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Her third roll established a point. Ten. Everyone laid out odds. She continued to throw the dice. Six. Five. Eight. Six. Snake eyes.
Then she turned to Vin and held her hand out. “Your chip, please.”
His brow jumped, but he gave it over. She dropped it on the hard ten. An eight-to-one bet.
From behind her, Vin said, “Baby, that’s a sucker bet.”
“Not when I’m rolling.” She tossed another five. Felt her point about to be delivered. She threw again.
Hard ten.
The table erupted with applause. The players were thrilled she’d made them money.
She glanced over at Yakimoto. “You won’t mind if I cash out now, will you? I don’t like to press my luck.”
“Of course not,” he said, still smiling, clearly impressed. “You will come back next time I host, though? So that I may win my money back?”
“I look forward to it.” She collected her large-denomination chips from the dealer and exchanged another bow with Yakimoto.
Then she headed off to the cashier, Rogen and Vin at her sides.
“Where’d you learn craps?” Vin asked, sliding a glance her way.
“The girls and I were here in Vegas for a friend’s bachelorette party that got crashed by the bachelor and his groomsmen, so we all hit the tables. I probably lost as much that weekend as I made this evening.”
She handed over her chips, as Rogen did, and the cashier asked, “How would you like payment?”
Jewel requested two cashier’s checks, a large percentage of her winnings to go to the charity Yakimoto was promoting, and the remainder back on her credit card, which she produced.
Once the transactions were completed, she linked arms with her two devastatingly handsome escorts and they left the gaming room behind. Since they’d had dinner on the plane, they retired to the suite. Vin popped the cork on a bottle of Dom while Jewel contentedly sank her teeth into a plump chocolate-covered strawberry. Rogen nibbled on the cheese-and-fruit tray the private butler had laid out for them.
As was their custom, they all touched the rims of their crystal flutes together. “Salut.” They sipped.
Vin unraveled his bow tie. “Congratulations on your latest acquisition.”
“I always get stressed out over the verification process. Holding my breath, praying I’m not getting duped.” She could breathe much easier now.
“Has it happened before?” Rogen asked as he slipped out of his jacket.
“Twice,” she confessed. “Very disappointing. But somewhat difficult to avoid, and the reason I always have a team with me. Scarlet tracks everything down and vets the items. Yet she sees the fraud enough in her own career to always warn me of the risks inherent to bartering.”
Jewel had been fascinated with Scarlet’s job as an insurance investigator from the time she had set up operations. With Bayli’s research help, Scarlet was addicted to chasing cold cases. Jewelry, art, vases, anything worth a small mint, really, that had gone missing and caused an insurance claim to be filed hit her radar screen. She’d get tipped off on a theft scam from time to time, but mostly Scarlet liked digging on her own. And using her connections with black markets and auction houses to locate the “stolen” or secretly sold goods that owners had collected premiums on.
“This could be a very dangerous hobby,” Rogen cautioned, concern in his tone.
“Yes,” Jewel agreed. “And my parents were against it initially. But then I pulled off some near-impossible deals and Daddy couldn’t deny it was a creative means to an end.”
“Until someone double-crosses you,” Rogen pointed out. And winced—over the fact that his father was trying to do exactly that to Jewel.
“The possibility always exists,” she contended as she undid Rogen’s tie. “But the vast majority of people I strike bargains with are genuinely interested in procuring whatever treasure is out of their reach. For instance, the yacht Mr. Yakimoto wants was auctioned off by the museum when the institution reached financial dire straits. Then the vessel changed hands through several private sales and those records were somehow lost. So with the yacht out of the water and the insurance never renewed, it was difficult to discern who possessed it. But I have very tenacious and diligent friends.”
“You’re also a bit of a thrill seeker,” Vin commented, his rich voice tinged with desire.
She glanced over at him. “Just a bit?”
“Hmph,” he sn
ickered.
