Las Vegas. Something that could change Cal into a completely different person and made Gillian extremely nervous. She was stuck in Nevada, across the country from her little girl and already missing her like crazy. Not to mention there was a leggy blonde hitting on Cal like he was a piece of meat, sending him looks that he would kill a man for looking at her that way, and he was allowing it to happen. Plus a rich playboy trying to get a glimpse up her skirt.

She was not happy camper. And if Cal told her she was smothering one more time she was going to get a separate hotel room and maybe even hotel, or hell, she may actually smother him with his own pillow. It was already a pretty fair guess that Cal would be sleeping on the pullout couch in the suite tonight.

She gave him a warning look as she walked by the table of professional poker players. One of the men called out to her as she did and she heard Cal snap at him.

"Oi, she's too good for you," Cal snapped ready to break the man's hand if he dared to touch her.

Finally, something to make Gillian smile. Perhaps the first thing that made her even close to happy since she stepped foot off the plane. Of course it was just as quickly ruined by the blond that kept her trip on quite the damper.

"By the way she walks, she's too good for anybody," the leggy blond, whom Gillian still decided it wasn't work knowing her name, retorted.

PDA was not Gillian's thing. It wasn't. Neither was petty cat fights or arguing with women who didn't matter, but every now and then something pushed her over the edge. Vegas had an effect on everyone.

Turning a little Gillian locked eyes with Cal. It interested him when he realized that he couldn't read her expression. There was definitely a fire in her eyes, a bit of orneriness and even anger, but he couldn't read her mind.

She spun on her high heels, keeping the exact posture she held when she was walking earlier. "Cal, can I speak with you a moment?"

His brow furrowed but the threat in her eyes silenced him and got him to his feet. He met her around the table, about ten feet away from the other players. He raised his brow at her as her features were concentrated and professional.

"I've sent the video feed to Torres and Loker," she replied casually. "After you're done here, what do you say we go out and grab a bite to eat?"

There was a flash of electricity in her eyes that made him smirk. Was that jealousy he saw brewing underneath the surface of his calm and collect Gillian Foster? It certainly looked like jealousy, but he wasn't completely sure. He had two choices here: test his theory and possibly piss her off even more, or just go with it. Cal liked testing theories.

"Well, I planned on interviewing each of them separately. Poppy asked me if I'd join her for drinks," Cal replied, watching Gillian's lips for the sign of contempt.

She allowed him nothing. She knew he was looking for it and she refused it to him. "Fine. Why don't you just stay in Poppy's room tonight?" she muttered at him.

It was then that he realized his attempt at making her mad hurt her more than he expected. Did she really think he'd choose anyone over her? Now he felt like an ass, but he was still curious as to why she felt so threatened by this woman. A woman like Gillian shouldn't feel threatened by anyone.

"Hey, Gill, I'm not going with her," he told her, contradicting himself. "I'll take you out tonight. Show you the town, since I haven't seen it in a while I mean. Being banned an all."

Half her mouth twitched upward for a second. At least she liked the last bit. He kissed her quickly. "Why don't you call and check on Lucy?"

Now Gillian actually let herself really smile and roll her eyes. "I don't know how you convinced Zoe to let Lucy stay with her on such short notice." Actually, she couldn't believe that she let her daughter stay with Cal's ex-wife. Granted Emily was the one that was actually watching her, but it was still Zoe's home.

"Emily's doing. She may have a promising career as a lawyer, as much as I'd love to see her follow her mother's footsteps," Cal replied with a bit of an eye roll.

Gillian nodded then gave him another brief kiss. It took more strength than she would have liked to admit to not look over and see Blondie's face, but she was more of a lady than that. She didn't want to make it any more obvious that she was reinforcing the fact she had a claim on Cal. God forbid the woman ignore it.

Still, later, she realized that Poppy Wells (the only reason she decided it important to learn her name was if she had to give her name to the police later) was not about to back off Cal. One of the final straws was when Poppy propped her feet on Cal's leg where the whole room has a pretty straight shot up her dress, especially Cal.

She was an expert liar, daring Cal to see through her poker face. Of course Poppy was tempting to Cal. She was roulette. Pure luck and chance, plus she was what any guy would want; blond, busty and willing. Yes, she felt threatened, but she didn't dare admit it. That's why she was extremely grateful for the break from her.

So instead of fighting back, she got quiet. It also didn't help that he called her smothering again. When she was trying to comfort him, he shied away from her touch and may have even glared at her. She didn't let her hurt show.

