“It’s not so much a question of who I am Cindy. It’s more a question of what I’ve done,” he drawls.
I don’t want to get lured down this path. This path where I can’t seem to stop myself from playing into his hands and doing exactly what he expects of me, but I have to know. And his statement was a clear invite to ask.
“Ok,” I say, my voice coming out a bit louder and sounding more like my own. “What have you done?”
“I’ve bought The Macau,” he smiles. “It all became official yesterday. So … I’ll say it again. Relax. Drink. You have the night off.”
My first reaction is: he’s lying.
There has been no mention of a sale, no mention that the business has changed hands. And surely as the manager, I would have been privy to that information, even if the rest of the staff weren’t.
It would be such a stupid lie to tell, though. And one thing he is not is stupid. But what could he hope to achieve by making something like that up? And there’s something disconcerting about the casual way he says it. He’s not making it a big announcement.
That makes me think he’s telling the truth.
Alex
I gauge Cindy’s reaction to my news out of the corner of my eye while I pretend to look at a man I’m vaguely acquainted with.
From what I’ve seen of Cindy so far, she seems to think she’s hard to read, but her emotions play all over her face. She’s easy to read if a person knows what they’re looking for, and the first rule in my business is to learn to read people so they can never take you by surprise. Cindy has managed it once, but I won’t let her catch me off guard like that again.
Her first reaction is, of course, disbelief. Then I see her mulling it over, wondering what I could achieve by such a lie.
I am quite impressed she’s even giving it this much thought. I am a hard man to doubt. Nine times out of ten my inbred confidence makes people believe whatever I tell them. And the other time sheer confidence fails my poker face does the trick. If Cindy thinks I cleaned her out on the craps table, she should see me play poker. I’ve spent years perfecting the art of bluffing and reading people, and putting those two things together makes me almost unbeatable in business.
Actually, I am pretty sure I could walk into any business and announce I own it and within minutes, have all of the staff believing me. But Cindy is obviously different. She’s one of those rare birds that doesn’t believe easily. She wants to examine the idea, turn it over in her mind, and see if there’s anything to suggest it isn’t true.
In this case, there’s no reason for her not to believe me. I’m not bluffing. I am the owner of this casino. Lord Alstree, the previous owner was happy to humor me and keep the deal on the down low. He didn’t ask why. If I was up to something shady, he believed it was my affair not his. I like the English for that. They know how to mind their own business.
“I think I smell bullshit,” Cindy says.
Her words doubt me, but her expression doesn’t. She wants me to laugh, to tell her she’s right, it was all a big wind up. But she doesn’t really believe I’m going to. She knows.
“Then I think you might have some issues with your nose,” I say.
She frowns at me. “So assuming you’re telling the truth, then what was this all about tonight? Some sort of test to see if I was doing my job properly?”
“Not a test as such,” I say. “I just wanted to make sure you are who I think you are. Someone responsible who takes their job seriously. And you didn’t disappoint. Although you did take slightly longer than I thought you would to arrive at the table.”
Like I knew she would, she bristles at the less than stellar evaluation I’ve made on her job performance.
I laugh. “But once you did arrive, you handled the … issue like a real pro.”
She frowns again. “Nothing you’ve said proves you’ve bought this casino.”
“Oh, Cindy, can we not get past this denial dance and get to the important details? We both know I’m telling the truth. It might interest you I looked up your HR file this morning. You started at twenty-one as an admin assistant and worked your way up. You were promoted to manager status four years ago. And if my math is correct, you are twenty-eight, almost twenty-nine. How am I doing so far?”
She pulls her drink towards her mouth and starts to drink it, really fast, but I don’t comment on that. It’s one more clue that she’s shaken to the core. She wouldn’t be sitting drinking with a customer she thought was cheating the casino under normal circumstances.
“Ok, so you know a few facts about me.” Cindy shrugs. “They’re hardly trade secrets. Maybe you’ve seen me here and asked around about me.”
I laugh at her insinuation.
“What’s so funny?” she demands.
“Your assumption that I have not only noticed you around, but also that I liked what I saw enough to go on an underhand fact-finding mission about you. You think very highly of yourself, Cindy.”
She blushes and looks down at her glass. “I didn’t mean it like that,” she mumbles. Then she picks her glass up, drains it, and lifts her forefinger towards the bartender to indicate she wants another.
I take pity on her. I need her more than she needs me. If I push her too hard she could simply find a job elsewhere. “I know you didn’t. It was just a last-ditch attempt for you to cling to the idea that I’m lying.”
Her head swings back toward me. “You can’t seriously expect to walk in here off the street, tell me you own the place, and have me just take your word for it. I’m the manager here. Why wasn’t I told?”
My track record will show that is exactly what I do expect. As a matter of fact, I’ve never had to do any of the handholding I’m doing right now. I shrug casually.
“So what will convince you? Let me see,” I say, pretending I’m thinking about it.
