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She stares at me, her shock shifting into excitement. “But what if…”
“Not going to happen.” Although I haven’t seen Gabe since he hobbled out of the church, his men are here in full force. With their scars and tattoos and menacing scowls, they’re doing an awful job of blending in with the marks, but they’re here nonetheless. I’ll also be watching her like a hawk, of course. I won’t have much to worry about—I’ve had the gamblers all vetted. They’re the millionaire chancers, not career criminals. They’ve tried their luck in one of our casinos because they thought they could get away with it, not because they thought they could hold their own if they got caught.
“I can’t believe you did this,” she squeals, slinging her arms around my shoulders and pushing me further into the alcove. She kisses my throat, working her way up to my jaw and to my mouth. The feeling of her soft body against mine is enough to give me a school-boy boner.
“I love you,” she whispers when she reaches my ear.
And that? That’s enough to set my skin on fucking fire.
Besides me, Angelo shifts in his seat. He lifts his whiskey to his lips, but sets it back down without taking a sip. “Fuck’s sake.”
Belmarsh, the lawyer chewing his ear off on the other side of him, flinches.
Nico’s amused gaze heats my cheek. We’ve got a bet going—how long it’ll take until Angelo loses his cool and pistol-whips the guy Rory’s playing blackjack with.
“Anything else for you, Mr. Visconti?”
I glance up to meet Laurie’s sickly sweet smile. With a lazy swoop of my wrist, I signal for another round. “You not liking the new workplace, Laurie?”
She snatches up my empty glass and sets it on her tray. “I like it just fine. It’s on land, after all. What I don’t like, is being two servers down.” She pauses, cocking her head. “Even if they were nasty little bitches.”
She’s talking about Anna and Claudia—Penny wanted them gone, so I didn’t think twice about firing them.
“I’ll get you new servers,” I say. “Even better ones.”
“Get me five. This joint is going to get real busy in summer.”
A squeal rips my attention to the other side of the room. It’s Rory, jumping to her feet and celebrating a win. When she skips over, fanning her winnings, Angelo jumps up too.
“No more,” he growls, planting a possessive kiss on her lips. “Sit.”
“Ah, this must be your lovely wife,” Belmarsh says, rising to greet her.
Rory pauses. Curls her top lip in disgust. Then she shoves Angelo away and cries, “You have awife?”
There’s a ripple of snickers around our table. Angelo pinches his nose, shaking his head. “Fucking hell. I knew I should have stayed home and watched the game.”
With a squeeze of Rory’s ass and a dark utterance in her ear, he heads to a more civilized corner of the room, where Cas and some of his business buddies smoke Cubans. Belmarsh makes his awkward excuses and leaves, while Rory slides into her husband’s seat.
“How long have you been waiting to use that one?”
“Since I walked down the aisle.”
I rub my amusement away with the back of my hand. “I’m impressed. And I’m impressed with your new-found swindling skills, too.”
Laughing, she holds out her hands, showing there’s a slight tremble to them. “It’s not for me. I get way too nervous.” She sighs. “I don’t know how Miss Artful Dodger does it.”
My gaze snaps to Penny, who’s at the bar with Tayce. They’ve got their heads together, their eyes shifting around the room. Penny talks in a low murmur while Tayce frowns, listening intently, no doubt taking in whatever tips she’s giving her.
It’s ironic—I fucking hate cheats. Yet here I am, hosting an event set up especially for my thieving, sticky-fingered girl to cheat anyone she pleases. I guess I’ve broken every rule and moral code I set in place for myself, anyway.
There’s one more I’m dying to break.
“Make her marry me,” I blurt out.
A server comes over with the drinks we ordered, plus a white-wine spritzer for Rory. She takes a sip, doing a crappy job at hiding her amusement.
“Chill out; it’s been, like, a month.”
