A PLAYER FOR A PRINCESS
(Dirty Players Duet, #2)
Coming Sept. 20!!!!!
Chapter
1: Old Habits
~
Zelda Wilder ~
My
heart is beating too fast. Glancing down, I see my hands tremble, and
I take a few measured breaths to try and make them stop.
I’ve
never been this anxious on a job, but everything has changed in the
last six weeks. Looking over my shoulder has become a nonstop
addiction it seems.
For
the first time, I’m alone with Seth, just the two of us. Unknown
hit men took out our longtime partner Helen, and we don’t even know
how long ago it was. The radio report simply said her body was found
in a bathtub in a cheap hotel in Miami. A plastic bag was over her
head.
Clutching
my black purse, again I look over my shoulder. Through the neon
lights and arcade noises of the Divi casino in St. Croix, I see men
in black blazers dotted among the gamblers. Men with curly earpieces
in their ears, men with dark brows lowered over steely eyes, men
sweeping the room for any signs of criminal activity.
I
do another quick sweep, and I realize I’m looking for Ava. Stop
that, Zee. My little sister is far away from this life, and it’s
because I chose to distance us. I decided her safety is more
important than keeping our family together.
The
last time I saw her, she was wounded and pale, unconscious in a
hospital bed. It tore at my heart to leave her, but at least I know
she’s okay. Thanks to the Internet, I’ve been able to keep up
with the “developing story” of the assassination attempt on the
future king of Monagasco and the shooting of his fiancée, a.k.a., my
sister. Rowan has taken Ava from the hospital to the palace, where
she’s recuperating under the watchful eyes of his royal guards.
With
a steady exhale, I release the nerves, reminding myself it’s for
the best. She’s with the man who loves her, who promised to take
care of her. If a crown prince can’t do that, I don’t stand a
chance.
Still…
it isn’t me.
I’m
not watching out for her.
As
the oldest, I’ve always had that job. I’ve taken care of us since
our parents died, leaving us at the mercy of the foster system. I’ve
protected her ever since that last asshole thought he’d try
relieving his sexual frustrations on a little girl entrusted to his
“care.” It was me who’d bashed him over the head with the lamp,
grabbed her hand, and run us out of there.
We’d
hidden all night in the pouring rain in a concrete culvert, and I
came up with a plan to keep us out of that life for good. Passing the
baton to someone else—even a future king—hits me harder than I
thought it would. My throat aches at her absence, my chest heavy.
Stay safe, Ava-bug.
Tonight
is the first time I’ve ever entered a place like this without her.
Ava is the only person I can count on in any situation. Every
security guard in this room reminds me of how we’ve always been a
team. If anything goes wrong, I grab her hand and we run, just like
always. We stay alive.
Only,
I made the deal that changed everything. I shook hands with the
devil.
I
could argue I didn’t have a choice. We were facing jail time,
felony convictions in Florida for grand theft, and while I’d be
willing to take my chances in jail, there’s no way in hell I’m
letting Ava go to prison. So yeah. Agreeing to work with Reginald
Winchester might make me a “bad guy,” but I’d do it again in
heartbeat.
A
heartbeat…
Squaring
my shoulders, I slide a lock of jet-brown hair behind my ear and
force confidence into my stride. I make my way through the
glittering, noisy casino to my target—a shiny brass roulette
wheel—and prepare to start the show.
The
last time we worked this con in Miami, Helen had been waiting at the
table when I got there. I can still hear her gravelly voice and see
her “May Contain Alcohol” sweatshirt. Sadness followed closely by
fear ricochets through my insides. Whoever killed her is looking for
me.
We
were on our way to Tortola to hide when Seth said we should stop in
here and bank extra cash. As Americans, we don’t need passports in
St. Croix, and we can catch a cheap ferry and slip away in the night
to our ultimate destination.
Keeping
off the radar is the goal—as always. We’ll pocket a few thousand
and disappear unnoticed. At least that’s the plan.
“No
more bets!” The dealer passes his hand over the wheel just as I
arrive, and I quickly assess the table rules. Minimum ten dollar bet.
Decent.
Opening
my clutch, I remove two hundreds and pass them to the dealer. He
quickly exchanges them for twenty pale blue chips. I’ll join the
fray next spin.
Tonight
the transmitter is hidden in my shoe as opposed to my cuff bracelet.
I’m wearing a strappy black dress that stops mid-thigh, and my
black heels show off my legs while hiding the device facilitating our
winning streak.
I
have to sit with my legs crossed and point my toe to activate it. One
dainty point, one shiny silver ball drops right in the tray,
predictable at ninety percent accuracy. So far the odds have been in
our favor.
