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My phone buzzed on my desk, and I checked it. It was my mother.
“Hey,” I said, popping in my earpiece, so I could talk hands free.
“Hi, hon,” Mom said. She had quit smoking way back when I was a teenager, mostly so I wouldn’t take up the bad habit, too, but her voice still had a rasp to it. “Are you eating lunch?”
I checked the time. “No, I didn’t even realize that it was past noon.”
She tutted. “You should really eat something. You know how you get.”
I suppressed a smile. I’d been a skinny teenager who managed to survive on candy and energy drinks until I got into lifting weights when I was fifteen. I needed to bulk up, so whatever asshole boyfriend she had didn’t think he could push me around.
“I’ll eat soon. How are you?” I got up and wandered to the window, which overlooked the strip.
“Good! I’ve been seeing more of my girlfriends since Richard left,” she said, referring to her latest asshole boyfriend.
“Glad to hear it.”
Richard broke up with her a month ago, to my relief. I didn’t want my mom to have her heart broken, but honestly, heartbreak was much better than how those dickheads treated her. No matter how many times I told her that they weren’t good for her, she still went after the most deadbeat man in a five-mile radius. Some were worse than others, but across the board, they treated her like shit.
At least I was able to give her absolutely everything she needed, so she didn’t have to work anymore or pay rent. She’d worked multiple jobs raising me alone growing up, so the least I could do was give her the comfortable life she deserved.
But still, I couldn’t shield her from everything, including the men she somehow found.
She caught me up on what she was doing, and we talked about how the casino was going. Eventually, I actually did get hungry, so I ordered in some lunch and let her go to lunch with one of her friends.
Talking with her was always good—we’d always been close—but I always ended the call with a knot in my stomach that I couldn’t get rid of easily. Like I wasn’t doing enough, and that she was just as bad off as she was when I was a helpless teenager without a dime to my name.
I sighed, wandering from calls to meetings before the day wrapped up. Most of our employees had left, leaving me, Lucas, Chase, and Brooke behind. I stole a glance at Brooke as she typed away on the computer. She was already making our lives easier. At some point today, she’d put her hair up into a ponytail, revealing the elegant line of her neck. Did she like her neck being kissed while she was fucked?
Lucas appeared out of his office, eyeing her as well.
“You’re still here?” he asked, resting his hand on the back of her seat. He stood a touch too close to her to be casual, but if anything, Brooke leaned closer to him. I was glad Brooke looked so happy, but I wanted to be a part of whatever they had going on.
“I am. Just finishing up something so I don’t have to jump back in at an awkward place tomorrow morning.” Brooke smiled up at him. “I’ll be heading home in about five minutes.”
“I’m calling you a car, then,” I said. “Some of the lights in the parking lot are out, and I can’t let you walk there alone.”
“I’m sure I’ll be okay,” she said with a shrug. “It’s not too far, and I have to get back to work in the morning.”
I raised an eyebrow at her, crossing my arms over my chest, and she sighed.
“It’s far enough.” I pulled my phone from my pocket. “I’ll have a car pick you up to come to work tomorrow. I’ll also have the lights fixed over the parking lot.”
“Thank you,” she said, busying herself with her notepad.
Eventually, she finished up, and I walked her to the elevator, then downstairs. The black luxury SUV was waiting outside the front of the casino.
“This is it?” she asked, gesturing to the car like she couldn’t believe it was for her.
“Yes, it is.” I opened the door to the backseat. “It’ll pick you up in the morning at seven-thirty to get you here at eight.”
“Thank you again.” She slipped inside, an adorable, pleased smile on her lips. “Have a good night.”
“You, too. See you tomorrow.” I shut the door behind her once she was fully inside.
I watched the car leave before I went back upstairs, where Chase and Lucas had moved to our conference room for us to go over what we had accomplished that day.
“She’s on her way home?” Lucas asked.
