Page 30 of Her Intense Protector

“Sure, he could,” the other drunk guy said.

Sober Guy shoved him. “No, he can’t, he has to know you. Why don’t you want to play at Goldy’s?” he asked suspiciously.

“My wife comes to the casino to haul my ass back home. I need a new place to hang out.”

The sober man gave a wide smile. “You are not alone, my friend. What’s more, it’s not one of those smoke-free environments either.”

“Fucking hate those,” Tie-Guy said. “What do you play? Craps? We won tonight. But there sure were a bunch of losers at the table. They’re still there, the dumbasses. They’re just losing more and more.”

“Poker’s more my game,” Ezio said.

Sober Guy stopped smiling. “That’s not a good game to play in there.”

“Why not?”

“It’s handled by an outside crew. We’ve been going there forever, and they always bring in newbies, except for one player, he’s always there. It’s a set-up. Us regulars know it and we mind our own business when they let in a game. There’s no way we want to get on the bad side of that crew. We have a good thing going here, and if our normal management wants to do something a little nasty on the side, that’s their business.”

“Yeah, a mini-casino in a wig shop, doesn’t that beat all?” the third guy chimed in. “It’s fucking nuts.”

“So, don’t play poker here, huh? Good to know, but it sucks. Are you sure it’s that bad?” Ezio asked as he saw Asher and David walking toward him from the other side of the street.

“Yep, there’s a poker game going on tonight. There’s a real babe playing too. Sure wouldn’t mind going home with her,” Sober Guy said. “Maybe she’ll need consoling after the inside man wins all of her money. I hear tonight was a twenty-thousand buy-in.”

“Shit, that’s too rich for my blood. Five grand sure, but twenty? No way,” Ezio grimaced.

“Yeah. What’s more, they’re all stuck there until it’s over.”

“Huh? How in the hell does that work?”

Tie-Guy squinted at Ezio. “I don’t know, you’re kind of built, they might not want to take you on for the game. You might give their muscle a run for their money.”

“What are you talking about?” the third guy said with a bit of a slur. “They’re all carrying. You shouldn’t have given Jake at the door as much shit as you did. He could have killed us all.”

Tie-Guy’s eyes got wide. “You think they have guns?”

“With all that money floating around?” Sober Guy queried. “You can bet your ass. All those mirrors on the walls aren’t for decoration, either. They have people watching us all the time. Seriously, Jimmy, how naïve are you?”

“I guess I’m pretty naïve.”

“So does the plant win every time?” Ezio asked.

“I’ve only seen him lose once,” the sober guy said. “Their boss pretended to be okay with it, but when the player said they were going to call for a cab to go home, instead of being driven home, the boss said he’d call for the cab. I gotta tell you, I don’t think a cab was called.”

“What do you mean, driven home?” Ezio asked.

“I met one of them in the john, he told me that it’s all hush-hush. The guys drive them from their houses, and take their cell phones from them, then drive them here. Totally deep-state-paranoid.”

“So, the winner didn’t want to be driven home? Wanted a cab,” Ezio confirmed.

“Yep. But like I said, I don’t think a cab was ever called. Just a hunch.”

“You’re not saying something bad happened to the winner, are you?” Ezio pretended to be naïve too, in order to keep them talking.

“I’m really not sure, it’s just a gut thing,” the sober guy said, his voice low. “Like I said, they never have the same players ever again. So, who knows? Just stay away from poker. Look, I have to get back to the little woman. She thinks I’m over at Jimmy’s house watching football.”

“Good luck. Do you think you can hook me up with Reggie?”

“I’m sorry man, can’t do it. You’ve got to be a friend. Good luck trying to get in. Anyway, if poker is your game, you should stick with Goldy’s.” He stuck out his hand and Ezio shook it.