Read Online Leaving Las Vegas (Entangled Ignite) by Aleah Barley - Free Book Online Page A

touch with her past. “The showgirl. Her name is Tiffanette. Have you heard of her?”
    “Chester said he thought the showgirl’s name was Annette. I don’t know any showgirls named Annette. Are you sure her name is Tiffanette ?”
    “Absolutely. I’ve met her before.”
    There was a long pause. Then, “Looks like a Barbie doll, acts like a snake in the grass?”
    “You do know her.” For all her faults, his mother was an expert at reading people.
    “Tiffanette Abrams. Good body, great timing. Tramp. I heard she made a play for the mayor. In front of his wife. I mean—” A shocked sigh. “Really, going after another woman’s husband like that. It’s unimaginable! I can’t—”
    “Wasn’t Dad married when you two met?”
    “Engaged. Your father was engaged when we met. To Ruby Tyler, if you can believe that one. She really ought to have thanked me. Saving her from walking down the aisle in that wedding dress—too much tulle.” There was a long sigh. “Well, I suppose it’s good she’s the one who tried to kidnap you.”
    “Excuse me?” Luke blinked in surprise.
    A few minutes earlier his mother had been sobbing uncontrollably. Now her tone was full of vim, vigor, and venom. She recovered quickly. “Back in the day—with your father—holdups and kidnappings were more common. You know that.”
    Luke had heard the stories. Back when Las Vegas was still the Wild West—well, back in the eighties, which was the same thing in Vegas time—kidnapping had been just another part of doing business. Some of the old-timers still made threats occasionally. When that happened, Luke would increase security. He’d call in extra bodyguards.
    But things had been quiet recently. The economic downturn might have hit the rest of the country hard, but in Las Vegas everything was still glitz and glamour. Business was good, for everyone.
    “She tried to abduct me.”
    “But she wasn’t successful, was she? And this way you can get her tutti-frutti, sequin-covered little behind thrown in prison. Someplace with lots of guards—”
    “I think they all have lots of guards.”
    A snort. “That’ll teach her to throw herself at other people’s husbands.”
    “I’d think it would teach her not to attempt a felony.”
    His mother sniffed.
    “Anyway—” He cleared his throat. “There was some confusion last night. I don’t know if she’s been arrested. I suspect not.”
    Tiffanette wasn’t a genius, but she wasn’t an idiot, either. The last time he’d seen her, she’d been at the head of an army of fully outfitted men. Avoiding the police wouldn’t have been easy, but it was definitely possible.
    “Where are you now?” his mother asked. “When will you be home?”
    He turned back to the car. Blinked in surprise. Glory wasn’t inside the Vanquish anymore. She was on top of it. Perched carefully on the shiny black hood. Her knees were pressed tight together, her feet bare. Her presence hypnotic, drawing him in closer.
    “I’m in Arizona, near the Grand Canyon. I met someone last night. We decided to go out of town for the night.” Not quite a lie. “I won’t be back for a while.”
    “Is she pretty?”
    Some other mothers might have been worried about their only child running off with a random stranger. Not Cherry. Luke stopped less than a foot from the car. He reached out, letting his hand hover for a moment before settling it on Glory’s knee.
    “Her name’s Gloria Allen. She helped me escape from Tiffanette. She’s smart, funny, and she knows the words to every song by Bachman-Turner Overdrive.” Parts of his body reacted to Glory in a most visceral way, and he let out a ragged breath. “She’s very pretty.”
    Glory was staring up at him, her eyes bright. For a moment her body tensed, then her head tipped back. Light, bubbling laughter poured out of her mouth, as if she didn’t believe a word he was saying. The leg he wasn’t touching stretched out, swinging in uneven arcs. The way she