Las Vegas brought out a different side of Cal and she was slowly starting to hate it. As she inhaled, she caught a glimpse of Poppy sitting in the stands behind him, waiting for her chance to swoop in and impress him with her slutty clothing and daring eyes.

"Gambles…" she muttered making a glance toward the stands. Cal looked followed her gaze and then saw the almost sad tight smile on Gill's face. "She's roulette."

And I'm just poker, Gillian mentally added. A game you already know how to win and can do it every time.

Cal's eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed. "You're worried I can't resist." It wasn't a question, and it was just a statement. "Roulette."

Gillian couldn't look at him to confirm his suspicion..

He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. So he didn't say anything at first. He slipped his hand into hers and put his other on her face. For a long moment he just looked at her, studying her beautiful features.

"Why would I ever want anyone that wasn't you? Roulette or not."

With that he kissed her lips and smiled against them. "I'd put my money on you."

Even if they ended up not going out and spending the whole night in the suit, not that either was complaining, Gillian was very glad to put their case behind them. So happy in fact, she decided to embrace Vegas a little.

Cal was already out, and she wanted to surprise him. Her hair was curled perfectly, her sparkling, single strap, black dress hugging her body that showed a class amount skin and a teasing amount of leg. She strapped on a pair of heels she had bought specifically for the dress, also be sure she was exactly eye level with Cal. She dabbed on her pale pink lip stick and glossed them over to make them shine. She looked good, if she did say so herself.

Just then, her phone rang and she smiled when she saw who was calling.

"Hello, sweetheart," Gillian greeted, turning slightly to examine her body in the full length mirror. Tonight was going to be fun. She planned on teasing and pushing limits until she drove him completely insane. Wait all night, making him really want it…

"Dad behaving himself in Vegas?" Emily asked, she could tell she was on speaker phone.

"I've had to push him back in line a few times," Gillian replied. "How's Lucy?"

"Still in the hotel room? I'll bring up the video chat."

Gillian opened her laptop and opened link to Emily's invite. As soon as she saw the image of Lucy with chocolate ice cream on her face, she smiled even bigger. "You girls look like you've had some fun."

"Ice cream!" Lucy cheered happily. "Zoe got it for us."

She tried to hide it, but Gillian was actually pretty impressed. So maybe Zoe wasn't her biggest fan, but she seemed to be perfectly content with Lucy as a house guest. Emily on the other hand was handing over baby wipes as she examined Gillian.

"You look nice," she said almost suspiciously.

Lucy wiped her mouth and nodded as well. "Pretty."

"Hot actually," Emily corrected. "You going out tonight?"

Gillian laughed. "Yes, with your father, don't worry."

Emil grinned. "I wasn't."

Lucy looked tired, even on the screen. Gillian was very good at picking out her little habits she had when she was fighting the urge to go to bed, like rubbing her eyes or playing with the tips of her hair. Both of which she was doing right then.

"Isn't it getting close to bed time, little bit?" she asked giving her little girl a small smile and wanting to snuggle her already.

Lucy pouted and rested her head on Emily's shoulder."You'll be home tomorrow, right Mommy?"

All Gillian wanted to do was cuddle her little girl and tuck her into bed, kiss her forehead and see her in the morning. That would come tomorrow. She'd be able to do all that tomorrow.

"I'll be home tomorrow," Gillian promised partially wishing she was there now. She took a moment to look at the clock. It was already going on nine. "It's time for you to go to bed, baby. Be good for Emily and Zoe."

Lucy nodded sadly. "Goodnight, Mommy."

Emily wiggled her fingers. "See ya tomorrow, Gill."

Gillian blew them both a kiss and headed for the door.

As Gillian walked through the casino, her eyes fell on a roulette table. Cal was standing there, sliding a million dollars worth of chips onto the roulette table. She suddenly felt extremely ill. She rushed over to his side and grabbed his arm.

He looked up at her knowingly. "Hey Gill," he said casually as though he wasn't potentially throwing away enough money to retire on. "You look good," he added wrapping his arm around her waist and nuzzling his face into her neck and kissing a particularly delicious spot.

She couldn't watch. She closed her eyes and sucked in a hard breath as she heard the ticking of the wheel as the ball rolled.

"Double zero," Cal whispered as Gillian inhaled.

"You're not so lucky number," she muttered as the wheel continued to spin.

"I've pressed my luck before," he teased, running his hand across her back and lowering his hand. She reached back and raised his hand from her butt back to her back.

"And lost."

Biting her lower lip, she heard the rolling slow and she shook her head. There was no hope in them winning. None. Cal never won roulette.

