Tuesday Tales - Blade

Hi everyone! Welcome to Tuesday Tales!
This week's word prompt is "blade”. Today we are with Nic and Casey in the second book of the Fighting the Odds Series, The Bulldog. We'll be checking in this these two for the rest of December then heading back to Demeter.
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**Warning - there are adult situations and language.**

Nic cursed under his breath as he wove through the thick Las Vegas traffic. His mind kept processing what Jace told him. The words mob and mafia ricocheted around his brain. This was Casey. Sweet, timid-until-her-button-was-pushed-then-wild-in-the-sack Casey.
There was no way she could be this Annabelle Jace was talking about.
But however many times he tried to convince himself she wasn’t, the truth hammered itself home. She was.
He turned a sharp left into the parking lot of the motel on the slip Jed wrote for him. The Jeep shivered in protest. He pulled into first spot he could find and killed the engine. With a growl he hopped out and stalked towards the office.
He threw open the door then froze. Casey stood at the check out window, talking softly through the plexiglass window to a man with long, thinning hair. His scraggly beard looked like it hadn’t seen a razor blade in three years.
“Casey,” Nic called out. He watched her whole body stiffen. He even caught the attention of the man behind the glass.
She didn’t turn around. She just kept talking. The room wasn’t that big. There was no way she missed what he said.
He snarled. “Okay, Annabelle.”
She spun around at him. “How do you know that?”
He stalked across the room until he hovered over her, meeting her wide-eyed gaze. “I told you. I have friends in high places. So, care to explain why you took off this morning? Or why you lied to me?”
She raised herself on her tiptoes until the tip of their noses nearly touched. “To save your life.”
“You don’t need to protect me. I can take care of myself. And you.”
She shook her head. “You have no idea what you’re up against. The smart thing for you to do is let me go.”
He hissed at her. “So all I was good for was a one night stand? I was just someone for you to fuck?”
He could see the shimmer of tears glisten in her eyes. “No. You’re much more than that. Please, Nic. I’m begging you. Let me go. If he catches you, there won’t be anything left for Jed to bury. Don’t do that to your brother and your friends. They love you.”
“He who?” Nic demanded.
She didn’t answer. She shoved past him and bolted for the door. She was gone before he could flinch.