17 Chapter 17

Riley was pretty sure Soloman wasn't planning on letting her go home that night, despite his assurance that he meant everything he said. Except someone set fire to his car. The wild look in his eyes as he stared down at her freaked her out. No one had ever wanted to possess her the way this man did. Sure, she had been lusted after, but this guy took the whole 'me Tarzan, you Jane' thing to a new level.

He was in the process of reaching for her when someone had banged on his door, yelling that there was a fire in the parking lot. With a growl of frustration, he told her to get dressed and wait for him, then stalked out of his office. Riley didn't need to be told twice. She'd run immediately toward the private washroom in his office to clean herself up.

"Fuck," she whispered, taking in the vulnerable look on her face as she wet his hand towel and used it to clean the evidence of his release from her skin. Her heart thundered in painful reminder of the erotic scene that had played out moments before. Of how close she had come to begging him to fuck her on the floor of his office.

With a moan of distress, she tossed the towel down and frantically began pulling on her clothes. Knowing he would be back any moment to check on her, she shoved her bra into her purse and flew to the door, praying she hadn't been locked inside. It opened easily, swinging inward. Without a second thought for how furious Soloman was going to be to find his prize toy gone, she flew down the stairs and made a beeline for Cilia.

Clearly, most of the bouncers were busy with whatever was happening in the parking lot, because no one stopped her from getting near one of the medium stakes poker tables. She slapped her hand down on the table in front of Cilia and snapped, "Time to go."

Cilia's head jerked up in surprise. Her honey blond hair was piled in a chic twist at the back of her head with curls framing her high cheekbones. Her wide, plump lips, similar to her daughters, formed an 'oh' as she took in Riley's sudden appearance. Several others at the table, including the dealer were also eyeing Riley.

"You aren't wearing a bra, Riley. I can see your nipples outlined clear as day in this lighting. A girl with your assets should really always wear a bra in public," Cilia announced, carefully placing her cards facedown on the table.

Riley blushed and crossed her arms over her chest as interested gazes began to check out the truth of Cilia's statement. "It's in my purse. Now, let's go," she growled.

Cilia raised an eyebrow and gave Riley a disappointed once over. "Well I guess that's better than nothing, although your entire ensemble isn't really appropriate. If I had known you were going to join me, I would have sent something over for you to wear."

Riley shook her head and glared at her mother. She leaned over and spoke in Cilia's ear, "Mr. Hart knows your secret, mother. It's time for us to leave before he comes back."

Cilia sat back in her chair and looked up at her daughter. Though she resented Riley's interference in her life, she did trust the girl implicitly. Reaching for her chips, she gave the table a gracious smile and stood. "I suppose I will have to concede this game to you gentlemen. I must go and help my daughter dress more appropriately."

Geez, what was up with everyone hating on her outfit?

With chin held high, Cilia headed for the front door. Riley grabbed her arm and swung her around toward the side exit Roman had dragged her through earlier. She had been way too angry at the burly bodyguard to notice her mother gambling a few yards away. Cilia nearly tripped over her long, black velvet skirt as Riley rushed her through the thankfully unguarded door and into the parking lot.

The two women took a brief moment to gape in awe at the inferno created by Soloman's Audi S7 turned into a fireball. Cilia looked at her daughter, awe and respect reflected on her face. "Did you set a fire just to get me out of there?"

Riley laughed and pulled her mom toward her blue Subaru WRX sport. "I wish!" she giggled, amusement shining in her eyes. "Keys," she demanded, sticking out her hand.

Cilia handed over the keys without further comment and went around to the passenger side. Like her father, Riley always drove. She'd been driving since before she was old enough for a license. Cilia was long past complaining about who drove her car, as long as she got to where she was going. She relaxed into her seat as Riley reversed out of the parking spot and pulled sharply onto the road. Riley made a point of ignoring the men surrounding the flaming Audi.

"I'm going to have to take another vacation, aren't I?" Cilia sighed, watching the play of streetlights on Riley's face as they sped through the dark city streets.

Riley rolled her eyes toward her mother. "Unless you'd like to hang around and see what Soloman Hart does to people who count cards in his illegal casino? Maybe he needs a new accountant. Want to go ask him?"

