Maze seemed to understand what Harlow was doing when she steered them in the opposite direction, toward the bar. Left alone, Anwen loitered for a moment, then went over to join Parratt, Yarker, and Lydia in the central booth.
Harlow slid onto a bar stool. Maze stepped in close, resting a hand on her hip. “You okay?” She nodded and kept her head down while Maze called the bartender over and ordered drinks. “I’ve never seen you quiet and hunched like this.”
Forcing herself to straighten her back, Harlow plastered a glittering smile to her face. “Better?”
“No,” he said, pushing her curls from her shoulder. “Don’t give me that false shit. This is me. You know he doesn’t want her. Making up with her is a—”
She touched his lips. Focusing on him meant she could ignore the mirror behind the bar. In her peripheral vision, she could see the reflection of Ryske doing his thing with Ophelia.
“Do you think I’m threatened by her, Maze?” she purred, pushing her chest out and into his torso.
Taking the hand he had on her hip, she slid it further around to her lower back, bringing them even closer to each other.
“I think you shouldn’t be,” he said, playing on her flirtation by projecting interest and drawing a fingertip down her temple. “So, tell me why I had to tell you to turn on the sparkle… You haven’t been yourself tonight.”
“We’ll have to go home without him,” she said. “It doesn’t feel right to leave him behind.”
“He knows what he’s doing. He won’t fuck her.”
“If it’s that or lose him, I don’t care what he does with his dick. Don’t you get it? Animal shot him. Brash stabbed him. These men are at her beck and call… and both of them are erratic. I don’t trust them with his life. I don’t trust her with his life.”
Putting her own experience of Ophelia together with what both Hagan and Anwen had said, she added in her knowledge of the beating Ophelia had ordered on her friend. No matter which way she looked at it, Harlow couldn’t be at ease with leaving the love of her life at the mercy of the maniac.
Her gaze had dropped again, but she didn’t notice until Maze touched her chin to bring it back up to his.
“Trust him, Nightingale. He won’t stray from the plan, especially when that plan is to come home to you.”
“You’ll marry me if he dies, right?” she asked, drawing a coy finger up and down the edge of his lapel. “I don’t want to die a spinster… We won’t be able to have sex because you’ll never be able to match up—”
“Hey,” he said and gave her a shove. Laughing, Harlow grabbed for him, wrapping her arms around his waist under his jacket. “You keep that up, I’ll make you marry Noon.”
“That wouldn’t be so bad. I’d never have to drive anywhere again and he’d keep me in Chinese food.”
“Yeah, but you’d have to live with his snoring.”
Bobbing her head, she agreed. “So, it’ll have to be you then… Good news is, I’ve already met your mom.”
They had told Maze about running into his mother. During that conversation, there had been a brooding exchange of scowls between him and Ryske, but she didn’t probe into his family business. Harlow had enough of her own family drama and didn’t want to involve herself in anyone else’s.
If Maze needed her, she’d be there for him. Without a doubt, she’d play any role he needed her to.
“Do blowjobs count?” Maze asked, stroking her back.
He was an idiot in the most wonderful way. Flirting with her was his way of distracting her from her worries. “I don’t know. Are you going to eat my pussy?”
Taking her shoulders, he pushed her back. “God, that’s disgusting,” he said and picked up her glass to put it in her hand. “I’ll marry you if you never suggest that again.”
Filling her mouth with liquor, Harlow let her head fall back and smiled.
Maze ducked and pressed his mouth to her forehead. “You’re gonna be fine, Nightingale. Until we’re dirt in the ground.”
Circling his thumb and forefinger around her wrist, he raised her arm and kissed the star that represented him. As he brushed his lips against it, their eyes met. She felt it, his absolute conviction that he would always be by her side. Her crew loved her and she loved them.
A noise at the other side of the room drew their attention. The lights were lowered and the first group of men were escorted in by a trio of scantily-clad women. It was like being on stage; the show was on.
