Meliza drummed her fingernails on the table of the café where she was anxiously awaiting Andrew’s arrival. He had left early, leaving her a note saying he had some business to take care of and that he’d see her later. Not that she minded his early departure. Quite frankly, she had no idea how to deal with the new turn of events. She sighed, hating the feeling of the unknown.

She didn’t even notice him slide into the seat across from her.

“Hey,” he greeted.

She looked up and smiled in greeting, immediately noticing that tension lined his face. “Are you all right?” she asked.

He sighed. “Not really.”

“What’s wrong?”

Andrew dismissed it with a hand. “It’s nothing you have to worry about.” He took a drink of the ice water the server brought him. “I think we need to talk. About…last night.”

Meliza straightened in her seat. “Okay?”

“Listen…” he started, blowing out a breath. “Before we…got involved, we knew what we were doing and we both agreed that we didn’t want our lives to change, right?”

She frowned slightly. “Right…”

“But things are different now, right?”

“Right…”

“Okay. Just making sure we’re on the same wavelength,” he declared.

“What are you saying, Drew?” Meliza asked.

“I’m saying that I think we should back off.”

Meliza blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Stop seeing each other,” he clarified in a dull tone.

She swallowed hard. “All right…What…What brought this on?” It made no sense. He had pursued her relentlessly and now he was pulling back?

“I have to leave the country tomorrow, it was a last minute thing, so I wanted to let you know that I don’t plan on continuing this…whatever it is,” he shrugged.

“Why are you doing this?” Meliza demanded. Once the shock wore in, reason began to formulate in her brain. It made no sense! Why would he do this?

His eyes, normally vibrant with color, regarded her with dispassion. “Meliza, you can’t be that naïve…”

Her jaw dropped. “So that’s it? You had your fun with the chase, and once you caught the prey, it’s over.”

“Pretty much,” he said flatly.

Cold fury began to overcome her she started shaking. She had heard about men who knew just what to say, just what to do…the love ‘em and leave ‘em types. She’d never figure herself gullible enough to fall for one. Fall for one? With a twist of regret and bitterness, she acknowledged that maybe she had fallen for him. Then again…she never really knew him at all if this cold stranger was any indication…

“Fine,” Meliza swallowed, rising to her feet, going numb. “Goodbye, Andrew Rivera…”

He watched her walk away, hating what he had to do. And it wasn’t over yet…

Meliza stormed into her hotel room an hour later, picking up anything that could be packed into a bag. She tossed all of those items into her bag before plopping down on the bed, her shoulders sagging with defeat.

What had gone wrong? she wondered. She had never felt so insignificant…so used in her life…

She reached under her bed to retrieve a briefcase of money that she had collected during her winnings over the past few weeks. Housekeeping never prepared the room during her stay. They couldn’t even get to the suite without the general manager’s key. Any clean sheets and laundry were delivered through a tiny service elevator. The manager gave her the privacy she needed.

She pulled it onto her lap, dialing the combinations to open it. She never trusted a briefcase full of money in a hotel safe. Before Andrew’s arrival the previous night, she had changed the combination, fully intending to deposit the money this afternoon. When she opened the briefcase, her eyes widened at the sight of a small bottle of champagne with a card attached to it. Examining the bottle, she noticed that it was of raspberry champagne. And the card…she pulled it open to read in very familiar handwriting ‘Thanks’. A picture of the king of hearts card was on the other side.

Meliza dropped the briefcase and champagne in shock. Nearly five hundred thousand had been in that briefcase. It was all gone. She’d been had. And only one person had been in her room, able to access it. She had been dealing with a master thief all along.

With a loud cry of frustration, she hurled the briefcase across the room.

Andrew Rivera had taken a lot more than half a million dollars...

With that thought, she sank to the floor on legs that refused to hold her upright, burying her face in her hands.