I know exactly how this will play out now. Play time is over and it’s time to get down to business. I’m done toying with Cindy now. Either she says yes, or I start to look for my next target. I pull my phone out and scroll through my contacts. Once Lord Alstree’s name is highlighted I hold the phone out to her.
“Would you like to call the previous owner and ask him about it?” I ask.
She doesn’t take the phone, but she looks at the screen, and her face changes when she sees the name. Lord Alstree’s a notably private man who doesn’t give his contact information out to just anyone, and that should have told her something.
“How do you have Lord Alstree’s phone number?”
I laugh softly. “Because I like to be able to contact a person when I’m doing business with them. It’s kind of essential, don’t you think? Now, do you want to call him or not?”
“No,” she says quietly.
But she still looks skeptical. The truth hits me and I shake my head. “You don’t want to call him because you’ve never spoken to him, have you? You would have no idea whether it was really him or not,” I say.
She shrugs, but it confirms what I already knew.
“Maybe this will convince you.” I reach into my inside pocket and pull out an envelope. “Inside the envelope are the deeds to the business that state I am the owner. Do you want to read them?”
She shakes her head slowly.
I eye her with disbelief. “You’re telling me even if you see the legal documents, you still won’t believe me?”
She smiles slightly and shakes her head.
“No. I’m saying I don’t need to see the documents. I believe you.”
I extend my hand to her and smile. “Allow me to introduce myself officially. My name is Alexander Obolensky, but you can call me Alex.”
She shakes my hand. Her grip is firm, but her hand is warm and soft. I feel a burst of sparks run up my dick at her touch. Her sharp intake of breath betrays that she feels something too. She pulls her hand away, perhaps a little too quickly, but I understand why she did it.
The chemistry between us wasn’t imagined, and it
certainly wasn’t a product of my charm. Charm is not one of my assets. It can even be said that I am a singularly charmless person. Raw chemistry could complicate my ‘project’, but I tell myself it won’t. That this is business and I’ll keep it that way. I won’t let my attraction to her change my plans. I’m not a kid. I know how to ignore sexual attraction. I’ve done it before. Plenty of times. A little determination is all it takes.
I stand abruptly. It’s a good thing for her to have some space. By the time I hit her with my proposal I need her to be back to her normal self.
“Meet me in Alstree’s old office in twenty minutes,” I say, all business now. “There is something I need to discuss with you.”
I walk away without waiting for her to confirm her acceptance. I feel her eyes on my back as I make my way through the crowd.
I hate that it takes all of my effort not to look back.
Cindy
I watch Dark and Stormy, well, Alexander Obolensky, walk away. He walks like a predator. Confident and fearless. The whole jungle is his hunting ground.
My head feels like it is spinning. I shouldn’t have drunk that last glass of G&T.
Even so … what the hell was all that about?
That was not … normal. Okay, I have to believe that cocksure bastard has bought the casino even though I find it almost impossible to get my head around the fact that the business has switched hands without me knowing anything about it.
But the way Alex made me find out about the sale was bizarre to say the least. It was almost as if he deliberately put me in a tricky position to see how I would react to him when I was outside my comfort zone. I frown when I remember our conversation. There was something disturbingly sexual about our entire exchange.
“Everything all right, Miss Forrester?”
I look up into Jerry’s inquiring face and nod distractedly. “Yes, everything is fine.”
“Can I get you anything else?”
“No, I’m fine.”
He nods and walks away.
Because Lord Alstree is a notorious recluse who only came to the casino when it was closed and there was no one around, all casino business was conducted through Steven, his business manager. I could call Steven now and ask him about the sale, but something tells me he probably doesn’t know much more than me.
So what now?
I’ve already wasted five minutes mulling this over. I have fifteen minutes left to decide whether to accept the change of ownership, or leave. Even the thought of leaving makes my stomach tighten. I love my job, I love the staff, I love everything about this casino. I’ve poured everything into this casino. When I first arrived it was a nondescript little place. The best that could be said about it was it had faded charm. I built it up to what it is today.
I don’t want to leave it. Why should I? I haven’t done anything wrong and Alex Obolensky doesn’t look like a man who has time to waste on a small casino like this. Maybe he will run the same shop as Lord Alstree. As long as the casino is ticking over nicely there is no reason for him to chop and change anything.
I look at my watch.
Yes, I tell myself. I’ll go and talk to Alex. In spite of the way he toyed with me he still seems like a reasonable man. If what he has to say sounds like something I can stomach, then I’ll stay. If it doesn’t, then I’ll quit. It’ll make me sad to leave this place and all the friends I’ve made here, but my mother always said, God never closed a door without opening a window. And in my life, I’ve learned to crawl out of the smallest little windows.
I’m not rich, but I have enough savings to see me over for at least a year. Hopefully it won’t come to that. I think I have built up enough of a reputation to walk into any other casino in the city and get a job.
What I am worried about is how deeply attracted I am to Alex. If he’s going to be a more hands on owner than Lord Alstree was I don’t know if I can deal with seeing him every day while he has such a big effect on me.
