Page 32 of Maximum Bet

Marco whips out his phone. “I’ll call Amanda. She’s by the bar. I’ll have her get them out of there.”

“I’m texting Sadie, she’s got her phone in her hand.” Lucas starts typing furiously.

“Tell Sadie that they can’t react to the text.” I grab his hands before he can push send. “Then tell her to listen to whatever Amanda says and just follow along.”

Marco hands me his phone. “I don’t know what to tell her to do.”

I lift the device to my ear, racking my brain. “Amanda?” I ask when I hear music in the background.

“Dominic, what’s going on?” I watch on the monitor as she excuses herself from her conversation and looks around the room.

“I need you to listen to me and follow my orders very carefully.” I bounce between screens, tracking Amanda’s movement and the man stalking Cassandra and Sadie. “Do not react to anything I say.”

On the screen, Amanda lifts her wineglass to her lips as she schools her features. “Sure.”

Sadie checks her texts, then shows the screen to Cassandra. Both girls stand awkwardly as they spot Amanda.

“Cassandra and Sadie are on the other side of the dance floor near the wall,” I say. “Go over to them and tell them there’s a friend of yours you need to introduce them to. Then take them upstairs to the balcony. There’s an entrance to a hallway on the side opposite the stairs. Go through that door, and Lucas will meet you there.”

I wave toward him, mouthing, “Bring them back here.”

“Got it,” Amanda says, already moving in the girls’ direction.

I hang up and hand Marco his phone as Amanda places hers back in her clutch. She plasters a smile on her face and waves to Cassandra and Sadie. The girls smile back, leave their spots by the wall, and meet Amanda between a set of tables. They talk for a moment before Amanda motions for them to follow her. To anyone else, the three of them look like they are catching up likeold friends. I’m impressed by the acting skills they’re showing off.

“Our man is on the move,” Leo warns, gesturing to the screen above.

Talking on his watch, the Russian falls in step behind the girls, leaving enough distance to avoid suspicion, but his intent to follow is clear.

“Call Dad,” I snap at Marco. His phone is between us on speaker within seconds.

“Marco,” my father answers. I hear my mother continuing a conversation in the background, distracting guests from my father’s sudden shift in demeanor.

“It’s me,” I say. “We’ve got company over by the stairs to the veranda. Big guy, looks Soviet. He’s following Cassandra, Amanda, and Sadie.”

“On it.”

The line goes dead, and we return to the monitor. Drink in hand, my father’s long strides carry him toward our Russian friend in no time. Just as the man is set to climb up the stairs, my father cuts in front of him, blocking his path.

Suddenly, my composed parent is wobbling on his feet and sloshing his drink. He’s careful in his act, spilling the drink and hitting right in the middle of the Russian man’s chest. Just enough to get past the suit and stain his white button-down.

“Oh, my God.” Marco snorts. “Is he pretending to be drunk?”

“Brilliant.” Leo chuckles.

My father pats the man’s chest before gesturing dramatically at his ruined suit and calling over a waiter. Procuring a napkin, my father holds up a hand requesting the man stay still while he sends the waiter to fetch what I assume is sparkling water to get the stain out.

On a monitor above, Amanda, Sadie, and Cassandra weave through guests toward their escape.

The Soviet, aggravated, finally pushes past my father and bounds up the stairs.

“Come on, girls,” I mutter, my shoulders tensing as they arrive at the security entrance.

Just as the man reaches the top of the staircase, the door flings open, and Lucas ushers the girls in. It slams shut as our Russian snaps his head toward them.

“Did he see them?” Marco asks.

“I don’t think so,” Leo says. “He’s going the other way.”