by Kelsie Rae
With a groan, a sexually frustrated Kingston tugs on my lower lip with his teeth, pulling a light laugh from me in return.
“I like you,” I admit on a sigh as he teases me with his mouth. My fingers unlace themselves from his hair before brushing against the jaw I’d been drooling over earlier. When the five o’clock shadow grazes my fingertips, I smile softly in fascination.
Looking down at me, Kingston wraps his thick forearms around my waist and drags me into him. “Then you should show me, Wild Card.”
He’s called me that before, but I didn’t have the guts to ask why. Maybe I’m still drunk from his kiss, but I’m curious enough to voice my question.
“Wild Card?”
“I never know what to expect with you.” Lightly, he tugs on my messy curls, mimicking his motion from a few minutes ago. Only this time, it’s the real me instead of a wig I’d been using as a disguise. The girl in front of him is stripped bare. She’s the girl I normally keep locked away in an attempt to protect myself. But as he peers down at me, his gaze shining with lust and intrigue, I like that he can see her.
“Truth.” Smiling up at him, I reach onto my tiptoes and plant a soft kiss against his lips before murmuring, “So is there a reason you brought me down here?”
He shrugs. “We still can’t be seen together, even in my own casino. I think we both know what would happen if Burlone found out we were….”
As his voice trails off, I catch him studying me like an abstract piece of art. The intensity is almost bruising, and my body presses back into the wall behind me to escape it. There are so many ways he could finish that sentence, and I’m dying to know what was on the tip of his tongue before he thought better of voicing his statement aloud. What are we? Working together? Passing the time with each other? Possibly sleeping together? Dating? I have no idea what I want, let alone what the man in front of me is interested in. If only I could read minds as easily as he can read faces.
Clearing my throat, I tuck a stray strand of my hair behind my ear. “I should probably get going. Thanks for letting me feel a bit of control for the night, though. I really appreciate it.”
The silence that follows is enough to shine a glaring light on our unconventional…whatever this is, and he takes a step back to give me a little breathing room.
“Anytime, Ace. Anytime.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Jack
As I pace the floor near the lobby entrance, my imagination coming up with the most gruesome of possibilities for what Ace could be going through. I attempt to take a few slow, deep breaths in through my nose and out of my mouth.
Calm down, Jack.
Convinced I look too suspicious, I take a seat at a slot machine with a perfect view of the corridor Ace disappeared through and start wasting quarters.
My foot is thumping against the carpet like a damn jackrabbit, and my gaze is continually shifting from the digital screen in front of me to the dark hallway.
Where is she?
With a glance at my wristwatch, I do the math, only to realize she’s been missing for nearly thirty minutes. I saw the pit boss hand her off to the motherfucking head of the Romano family before he took his spot back on the floor like it was just another day at the office. I saw the way Mr. Romano touched her bare skin. The way she trembled under his touch. Bile floods my mouth, and I swallow it back.
I’m two seconds away from blowing everything I’ve worked so hard for, but I can’t. Not even for an innocent girl that seems to be caught in the crosshairs of something she knows nothing about.
In the corner of my eye, I see a flash of black, and I’m gifted with Ace in a blonde wig, ripped jeans, and a black t-shirt that’s been torn to reveal her toned stomach. The same stomach I saw him touch.
She walks my way, completely oblivious to my presence until I reach out and grab her forearm.
With a squeal, she rips herself away from my grasp before her eyes widen in surprise.
“Jack?”
“Hey. Are you okay?”
“What the hell? What are you doing here?”
I can’t tell her the truth, yet I’m sick of lying too. My mouth forms a thin line.
She senses my hesitation and pushes, “Tell me, Jack. Now.”
“Answer me first,” I return. “Are you okay? I saw you get escorted again. I saw you talk to Kingston Romano. Did he touch you?”
Please say no. Please say no.
She gasps in shock. “What? What are you talking about? And how the hell do you know Kingston?”
Fuck. Seems they’re on a first-name basis. That seems promising.
Seeing it’s apparent she isn’t half as terrified as she should be for having been alone with Dark King, I try a different tactic. “Listen, I need to talk to you in private. Can we go somewhere?”
She takes a step backward, her brows pinching in confusion. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“I need to talk to you,” I repeat. “Please?”
“No offense, Jack, but I don’t exactly know you well enough to go somewhere with you in private.” I can tell she’s put up her walls. I just don’t know how to get her to take them down for me. I’m not the bad guy.
Lifting my arm toward the corridor she just returned from, I argue, “But you’re good enough to be alone with Kingston? Do you know him at all? What he’s capable of?”
I watch as she swallows, chewing on her lower lip as she assesses me. “How do you know Kingston or what he’s supposedly capable of?”
My hands dig into my short blonde hair before tugging on the strands in frustration. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you need to know who you’re dealing with.”
Her gaze is wary as it shifts around the casino before coming back to me. “I don’t think we should be talking about this out in the open.”
“That’s why I’ve been begging you to go somewhere with me,” I insist.
