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“You’ve known her all of thirty minutes,” I pointed out.
“No, we went to high school together. Seriously. She’s the kind of person who’s friendly with everyone.” Lucas looked ridiculously relaxed given the situation, cranking up my irritation. I wasn’t sure why—Lucas was unflappable all the time. “She’s perfect. And if anyone around the office is curious, we can say she’s going down to get a better picture of everything we do.”
Despite Lucas’s assured tone, I was anything but. The woman was a stranger, but the idea of anyone laying a finger on her or her getting anywhere near danger filled me with hot anger. I grew up seeing my mom pushed around by her dickhead boyfriends, and I didn’t want that same fate to even appear on Brooke’s radar if I could help it.
But my desire to get rid of scumbags in our casino and figure out what the hell was going on was almost as strong as my anger. Hiring an outside firm to sniff around was also an awful idea, since that felt even more conspicuous. The cops definitely didn’t need to be involved, since half of them were in the pockets of the city’s crime world, anyway.
My two partners stared at me, waiting for an answer. We hadn’t had much luck sniffing out a real lead, much less an answer, to this. As much as my gut was telling me that sending her in was a bad idea, a tiny part of me wondered if I should just ignore my feelings. All three of us were experienced and successful in business, but not in the casino industry. Maybe this was normal.
I leaned back in my seat, the knot still in my stomach.
“Let me think about it,” I said. “I’ll let you know by the end of the day.”
We went back to other business matters related to pulling this casino from its financial pit and went about our day. I passed by Brooke’s desk several times, trying to stop myself from looking at her longer than I should have.
Even her neutral expression was warm and friendly. If I were hiring her for a dealer position, I’d choose her based on her disposition alone. People came back for great dealers who made gambling even more fun. Especially when they were as hot as she was. The way she bit her plump bottom lip as she worked sent bolts of lust up and down my spine.
Shit. Maybe we’d let her go down for one night, and if it seemed dangerous and she didn’t want to do it, we’d pull her out.
Once it was nearly five, I called Chase and Lucas into my office.
“You have an answer for us?” Lucas asked.
“Let’s do it,” I said before I could stop myself. “Call her in before she leaves. We’ll offer her a hundred thousand to start.”
“Works for me.” Chase pushed off the door frame of my office and went to grab Brooke.
Moments later, we were back in the conference room we had been in that morning with Brooke. She was obviously terrified, but I had no idea how to put her at ease.
“Don’t worry,” Lucas said, shutting the door. “You’re not in trouble.”
Her shoulders relaxed. “Oh. Then what’s going on?”
“We have a proposal for you,” Chase said, resting his forearms on the table. “Let us explain the entire situation before you give us an answer.”
“All right…” Her green eyes were wide, and the tension came back into her shoulders. “What’s it about?”
“The long and the short of it is that we need you to go undercover for us as a dealer to keep an eye on some people who are coming into the casino,” Lucas said. “It won’t require anything elaborate besides learning the rules of the game, talking to people, and maybe recording some of the conversations that they have.”
“You’ll be paid as well. Under the table,” I added.
Brooke blinked, then frowned. “I’m just an executive assistant. You guys know that, right? I don’t think I can be an undercover agent.”
The corner of Lucas’s mouth quirked up. “It’s not that elaborate. It’s just like we said—listening and talking. You’re friendly and personable. We’ll give you all the information you need to pull it off.”
I studied Brooke’s face as she processed everything, her emotions swirling openly in her eyes. Finally, she let out an incredulous laugh.
“Okay, so…” She gestured with her hands, as if she was trying to put together the words right in front of her. “First of all, why me? Why not a private investigator?”
“Because we need someone no one will suspect,” Chase said. “You’re a beautiful, friendly woman. The kind of person who men in a crime ring might let their guards down around.”
“Criminals?” Brooke put her fingers to her lips and whispered, “Criminals? You didn’t mention that part!”
“They’re all recently out of prison.” Lucas’s smile transformed into a grimace. “But you’ll be surrounded by security guards, and you’ll never be asked to go anywhere you aren’t fully visible by the general public or our security cameras. We want you to be safe.”
Brooke blinked again, her hand falling to her lap. “And you said I’d get paid?”
“A hundred thousand. Plus, you’d sign an NDA,” I said. “There’s room to negotiate.”
