He wanted the woman who was at home right now, hating him.
Undeterred, Lindsey stroked his thigh. “Why do you think I took this stupid job? I know we’d be perfect together. I’ll make you wild. I’ll make you so hot and worked up that you’ll forget that tramp—”
He cut her off, his tone ruthlessly cold. “You told Anna that we were lovers. When she was pregnant and vulnerable you lied to her. I want to hear it from your mouth.”
“All right.” Lindsey dropped the seductive pose, and her young, pretty face took on the hard, calculating look of a hustler. “But, the way I see it, I was doing you a favor.”
He turned to his desk and pressed a button. Two guards appeared at his door.
“Please escort Miss Miller out of the casino,” he said coldly. “Her employment here is done.”
The color drained from her face, leaving her pale beneath her tan. “What?”
“A severance check will be waiting for you at the casino office downstairs. You’ll find I’ve been more generous than you deserve.”
“You can’t be serious!”
“For every minute you argue with me I’ll instruct Margaret to subtract a thousand dollars from your check.”
She sucked in her breath. “Fine!” She turned on her designer heel and stalked out, grabbing her shopping bag just outside the door. She stopped and glared at him.
“It’s not my fault she left, you know. She was having your kid and you still wouldn’t marry her. Pathetic.” She shook the lingerie bag at him. “And now you’ll never see me in this!”
He should have gotten rid of her a long time ago, he mused, his ears still ringing with the noise of the slammed door. It took him a moment to realize he was hearing the phone. Shaking his head, he picked up the receiver.
“Yeah?”
“You’re not going to like this, boss,” Cooper said.
“What’s wrong?” Nikos’s heart gave a weird thump. “Michael?”
“The baby’s fine. With his nanny. But Anna took off. I didn’t stop her, since she didn’t take the boy. I had her followed, like you said. She took the Maserati.”
Nikos nearly choked on his bourbon. Anna had snuck out? Leaving their son behind? When it was almost dusk? Driving his favorite car?
That was her idea of going under the radar?
“Where did she go?”
“That’s the part you’re not going to like.” Coop paused. “She walked into Victor Sinistyn’s club ten minutes ago.”
“And you waited ten minutes to tell me?” he said tersely.
“Wait, boss. You don’t want to go there alone—I’m getting some of the guys—”
“I can do this alone!”
Nikos slammed down the phone and headed for the door. He went straight to his private garage and jumped on his Ducati motorcycle. Swerving through the traffic on Las Vegas Boulevard, he headed downtown.
Fremont Street was gritty, for all of its brilliant lights. This was where the hardcore gamblers came to play, far from the lavish themed hotels and the families with cameras and strollers. This was the original Las Vegas, and its hard-edged glamor showed its tarnish like an aging showgirl.
Victor Sinistyn had turned his failed casino concept into a dance club. Outside of Girls Girls Girls there was a long line of lithe, scantily-clad twenty-somethings, waiting to drink and dance.
Nikos leapt off his motorcycle, tossing his keys to a valet. The bouncer recognized Nikos as he strode arrogantly forward, bypassing the line.
“No bodyguards tonight, Mr. Stavrakis?”
“Where’s your boss?” Not waiting for an answer, Nikos pushed past him.
Inside the club, colored lights were pulsing through the darkness to the beat of the music. The place was a cavern, a rebuilt warehouse with an enormous high ceiling, and it shook with the rhythm of the dancing crowd. The air was steamy, hot, redolent of sex and skin.
And then he saw her, wearing a tiny halter top and low-slung jeans that made her look virtually naked.
Dancing with Victor Sinistyn.
The man smiled down at Anna as they danced, running his hands possessively down her bare skin. She gave him a strained smile as she stepped back from him, swaying her body, moving down to her knees before she rose again. She leaned back, arms over her head, and her full breasts strained the fabric, nearly popped out of her flesh-colored top. But apparently Sinistyn wasn’t satisfied with just looking.
Grabbing her shoulders, he pulled her bare belly against him and ground his body against hers, nuzzling her neck. Anna didn’t struggle, but Nikos had a glimpse of her pale face. She looked as if she were gasping for air. Why was Anna allowing him to manhandle her?