Chapter Seven

The Jokers Wild Hotel and Casino was really something, even for Las Vegas. Zelda had given her keys to the valet and was waiting in the lobby to meet Trixie Malloran to discuss the team’s vision for the lobby, as well as the budget. But when she got there, she couldn’t find Trixie, whom Nicholas had texted her a picture of the night before. So she stood by the fountain in the center of the lobby, waiting. Ten minutes later, a woman came over and introduced herself.

“Hi, I’m Talia Spencer. I do the social media for the casino. Trixie couldn’t make it this morning, and she asked me to step in and get you started,” Talia said, holding out her hand.

Zelda shook the other woman’s hand. Talia Spencer wasn’t very tall and had short brown hair with blond streaks in it. But she also had an easy smile, with an air of professionalism about her.

“Zelda Quincy,” she said. “Magic shop owner.”

“I love that. You’ll have to tell me all about your shop,” Talia said. “Phantasm is the name of the show that Nicholas and his team have developed for the Jokers Wild. It will be opening in less than six weeks, so you are on a tight deadline.”

Talia reached into her bag and handed Zelda a press folder that was splashed with the image of Nicholas stripped to the waist and wearing skintight leather pants. There were thick chains wrapped around his chest and manacles at his wrists, and he stared up at her with that arresting bright blue gaze of his. Her heart started beating faster as she looked down at him. They’d both ignored the lust that was still there between them last night, but Zelda knew she wasn’t over him. Not by a long shot. And she had the sinking suspicion that one more night in his bed wasn’t going to be enough to satisfy her, either.

“He’s so hot,” Talia said.

“Yes, he is,” Zelda replied, unable to help herself from glancing down at Talia’s ring finger and the engagement ring there.

Talia laughed. “I’m engaged, not dead.”

Zelda joined her. “I’m trying to keep it professional, but those eyes and that chest… They make it hard.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Talia said, stopping as they left the noise of the main casino behind and entered a long corridor. “This is where we want the Phantasm experience to begin. So ideally, we’d like you to decorate these alcoves. Large framed prints of Nicholas’s past spectaculars have been ordered and will be placed on the walls as well.”

“If I remember correctly, he has used a number of legacy illusions in all of his shows. What if I try to get some original poster art from the different ones that inspired him? We could use that theme all the way down the hall. Each alcove could have props from the different shows alongside some antiques or replicas from the original.”

“I love that idea. I could ask the team to do some interactive videos to go along with each section, explaining how they took the illusion and modernized it.”

Zelda nodded and kept a smile on her face as she made notes in the book she’d brought with her for this project. This was way further into magic then she’d intended to go, given her past, but maybe…well, maybe this was the whole reason she’d met Nicholas. This project was going to force her to stop running from the past and face all the memories she’d buried.

Her family had done shows up and down the east coast that had been inspired by the heritage illusions Nicholas also drew from. But she’d tried so hard to put that time out of her mind, tried to forget that she and her sister had been one person in public, that they had never been allowed to be seen together so that no one would guess that some of their more fantastical illusions were really just two girls.

She sighed. She missed her sister, but Zoe had been more badly injured than she had been that hot July day. Zelda’d had no choice but to give her sister back her own identity and walk away.

They all had. Sure, there were many people who had wanted them to continue on with their groundbreaking illusion act, but she and Zoe had had enough.

Being with Nicholas brought everything back, which she both sort of wanted—so she could get over her past, once and for all—and dreaded—because she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to. She was content here with her little shop, but she’d known for a while that the stuff she’d shoved deep down wasn’t going to stay buried forever. She had to find a way to deal with it sooner or later.

“I can get with Trixie for the past stunts,” Zelda said.

“Leo would be better. He and Nicholas are the ones who design all of the illusions.”

“Leo?” she asked.

“Yes, Leo Stanson. He was big in the eighties here in Vegas. Apparently, he mentored Nicholas when he first started in the business,” Talia said. “His bio is in the folder I gave you.”

