Page 32 of Dangerous Games

“You have my attention,” he says, sounding more interested as the click of his keys stops in the background.

“I need you to look into a guy named Brian Hatchett. Give me whatever you can find on him.” I figure I’ll start there before having him go full force on Bronwyn’s dad. I want to do my own digging on him before I get more people involved in her personal life.

“Got it,” Wiz says as I hear a pen hit a desk. “Give me about a day and I’ll get back to you.”

“Appreciate it,” I say, ending the call and getting out of my car.

The bright lights illuminating the building make my eyes hurt as I approach. I’ve never understood why casinos are so damn flashy. They don’t need to look attractive to draw people in. An addict is going to find their way to them if it looks like a shithole.

I can hear the dinging and chiming of the slot machines going off as soon as the automatic doors open and I step inside. The smell of stale cigarette smoke and sweat greets me upon arrival, making me grimace. That’s one smell that is guaranteed to make my stomach turn.

I feel the stares as I saunter in like I own the place. In retrospect, I’m not unwelcome, and I have more pull here than ninety-nine percent of the high rollers in here. We have a loose alliance with the Bratva, who run this place. It shocked us all when they came to Matteo asking if he was okay with them buying the casino. He didn’t want to get into that business at the time, so he agreed as long as that’s where they stayed. Within a year, the Voron Casino was born. I wouldn’t say we’re best friends with them, but they understand the only right they have in Ravenna Heights starts and ends with the casino property. There’s a mutual understanding that if one of us needs something, we’ll help each other out, but that’s about as far as it goes, and I’m okay with that. So far, it hasn’t come to that.

Dimitri, the head of the Bratva here, doesn’t give a fuck how much money you owe him. In fact, he prefers you to stay in debt to him. If you owe him a hundred grand and haven’t paid up, he’ll send someone to collect, but if you give him a thousand with the promise you’re good for it, he’ll let you back in and borrow double what you currently owe. It’s a complete and utter fucked-up power trip for him. His goal is to get you so far in the hole that you have no other choice but to end up working for the Bratva for free to pay off your debt.

That’s the first thing I thought of when Bronwyn told me what her dad told her. A man like that doesn’t have the means to travel elsewhere. He has to be getting it from here. I didn’t want to tell her that. She seems to still care for the guy even though he treats her like shit. If he were a man at all, he wouldn’t darken his daughter’s doorstep with his shit. He would figure it out for himself. And the fucked-up part about all of this is she’s never going to see that money again because he never planned on paying her back.

Bronwyn was willing to drain her accounts for him. Give him everything to her name. And what does he do? Absolutely fucking nothing. He took it and ran without looking back. This shit ends today.

I know he’s here. I didn’t recognize Brian as being one of Dimitri’s men, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t someone who is just like Bronwyn’s dad, except now he’s working off the debt. Like I said before, you can throw anyone in a suit and make them look like they mean something.

I haven’t shared my suspicions with Matteo yet. I want to make sure I’m right and have the facts to back it up before I come to him because if I’m right, this is about to open a whole new door of a shitshow. We aren’t going to take it lightly that one of Dimitri’s men came to our territory and tried to pull a gun. That’s grounds for ‌war.

Eyes are on me as I make my way up and down the rows of slot machines trying to find her dad. This isn’t going to be an easy feat as I’m going off memory from a picture I noticed in Bronwyn’s apartment of the two of them. At least, I’m hoping it was him. They had the same blue eyes I’ve never seen on anyone else before. They’re the kind that haunt my soul.

“Gio,” Ivan greets as he approaches me. “This is quite the surprise. I wasn’t expecting to see you here. We have a spot at a high-roller table open if you want to join. Fifty thousand dollar buy-in.”

I let out a low whistle. “High stakes, my friend.”

I’ve never been one to piss away money on the off chance I’ll win big.

“High stakes bring an even higher prize.” Ivan smirks.

Yeah, and how many rounds do you have to play until you win? There’s a reason they say the house always comes out on top. Once you win that big jackpot, you forget how much you spent to get there. I’m not in the business of being yanked around, especially by someone with a dick.

“I’m actually looking for someone,” I say, cutting straight to the chase. I’m not here for fucking small talk.

Ivan’s smile wavers as his eyes grow alert. “Oh yeah? Someone I know?”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” I shrug. “I’m not seeing him around here, but I haven’t scoped out the card tables yet. The guy I’m looking for is middle-aged, with short black hair with silver sprinkled throughout. Looks like he should have shaved it off ten years ago but is holding on to the last few strands.”

“You’re describing just about every male in here.” Ivan laughs as he looks around us.

I follow where he’s looking, and he’s not wrong. Most of these guys look like they need a fucking shower.

“His eyes are a bright blue. It’s a shade I’ve never seen before.”

Ivan’s head snaps back to me, his eyes alert as he studies my face. “Are you talking about Dennis?”

“I don’t know his name, but I’ll know him when I see him. Is he here?”

“Sounds like Dennis. He’s the only guy I can think of with eyes of that color. Stood out to me the first time I met him. What do you need him for?” Ivan questions.

“Just need to ask him a few questions. If you can point me in the direction of where he is on the floor, it’d be appreciated,” I say, keeping my tone as level as possible.

It’s a chore for me because the only person I tolerate questioning me is Matteo. But loose alliance or not, if the Bratva thinks I’m here to stir up some shit, I won’t be getting very far by myself questioning her dad.

“You won’t find him on the floor,” Ivan says.