I remember his smoldering eyes. The way they roamed all over my body. Even thinking about them now made goose bumps scatter my skin. He is a man you cannot ignore. He must have the same effect on most women. I’ll just have to be professional about it, and ignore his magnetic eyes. I’ve worked with people I’ve been attracted to before, and nothing has ever happened between us. I didn’t let it affect my day to day ability to do my job. And this will be just the same.
I’ll make damn sure it is.
Alex might be able to swan in here and buy the place, but he can’t make me act a certain way or do things I wouldn’t usually do. Only I have that power over myself, and I intend to keep it that way.
It’s not like I’m looking for a relationship anyway.
I check my watch and see ten minutes have passed. I stand up to head for Lord Alstree’s old office. I make my way across the casino floor and along the hallway.
I reach his door and I pause for a moment, suddenly nervous. I tell myself I’m being ridiculous. What is there to be nervous about? I know this place like the back of my hand and I know all of the legalities of running a casino. If Alex is planning to test me, I know I’ll be able to answer any of his questions, be they operational or logistical.
I pull a compact mirror from my jacket pocket and check my make-up. My mascara hasn’t run and my teeth don’t have lipstick on them. I snap my compact shut and slip it back into my pocket. It’s as good as it’s going to get. I knock smartly on the door.
“Come in,” Alex calls.
I push the door open and step inside. Alex is seated behind a big ornate antique desk. Somehow this room is exactly how I pictured it might be. He nods towards one of the chairs on the opposite side and I sit down.
“You’re punctual. I like that. Can I get you another drink?”
I stop myself from automatically saying no. That’s not what a confident woman would do. I smile at him. “All right. I’ll have whatever you’re having. You did give me the night off. I might as well make the most of it.”
“True,” he agrees. “And I really meant it about giving you the night off. What I have to say won’t take too long.”
“Take your time,” I say smoothly. “I expected to be at work tonight so it’s not like I have any other plans.”
“Then let’s at least keep the drinks coming and make it somewhat sociable,” he says, standing up and walking over to his bar. He fixes our drinks in silence and I resist the urge to fill the silence with babbling. To my surprise he puts a G&T with a slice of orange in front of me. He raises his glass of whisky. “To a mutually beneficial relationship.”
I nod and take a sip. I watch him settle himself behind the desk again. I realize I feel better when he is not prowling about the room. I take another sip.
“So what was with all the theatrics, then?” I ask, the gin making me a lot bolder than I would usually be with a new boss. “You could have just come to my office and introduced yourself then run a performance appraisal on me to assess my suitability for the job.”
He grins. Downright wolfish, that grin. “I could have. But where’s the fun in that? Besides performance appraisals are useless. I needed a quick and dirty way to make sure you’re the right person for the … job.”
Did I imagine that slight pause he made before the word job? Besides my track record speaks for itself on that score, but I let it go. Maybe he was one of those bosses that was going to be weird. Maybe he wanted to catch us behaving badly while we did not know who he was.
“So how did you do it?” I ask. “Cheat the table?”
“You’re the manager. You tell me,” he says.
That twinkle is back in his eye, but I decide to be serious. I really could learn something here, something useful.
“I know of two ways to cheat at craps, and you were doing neither.”
“Go on,” he prompts me.
He leans forward, watching me with interest, and I try not to let his dark gaze distract me.
“One way is to have the box person use
rigged dice. Sasha has been here far too long to be involved in something like that. The other way is magnets, but we have top of the range detectors at every entrance and I would have been alerted the second you stepped through the doors if you had magnets on you.”
“There is a third way,” Alex says with a grin.
Cindy
“You buy the casino and get your business manager to sneak in after the cleaning staff have left, and anyone else arrives. He attaches magnets to the table you will be sitting at. Then you count your losses to get the results you want.”
I burst into laughter, shaking my head.
“Well, then it’s fair to say that’s not really a new threat I have to watch out for at least,” I say. “You sure were committed to seeing how I handled a potential cheater.”
“I think you handled me admirably,” he smiles. “Most people get distracted by my brutish personality and forget themselves around me … but not you.”
“Not me,” I agree. “I’ve seen far too many psychopaths in here to let them disrupt the running of the casino.”
“Fair enough,” he says.
I think I detect a hint of disappointment on his face. Is he disappointed that I likened him to a psychopath? Did he want me to like him? No, I tell myself, quickly dismissing the idea. The gin has gone to my head and I’m starting to imagine things.
“Now, back to the job,” he says, all business again. He leans back in his chair and studies me for a moment.
I take my chance to get in first. “Not to blow my own trumpet, but I think everything is run pretty efficiently here. Of course, today’s take is going to be significantly lower than usual, but that’s because of your little stunt so you can hardly complain about that.”
He smiles and nods his head.
I go on quickly. “If there’s anything you would like to change I’m open to a discussion about it.”
He waves his hand dismissively. “You seem to know what you’re doing here. I would never have bought the place if it was not a viable business option. But that’s not the job I’m talking about. I have a proposition for you, Cindy. One I think will greatly benefit us both.”
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