We’ll
play until Seth gives me the signal they’re onto us. Then I’ll
calmly cash out, walk away, and meet him at the pier on Grapetree
Point. From there we’ll make the forty-mile cruise to Tortola.
An
elegantly dressed woman shakes her head and gives me a bitter smile
as I sit. “Don’t stay longer than three spins,” she grumbles.
I
smile in response. “That’s the rule, isn’t it?”
“That’s
the rule.” Her expression tells me she lost a lot tonight.
As
a student of casinos, I know how steeply the odds in roulette are
stacked in favor of the House—they’re the worst of any game. The
longer you sit, the greater your chances of losing, times a million.
If I were giving advice to a rookie, I’d say stick to blackjack. At
least there you can use strategy and possibly win a little. Walking
away is something I learned early on. You can never be afraid to walk
away—even when you’re certain you’re lucky. Luck is the biggest
liar of all.
I
place half my chips on the black rectangle and watch as the wheel
begins to spin. The dealer snakes his hand to the side and releases
the ball. It flies around the shining wood with a sharp rasp. I need
to lose this round. The job doesn’t start until Seth arrives, and I
can’t win for longer than a few spins or it’ll look suspicious.
Another
glance over my shoulder. He’s still not here. Casting my eyes down,
I watch the wheel spinning, black-red, black-red, black-red, flashing
brass.
“Have
you been here long?” A man in an elegant suit steps into the space
beside me and fishes out his wallet as we wait for the ball to drop.
“I
just sat down,” I say without making eye contact. I’m not here to
make friends.
He
passes a crisp one hundred dollar bill to the dealer. “Then we have
no way of knowing if it’s a good table.”
“Sorry,”
I shake my head. “I play red or black.”
“Not
much of a gambler?”
A
glance, and I see he’s tall and thick with dark brown hair and a
cocky expression like he already knows the answer to his question.
“No,”
I say in a discouraging tone.
No,
thank you. Even if I hadn’t left my heart in Monagasco, I never
let romance interfere with a job. Well, almost never.
“Logan
Thomas.” Mr. Persistent sticks a hand at me.
He
waits, and I hesitate. Two first names.
“Regina
Lampert,” I lie only barely touching his fingers.
“Regina,”
he gives me a nod, but that twinkle of knowledge is in his eyes.
A
knot forms in my throat. I don’t like this. The ball drops on black
seventeen, and a lady at the other end of the table emits a little
cheer.
“You
won,” Logan’s voice ripples toward me.
The
dealer adds more chips to my pile, and I’m ready to hop up and
intercept Seth. A swirl of warmth at my side tells me I’m too late.
“Roo-lette!”
Seth exclaims in the exaggerated southern accent he reserves for our
cons. “Well, I’m as happy as a tornado in a trailer park at this
turn of events!” He turns to a man at the table. “You know, I’m
a student of Roolette. Only three spins and you’re out.”
Tilting
my head so Logan can’t see, I level my blue eyes on Seth’s green
ones. As usual, he’s wearing black horn-rimmed glasses.
He
ignores my pointed glare, his smile as overblown as his accent. “I
hope you don’t mind if I stand right here beside you, Miss—?”
“Lampert,”
I say, tightening my jaw. Abort, Seth. Abort!
“Lampert?”
He looks up behind me at the big guy getting too close. “I don’t
believe I’ve ever heard that name before. And you are?”
“Logan
Thomas.”
The
men shake hands, and Seth shakes his head. “It’s sure nice to
meet you. I tell you, I’ve met the nicest people in Saint Crow—Ah,
Dealer? I need a hundred in tens.”
The
dealer doesn’t even look up as he exchanges Seth’s money, and as
soon as the chips are distributed, my partner in crime splits his
money on two corner bets. I rotate in my chair so I can cross my
legs. He’s sticking to the plan, and my insides are quaking.
Logan
Thomas is onto us. Somehow we’ve been detected. I’ve been in this
situation before, and it cost us a partner, two if you count Ava.
I
can only guess the man to my right is another of Wade Paxton’s
thugs—or worse. Law enforcement. Perhaps Reggie made good on his
promise to expose Ava and me to every casino boss this side of the
Atlantic.
“No
more bets!” The dealer’s hand passes over the table, and the ball
shoots around the spinning wheel.
I
sense Seth’s body tense. It’s time for me to do my part. Logan
Thomas is probably waiting for this exact moment to arrest me. Five
years and a felony conviction.
My
breath is coming in short pants. Perhaps I should let it happen.
Would I be safer in prison? Seth clears his throat, and I
swallow my terror. The slightest twitch of my ankle, the slightest
point. The ball stutters and drops… Twenty-nine black.
