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I’m not sure, but Victor looks annoyed. Though I’m not sure he has any other face. He’s seemed pissed every time I’ve seen him. I jerk my head at him in greeting, and he surprises me by coming to stand at the table, likely making the dealer nervous. I toss him a hefty tip for his trouble before he deals out the next hand.
“Sudden urge for some late-night blackjack?” Victor asks.
“Something like that. This your full-time job?”
Victor shoves his hands into his pockets and raises his shoulders. “Something like that. I’m off shift in a few if you want to grab a drink.”
The invitation throws me off, and I almost hit on a nineteen. But I catch myself and recover. “Sure. Just let me play for a bit.”
Victor grunts and walks away. Fifteen minutes later I’ve almost doubled my money and I color up my stack and walk away, slipping the heavy chips in my pocket.
Victor has disappeared, and I wander through the casino until I spot him sitting at the central bar. “Come on,” he says when he sees me.
I follow him through the crowd to an elevator where we ride to the highest floor it serves. When we step out, we’re on the famous rooftop nightclub Bliss.
We’re let in without question, and we make our way to a secluded booth in a corner away from the dance floor.
“Victor, you never come up here.” Yet another familiar face appears. Matteo is in a three-piece suit with a radio mic clipped to his lapel.
“I brought a visitor. He seems to show up in our lives a lot lately.”
They share a glance I’m not sure I understand.
“It’s not like I’m stalking you, mates.”
“He talks like Owen,” Victor says. It sounds like a complaint.
“What can I get you to drink?” Matteo asks, ignoring him.
“Macallan Neat please.”
He’s only gone for mere seconds, and he returns with a bottle and three glasses.
“Time for me to take a break, anyway.” He sits down and the three of us make awkward small talk over the club music.
Ten minutes later, Owen strolls in. “Evening boys. I didn’t realize we were having a meeting.”
I roll my eyes but make room for him in the booth. “You were hogging the bed. I had to get away.”
Owen doesn’t react to what is meant to be a jab. Instead, he takes Victor’s glass and takes a sip.
“I thought we could have dinner when Bellamy wakes up.”
I turn my wrist and read my watch. “It’s nearly midnight.”
“And we skipped food most of the day,” he says logically.
It’s true. The three of us were in bed for most of the evening until Bellamy passed out from exhaustion and the two of us fell asleep beside her.
“Fine. How did you know I was here?”
He tilts his head at Matteo.
And suddenly I understand why these men have the jobs they do. They are their own most reliable eyes and ears. Sure, they could pay off the people who work here, but seeing things first hand would be the best intelligence. Nightclubs like Bliss, and high roller rooms like the one I was playing blackjack in are likely to generate some juicy tidbits they can use to their advantage to further their criminal exploits around the valley.
“Any word from London about who ambushed the wedding?” Matteo asks?
Owen sits up straighter. “No. But that reminds me. I got the guest lists from both the rehearsal and the wedding to cross reference and I wondered if you could tell me why your cousin Lorenzo was at both.”
