AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m so sorry,” I tell him, aware that my fate is in his hands, and he doesn’t give one shit about me. “I was desperate. Don’t call the police, I beg you. I can’t afford jail right now.”
“Then you should have thought twice before stealing from me.” The way he says it raises every red flag. There’s more than danger in his tone. There’s a deadly warning.
My heart pounds in my chest and threatens to burst through with fear, not just that he’ll send me back to that hellhole, but that he’ll kill me instead. Either way, Lola would be left without a mother
“It’s only a thousand dollars!” I cry out the obvious in a last-ditch effort to minimize the appearance of my guilt. “You have billions.”
His brows pinch together as if he’s processing what I said. For a moment, I think he’s going to buy it. Then, his blue gaze drops and roves over every part of me. Something I can’t read, a smoldering heat perhaps, crosses his features as his eyes flick back and lock with mine. “Try again.”
“I was putting it back,” I say. “I swear it.”
“You gotta do better than that.”
I bite my lower lip as I desperately try to think of a response that would satisfy him. But there’s nothing I can think of to give a man like him. “I’ll do anything if you don’t call the cops. Anything.”
And there is, it seems, something he wants from me.
That smoldering heat intensifies and he gives me the most wicked grin I’ve ever seen. “Miss Burrows, it will take more than just anything to keep you out of jail. It will take everything.”
2
GAVIN
A Few Hours Before…
I’ve done many things in my life I’m not proud of to get to where I am. I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Fuck, I didn’t even have a wooden one.
But everything I have, I fucking worked for. Earned every dirty penny. Bled for it.
So, when someone tries to steal from me, I take it very personal.
“I fucking hate thieves,” I say to my head of security, Gustavo.
The older man turns his head slightly toward me, but doesn’t take his eyes off the two-way mirror window that allows us a perfect view into our holding room. “What do you want me to do with him?”
It’s a good question, one with many options. If Alan Tyler were a run-of-the-mill patron of the casino, I’d simply call the police and let them handle it. I do try to keep my business legit as much as possible.
This guy, however, is part of a ring called the Chasers, a group of high rollers that earn money off bets they make outside a casino. The name of the game, who can launder the most money without getting caught. And they rarely do.
Alan had already turned ten thousand dollars into casino chips. He might have gotten away with it, except for the fact that our facial recognition system pegged him at the blackjack table.
“We’re his third hit this week,” I say.
“That we know of.” Gustavo rubs his chin thoughtfully. “Fucking Chasers.”
Our prisoner is staring back at us, as if he can see through the mirror. A grin spreads over his face that reminds me of the Joker as he raises his cuffed hands and waves. Stupid, stupid, man.
There’s a reason they call themselves Chasers. They chase the high they get from the hit. Addicts, in a way. And addicts are notoriously hard to change. I know that better than most.
Without another word, I step through the steel door that separates the two rooms. Gustavo remains behind, perhaps because he senses what I’m about to do.
“Hello, Alan. My name is Gavin Alexander, and I own The Red.”
Alan’s eyes gleam with excitement. “I know who you are.”
“Nah, I don’t believe you do.” I shake my head as I circle the table he’s sitting at. “Because if you did, you wouldn’t have stolen from me.”
He follows me as I move closer, his smirk still on his face. “Technically, I didn’t steal from you. The cash is real.”