“WOO
HOO!!!!! Well, I’ll be Johnny Mack Brown!!!” Seth explodes with
excitement. “I WON! And on a corner bet to boot!”
He
grasps the table edge and does a little jig. I can’t breathe
waiting to see what our ominous tablemate will do. Will he whip out a
badge? Detain us. At least with the device in my shoe they won’t
find anything in a pat down.
“Congratulations,”
Logan says. “That’s two and oh for me, so I’ll be saying
goodnight, Miss Lampert.” He does a little nod in my direction,
still with that knowing smile.
I
don’t make eye contact, and Seth is busy distracting the dealer. I
haven’t touched my chips on black, yet again they’ve doubled in
number. One more turn is all I can stay.
“Now
this is the hard part,” Seth says loudly, pinching his top
lip between two fingers. “Should I leave them there or move them?”
He
glances down at me again, a twinkle in his eyes. “What do you
suggest, Miss Lampert?”
Shaking
my head, I again feign ignorance. “I don’t know. I only play by
color.”
He
nods looking again at the table. “You know what they say. If
everything’s headed your way, you might need to change lanes.”
I
move my pile of chips to the red field just as the dealer starts the
wheel. Final bets are going around, and Seth stares at the green
felt, appearing to be deep in thought. At the very last minute, he
reaches out and moves his chips to opposite ends of the grid.
“No
more bets!” The dealer snaps just as Seth’s hands leave the area.
He
straightens, still doing his very best acting job. His lip is again
pinched between his fingers, and now he’s bouncingon the balls of
his feet.
“I
tell you, Miss Lampert, I’m as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a
room full of rockers.”
My
jaw tightens. That makes two of us… I can’t shake this
tension, even with Logan Thomas out of sight. For all I know he’s
waiting outside the door.
The
ball starts to slow, and I shift on my stool, pointing my toe as I do
so. In that instant, the silver ball drops quickly into the tray.
Red
Five.
“HOLEE
SHIT!!!! I can’t believe it!” Seth shouts, slapping the rubber
table-guard. “I can’t believe it, I WON AGAIN!” He turns to me,
and I glance up, giving him a little smile. “And look at there! So
did you, Miss Lampert!”
“I
should probably quit while I’m ahead,” I say, rising from my
chair.
Warmth
at my back, and a familiar voice clenches my insides. “You
shouldn’t break a winning streak.”
Jumping
away as if I were electrocuted, I turn to face the owner of that sexy
voice. Our eyes lock, and standing here, right at this table, a
knowing smile curling his lips, is MacCallum Lockwood Tate, my
playboy prince. The one I left behind when I ran.
If
I couldn’t breathe before, now I’m about to faint.
“Cal!”
It’s a startled whisper, my fingers tightening.
His
smoky hazel eyes won’t release me, and all the desire I feel is
reflected back at me. At the same time, something new is in his—an
edge I’ve never seen before.
“I’m
sorry…” His voice is slow, measured. “Have we met? You seem
familiar…”
Glancing
down, I relax my grip on the chair. I focus on calm, stay in
character. I straighten the enormous ring on my hand. It’s costume
jewelry—fake yellow topaz set in fake yellow gold. How fitting,
considering everything about me is fake.
Still,
even in this remote location, wearing this silly dark-brown wig, I
feel exposed, laid bare. I can’t do this in front of him. Even if
he knows what I am, I’m ashamed for him to see me doing it.
Seth
only pauses a hiccup before resuming the act. “He’s right, Miss
Lampert. You can’t walk out when you’re winning.”
I
want to kill Seth. “I can’t…” I start, but it’s too late.
The
dealer only pauses a moment before starting the wheel again. My heart
beats too fast. It shoots a pain between my shoulder blades, and I
haven’t moved my chips. I haven’t moved anything. I have to sit
down if I’m going to activate the switch, but if I sit, I’ll be
right beside Cal. Our arms will touch. I’m not sure I can handle
that.
“No
more bets!” The dealer’s hand passes over my stationary chips.
Seth
had moved his a few rows to the left, and I feel his eyes on me
watching, waiting to see if I’ll choke. The wheel is slowing. I can
hear the noise of the ball decelerating on its track.
Cal’s
hazel eyes are like heat against my skin, never moving away, not
letting me escape this time. I hear his voice the last time we spoke:
I love you, Zelda…
My
chest rises and falls quickly. I’m still standing.
“It’s
slowing down!” Seth’s voice is eager, but it’s directed at me.
He’s trying to snap me out of it.
If
I blow this spin, we’ll lose everything. I’m on my own now. I
left Cal behind, and even if he followed me, it changes nothing. I
have to be able to take care of myself.
“Slower…”
Seth says again.