“Let’s get to it,” Harlow said, chugging her drink and hopping off her stool.
Snatching his hand, she pulled Maze toward the booth where Yarker and Parratt were perched. This was real and it was starting now.
Men continued to come in and women came from the private rooms to court them. Games began and practiced croupiers appeared. Pothos might be new, but game night wasn’t.
Ophelia was glowing, happy to be on Ryske’s arm. “Gil, do you want to move to the back and you can stay here,” Ophelia said to Yarker.
“I’m going to find myself a game,” Maze said and touched Harlow’s jaw to raise her focus. “Want to come, princess?”
Harlow tilted toward him. “Come? You’ll have to put in a lot more effort if that’s the outcome you’re looking for, Sugar.”
When she flicked her tongue at him, he covered her mouth with a curved hand. “Didn’t we just talk about this?”
Ophelia laughed. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but Harlow is needed with Gil,” she said and pouted, pulling herself closer to Ryske.
The hostess’ input wasn’t required. Her goal was probably to draw attention to how close she was to Ryske.
Sighing, Harlow resigned herself to the fact that she had to work and not play. Letting her head fall back, she gazed up at Maze. “Go have fun, honey. But don’t leave without me. I’ll probably be pretty drunk by the end of the night.”
Maze bowed to kiss her lips. “Be a good girl.”
“Doesn’t seem likely,” she said as he drifted away.
“Anwen you stay here. Lydia, you float,” Ophelia said. “You all know what we’re doing… I’ll get Ryske up to speed.”
Everyone began to move in the directions Ophelia had sent them, including Ryske. Just before she walked away, Ophelia cast a satisfied smile over her shoulder.
The woman might think she’d made progress. She believed Ryske liked to play women off each other. If that were true, it was credible he’d be all over Harlow one night and then move onto Ophelia the next.
Ryske was good. With his talents, he could convince a woman of anything. The fact that Ophelia wanted to believe the seduction made his job easier.
Harlow knew Ryske belonged to her. But that didn’t allay her fears. He was vulnerable with Animal and Brash nearby. Both men were still loyal to Hagan’s vendetta. Anwen might be alive, but Harlow doubted that made a difference. They’d been cultivated to hate Ryske, to want to hurt him. And after the card game tonight, Harlow and Maze would walk away and leave him alone in the viper’s nest.
29
Parratt treated her like she was invisible, but Harlow was at peace with that. Just sitting at a table with him was enough to bore her. The last thing she wanted to do was pretend that she gave a crap about anything he said. Once or twice, he tried sliding a hand up her thigh. Icky as it was, at least he was smart enough not to persist after she removed it.
In some ways, he reminded her of Edgar Charnock. He had that same kind of pompous attitude when he had an audience of his peers. Gilbert Parratt liked to talk a lot about his own success and others failings.
Yarker was more interesting to sit with. He wasn’t quite as lecherous as Parratt. More of a gentleman, Yarker actually made sure she had drinks and was comfortable… Although she didn’t discount that his attentiveness may have been related to her threats of violence at their last meeting in the hotel. Sitting with him did give her an advantage. He preferred to play cards than chatter, so she got a glimpse at his style.
Someone
touched her shoulder. She turned to find Lydia behind her, giving her the nod to switch stations.
Sliding out of the booth, Harlow didn’t interrupt Yarker’s concentration, and let Lydia take her place. Ryske would be her assignment for the next hour. After her position with him, it would be onto the job of floating between the men.
As Harlow crossed the room, she wondered about Pothos’ success. Ryske would be able to give her the numbers. From there, maybe they could work out how long it would take to get their investments back. Her mind was wandering when she spotted a familiar face. At the same time her attention landed on him, he noticed her too.
Adjusting her trajectory to meet him, he did the same, moving away from the card game he’d been observing.
“The night just got interesting,” he said as they met.
