One
Neil
Forthemostpart,people only see what they expect, their minds glossing over any details that don’t quite fit what their eyes are telling them. The bystanders outside the casino are no exception. They see me and Raquel, and their brains put together a story based on a set of carefully orchestrated details that I’ve chosen to portray the part we’re playing tonight.
Someone who glances at us as we walk around the side of a fancy, overpriced sports car will assume we arrived in that car. Another person might take in the well-tailored fit of my suit along with my expensive leather shoes and not notice that the fabric of the suit itself is of much lower quality. A few will take note of Raquel’s flawless hair and makeup, the form-fitting cocktail dressshe’s wearing, and the designer shoes on her feet, but they won’t know both the dress and shoes were a lucky find at a thrift shop. Most will see my hand resting on Raquel’s lower back and my easy smile and they’ll have no idea how irritated I am at her for choosing the only shifter-owned casino in Las Vegas as our target this evening.
To any observers, we appear to be nothing but a well-off, happy couple having a night on the town, and no one—not even Raquel—can tell how absolutely terrified I am right now.
Yes, I’m a shifter, but that makes this placemoredangerous for me rather than less. I haven’t exactly kept up-to-date with the happenings in the shifter world for the past seven years, so my knowledge of the current state of shifter politics is scarce to say the least. I do know, however, that by entering this casino, I’ll technically be trespassing on the Vegas pack’s territory since I’m not an official pack member and nobody’s given me permission to be here.
The trespassing alone is a big no-no in the shifter world even without taking into account what might happen if I’m caught cheating on top of that.
As a human, Raquel actually has far less to fear since she’s not subject to pack law and isn’t breaking any shifter taboos. If she’snoticed, no one’s going to suddenly transform into an oversized wolf and try to take a bite out of her.
Not that anyone would do that in public.
There are some very strict secrecy laws surrounding the existence of shifters. So strict that Raquel doesn’t even know her best friend—me—is a shifter, and if we get caught playing our little game here, I’m more likely to end up dead than in a jail cell.
But there’s absolutely zero chance of me convincing her to go to a different casino. Not at this point anyway.
For one thing, we’re already here.
For another, this is the only casino on the Strip that doesn’t allow smoking in any indoor areas, and even though exposure to secondhand smoke isn’t normally a factor in selecting a target, it definitely is this time around.
Because Raquel found out a couple days ago that she’s pregnant.
Shifters have very sensitive noses, and as grateful as I am that I don’t have to deal with cigarette smoke either, there’s not a single believable excuse I can come up with for going to a different casino.
Not one the mama-bear-to-be will accept at any rate.
She’s paranoid about doing anything that might hurt the baby, but she needs money. Fast. Her boyfriend, Danny, drinks or snorts his money—and hers—almost as quickly as he can get his handson it, so hitting a casino is the quickest way for her to get enough to see an OB doctor.
And that means she needs my help because she and I are a team.
The two of us have been occasionally skimming cash from casinos for nearly six years—five of which neither of us were even the legal gambling age of twenty-one. We keep our cheating as low-key as possible, mostly sleight of hand tricks and some pick-pocketing every so often, and we’ve never hit the same casino twice, so the closest we’ve come to getting caught has been some side-eyed looks from security and a couple overly cautious dealers.
I’ll just have to cross my fingers and hope tonight won’t be when we finally get caught.
Raquel lets out a high-pitched giggle and teeters on her stiletto heels, leaning into my side as if she’s a little tipsy. “You need to relax, Neil, or you’re going to draw attention,” she says under her breath. “I know it’s been a little while, but we’ve got this.”
I stiffen, the edges of my fake smile faltering. Apparently, I’m not doing as good a job of hiding my nerves as I thought. Instead of responding, I give her a vague nod, then straighten my shoulders and force my body to relax, inhaling slowly as I try to convince myself everything is fine.
Breathe in.
There’s nothing to worry about.
Breathe out.
We’ve done this plenty of times before.
Breathe in.
This casino is no different from the others.Unless they catch me.Killme.
I cough and my steps falter, but I push the annoyingly intrusive thought away. There’s no point in worrying about that now.
Pausing for a moment to steady myself, I pull the mask of the indulgent boyfriend I’m pretending to be back in place and link my arm through Raquel’s. We stride through the doors side by side, entering a world of flashing lights, overdressed patrons, and scantily clad servers.
