His eyes flick to the ground and back up before he grins. “Better safe than sorry. Not everyone has your talents at removing bloodstains, angel.”
“And once they realize you two aren’t here to abduct someone?”
Everett pulls to a stop in front of a blackjack table, staring down at a guy until he quickly vacates his seat. “They’ll be holding their breath and waiting for us to leave, watching our every move and trying to figure out if it’s a trap. Wondering if we’re assessing performances because Julian’s planning layoffs, or some shit.”
The two people on either side of Everett clear out and he gestures for me to sit on his right. The dealer doesn’t even hesitate, shuffling and passing out cards.
“Oh, I’m not pl-“
“Of course you are.” Grave reaches across Ev to pass a crumpled wad of cash into my hand.
Quickly straightening out the bills and counting, I balk. Leaning closer, I hiss, “There has to be five hundred bucks here!”
Grave furrows his brow. “Huh, I thought it was seven. Whoops.” He offers me another two hundreds that I adamantly refuse, using Everett as a buffer.
He reaches over and gently squeezes my knee beneath the table. “Consider it paid training.”
My cheeks heat as I see the questioning look of the person next to me, drawing his own assumptions. When I just nod and take the money, the man beside me seems to perk up a bit in his seat before increasing his bid.
After a couple of hands, Ev leans in close to whisper in my ear before the next dealing. “Over the next few hands, see if you can count how many security guards are posted without making it obvious that you’re looking.”
We carry on with the game, and admittedly, I do pretty terribly. To see all of that money pissed away in the matter of a few minutes hurts my poor heart.
From my peripherals, I try to get a read on as many men as I can, but unless I completely turn around in my seat, I can’t tell if there’s anyone on the wall behind me. Worse, because of the layout of the various machines and tables, most of the floor is obstructed from view.
After the next hand, I’m flat broke again anyway, so it’s perfect timing. Rising from my seat, I trail a hand over Everett’s shoulder, noting the way the man that was sitting beside me follows the motion.
“I’m going to head to the washroom real quick. Point me in the right direction?” He gestures and I thank him, though I follow the main curves of the path rather than cut between machines to make a beeline for the bathrooms.
Four. No, I saw him already; buzzcut. Buzzcut, glasses, wet dream.I start rattling them off on repeat in my head rather than counting, so I’m less likely to double count again.
Quickly relieving myself, I head back out onto the casino floor, but I intentionally make a wrong turn on the way back. One turns into two until I’m honestly lost, even if it works to my benefit. If I felt out of place before though, it’s nothing compared to now.
Not a penny to my name or even a purse, a farm girl that got a spit shine and dumped in the center of upper-crust Hell.
“-ink they’re doing here?” a hushed voice to my left asks, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to guess they’re talking about the guys. “Who’s the girl?”
A male voice this time. “Everett’s arm candy of the week?”
“Never seen him bring a chick before, though,” someone disagrees.
I carry on, diverting away from them so that they don’t notice that I was eavesdropping, but it does spark an idea. If people think I’m nothing more than a pretty face mooching off of him for a good time, then they’ll write me off as less interesting than the guys, focusing on them instead.
They’ll look right at me and disregard me as nothing more than a vapid doll, moving on to better things. I’ll feed into their gossip, even if it makes my insides twist. But this is something thatIchose, not some escort position I’m being pimped out for.
And really, hanging all over Everett isn’t much of a sacrifice on my part.
“Lost?” Whirling around, I face the man that was sitting beside me at the blackjack table, sipping a glass of scotch.
In dress slacks and a long-sleeved button up, he’s on the more casual side of the clientele around us. Clean cut and shaven, his bright blue eyes pop against his dark hair.
Smiling sheepishly, I nod, quickly glancing at the floor submissively. “A bit, yeah.”
He extends an elbow in my direction. “Can’t have a pretty thing like you wandering alone in this wolf den. Headed back to the blackjack table, I assume?”
Biting the inside of my cheek, I take his arm. “Please.”
As we walk, it’s the perfect excuse to have my gaze flitting around guiltily, nervously. Plenty of opportunities to scan for guards.