“Thanks,” she said. But she knew the name Leo Stanson. He hadn’t ever worked on any of her family’s shows, but he had been big in magic circles. He had been innovative in a way that had helped propel illusions forward. And that worried her. What if he remembered her family? She had appeared on numerous posters. Everyone liked the idea of seeing a tiny redheaded girl disappear and reappear at will. And she and her twin had been the centerpiece of many of her family’s shows. “I’ll make a note of that.”

Zelda had loved the spotlight, but that had all changed when Zoe had almost died. She’d locked away her family’s secrets, changed her name, and left that life far behind her.

“Because it needs to work in the hotel, we will have someone from the design staff contact you and give you some concept art. Nicholas has already been working with them, so you should be getting an email today. Will electronic images be okay to work from? If not, I can have them printed and sent to you,” Talia said. She glanced at her smartwatch and then back at Zelda.

“Electronic will be fine. And I think I have enough to get started on this project. Should I still use Trixie as my point of contact?” Zelda asked.

“Yes. But you can text me, too, if you can’t reach her. She’s producing Phantasm and also works as a makeup artist for the show, so she might not be available if you need something urgently. I, however, am always on my phone,” Talia said with a small laugh.

“Great. I think I’m good.”

“I’ll leave you to it.” Talia walked away, and Zelda noticed the long padded bench in one of the alcoves. She sat down and opened up the press kit she’d been given. Her heart was racing as she looked through the tricks, and she realized this might be more than she could handle. Making peace with her past was one thing. Totally submerging herself in the world she’d left behind was something else. And that didn’t even take into account the way she was starting to feel about Nicholas.

…

Dare and Rio were both in the rehearsal room, listening to the tips that Trixie gave him about setting up his stunt show and using some of her tech gadgets. From where he was suspended from the ceiling in chains, Nicholas could hear Dare flirting with Trixie.

It never failed to amaze him how his friend could be so casually friendly with women yet at the same time distrust them so much. As good as he was at illusion, he’d never been able to fake it like that. He’d never managed to keep his cool when he ran into Jade, no matter how much time had passed.

With her show at the Golden Palms, he knew running into her was a possibility. Vegas wasn’t that big. In fact, he expected her to send him an invitation to her show when it opened. Magicians always wanted to show off in front of each other. Heck, that was why he’d invited her and her showrunner to his preview a few months ago —the same night his Houdini water chest had been taken.

Once again, he wondered if Jade had been behind the theft. It was a large object, but she’d known how much it meant to him—that he considered it his lucky charm.

“You’re not concentrating,” Leo said. The older man sounded frustrated with him, and Nicholas didn’t blame him.

He twisted his hands to release his bonds and held himself suspended in the air over the piece of cardboard that Keely had placed under him to represent the tank. This rehearsal was all about refining his time so they would know exactly how fast he could get from one position—chained—to the second position—the lobby fish tank.

“Better?”

“It just shows me that you’re not focused,” Leo said. “What is it? The dame?”

“The dame? Is it the thirties?”

“You can’t call them chicks or girls anymore. I’m running out of options,” Leo said.

“You could try using our names,” Keely said, coming over and putting her hand on Leo’s shoulder. “Unless a dinosaur like you can’t remember them.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my mind or anything else,” Leo said, turning to face her. “But if you want to put that to the test, let me know.”

Keely blushed and dropped her hand. “So, if women were dames, what did they call guys?”

Leo cocked his head to the side as if thinking. “If a woman is knighted, she becomes a dame. So I guess it would be sir.”

“I’m not calling you sir,” Keely said smartly.

“Stop bickering,” Nicholas said. These two had been circling around each other since the day he’d hired Keely, but nothing had ever come of it. “What were you going to say?” he asked Leo.

“You are distracted, and your times are slow. Why don’t we take ten minutes? You can go do that meditation thing you always do. Then you’ll come back ready to work, I hope. We can’t get this show off the ground if you’re not one hundred percent.” Then Leo turned to Keely. “Dame’s not really that bad.”

“Leo, stop. Call a woman by her name. That’s it.”

He put his hands up. “Great. Now that I know the rules, I’ll follow them.”

“You’re a rule follower?” she said.

“It’s not a bad thing,” Leo responded. “I’m going out back. Damn, I wish I still smoked.”

