Free Leaving Las Vegas (Entangled Ignite) by Aleah Barley Page A

all the people whose lives would be irrevocably changed when his plans went into effect.
    “The casino will bring jobs to the neighborhood. It will give affluent people a place to eat on date night. They’ll need to gas up their cars, stop for coffee after a long night out. It will give their entire economy a boost.” Luke leaned forward, the heat from his body suddenly oppressive and suffocating against her skin. “My development is the best thing that neighborhood has ever known.”
    Oh, God . Luke was a developer .
    A full-on, red-blooded killer of community. Destroyer of neighborhoods. Eliminator of lifestyles carefully built up and sustained by human connection.
    He was the kind of person she hated most in all the world.
    She wanted to get away, but she couldn’t move. She couldn’t think. She couldn’t even breathe. All she could do was listen.
    “The city council agreed with me. I made sure of that. You’ll get the construction permits today…and if the permits don’t get there, then call my mother. She plays bridge with the mayor’s wife—and half a dozen people from the city planning department.”
    Luke ended the conversation with a firm jab of his finger on the phone’s screen. He slipped the phone into his back pocket, looked at her and grinned. “You were about to tell me something. Why you want the money?”
    The man didn’t have a clue. Couldn’t he see how upset she was? Her poker face—the carefully cultivated mask she used while bluffing at the card table or feigning interest in one of Mr. Mackelroy’s big fish stories—was gone. She was done bluffing her way through life. She was angry. Pissed as hell that Luke could treat people so callously. She’d let the man put his hand up her shirt!
    “Shouldn’t you be getting home?” The sound of her voice was too loud, strange to her own ears. “Big man like you. Bullying coworkers, pressuring politicians, building things that people don’t want—don’t need.”
    “I wasn’t bullying Erick.” Luke pulled back, awkwardly.
    The moment of tenderness, of connection between them, had gone—vanishing like so much faerie dust—and he hadn’t even noticed.
    “The man’s my friend,” he continued. “Besides, he expects me to talk like that. I’m the boss. It’s my job.”
    “Right, because he’s just an employee…not a human being.” People like Luke were all the same. They saw numbers and figures, not human beings. She pushed him away, the force of her hands sending him back a few paces. He was so damn handsome, so charming. She’d been falling under his spell ever since she’d woken with his breath on her lips. Only it turned out he wasn’t just some spoiled kid out for a thrill. He was just another rich man ignoring the needs of the community. Just like the developer trying to build on top of Beaux.
    Maybe she was wrong. She’d only heard one side of the conversation. She had her suspicions, but she needed confirmation. “What kind of business do you run?”
    “I own casinos.” Luke let out a low laugh. “At least that’s how I started, with my father’s casinos. I’m also a developer—I build things. Like casinos.”
    “A developer.” The truth was like a punch to the gut. Her stomach churned angrily, bile rising in the back of her throat. A few minutes earlier she’d been eager to feel his hands on her hips and his mouth against hers. Eager enough that she might just have asked for that kiss, or gone further…maybe even fulfilling his fantasy of “a hot woman on a cool car.” Now she just wanted to get away.
    The rumble of a car engine in the distance, the sound loud, aggressive, made Glory glance up. Through spaces between the trees, she could see a black SUV in the distance. Hair stood up on the back of her neck.
    Luke turned, following her gaze. “That’s our wake-up call, babe. It’s time to go. Before the shooting starts again.”

Chapter Six
    Luke stood for everything Glory hated. It was going to