AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Is Melrose coming?” Another man asked, this one in a midnight blue and black two-piece suit. These tailorings would truly send Kai into an orgasm. It almost made me do the same—picturing Theo in these pieces, striding into the room, commanding attention with the fit of the lapels over his chest, the cup of fabric over his ass—goodLord, he would put these skinny, pot-bellied men to shame.
Henry’s half-hearted head shake snapped me to attention. “Nuh. He asked a friend to take his place.”
“A lot of ‘friends’ taking position at this table, Henry.” It was the first man who spoke, the one with the keen eyes.
Henry shrugged. “They come from vetted sources, no need to get your knickers in a twist, Sal. I’ve been in charge of these games how long? And nothing’s ‘appened.”
“Yeah,” he said, and I got the impression hehatedthat a kid was in charge of the best game in town.
“Right, then when’shecoming? This friend? My wife has me going to a charity gala in a few hours. I’d love to get some more plays in,” another man said.
“Any second now,” Henry said. “Let’s keep going. He can join the next flop. Xavier?”
Henry looked to the man who had a white chip with DEALER in front of him. Since this was a small game with no casino elements, each of us would take a turn as the dealer.
A cocktail waitress appeared from a hidden door, tray in hand. As she placed the other player’s drinks to the right of their elbow, she looked to me. She appeared to be exactly my age when I started this career, her fine brown hair pulled high and tight in a pony-tail, all the better for men to tug at when they thought they were being cutesy and attempting to get her attention. Her bodice was red and tight, the lace garters under her leather mini-skirt even more so.
It was not an outfit she would have chosen. It would be all Henry’s work.
“Gin and tonic,” I said. When she passed by, I put a green chip on her tray as tip.
“Much obliged,” she said quietly, and disappeared back through the secret portal. Not without a few appreciative studies in her wake.
We played. With each hand, I grew increasingly nervous, waiting for Mel to come through those doors so I could begin the task of becoming a mentalist.
Five hands later, the door stayed shut. In my distraction, I lost more money than I intended, which had me thinkingfuck it, and refocusing on the game. I couldn’t let these players completely dismiss the sheik’s mysterious princess.
“Sir.”
With the stealth of an alley cat, Edgar had walked in and was leaning into Henry’s ear. Henry nodded at whatever Edgar said. “Let him in.”
“Are you … sure?”
The hesitancy in Edgar’s voice heightened my attention.
“I’m sure. He owes me.”
“Princess Leia? You’re up.”
Keen-Eyes wasn’t so keen on me. A brief study of my two cards gave me the answer before I went back to Edgar and Henry’s conversation. “Check.”
If, when Edgar went to open up the room, it was Theo on the other side, I wouldn’t be surprised. This plan of ours would be crap if Mel never showed, and it had been two hours without his presence. I was playing with Rada’s money, which, if I lost any more, would cost both Theo and I in ways I’d yet to measure. And to lose tonight would mean Trace was back in the wind. At each point in our trifecta, fire lay.
Why then, would Theo risk going on camera? I glanced up at the black lens in the corner right as the tiny green light flicked off. A subtle glance to my right, and another camera’s light went black.
“Mel’s friend’s here,” Henry said for our benefit.
My hand was slack against my face-down cards, every joint of mine carefully schooled so no outward emotion would show.
Edgar pushed down on the door’s lever and the ornate wood opened. In its place stood a man with sinful blue eyes, arms with the power to lift me and shoulders to withstand my weight. Narrow hips sheathed in a suit expertly crafted to display the Adonis underneath. A wave of hair, burnished and silky, that when during sex, would fall against his brow.
Everything about this man was so familiar that if I wasn’t careful, I’d mistake it for love.
But it wasn’t Theo.
