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“You pat her down?” Dev asked without looking up.
“She’s wearing a tight, slutty dress. Where would she be able to hide a weapon?”
Dev sighed like he was tired. “Get the fuck out.”
Duly chastised, the half-witted criminal slunk from the room and shut the door.
Five men, including Dev, all sat around a card table. Each of them had a scantily clad woman sitting on his lap, but none of them paid their toys any attention. Dev hadn’t even glanced up when I entered the room.
Women were nothing here.
With a quick scan of the table, I realized they were playing Texas Hold ’Em and were at the turn card.
I took a moment to study each man playing. Dev was the only one wearing leather, the other four were all of different nationalities and wore suits. International businessmen?
Criminals for sure, if they were associating with Dev.
I watched them hold their cards and examine them, and when the Asian man shifted in his suit, I recognized his tell and knew he had a stellar hand before the river and there was no bluff about it.
Dev placed a five hundred dollar bet. The Asian man matched it and raised another five hundred.
The other three folded.
The dealer dealt the river card and both men checked after a moment eyeballing each other. Dev gestured with his chin at the Asian man who showed his two cards.
Royal flush.
I couldn’t stop the smirk that fell across my lips when Dev cursed and threw down pocket aces.
Considering the cards on the flop, it was a bad hand, thought strong only by weak-minded men.
“Fuck,” Dev cursed before lifting his eyes to mine. He said nothing, but instead chose to rake his gaze down my body. I forced myself to stand completely still and act like it didn’t feel like a million little insects were crawling across my skin.
He smirked. “Nice cast.”
“What’s the buy-in?” I asked ignoring Dev’s dig. My gaze flitted away from Dev to peer around the room.
One man—the Slavic—stared at me in curiosity, but barked something out in his native tongue. It was grating to my ears.
“You don’t have the kind of cash to buy in to one of my games, darlin’.” He leered, leaning back in his chair, his hand palming the backside of the blonde perched on his lap.
I opened my clutch and tossed out a packet of cocaine.
It landed in the center of the card table with a soft thud.
“What about now?” I asked softly. “Is that enough?”
His eyes darkened. “Everyone out.” He lightly smacked the girl’s butt, making her squeal. She jumped up and sidled around the table and then out the door. Her compatriots followed suit and so did the men who’d been sitting at Dev’s card table.
The door closed with finality.
I took it upon myself to pull out a chair and sit, spine straight, legs crossed.
“You’ve been holding out on me. I knew it.” He reached for the packet of cocaine and then took the next few moments to sample it.
“Does your business partner know about your love of his product?” I asked mildly.
Dev’s eyes were hazy. “How’s your friend? The pretty blonde with the stellar rack? Oh, that’s right.” His smile was cruel. “She’s dead.”
