“Ah…bait.” Nik hummed as he nodded. “Just don’t get stabbed with your cock out.”
“No promises.” Jessie ruffled Nik’s sweaty mop of hair. “And shower, you smell like a sweaty rat.”
“Fuck you!” Nik howled with laughter as he stomped off, ruffling his sweaty fluff. Jessie watched him leave, ogling his backside without a drop of shame.Oh yeah, this knot’s going to be a problem.But that was the beauty of the game. He wasn’t there to spot suspicious behavior, he was there to be bait. Jessie was good at being the charming, easy-going, fun-loving owner.So it’s about time I use it to my advantage.
The shop closed up precisely on time, everyone chattering about what they were going to wear or do or bring to the casino. Jessie locked up just as Katarina got back from dropping off the tiny one off with his mother. Before they even got to the townhouse, he got a selfie from his mother with Isabella licking icing off her fingers.Hot pink icing covered in edible shimmer. Ohdragons above have mercy on my mother.He showed it to Katarina who shook her head in disbelief.
Everyone got their own showers, and Jessie spent a few extra minutes in the blow dryer to melt his muscles, he popped down into the kitchen while Katarina got ready. He knew better than to go to the Casino on an empty stomach. Their food was good, but it was more for topping oneself off instead of counteracting the copious amount of alcohol. He whipped up a roast turkey grilled cheese with extra kettle cooked chips on the side and a whole apple for himself and then was making some for the others in his house when soft hands snaked around his torso. Katarina hugged him tight from behind. “Mmm, dinner and drinks? Has anyone ever told you that you spoil them?”
“Well, it’s not easy being with me,” Jessie breathed, twisting so he could throw an arm around her. Katarina fit perfectly in the crook of his arm as he threw a chunk of his dinner into his mouth. After a few chews and a polite swallow, he spoke again. “I’ve gotta make it worth your while to stick with me.”
“The problem is, Jessie…that it’s super easy being with you,” Katarina leaned back in his arm so she could look up into his face. “You make it easy to love you.”
Jessie’s eyebrows went up on his face as she pressed a kiss to his chest, stole a chip from his plate, then danced out of his arm back toward the table.
You make it easy to love you…He followed her for a long moment as she propped her foot up on Nik’s thigh, letting him strap her calf into the heel. They were speaking but all Jessie could hear was ‘you make it easy to love you’.Over and over on repeat as he stared at her. The warmth in his chest doubled but he couldn’t tell if it was the heat or something else. Jessie returned to whipping up dinner for his boyfriend and girlfriend, unable to ignore the flutter in his chest.
“Welcomein,Mr.Bonesaw.We’ve added a secluded VIP booth to your keycard on level three, the rest of the Bonesaw party has access to the group room on level four. As a reward for booking with us ahead of time, each member in your party has been awarded a free drink on the house. Have them just tap their tokens at the bar to redeem. And if you need anything else, flag me down. My name is Buttons and Mr. Zrazduel has put me in charge of seeing over your entertainment tonight.” A sweet-faced woman waitress wearing raccoon themed attire, including tail, round ears, and whiskers smiled at him. Her eyes never lifted, but anyone who came to the casino knew Buttons didn’t have any. She decorated her eyelids with heavy smokey shadow and liner to make up for it. The Devil collected many types of souls in his casino.
Knox wasn’t the first ‘Devil’ of King’s Fall. He was just the first one who was a fiend. The story went that Knox took King’s Fall out from under the thumb of a guy named Declan. What Jessie did know about Declan he learned from his father.Those were different times.Knox collected the defectors, the broken, the downtrodden, and those in need of work without asking many questions. At least on that front, Jessie and Knox saw eye to eye. Bonesaws often employed those who couldn’t get work elsewhere or didn’t have the references to make it.
“Thanks, Buttons,” Jessie slipped her a small sack of gold as a tip. “Where’s the best place for me and my girl to play a few hands? My pockets are still too heavy for dancing.”
Katarina snorted, elbowing him in the side.
Buttons bowed her head to him before politely taking his coin. “Right this way.”
Jessie glanced back over his shoulder at Nik and Rex, giving them a solemn nod. They let him walk ahead, slipping back intothe heavy crowds of the casino. Most people thought the easiest place to go unnoticed was a dark alley or in the shadows. Jessie found it was the crowded places, where people wove in and out of crowds, moving purposely from table to table with their only focus on not spilling liquor or coin, that it was easiest to go undetected.
Buttons motioned to a large poker table with two seats still untaken. Jessie purposely sank into his chair and plopped Katarina on his lap. The others at the table might have been put off if there weren’t two other couples doing the exact same thing. A large rock giant with a lithe pixie draped over his lap bowed their head to Jessie. An orcish woman with a pretty elven woman perched on her thigh said nothing but gave him a two-finger salute.
“Good to know we’re in good company,” he chortled, tugging Katarina back into his chest with an affectionate squeeze. “Put some chips down for me, baby girl.”
She gave him a questioning look, but his girl was smart, she’d clocked something going on the second they met up with the whole crew outside. He saw the little wheels in her head turning as she plucked a stack of chips from the tiny case they’d been handed when they strolled in. Setting some chips into the pile at the center, the dealer bowed their head to Jessie and took his buy in.
“Room for one more?”
Jessie glanced for only a second to his right and offered a smile to the newcomer. A man in a pin-striped suit, long black hair slicked back behind his pointy ears, tossed chips into the center before he settled in the chair.
“Perfect. We’re all set. Game is Dragon’s Hold ‘Em. Anyone unfamiliar with the rules?” The dealer scanned each of the seven players then nodded. “Let’s begin.”
Jessie spared a look at each of his playing partners, but it wasn’t his job to study any of the people at his table, or even suspect anyone. But, if he had to make a wild guess, the slick man in a well-tailored suit to his right? The one with a smile that never reached his dark, brown eyes? He’d put money on him hanging around all night.
Chapter Thirty-two:
~Nikolai~
“Headsup,”Rexwhisperedinto Nikolai’s ear, jabbing a thumb in the direction of the casino doorway. “Ex-asshat, ten o’clock.”
Nikolai unlocked his jaw and pivoted away from the man he’d been hyperfocused on for the last hour. Jessie played three games of Dragon’s Hold ‘Em, won once, then moved onto dice games where he made Katarina blow on his dice. Every game he went to, Pinstripe Guy followed. Nikolai was trying to piece together if he was simply following the shop owner around, hoping to catch onto some of his good will.Or something else.A few people had noticed Jessie was playful, bribing a few people with drinks into ‘going easy on him’ in certain games. Plus, didn’t hurt he had a sexy woman in a tiny red dress on his hip. The way Nikolai wanted to stop the truck when she climbed in and shove his whole face up her skirt? Unreal. What he wouldn’t give to have her sit on his face in that dress, even with the pumps on.I’d let her pierce my ears with those heels if it meant she’d bounce on my tongue.
But he was the watch dog tonight, and he couldn’t let the horny thoughts distract him.Besides, Jessie will probably reward me for a good job later. Whatever shape that comes in.
“Who…oh?” Nikolai didn’t even have to ask who the ex-asshat was.Or whose it was.Nikolai memorized Gill’s face from his booking photo.And clearly, so has Rex.While he never expectedthat The Executive would use Katarina’s ex against her, it was an option. The guy made it clear that he wasn’t afraid to play dirty. Nikolai narrowed his eyes on the bulky human man who searched the game floor for a familiar succubus.
“How’d you know?” Nikolai asked, rising to his feet.
“Pops’ been looking into him…just in case.” Rex offered a shrug.