Harlow smiled. “Aren’t you involved, Mr. Vane?” She asked. “Or do you prefer Penzance. Does your fiancée know you’re here?”
“Alas, she has broken my heart,” he said, flattening a hand on his chest. His grim look of heartache quickly became a sly grin. “How else you think I can afford to be here?” She appreciated that truth with a smile. “You know, it’s funny, I actually thought for a minute that Ryske was really into you. Guess he’s better at the con than I give him credit for.”
“For a minute?” she said, not following what he meant.
“Sure,” he said, sipping the brown liquid from the glass he was holding. “If he was, he wouldn’t let you turn tricks in a place like this…” He drew a fingertip up her arm. “You got a suitor?”
“You’re a good bet. I know you just got a payday,” she said. “But you do know what’s going on here, right? You have to pay for the kick before you get the bang.”
“With a pretty like you, I don’t think I’d need it.”
Harlow leaned in. “But I might,” she whispered. “Come on, I’ll set you up.”
Even though she’d been honest about her intention, Penzance went with her anyway. He wrapped an arm around her and fondled her ass as he pulled her closer.
Ryske had been positioned in the central room. The door was open, though a curtain over it acted as a veil to what was going on inside.
Bowing to nuzzle her hair, Penzance wasn’t shy with his hands. Harlow led him through the curtain and into Ryske’s room, which had been set up like he was hosting a private party. A TV played porn on mute, and a laptop was balanced on the high arm of the couch next to him. Behind said couch was a bed. It was semi-concealed by the half closed curtain, which stretched the width of the room between the end of the bed and the back of the couch.
Penzance didn’t even look up when she approached Ryske, but he did.
Projecting childlike innocence, Harlow pouted. “This man says he wants to put his pee-pee in my twinkle and play with my tatas,” she said, following her words with a smile. “I said he has to pay you first.”
“Yeah, pay with his life for thinking about it.”
As soon as Ryske spoke, Penzance looked up and groaned. Ryske lifted a hand; she took it to let him pull her onto the couch at his side. She rested on her knees and linked her fingers to drape them across his shoulder.
“What?” Harlow asked Penzance’s glare. “I told you I was setting you up and you followed me anyway.”
“If you think I was listening, you haven’t seen you in that dress,” Penzance said.
Ryske nodded at a perpendicular armchair and Penzance sat. “What are you doing here, Zance? I thought you were running an op.”
“Over,” Penzance said, opening his arms. “Her old man paid me to leave… so I left.”
“You out of work?” Harlow asked, recognizing an opening. “You should get a job here.”
“Sorry, sweetheart, I don’t sling cards.”
“Not that, with Ophelia,” Harlow said and patted Ryske’s chest. “He’s protection. You can tell Ophelia he approached you about a job. You guys are friends, right?” She frowned at Penzance. “What do you know about the Hagans?”
Penzance laughed.
Ryske bobbed his head in Penzance’s direction. “Penzance is the guy I was helping out the night of the auction.”
“With the switch,” she said and he nodded. “The night you met…”
Ryske was still nodding.
Harlow wasn’t paying much attention to the other man in the room until he said, “You told her about that?”
“I don’t lie to Harlow,” Ryske said.
She hit his chest harder and then pointed to his mouth. “That there is a lie, right there.”
Penzance laughed and sank deeper into his chair. “Her I believe… If you trust her that much, I’m in for whatever you need…” He scanned the room. “You have to be making a mint out of this.”
The door at the bottom of the room opened. All of the rooms adjoined, for emergency purposes. The long, sleek blonde who sashayed in didn’t seem to be in need of assistance.
“I am bored, Ryskey,” the blonde said, stopping to check her nails before running them into her glossy hair. “These men had no skills.”
The silver dress she wore, while only a scrap of material, managed to make her look sexual, sophisticated, and expensive all at once.