Leo left, and Keely went over to her laptop and started clicking away at the keyboard.

Nicholas knew he needed to get his head in the game. This show wasn’t just the next big thing; this was his and his granddad’s dream. He thought back to all those long afternoons sitting in the master bedroom while his grandmother’s oxygen machine whirred in the background. He and Granddad had planned his future as the Great Nicholas—a name that Nicholas had left behind on the streets of Vegas more than fifteen years ago.

He grabbed his shirt and put it on before walking out of the rehearsal area and into the main casino. The hallway leading to the arena was empty, but soon, with Zelda working to curate a pre-show of sorts, he hoped it would be filled with nostalgic items that would entertain even visitors who couldn’t get tickets to his show.

Someone was sitting in one of the alcoves, and as soon as he saw that familiar red braid, he moved closer.

Zelda.

Of course she was here. He’d arranged for her to come today. Had Leo been right? Was she distracting him?

He’d been thinking about Jade—and her betrayal—a lot lately. And he realized that it was Zelda who’d stirred up those memories. There was no outward reason to link the two of them, and yet, there was something about Zelda, with all her quirkiness and openness, that reminded him of Jade back when he’d first known her. Before she’d become a showman like himself. When they’d just been two green kids, trying to create something to thrill audiences.

One night of sex—incredible as it was—should have been enough to get Zelda out of his system. To put her firmly in the interesting-but-not-for-a-long-time category. But it hadn’t been.

Instead he was desperately drawn toward her, as if he hadn’t seen her in eight weeks instead of mere days. His heart beat a little faster, and he was getting hard just from seeing her.

He wanted her. But sex wasn’t his driving instinct. He’d always been focused on his goals. On magic. And now…that focus had moved to Zelda.

“Hi there,” he said when he was a few feet away. Remembering how much she’d liked his chest the night they were together, he put his hands on his hips, making sure his unbuttoned shirt was open to reveal it.

She glanced up at him and smiled. Then her eyes dropped to his chest, and she sighed. “Hello, Nicholas.”

Maybe more sex was what was needed. For both of them. This couldn’t be her normal type of attraction. Hell, given that she’d pretty much ignored the fact that they’d slept together the next day, he knew it wasn’t.

“How’s it coming?” he asked, realizing that around her, there was nothing cool about him. How’s it coming? Really? He sounded more awkward than Leo.

“Not too bad. I met with Talia, and she gave me some direction. I think we are going to use your past shows and your inspiration for the big illusions as the tie-in to the antiques and props in the hallway. I’m just making a few notes.”

“That’s a great idea,” he said. “Want to have dinner with me and we can discuss it further?”

…

Dinner. Hell’s bells. She wasn’t sure this was a good idea, but there wasn’t anything she wanted to do more than see him again. See him naked again.

“Dinner, yes. But not to discuss this. I don’t want to even pretend that I’m having dinner with you for business reasons,” she said.

“I like your honesty, Zelda,” he said.

“But?”

“But?”

“Your voice dropped a bit at the end. It’s almost as if you want to believe me but don’t,” she said.

He dropped his hands and shook his head. Clearly, this wasn’t the kind of discussion he wanted to have with her. She should let it go.

“I was simply thinking about dinner,” he said.

“I’ll come, but I want to know more,” she said. “Why would you like my honesty but not intend to believe it?”

“I just don’t trust people,” he said. “In my experience, everyone is hiding something.”

“Then you can’t have known many nice people,” she said. “I’m not after anything. I just want to get to know you better. There’s something between us, something I think I’d like to explore. I can’t stop thinking about you. Dinner would be great, but I don’t want to pretend I’m seeing you to discuss how I’m going to decorate the lobby.”

She’d made up her mind to face him with bluntness. No pretending with him or with herself that she wasn’t going out with him for any reason other than she liked him and he intrigued her.

“Good. I want that, too.”

“Good,” she said. “Surely not everyone let you down. I mean, your grandfather, the one who got you into magic…he had to be the exception.”

Nicholas’s his face tightened; had she found his Achilles heel? He was a master at regulating his emotions but now she thought she saw a flicker of his real feelings.

