He took me into a room where there were two other men and a woman standing up against a window.

“Have a seat, please.”

“What’s this about? Is this how you treat all your guests?”

“Only the ones who we suspect of counting cards,” he said smugly.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I said as I waved my hand at them.

“Care to explain how you won all that money? This isn’t the first night either. We were watching you last night as well.”

“It’s called luck of the draw, fellas and ma’am. People don’t come in here and win big? Isn’t that what casinos are for?”

“You’ve won over $50,000 tonight alone and $20,000 last night. Had you stayed out of the casino tonight, we wouldn’t have given it a second thought.”

“You’re being ridiculous. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m not feeling well.”

“Sorry, ma’am, but we can’t let you leave yet.”

“What are you going to do? Call the police? Because the last time I checked, counting cards wasn’t illegal. So all you need to do is ban me from this hotel and I’ll be on my way,” I said as I got up from the chair.

“No, it’s not illegal, but it is my hotel,” I heard Simon’s voice say as he entered the room.

My heart stopped as I turned around and saw him smiling at me. I fell back into the chair.

“Thank you for holding her. You’re free to go. I can take it from here.”

He walked around to the chair and placed his hands on the arms, bending over so his face was inches from mine. “Having fun on your girls’ getaway?”

“I was until your goons stopped me.” I smiled. “Did you know I was here?”

“No. Not until I received a call a few hours ago from my security team, telling me that they recognized you from when we were here last and you were winning an awful lot of money.”

“Oh.”

“What happened, Gabrielle? You broke your own rules.”

“I’m blaming it on the alcohol I consumed.”

He held out his hand and helped me up from my chair, placing his arm around my waist and staring into my eyes.

“I do believe this is the second time you’ve ripped off my casino.”

“Third. But who’s counting.”

My heart was racing and my palms were sweaty from his touch. He lightly took hold of my hand.

“Your palms are sweating. Are you excited or nervous?” he asked as his gaze took hold of me.

“I don’t know,” I whispered, as I could feel myself becoming highly aroused.