Last Name - Dr. Rebecca Sharp Page 0,22

friends.”

“Wait, like that movie?”

“Sort of.” My mouth thinned. There’d been a movie a few years ago based on the team, but I’d never joined with the intention of making it big by bringing down the house. “Truthfully, I joined because my dad—my family owned casinos and I’d grown up around card games and betting my whole life. The idea of card counting fascinated me, and I figured it wouldn’t be a bad thing to learn or to be able to spot.”

“But… isn’t that cheating?”

My head shook. “A common belief, but it’s not. It’s a very legal strategy to win at Blackjack,” I paused. “It’s just about knowing the odds and when they are sitting in your favor.”

“So, you were counting cards that morning…”

I laughed at the adorable scrunch in her face. The tone of the conversation didn’t seem to fit with the topic. We spoke with a level of comfort that didn’t match the fact I was explaining to her why I’d left my wife the morning after we’d gotten married in Vegas.

“No.” I cleared my throat. “I haven’t counted cards in several years.” And then, more quietly, as though the words could permeate through the thick wood of the house, explained, “When my father died, Arden Corporation was in shambles. A literal house of cards, ready to topple at the slightest cough.”

Her small gasp carried in the silence.

“We didn’t know. Not even my mother,” I told her. “I was finishing my MBA. Lars was about to start college. And our mother was in the final stages of treatment for breast cancer.” I paused, my jaw locking for a frustrated second as a wave of anger washed over me.

“I’m so sorry,” she murmured.

The sad part was, this portion of the truth wasn’t even the worst of it.

“Truthfully, I don’t know what was more shocking. His unexpected death or the fact that the business he touted with never a word of worry was crumbling under the weight of his insurmountable debts.”

“That’s why they called you a hero for saving the business,” she said quietly, glancing up at me.

My shoulders tensed.

“That’s what they said because they don’t know the truth.” I turned, capturing her eyes as I told her the truth that less than a handful of people—that didn’t include my family—knew. “I didn’t have time to turn the business around and fix the debt the right way. The books had been toxic for too long and my father had borrowed too much from men who were demanding payment now that he was gone, afraid they wouldn’t be able to collect.”

Ironically, it was their threats that revealed the truth about my father’s character.

“I remember sitting in my Boston apartment after three large, angry men had just left, in shock over the bomb that had just detonated with a few well placed fists into my life without warning.”

Her gaze wavered and I knew her ‘big change’ had been spurred by something similar.

“I didn’t have time to do things the way I wanted; he’d left me no choice. I remember looking at the clock and realizing I’d missed the club meeting, and that was when I realized this might be my only shot.” I checked one last time to make sure my mother hadn’t come outside. “So, I bought a plane ticket to Vegas, withdrew all the funds left to me in my father’s will, and spent the next three weeks on the Strip, winning what my family needed to survive.”

“You saved the business by… card counting?”

I winced in agreement and forged on to how my past had not only connected me to her but also ripped me away.

“As those weeks went on, the casinos picked up what I was doing and, even though it’s not illegal, they can still ban you from the premises,” I told her. “The Bellagio was one of those casinos.”

“But you were…”

“Because it was almost a decade ago when that happened,” I said. “And it was my brother’s bachelor party. I couldn’t not go. And I definitely couldn’t tell him it was because I was banned for life for card counting.” I let out a quick, rough laugh. “Plus, we weren’t staying there. I’d only walked over with them. I was going to see a show or something while they gambled—anything to stay off the floor—away from the floor. I figured as long as I did that, I’d probably go unnoticed.”

Her eyes widened and those warm pink lips that I’d traveled all over the world to kiss parted as