Page 64 of Ripping the Odds

“Was he cheating on you?”

“If by cheating you mean was he gambling away every penny he earned, then yes, he was absolutely cheating on me.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“I wish I was.”

Lennon jumped in. “Do you think that's why he stole all your stuff?”

“That’d be my guess.”

She was keeping something from me. From the way she purposefully limited what she divulged, it was something big. I already knew he’d texted her since the move, so it wasn’t that. Maybe it was time to ask harder questions.

“How did you find out?” She hesitated a beat too long. Bingo. “Daria Evelyn Turner. Don’t even think about lying to me.”

“I would never.”

“You would and you have.”

“Fine.” She blew a raspberry. “A bunch of scary dudes knocked on my door looking for him.”

“What did they want?”

“Charlie or the half a mil he owed them.”

My jaw dropped. I was speechless. Lennon didn’t have the same affliction. She said precisely what I couldn’t. “Half a…holy shit.”

“Yup. That about sums it up.”

“When was this?” I was almost afraid to ask.

“Three hours before I got the call from the hospital in West Virginia about you.”

“Damn.”

The conversation ended there since a text came in from Zak letting me know my three newly assigned bodyguards had arrived. Three. It was overkill in my opinion, but it wasn’t the hill I was willing to die on. Besides, was it that big of a deal to have a couple of hot guys following us around all afternoon? Daria and Lennon didn’t seem to think so. They fought over who was going to ride in the second SUV. In the end, the three of us rode in the lead car with Alexsei, while Luka and Rurik brought up the rear.

AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center was only a six mile drive from our house. The campus was huge and the buildings were modern with a mix of glass and brick. Both SUVs drove under the covered drop-off area at the main entrance marked as valet parking. We exited the vehicles and were rapidly corralled through the automatic doors of the hospital.

“We aren’t a herd of cattle, Alexsei,” Daria snarled at the solidly built Russian once we made it to the elevator.

“I’m aware,” he replied.

“Are you ever going to learn a new phrase?” She continued mouthing off.

“Are you ever going to lose your attitude?”

“Jerk.”

Other than a few curious glances, Rurik and Luka remained silent throughout their little exchange. Once six of us entered the elevator and the button for the fourth floor was pushed, I grabbed Daria and Lennon by the sleeves and pulled them into the corner, away from unwelcome ears.

“He knows you well, sis. Anything you want to confess?”

“Like what?”

“Like has it really been eight months since you’ve had sex?” Lennon blurted. She’d caught on to the tension between them as well.

“Eww. Both of you, get that shit outta your heads. He’s annoying. Like little brother annoying.”