This was no exceptions.

"TWENTY-SIX!"

Gillian dropped her head into Cal's shoulder. She wasn't sure if she wanted to kill him or just dismiss it as one of Cal's isms. Throwing away money that could save their business. It was easy to be mad at him, especially with the way this case had gone, but she didn't want to be.

The cheers around the table made her turn her attention to a young boy probably on his twenty-first birthday according to his pin on his shoulder. She shook her head as she wrapped her arm around Cal's waste.

"What happens in Vegas," she muttered.

Cal grabbed her hand and drug her away from the crowd. "Now that my fun's done." She stumbled as they made it to the entrance of the hotel. "I'm about to give you the time of your life…"

He motioned to the limo with a certain pride on Cal could hold with an odd amount or cuteness. Of course she wanted to jump into the limo and enjoy her last night on the town, but she really just had one thing on her mind.

"Cal." She looked at him, her eyes wide with nerves. "Can we just go home?"

Vegas was not her city, he could see that. He knew she had been struggling with herself since the moment they got there. They had been there a handful of days, days she's been away from her daughter, and he knew that if she saw Poppy Wells one more time in her lifetime, a very well put together Gillian Foster may come unglued.

So, he agreed. "Let's go home."

Private jets from Las Vegas were very nice. Granted Renold's won't be happy to know that he's going to have to take Southwest back. Hopefully he can get a seat in First Class.

Gillian fell asleep with her head resting on Cal's chest with his arm around her shoulders, but the moment they landed, Gillian was way too happy to hand Cal her keys and make it to Zoe's place at just past three-thirty in the morning.

Cal at least had the courteously to let Zoe know before they took off that they'd be stopping by in the middle of the night. There was no way that Gillian was going to just go home until Lucy woke up when she hadn't seen her in days.

Quietly, Cal unlocked the door with his spare key and let Gillian in. She knew exactly where she was going and was even more thankful that Zoe had packed Lucy's bags and left them by the door, making it a lot easier on them.

Gillian softly turned the doorknob to Emily's bedroom to find Lucy cuddling with her stuffed puppy she had gotten for Christmas. It was already extremely dirty from being drug everywhere but it just made Gillian happier that the little girl loved it so much.

A little sound came from Lucy's mouth as Gillian softly scooped her off the bed and let her snuggle into her shoulder. Stirring a little more as Gillian carried her out the door, with a blanket tight around her, Lucy woke up just enough to realize who was carrying her.

"Mommy?" she muttered sleepily when Gillian started buckling her into her booster seat.

"Go back to sleep, baby doll." Gillian whispered back as Cal tossed the bags in the back.

"I missed you," Lucy yawned. "You and Cal…"

Gillian smiled as she pressed her lips to the little girl's forehead. "Not as much I missed you."

That night, when they finally arrived back at Gillian's home, Gillian and Cal laid in bed together as Lucy slept in her bedroom a few doors down. It was so nice to be home, but at the same time Gillian was stuck somewhere else. She was stuck on who Cal had become when he was in that city, tossing around money and beautiful women.

That wasn't the real Cal, was it? She had known him for years, and every time Vegas got involved it became like Cal and Zoe's marriage; somehow it hurt everyone within ear shot, especially those who care about him.

Vegas. Sin city.

"I did it for a reason," Cal told her, surprising her that he was even still awake. "I put it all on double zero for a reason."

Gillian smirked. "Oh yeah, what would possess you to put a million dollars on a number that never wins?

Cal smiled a sleepy smile as he kept his eyes closed. "With roulette I'm all in. That's the way it goes. It's the risk that thrills me. Putting money on the line."

Gillian just kept watching him. "Poppy plays poker for a reason. Like all, she has a tell, boring game that one. It's fun for a while but you get bored once you learn it. You though, you're a game I haven't quite figure out all the way yet. You're not roulette, but you're a whole thing in and of yourself, love. But I put it all in on you, double zero, and I think I won."

For a moment, Gillian was expecting him to add a sarcastic comment to ruin the moment or at least make the knot in her throat and tears in her eyes at bay. Instead, he ran his hand down her side and held her a little closer.

"Cal…" She wanted to tell him that she loved him, but her main focus was not crying at the moment.

"So I choose you, every time. Double zero, love. Double zero."

So! Great news! Due to a small bout with insomnia last night, I am 90% done with the next chapter. I'm tempted to wait a couple days to post it though. I will give you a small peek at what's to come: Doyle... Muwhahaha