Crossing her arms over her chest, she releases a deep sigh. “Listen, Jack. I don’t think you’re a bad guy, but I do think you’ve stuck your nose where it doesn’t belong. If you know Kingston as well as you say you do then you also know that you should probably back off right now. Look, I gotta go.” She steps toward the exit, but I reach for her again only to pull her close into my chest.
She’s practically a marble statue in my arms as I lean down to whisper in her ear, “Do you do drugs, Ace? Is he your dealer? Is that it? I can help you—”
“You need to shut up right now, Jack.” Her voice is low but lethal. “I have a set of rules, and you’re breaking every fucking one of them as we speak. If you don’t let me walk out that door in the next ten seconds, you’re going to regret it.”
“Ace, I’m just trying to hel—”
A large hand slams onto my upper shoulder like a slab of meat, interrupting me. “There a problem here?”
I squeeze my eyes in defeat before letting my arms go limp at my sides. I’m so screwed. Ace steps back, leaving a solid three feet between us as her attention bounces between me and the guy digging his fingers into my collarbone.
“No problem,” I reply as I slowly raise my hands into the air in surrender.
“Hey,” Ace seethes while snapping her fingers in the guy’s face. “I’m fine. Everything’s fine. It’s allll fine.” She drags out the word while bouncing on the balls of her feet. “See?” Raising her hands into the air, she does a cute little twirl like a ballerina. “It’s all good, so you can let Jack go now. I was uh…I was just going now, so….”
With a tilt of her head, she motions toward the exit. “See ya around, Jack.” Her gaze is glued to the guy behind me before he lets out a low grunt and releases his hold. Satisfied, she turns on her heel and disappears through the exit, leaving me alone to fend for myself.
Cautiously, I glance over my shoulder to see a guy the size of a bear with a curled upper lip.
Diece. Motherfucking Diece.
“Yeah. See ya around, Jack.” Diece’s voice i
s laced with venom as he spits out my name like it’s a curse, and I know I’ve just put myself on the Romano’s radar all because I was trying to help a girl who looks like she’s knee-deep in an organization I assume she knows nothing about.
I’m so screwed.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ace
“So, are you the one that’s been following me today?” My voice sounds rusty. It’s probably from the nerves. A few feet ahead of me is the giant who confronted Jack in the casino. The giant whose hands are inked as they swing by his sides. The giant who has a cold stare as he scans the area like it’s a natural habit. The guy who, I have no doubt, has killed before. Probably more times than I can count. I cough softly in an attempt to clear my voice as the cool night breeze brushes across my cheeks. I’d rushed out of the Charlette like a bat out of hell only to turn around thirty seconds later to find the giant following behind me while adjusting his suit.
“Naw.” The behemoth shrugs. “That’d be Reggie.”
Who the hell is Reggie?
“Oh, I thought you looked a little familiar.” Looking closer, I take in his eyes, mouth, and nose, but I can’t put my finger on where I’ve seen him before. It’s probably just from my time at the Charlette. That’s all. “So, where’s Reggie?”
“He was on break when the fucker started bothering you, but Kingston refused to wait a second longer before rescuing your ass, and he’s not ready to put a bigger target on your back by claiming you in front of so many witnesses, which left me to save the day.” His sarcasm is thick as though he can’t believe the ridiculousness of the situation he just found himself in––namely babysitting me.
Grimacing, I tuck my thumbs into my back pockets while following my new bodyguard toward Dottie’s. However, there’s one term there that made my ears perk up like a little bunny.
Claiming me? Is that even possible? He won’t even tell me what he’s feeling. I can’t imagine him making a statement like that in front of every eye witness in the casino. Diece is probably just blowing things out of proportion. He seems like someone who might appreciate the occasional dramatic flair, right?
However, curiosity is still getting the better of me, and I can’t help but ask, “So, Kingston saw that, huh?”
That same cold stare connects with mine. “Are you asking if he witnessed that asshat touching you?”
My cheeks burn, along with my forearm where he touched me, as I give him a single nod.
“Yeah. He did. You’re lucky your little friend is still breathing.”
A lump the size of a golf ball gets lodged in my throat, but I suck my lips into my mouth and keep walking on my merry way like he didn’t just scare the crap out of me. Like Jack’s nickname for Kingston didn’t just flash through my mind. Like the fact that I’m kind of, sort of, maybe dating a mafia boss isn’t a big deal at all.
Nope. Just another day in the life of Acely Mezzerich.
Due to my new bodyguard’s massive size, I can barely see around his ripped back as I follow in his steps. His feet slapping against the cold pavement is the only sound that accompanies his not-so-subtle threat.
“He’s not my friend,” I mutter under my breath, feeling the need to defend myself.
“Sure he isn’t,” the giant returns before giving me a quick glance over his massive shoulder. “He likes you, ya know.”
“Who?”
Jack or Kingston? The guilt swirls in my stomach that I even have to ask that question. If Gigi could see me right now, she’d be laughing her ass off. Two good looking guys who might be interested in me? Especially when I’m only interested in the mob boss who could kill the other guy with a flick of his wrist? I shake my head. Ridiculous.
“Both,” he grunts, answering my question. His legs eat up the distance with ease while I struggle to keep up with his pace as he adds, “I’m Diece, by the way. You can call me D.”
