“I need to get to him, Ethan. I have to go to Vegas now, tonight.” She turned away from him and started to pace. “If I can get him home, he’ll be safe, and then I can start planning to pay off his debts.” Annabelle started to work the process through in her head. “I’ll sell the house, but that will take time. Until then I can earn some money at the tables, enough to keep whoever he owes at bay until I can pay it all back.”
“Tables?” Ethan had moved to stand behind her so that when she turned, she walked into him.
“What?” She pushed against his chest, but he just grabbed her hands.
“What did you mean by ‘earn enough at the tables’?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Annabelle wished she had kept her thoughts in her head, because no one knew what she had done to survive and she’d wanted it to stay that way.
“I’m not letting you go until you tell me.”
“Ethan, please. I need to work out how I’m going to get a flight to Vegas and then come up with the money to get Cooper out of there without someone realizing it. I don’t have time for explanations now.”
“I’ll pay the money, and we can work out the repayments later.”
He said it calmly, as if she was borrowing money for milk and bread.
“No way.” She tugged on her hands, but they were manacled beneath his. “I already owe you more than I can repay.”
He pulled her in to his body. “I have the money, Annabelle. It’s just sitting in an account gathering interest.”
“How much money?” she whispered, and then realized how awful that sounded. “Don’t tell me. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“I have ten million invested.”
Closing her eyes, she slumped forward onto his chest. “I can’t even write that amount on paper. I wouldn’t know how many zeros to use.”
“Nine of them,” he said, slipping a hand under her hair and cupping the back of her neck. “Let me help you, Annabelle.”
“No.” Shaking her head, she tried to pull out of his arms, but he wouldn’t release her. “This is my debt, not yours. I’ll find a way to pay it, find a way to talk to whoever Cooper owes money to, and work out a repayment schedule.”
“They’re not a bank, Annabelle, they’re drug dealers. Underhanded low-life scum who prey off people who are down on their luck like your brother.” Ethan was holding her away from him now, his face lowered, eyes intent on hers. “You can’t just walk up to them and say, ‘Hi, I’m Cooper’s sister. I’ll start paying you a little bit every month, until the debt is paid off.”
“I have to try!”
“If you think I’m letting you near anyone like that, then think again,” he said through his teeth.
“You can’t stop me! I don’t answer to you, Gelderman!” Annabelle wrenched out of his arms and stumbled backwards before she steadied herself.
“In this youwillanswer to me, because I’m not letting you out of my sight until both of us arrive back in Howling.”
“I have to go to Vegas, Ethan, and you can’t stop me.” Annabelle’s heart was racing as Ethan closed the distance between them. “Please don’t try to stop me,” she begged him.
“I’m not stopping you, because we’re both going to Vegas,” he said.
“No, we’re not. This is my problem, not yours.”
“Too bad. I’m coming, and you need to put aside your pride and understand that I’m your best shot at getting your brother back to Howling.”
Annabelle walked away from him again, took a few steps into the cool night air and tried to think, to breathe and clear her head. Looking across the rolling lawns in front of the club, she thought that this was wealth that she’d never known, would never know and had never wanted, until right now. Now she could handle being wealthy, because she could pay Cooper’s debts and he would be free again, and she wouldn’t be endangering Ethan’s life in any way by doing so.
“I have to make a few calls before we can leave. Set things in place so that when we touch down in Vegas everything will be ready for us,” Ethan said.
Annabelle rubbed her forehead, trying to ease the ache that had started there. She knew she shouldn’t allow Ethan to come with her, that she should insist that this was her problem, but the thought of having him at her side while she went through this was such a relief. Ethan was right: he was her best shot at getting Cooper home, so she’d be an idiot not to take his help.
God, she was frightened. What if they didn’t reach Cooper in time? What if… No, she couldn’t think about that.
“I-I can’t say no to you anymore, Ethan, because I have no other means available to me, and C-Cooper’s life is at stake.”