“I thought so.”

“But?”

“But nothing, Zelda. I can’t discuss this now.”

She nodded. He seemed to understand the power of the past and the influence it could wield over the present. She guessed that his past contained secrets as well—he’d pretty much admitted it to her—so she could understand where he was coming from.

“I hope I can convince you not everyone is untrustworthy,” she said. “I think maybe that’s why we met. I have been thinking about this a lot.”

Nicholas shook his head. “We met because someone stole something from me.”

“Don’t you ever wonder if there is something else at play here?” she asked.

“No,” he said bluntly. “I’ve never felt that there was anything other than my own free will guiding my actions. In fact, Houdini felt the same way. You know he started doing illusions to prove the charlatans wrong.”

She did know that. “And yet, he was an illusionist.”

“He did it for entertainment. He wasn’t taking money to tell someone they’d meet the love of their life or that a relative from beyond the grave was trying to get in touch with them. There’s a huge difference.”

She liked this side of him. Usually when he was doing his tricks and talking about magic, there was a cool aloofness to him. But not now. She wanted to discover what drove him to perform illusions, and if it was that he thought everyone was hiding something, then perhaps he wasn’t all that different from Houdini.

“We can get into this at dinner,” she said. “I like this side of you.”

“You do?” he asked.

“Yes. I want to know the man behind the magic.”

“What you see is what you get,” he said. “I’m just a ripped guy doing tricks for a living.”

She couldn’t help laughing at that. “I already know there is more to you than that. You really cared about Stetson’s feelings. You made sure he wasn’t let down. A lot of people wouldn’t have worried about it.”

“Kids don’t always get a fair shake when it comes to the adults in their lives. Stetson is lucky to have a mom who clearly loves him and you. I wanted him to have a guy in his life who didn’t let him down, either.”

She stood up when he said that. He couldn’t know how much that meant to Molly and to herself. Stetson’s dad had never been in the picture, and Molly gave up dating when it became clear that most men weren’t interested in having any kind of relationship with her son.

“See? There’s more to you than just this hard body. You’re right. Kids need positive influences of both sexes. And I think you really made an impact on Stetson. And not just because you are the hottest magician in town.”

“Honestly, he reminds me a bit of myself. And I would have killed to get some tips from the big guys back in the day,” Nicholas said.

“Did you ever meet any of them?” she asked.

“No. We couldn’t leave my grandmother alone. Sometimes a nurse would come in, but it made Granddad so nervous that I stopped asking to do things. He couldn’t enjoy himself when he was worried about her.”

“That is a surprisingly mature decision for a kid. How old were you?”

“Ten,” he said. “But it was worth it. We watched all of the David Copperfield TV shows, and then we’d try to replicate some of the tricks for my grandmother. It wasn’t a bad life.”

She could tell that. But she also knew she was only seeing part of the picture. His childhood sounded idyllic, especially compared to hers. She or her sister always had to stay hidden whenever they travelled, in case they were seen and the secret of their illusion discovered. And they had always been referred to by the same name. Her entire childhood had been mired in deceit.

She told herself that didn’t matter, but to a man who thought everyone was hiding something, it could. Still, they had only hooked up once and were simply having dinner. There was no need to tell him about a past that would never mean anything to him. But a part of her wasn’t so sure.

She came from a big magic family—the kind he would’ve heard of, if he’d followed magic from a young age. But that illusion that had almost killed Zoe had shaped Zelda in ways that she still struggled to talk about.

Would Nicholas see her keeping this from him as a betrayal? Her gut told her yes, and her heart confirmed it. She would feel betrayed if he kept something like this from her.

But she’d never talked about it. Not with anyone. When she and Zoe had left and gone their own ways, Zelda had locked that part of her life away.

How could she tell Nicholas about it now? How could she not?

His watch beeped, and he glanced down at it. “I have to get back to rehearsal. I’ll pick you up for dinner at seven.”

She nodded and watched him walk away. After this dinner, she’d end it. She liked Nicholas, but she knew better than to believe that there could be anything serious between them. Especially since she wasn’t sure she could wade back into the sea of illusion, and it was his entire life.