Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 73302 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73302 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
I collapsed against the shower wall, barely able to keep my legs under me. Several minutes passed before I was steady enough to turn the shower on again and wash away the evidence, giving in to what I longed for, no matter how hard I was trying to resist.
8
RAFE
My hand shook as I picked up my phone. X was calling me. As far as I was concerned, the man was essentially a legend. I’d never spoken to him one-on-one, and I couldn’t believe I was about to now. How the hell did Dante pull this one off?
All he’d told me was that the one way around Remington was to call Xavier. I thought he was crazy, but he said the man owed him a favor, and he was calling it in, so I should expect a call.
“Hello.” I hoped I didn’t sound as shaky as I felt.
“Hello, Rafael. I understand you’re concerned about a man who’s been counting cards at your casino.”
My casino. He actually referred to it as mine, not Remington’s. I might be in love.
“Yes, sir, that’s right. I want to make sure he’s not connected to the Russians or anyone else I need to avoid.”
“Then I have good news. He’s not involved with Ivanov or any other family enemy.”
How had he found that out so fast? I hadn’t even given Dante any details about G. “Then who is he?”
“Just a con artist.”
That felt off. The man had to be more than the average trickster looking for the next win. “If that’s all, then he must be damn good at what he does.”
“He is. Too good. Keep your distance.”
“If he’s not—”
“Trust me. You want to stay away from him. He’s not someone to play with.”
X had to know I never listened to good advice. “What about the rest of the players at last night’s game?”
“We’re working on that. A few of them have too many layers cloaking their identity. They’re suspicious as hell, but no signs yet they have ties to Ivanov. We’re going to keep digging. Let Remington know of anyone else you find that’s suspicious.”
“I… Um…”
“You haven’t told him about G.”
It didn’t sound like a question. “You already know I haven’t, don’t you?”
He chuckled. “Dante had to give me a reason why he was calling in a favor.”
“Right. And now?”
“I’m not going to say anything because I know you’re monitoring the situation. I’ll contact you directly if anything comes up, but if you’re in danger and you’re not taking my advice, Remington will be the first person I contact.”
“Yes, sir.” How had I gotten this lucky?
“Take care of yourself. You’ve got a lot of people who would kill to keep you safe, but you’ve got to watch out for yourself.”
I hadn’t done that very well in the past, but I was trying to change. Even Remington saw it, except I was deceiving him now. “I will. I’m taking this very seriously.”
“So I hear. I’ll call you soon.”
He ended the call before I could say anything else.
I sank onto the bed, flopping onto my back and staring at the ceiling, glad for once that I was alone.
Did X really have to tell me to stay away from G, whoever the hell he was? And why wouldn’t X tell me more about him?
I sighed. I knew the answer. He didn’t believe in giving out more information than was absolutely necessary.
Was I going to listen to him? If he said to keep away, then that’s what I should do. But G was so fucking hot and intriguing as hell. The fact that I’d been warned off and he was still a mystery to me only made me want him more.
I’d always been that way. I always wanted what wasn’t mine, what I couldn’t have. I’d been told I needed to work on that, but somehow, both of my brothers managed to take what they shouldn’t have. Lorenzo was living with the son of our now-dead enemy. And Dante had married his former student and was still teaching at the university where his husband, Alex, was a student. Why shouldn’t I get to play with the forbidden?
No. I needed to do what X said. I was trying to prove myself to my family, to finally make them believe I wasn’t a kid anymore, that I could handle business on my own, that I could be trusted.
But I’d been so responsible lately. Would it really matter if I fucked G once, or maybe twice for good measure? Just to see what it was like. When he’d touched me earlier, my whole body lit up. I wasn’t sure I’d ever gotten hard from nothing but a man rubbing his thumb across my mouth before.
Fucking him might be wrong, but it also seemed like exactly what I needed.
Dammit. I couldn’t keep being so self-indulgent. I needed to distance myself from G and everyone else at the casino. I needed to observe closely and find out who Ivanov had sent to spy on me. He wanted to get revenge on the family, but I wouldn’t let that happen. He wouldn’t hurt my family anymore. We would track him down and tear him apart, little piece by little piece. That was better than what he deserved.