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So, please, whatever you do, don’t let me have you.
ChapterOne
She’d traveled to the other side of the country, to Sin City, and ran into Lucas Saraci.
Yet again.
They ran in similar circles, had similar interests. A huge biological sciences and medicine expo was being held in Las Vegas, so it made perfect sense that they might run into each other. However, something as simple as an unexpected encounter wasn’t why this man would eventually bring about the end of Raina’s life.
It was the lie.
The lie she told herself.
The lie she told everyone.
“Dr. Saraci, are you stalking me?” she asked, her focus on the queen and six of hearts on the red surface in front of her.
Lucas tapped his knuckles on the blackjack table, and the dealer slid two cards in his direction.
“Don’t make yourself so easy to find,” he said.
“I don’t make myself easy to find.”
“Then maybe I’m stalking you.”
She looked up and wasn’t surprised to find him smiling, with a slight lift of the corner of his mouth and his eyes clearly expressing how much he enjoyed driving her crazy in ways she was sure she might never be able to share.
Earlier, he’d had on a pewter-colored suit, white shirt, and dark tie. Now, the blazer and tie were gone. The top button on the shirt was undone. With the exception of the neatly trimmed hair on his face, he looked like someone who’d spent the day being bombarded with conversations from thousands of conference attendees. Each time she’d spotted him, he’d been surrounded by a horde.
After their meeting in Greece, she’d researched who he was, and she could admit that she’d checked to see whether he would be attending the expo before booking her ticket to Nevada. However, she wasn’t foolish enough to believe he’d made all those Instagram posts—well, technically, his assistant made the posts—about attending the conference in hopes of seeing her.
As far as anyone was concerned, she loathed this man. She certainly didn’t spend too many nights lying in bed, staring at the pages of a book until the words blurred, creating images of his arms wrapped around her from behind as he nuzzled her neck. In no version of the world did this mannuzzle.
She waved her hand, letting the dealer know she didn’t want any more cards. Lucas struck the velvet tabletop two times with the tip of his finger, and the dealer slid a third card in his direction.
They both lost.
After playing several additional rounds of blackjack, they grew tired of losing money and left the table. Lucas remained beside her, unfairly sexy with one hand casually tucked inside his pocket.
He searched the hotel casino’s wide-open space, which looked golden on account of the chandeliers, overhead lights, and elaborate drapery whose pattern reminded her of her late grandmother’s sofa and loveseat collection.
“So, Raina Daniels, what brought you here? I didn’t see your name on the list of speakers.”
“You looked for me?” she asked.
“I look for you every time I come to one of these things.”
In her fantasy, his nose brushed the arch of her neck, followed by his lips and him pulling her further into the arms he’d wrapped around her.
“I’m here to network and get more buzz for our research. Possibly, a collaboration.”
“That’s the epigenetics research, correct?”
“Yep.”
“Okay.” He pointed to a collection of tables. “How about a few rounds of poker?”
She didn’t respond, too busy studying the few light strands interspersed between the dark waves and swoops of his hair.