“Ace,” I return, speaking to his back. “Nice to meet you, D.”
“Wish I could say the same.”
With furrowed brows, I mutter, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that I have a feeling you’re going to be trouble.”
Should I be offended? I mean, who says something like that? I don’t even know this guy, yet he’s already made up his mind about me?
I march forward.
“How am I going to be trouble? No offense, Diece, but I wasn’t the one who approached either of those guys.” I point back to the casino where I assume Jack and Kingston are still at. “Jack is a fellow blackjack player, and Kingston asked if I could help him with something. That’s it.”
Diece huffs out a deep breath but doesn’t bother to reply, so I press on as I stomp closer to him.
“Don’t you huff at me! It’s not like I’m toying with either of them or planned on starting anything in the first place. Jack is barely an acquaintance, and Kingston is––”
My mouth slams shut.
Shit. What is Kingston? I’d kill for an explanation, yet I know I won’t get one no matter how hard I try to dissect our situation, let alone confiding in his soldier in hopes that he might know something I don’t know. Squeezing my eyes shut, I scrunch up my face and bite out, “You know what? Never mind. Forget I said anything.”
My silence seems to be enough to finally grab the jerk’s attention. Lazily, he scans me up and down.
After a few seconds, he lifts his chin and says, “I can see why they like you.”
Feeling exasperated, I joke, “Then can you tell me? ‘Cause I don’t get it. And who says they like me anyway?”
With a dry laugh, he stops walking long enough to let me catch up to him. Once I’ve reached his side, he continues heading to our destination at a slower speed, and I appreciate the opportunity to catch my breath instead of chasing him around.
“People don’t talk much in this line of business,” he confides. “If they do, they wind up dead. Instead, we use our instincts, and we watch. From what I’ve seen? You’re smart. Cute. Sarcastic. And you scream innocence louder than a damn siren. It’s no wonder you have Kingston wrapped around your dainty little finger.”
“I don’t know about the whole innocence part,” I mumble, keeping my head down while completely ignoring the having Kingston wrapped around my finger part. Apparently, Diece is delusional.
He scoffs. “What? Because of your past? No offense, sweetheart, but just because you had a shitty upbringing doesn’t make you a cynic. In fact, I think that’s why you appeal so much to him.”
Heart racing at the mention of my upbringing, I whisper, “What do you know about my past?”
“Who do you think wrote up most of your file, sweetheart?” His brow is quirked in a silent challenge, leaving me speechless. He can’t know everything. If he did, he would’ve told Kingston, and Kingston wouldn’t have asked if I was a virgin. He would’ve already known the truth. My hands are shaky as we round the corner, but I can’t find the drive to continue a conversation I wish could be wiped from his memory.
Sensing my uneasiness, D stops near the lower steps of Dottie’s Diner and slides his palm into his suit pocket before pulling out a cigarette.
“Mind if I wait outside?”
The step almost brings us to the same height as I look over at him. “Nope.” I take the stairs two at a time before turning around and adding, “And thanks for not killing Jack.”
With a wink, he gives the cigarette pack a tap against the palm of his hand. “The night’s still young, sweetheart.”
There’s something about him. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s his crooked grin. Maybe it’s the big burly arms that make me almost feel safe. Maybe there’s a sense of camaraderie I feel toward him. That he didn’t write the gory details of my past for his boss to read with a glass of whiskey in his hand. I don’t know, but I come to a conclusion regardless. One that would probably kill him if he knew what I was thinking.
“What are you thinking, sweetheart?” he asks, reading me like a
freaking book while placing a cigarette into his mouth and reaching for the lighter.
I shake my head. “You don’t wanna know.”
With a laugh, he takes another pull from his cigarette before saying, “Well, now I gotta know.”
“You really want to know?” I press in disbelief.
Please say no. Please say no.
“Yeah.”
Rule #3: If something feels fishy, it probably is. Trust your instincts. And my instincts are humming on low right now. There’s no threat. No malice toward me. There might’ve been a smidge of it when we left the casino, but after our conversation, I think he came to a conclusion about me just like I did about him.
With a grin, I confide, “I think you’re nothing but a cuddly little puppy in a Doberman’s body.”
He throws his head back as a deep laugh tumbles out of him. “Puppy, huh? Well, don’t tell Kingston, alright?”
Winking, I quip, “The night’s still young. Will you be out here when I get back?”
“No. It’s not a very good idea for people to see you hanging around the Romano’s second in command. Reggie will keep an eye on you though, okay?”
Disappointment sits in my stomach at the thought of missing another one of these conversations, but I nod anyway. “Okay. It was nice to meet you, D.”
“You too, sweetheart,” he grunts before releasing a puff of acrid smoke from his mouth. Obviously, I’ve been dismissed, and if I didn’t know any better, I might be offended because of it.
Good thing I can see past his gruff exterior, right?
“Hey, Dottie!”
“Hey, doll! Your usual?” Dottie asks while wiping up an empty table littered with plates, used napkins, and half-empty glasses of juice.
“Sure, thanks.” I take a seat at Gigi’s and my corner booth before glancing out the window to see Diece hidden in the shadows.