Cilia's delicate brow crinkled in thought as though she were actually considering Riley's suggestion. "No," she finally said. "I've done the math and I don't think it's worth the risk. What if he actually likes his current accountant? We both know that I would be much better than anyone he has on his payroll, but he doesn't know that and he may not take our word. I could give him references, but that would require him not murdering me long enough to do the correct reference checks first. I don't know that I'm willing to take that risk. He would also have to forgive my 'infraction,' though I maintain it's not really counting cards if everyone else is just too stupid to remember the numbers that are right in front of them. I think there are probably too many bodies in Mr. Hart's past for me to just trust that he would see things my way."

Riley wanted to bang her head on the steering wheel. There really was no getting through to this woman. She pulled the car up to a cheap, run-down looking garage she rented in case of emergencies. Sliding out of the driver's side, she ran up to the key pad on the wall next to the door and punched in the code that would open the big garage door. She pulled the car into the dimly lit garage and secured the concrete building once more.

Cilia stepped out of the Subaru with a sigh and rubbed her bare arms. She'd been in the garage a few times and wasn't surprised Riley had brought her here. She trusted her daughter to know what was best for her when it came to disappearing for a while. She sat on the low cot next to the concrete wall and dumped her purse on the ground. It clattered with poker chips.

Riley was on her knees pulling a safe out from a hole in the wall. She looked up sharply when she heard the poker chips. Her lips twitched.

"How much?"

Cilia grinned despite the abrupt end to her evening. "I won $16,279.67, but I had to leave $1,203.21 behind on the table. That was really bad timing, Riley."

Riley laughed and began pulling cash, a passport and a phone out of the safe. "Sorry, mother. I didn't have much choice in the timing. I'll make it up to you by cashing your chips in and transferring you the money. Now what would you rather spend the next month doing? Hanging out on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls or cruising around Alaska?"

Cilia tilted her head to the side, studying Riley for a moment before answering. "Can't I cruise the Mediterranean? I really enjoyed that the last time we had to send me away. The beaches of Mykonos were spectacular!"

Riley sighed and plugged in the burner phone. "I want you closer than that in case I need to bring you home. Besides, these are my fake credit cards and Greece is expensive."

Cilia huffed. "Fine, then I want the cruise."

Riley sat quietly for a few minutes connecting the phone to the garage's internet service then searching for plane and cruise tickets. Fifteen minutes later she had her mother booked on a flight to Seattle leaving from a nearby airport in six hours. After that, Cilia's first-class passage was booked for four weeks on board an Alaskan cruise ship that would leave Seattle in four days, giving her plenty of time to shop for an appropriate wardrobe.

Riley stood and handed her mother the phone, a passport, a stack of cash and a credit card. "Your name is Lilith Abernathy. You're fifty-two years old and you were born in Fresno, California. Take the Eclipse and leave it at the airport. Put it in short-term parking, I'll have one of my mechanics pick it up tomorrow afternoon."

Cilia stood and accepted the proffered goods from her daughter. Shoving them in her purse, she handed over her legitimate identification for safe-keeping and picked up the keys for her new vehicle.

"You don't think Mr. Hart will find me, do you?" she asked anxiously.

"No, mother," Riley said softly, holding the car door open while Cilia slid into the driver's seat. "He's not after you. I think he was just using you to get what he really wants. Once you're safely away, he'll forget all about you."

"Oh," Cilia said, looking at Riley speculatively. Riley wondered what was going on behind those crystal clear blue eyes. Sometimes Cilia saw so much more than everyone else, but then other times she couldn't see the things that were directly in front of her. "Riley, do you think sea turtles migrate to Alaska? I just don't know about this. I think I'm having second thoughts."

Riley almost laughed out loud, but she managed to suppress it. She knew her mother wasn't really worried about sea turtles. Well, not exactly. "No, Cilia, I think it's probably too cold for them up there."

"Okay..." she sighed. "Well, I can do more research when I arrive in Seattle. If they were really so smart they would have conquered the North. That's where the resources are. All the fresh water is up there, you know?"

"Sure," Riley agreed. "Stay away from the gaming tables. I don't want to have to bail you off a cruise ship."

"Uh huh," Cilia said, still deep in thought over sea turtles conquering Alaska. She turned the ignition on while Riley opened the garage door. Finally, she turned and focused on her daughter. "Hey, can you go back to my place and release Scuttles? I'm done with him now and it would be a shame for him to just die."

She rolled up the window and pulled out of the garage, leaving Riley with the ethical dilemma of whether or not she should go save Scuttles' life or just let him die and never find out who or what he was. Shit! What if Scuttles was a human and Riley became complicit in kidnapping and murder? This is why Riley had followed in her father's shady footsteps instead of her mother's.