With
a blink I break Cal’s spell over me and lean down as if to adjust
my ankle strap. A flick of my wrist and a curl of my toe, and the
silver ball clatters into red seven.
“OH!”
Seth bellows. “I DON’T BELIEVE IT!!!”
He
slaps my shoulder, but I haven’t regained my footing. Pulling up
quick, I’m slammed into Cal’s chest. My palms are flat against
his jacket, and his warm breath skirts across my cheek. Strong hands
grip my waist, and his warm-cedar and citrus scent floods my brain.
My
insides clench. Whatever made him come after me, it’s certainly
over now—unless now he wants to make me pay for what I did in
Monagasco, my role in his brother’s assassination attempt. I might
not have known what Reggie and Wade were planning, but I helped them
get into the country all the same. I lied to all of them.
“Zee,”
he says softly, his fingers grazing the skin of my lower back. The
tiny hairs on my body rise, and my stomach flips the way it always
does when Cal touches me. All the places and all the ways we’ve
been together flood my mind.
“I’m
sorry,” I manage, pulling away.
I
can’t be here with him like this. It hurts so much knowing he knows
everything. Everything we had, those moments with him were all
stolen. It’s what I am. A thief.
And
now he knows.
Seth
grabs my upper arm, pulling me to his side. “I say, Miss Lampert,
you must be my lucky charm.” The accent is still there, but ice is
in his tone.
The
muscle in Cal’s jaw moves, and I see his anger flash at my partner
in crime.
“Cash
me out.” I swipe my black clutch off the table, twisting from
Seth’s grip.
My
hands shake as I collect my winnings. I don’t even bother to count
them. I take the money and run. Seth will meet me at the dock like we
planned. Noises are behind me, but I don’t stop. I practically
sprint to the doors and out to the line of cabs. It only takes a
moment for me to dive into one.
“Grapetree
Point,” I say, slamming the door.
I
fall back against the cracked vinyl seat as we speed off into the
night, tears lurking in the corners of my eyes.
From
the Mediterranean to the Caribbean, the game continues…
Zelda
Wilder is on the run, this time from the ruthless assassins who’ve
decided she knows too much to live.
“Playboy
Prince” MacCallum Lockwood Tate isn’t about to let the beautiful
player who stole his heart get away—if only he could decide whether
he wants to save her or strangle her for her dangerous choices.
After
tracking her down to a casino in St. Croix, Cal follows Zee back to
Tortola where he intends to keep her safe. One problem: Zelda’s
criminal liaisons are two steps ahead of her.
Lives
are threatened, and all of the players’ skills are tested in this
plot to capture a killer and save a
princess.
Cinderella meets Ocean's
Eleven in this CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE DUET featuring
secrets, lies, royal high jinks, scams and double-crosses;
breathless, swooning lust, cocky princes, dominant alpha
future-kings, and crafty courtiers, who are not always what they
seem.
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THE PRINCE & THE PLAYER
(Dirty Players Duet #1)
By Tia Louise
★★★ Missed
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Pick
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“Tons
of laughs, sex, and suspense...THE PRINCE & THE PLAYER had me on
the edge of my seat, biting my nails, and blushing like crazy!”
–Shayna Renee’s Spicy Reads
Let
the games begin...
Runaway Zelda Wilder will do
whatever it takes to secure a better life for her and her sister Ava.
Crown Prince Rowan Westringham Tate will do whatever it takes
to preserve his small country.
When
Zee is blackmailed into helping a vengeful statesman take down Rowan,
she never expects she'll be pulled into a web of lies and
international intrigue--much less that she'll find herself falling
for Cal, Rowan's "playboy" younger brother.
Ava's
no help, as she finds quiet walks in the moonlight discussing poetry
and leadership with the brooding future king irresistible. Even more
irresistible is kissing his luscious lips.
They're in over
their heads, and the more time passes, the more danger the sisters
are in. Shots are fired, and it's soon clear even a prince might not
be able to rescue these players.
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Books
by Tia Louise
The
One to Hold Series:
One
to Hold (Derek & Melissa), 2013
One
to Keep (Patrick & Elaine), 2014
One
to Protect (Derek & Melissa), 2014
One
to Love (Kenny & Slayde), 2014
One
to Leave (Stuart & Mariska), 2014
One
to Save (Derek & Melissa), 2015
One
to Chase (Amy & Marcus), 2015
One
to Take (Stuart & Mariska), 2016
The
Dirty Players Duet:
The
Prince & The Player, 2016
A
Player for A Princess, coming Sept. 20, 2016!
Paranormal
Romances:
One
Immortal (Derek & Melissa, #SexyVampires), 2015
One
Insatiable (Koa & Mercy, #SexyShifters), 2015
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