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She thought for a moment, trying to decide if to test the waters or not. I gave it to her; she made the perfect choice. “Fine. Fine.” She folded her arms, rolling her eyes. “How about this? I found a new underground Casino and it’s Friday. How about we go have some fun tonight?”
“An underground casino? No thanks.” It’d been years since I last went to a casino and it’d been an unpleasant memory. A drunk guy had nearly knocked a tooth out of my mouth because he had lost and thought I cheated. I hadn’t had anything against visiting a casino sometime, but an underground casino was where I drew the line. “I still love my teeth glued to my mouth.”
“Stop being such a scaredy cat, Mariana. It was a one-time thing.” She raised her brows, leaning forward in slow motion. “Or are you afraid you’ve lost your skills?”
I slam my hand on my desk. “Absolutely not! That would be an insult to my existence.”
I didn’t mean to brag, but when Christine and I used to sneak to Casinos as teenagers, I’d never lost a game. We could afford VIP tickets at the fashion shows Christine liked to go and I could pay to see famous artists from all the money I’d made.
We’d even once faked IDs and had gone out of the country once. Christine had lost her virginity on that trip. Our parents had even reported us missing and we had been deported back to Chicago only three days after.
I cringed at the memory.We were wild.
“Good,” Christine said with an evil voice, knowing she had me right where she wanted. “As a bonus for coming, I’ll never speak of you being a virgin at twenty-six. Never, ever again.”
I narrowed my eyes on her. “You promise?”
Rolling her lips between her teeth, she made a gesture like she was zipping her mouth and flinging the key away. “Promise,” she muffled.
“Then we have a deal.”
Hours later, I found myself narrowing my eyes to the flickering neon light in the club, weaving through a sea of people high on alcohol and music to find Christy.
I couldn’t believe I fell for her persuasion.
Ugh.
“Mari!”
I craned my neck to my right, recognizing Christy’s voice. She was standing in front of a double-black door, waving at me like her life depended on me noticing her.
Waving back, I strolled to the door where she was standing and stopped in front of her, folding my arms. “Hey.” I felt awkward. I haven’t been here in years because I spent a good amount of my time after college trying to make enough money to care for my mother and I.
To be honest, I couldn’t say I didn’t miss this—being in a club with the music blaring at the loudest volume and watching people have fun. I did. I just couldn’t afford it.
I’d thought I would finally get a chance to be free when I began to make more money than I needed, but the more moneyI made, the more I needed. Until I forgot what it felt like to live my own life.
At twenty-six, I deserved more than being stuck in an office building or in a minimalistic, monochrome apartment that could pass for a torture room.
Christy grinned, her dark eyes sparkling with excitement. “I thought you wouldn’t make it.”
I forced myself not to roll my eyes. “I thought I wouldn’t either, but here we are.”
“Good thing you came. You’ll have such a good time tonight.” She looped her arm through mine, basically dragging me through the double-black door. “We’re lucky we got free tickets. Not everyone gets the opportunity to come down here.”
“Trust me, I’d rather be working on my next design or riding my bike than be here.”
“I bet you would.” She led the way past a few doors, which I assumed were the V.I.P. section of the club, then to the end of the hallway.
There was no door here or a passage to a casino. Only a bookshelf tucked away at the end of the hallway. “Where the hell are we going?”
Christy smiled and had mischief written over her. Stopping in front of the bookshelf, she raised our cards to the front of the shelf. I heard the creaking sound of a door opening before the bookshelf slid to the side, revealing a red door. “We’re here.”
She pushed the door open, tightening her grip on my wrist and taking me along with her as she entered.
My heart picked up a random beat, my muscles freezing. My instincts didn’t like this place at all. It reeked of danger andeverything that could harm me. Christy was a risk taker so it made sense she wasn’t afraid, but I wasn’t one. I had too much to lose if I made stupid decisions.
I peered around, taking in the dimly lit room we were in, suffused with the smell of aged wood and cigars. Velvet curtains adorned the walls, casting shadows that danced with the flicker of low-hanging chandeliers. The air hummed with the murmur of hushed conversations and the melodic clinks of glasses intermingled with the shuffle of cards.
