you, and when you did finally throw me over to Denver, I might’ve fallen for it. If three, why not four. But Austin is a man I would never go for. Ever.”

“You don’t know that, love.”

“Stop calling me that.”

“All right. Whatever you say. Let’s go to your room and talk about it.”

“Alaska. That mean anything to you, cowboy? Let me say it again in case you didn’t hear. Alaska.”

He hated that she was using her safe word against him like a weapon. “It doesn’t quite work that way, Jessie.”

“It does now. You didn’t protect my heart, cowboy. You broke it.”

Knowing his deception had crushed her flat felt like being thrown down an elevator shaft. She just had to give him a chance to fix everything. “Jessie, there’s more to this than you know.”

“I know plenty. Besides, you’re good at holding important facts back from me. How can I ever trust you not to do it again? Right. I can’t.”

“What can I do?”

“You’ve done enough. I’m in town for at least another two weeks. I’d appreciate it if you left me the hell alone. Tell your other brothers in on this deception to do the same.” She turned and headed up the stairs, not looking back.

His half truths and omissions had pushed the woman of his dreams out of his reach.

Fuck!

Chapter Five

Jessie looked at her cell. No calls. She’d left several messages for Michael, but he hadn’t called back. She needed someone to talk to, and he was the only one she could trust. It had been twelve hours since she’d left her room and told Dallas to shove off. A few hours later, the three liars had shown up at her door and pounded like maniacs. She’d called the front desk and talked to Maude. Jessie heard her in the hallway, telling them to get lost or she would call the sheriff. Their aunt then told them something about screwing up their chance. Then nothing. Not a knock or phone call.

Sure, it made sense that they hadn’t told her immediately about their family’s odd arrangement and that they were interested in making her the shared bride. But when exactly were they going to drop the bomb? And what about Austin? There was no way she could go there. Not with him.

She needed a distraction to take her mind off of her aching heart. After reading fifty e-mails from DC, she shut her laptop. She thought about going to the Horseshoe, but that would only remind her of her first night with the Wilde brothers. She didn’t have an appetite, so Norma’s was out.
What about the local casino?
That might do the trick. She dressed and headed down the stairs. A few hands of blackjack and some free drinks would suit her just fine.

When she got to the lobby, her heart sunk.

Damn it.

Dallas stood by the front desk like some kind of sentry. “Jessie, talk to me.”

“I’ve already said what I wanted to say.” She headed for the door, glaring at him to dare try to stop her.

“Where are you going?” He stepped in front of her, blocking her path.

“None of your business, cowboy. Get out of my way, please.”

Disappointment filled his eyes. “There’s something you need to know.”

“Really? More lies.”

“No.” His stare was intense and repentant. “I’m done lying to you.”

She believed him, but it wasn’t enough to soften her heart. “Good for you, but it’s too late.” Even with the dose of anger that pulsed hot inside Jessie, she couldn’t believe her time with the brothers was over. But it had to be. She couldn’t give them any more chances even as much as she really wanted to.

“I deserve that.”

“That and more.”

“I agree. Anyway, you remember the day your brakes went out on Suicide Hill?”

“Of course.”

“Someone cut your brake lines. It wasn’t an accident.”

Her jaw dropped. “How do you know that?”

“We took your rental to a mechanic. It was obvious.”

Her heart raced and fear revved up her pulse. “Who would want to do that?”

“You’ve got an enemy in Wilde. There’s at least a dozen or more that come to mind.”

“Whatever. This is too much.” Her hands trembled. “How many lies are you going to tell me?”

“I told you, I’m done with lies.” He reached for her, but she stepped back.

“No, Dallas. Don’t.”

“Okay. But I can’t let you go out alone, Jessie. Not knowing that. You have to understand that.”

“It’s a free country. Follow me, if you like. Just don’t talk to me. Don’t touch me. If you do, I will scream my head off until the law shows up.” She hated how mean her tone sounded, but Dallas’s betrayal wounded her so much that she couldn’t help but lash out at him.

She walked out the door of the Hotel Cactus onto Main Street. As Dallas had promised her, he followed.

Sneaky Pete’s Casino was just to the right of Norma’s Cafe. There weren’t any vehicles moving on the streets of Wilde at the moment, so she crossed the street, heading straight for the distraction she needed.

Walking into the casino, Jessie realized it wasn’t like any of the casinos in Atlantic City she’d visited. Sneaky Pete’s had only ten slot machines on the back wall, one crap table near the bar, one blackjack table, and one poker table. Nothing else. Well, her game was blackjack. When she got to the table, she recognized the man sitting there playing. He worked at the front desk of the Hotel Cactus, and she’d seen him there a few times.

He looked up. “Hello, Ms. Greene.”

“Hi.” She wracked her brain for his name.

“I’m Kyle.”

“Sorry. I forgot.”

“No problem. Blackjack player?”

“I’ve played a few times. Nothing serious though.” She looked over her shoulder and saw Dallas glaring.
Good.
“Mind if I join you.”

“I’d love it. But I have to warn you that this dealer is not very lucky for me. I’m down half my stash already, and I’ve only been here an hour.”

“I’ll take my chances.” Jessie sat down to the left of Kyle and threw three twenties on the table.

The cowboy smiled at her. “Maybe a cutie like you will turn my luck around tonight.”

Kyle was handsome and charming, but she was done with cowboys, especially ones from this town. “Don’t bet on it.”

The dealer pushed some chips in front of her.

Before he could deal, two women sat on the other side of her. One was Austin Wilde’s personal assistant, Selby. The other woman worked at the cafe.

They took the chairs next to her, with the waitress taking the one closest to Jessie. “Hello, Ms. Greene. How’s the investigation going?”

“I’m still working on it. Your name’s
Samantha
, right?”

The young woman smiled broadly. “Yes it is, Ms. Greene.”

“Please, call me Jessica.” She’d never been really good with women, but right now she wanted a female buddy more than she’d ever wanted one before.

“I can do that. But I thought your name was Jessie?”

“No. Why would you think that?” The Wilde brothers called her that. She’d even begun to think of herself as a
Jessie.
Now, it was time to return to her old persona. Taking back her real name and letting the nickname die would be a perfect step to accomplishing just that.

“I heard Jackson call you by that one day at the diner.”

The dealer, a nice-looking middle-aged man, frowned. “Samantha, you’re not twenty-one.”

Samantha produced a license. “This says I am. Besides, I’ve played here before. There’s no Nevada Gaming Control agents in town. What’s the harm?”

He glanced at Jessie then back at Samantha. “Doesn’t matter, kid. You can’t play.”

The girl laughed and turned to Jessie. “He’s worried that you’ll rat him out if he lets me play because you work for a federal agency. You don’t care, do you?”

“Not really. That’s not my jurisdiction. Besides, I’m off duty tonight.”