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He doesn’t have a chance to understand. Louis punches him in the mouth, both knocking him out coldandknocking out his front teeth.
We return to the Vittoria in time for the forgettable dinner with the new Mayor Easley. The usual officials and hangers-on show up for optics. We sit down to authentic Italian cuisine in my Michelin-rated restaurant, our table covered with large dishes of handmade pastas and decadent truffles and as much fine wine as you can drink. I’m barely present for an hour before I’m excusing myself. How can I eat when I’m distracted by her—or the lack of her presence, to be exact?
Falynn and Tasha never show up to La Pergola. As glasses clink in toast and people’s eyes light up from delight at the delicious meal, I can only search the rest of the restaurant for her. I scan every table, even the bar area. She didn’t come.
Is she avoiding La Pergola because she’s worried she might run into me?
“It could be Tasha didn’t want to go out,” I mutter under my breath.
“What’s that, Giovanni?” asks Captain Rodrigo from my left. He’s hardly able to sit still, so full with wine and pasta.
I ignore him and address the rest of the table. “Gentlemen, it’s been a pleasure dining with you tonight. Please continue to indulge in whatever off the menu you would like. My treat. But I have other business matters to tend to.”
Before any of them can slur out a protest, I’m excusing myself. My security trails behind me as I stride down the main lobby of my casino. All around me the casino lives and breathes with the scents of money and smoke in the air and the sounds of chatter and games in action. I should be pleased to see my first major operation still thriving after so many years.
But it’s impossible when every inch of the Vittoria makes me think of her.
I stop dead in my tracks when I really do see her—she’s seated in one of the casino’s lounge sections, nursing a cocktail. Tasha’s nowhere to be found.
When a moment passes and I’m still standing there, my security questions me.
“Boss, is everything all right?”
I wave them off, stuck on what to do next. Falynn has made it clear she doesn’t want me around. I’ve promised I’d respect that wish. Yet the sight of her alone in the lounge seems like a gray area. If she needs anything, then it’s my duty to help her.
She’s still my wife.
Out in the open, alone in a crowded casino this late in the evening.
With this justification in mind, I put on my usual composed front and approach as if I’ve come across her by chance.
“Has everything been okay for you and Tasha?”
She looks up, her warm, brown eyes alight with surprise. “Oh, I didn’t know you were here.”
“I’m not,” I say in a hurry. “I happened to be walking by and saw you. If there’s anything either of you need, please let any of my staff know.” I turn to go, forcing my legs to move, or else I’ll try and stick around forever. I’ve already done too much approaching in the first place. She replies before I can get far.
“Thanks for letting us stay the night.”
I glance at her from over my shoulder. “You can stay however long either of you need.”
“Tasha doesn’t have a place. She gave up her old apartment. The new place she’s been staying in is one of Kilroy’s properties.”
“If you’d like, I can have one of my staff find her a new place.”
She shakes her head. “We appreciate the offer, but you’ve done enough. Tasha just wants out of the whole situation. I told her she can come stay with me. I don’t think she likes that idea either.”
“You mentioned a flight. How far out of the area are you?” I ask, turning around again.
As soon as the question leaves my mouth, I regret it. Falynn’s hesitation is impossible to miss, her teeth catching her bottom lip for a nibble. She doesn’t want me to know where she lives.
Dumb fuck. Take the hint!
“I’m asking because if it’s far, I can imagine Tasha wouldn’t like that,” I explain. It’s a stretch, but hopefully it will help me seem less intrusive. “She likes Vegas, doesn’t she? I can’t see her leaving.”
“That’s true. I don’t think she’d like a place like where I am.”
“And you came down here for a drink alone?”