“What you gonna do, sweetheart? I can’t coach them before you ride them. What do you want from me?” Ryske asked and slid his arm further around her, pulling her closer. “Baby, this is Svetlana… Svet, meet Harlow.”
The blonde’s smile burst wide. “Ah, yes, we speak on the phone,” Svetlana said, extending a hand to Harlow. “It’s okay, I wash them.” Pleased to hear that, she took Svetlana’s hand expecting to shake. Instead, Harlow was yanked onto her feet into a hug. “I could do wonderful things for your career.”
“She works for me,” Ryske said. “Exclusive contract.”
Easing back, Svetlana checked her out. “She is too good for you.”
“I don’t doubt that,” Ryske said on a distracted snicker.
Svetlana was arranging her hair when Penzance spoke up. “You gonna ignore me all night, Lala?” he said, sort of sheepish in the way he peeked up at the beauty.
The blonde seemed to be happy to do just that. “I may, you evil man.”
“Yeah,” Penzance said and stood up. “But you called me, that’s why I’m here.” Moving to her side, he presented himself to her. “What do you need, Red?”
Turning quickly, Svetlana let go of Harlow and brought her hand across Penzance’s face in a harsh slap. In the silence that followed, Harlow winced at the sting of that slap and took a discreet step back.
This couple had issues… or a penchant for pain.
“That the best you’ve got?” Penzance asked, which Svetlana answered with another slap.
Grabbing Vane’s wrist, Svetlana addressed Ryske. “I is going for break.”
Ryske wasn’t paying attention at all when Svetlana turned and dragged Penzance from the room the way she’d come and slammed the door.
When they were gone, Harlow sank onto the couch and took a second before leaning back to peek at the laptop screen.
“Solitaire?” she said, getting closer. “Is that the best you can do?”
“It’s better than that,” he said, side-nodding to the silent porn.
“I’ve never seen you watch porn.”
“I’m not watching it,” he said. “It’s there for ambience.”
She watched for a minute and then tilted her head. “I like the way they’re doing that.”
When she turned, his eyes slunk to her and then to the screen and back again. Harlow bobbed her brows and bit her lip.
Relaxed as ever, he let his attention slide back to the computer. “Get on the bed and I’ll do it better.”
Nudging him, she reminded herself it wasn’t a good idea to tease him. “Has it been a good night?”
Breathing out a groan, he tilted the computer lid down and stretched his back before taking her by surprise and scooping her into his lap. “It’s about to be.”
Even though his actions were presumptuous, it was impossible not to feel flattered when he leaned in to start kissing her neck. She ran her fingers up through his hair. Ryske obviously hadn’t gotten the memo about teasing being a bad idea. Though this wasn’t really teasing; he was being direct.
“For Pothos,” she said, dipping to kiss his thick locks. “Has it been moving?”
“Yeah,” he said. “It’s been good for Svetlana too.”
“That’s good,” she said. “Have you tried it?”
“Zance is right,” he said, licking the notch of her throat through her necklace ring. “You haven’t seen you in that dress if you think I need a drug to be hot for you.”
That made her consider the prospect. “I don’t think it’s possible to enhance what we have when we’re together,” she said. “We’d probably both drop down dead if it got any better.”
Sounds from next door began to carry through the wall; pounding and moaning that could only be one thing.
Grinning, she touched her mouth to his. “Listen to Penzance go.”
He sighed. “I’ve been listening to that shit all night, in stereo.”
Slipping a finger under the strap of her dress, Ryske drew it down and cupped her exposed breast. Squeezing and fondling, he dipped his head to suckle her nipple.
“Is that why you’re like this?”
“I’m like this because we haven’t had sex since you ditched me to go to the sap,” he said, scooping a forearm under her ass to pick her up and carry her around the armchair.
Harlow held his shoulders when he climbed onto the bed on his knees. She clung tighter when he dropped forward, putting her on her back and laying down over her.
“You know we can’t,” she murmured into his hair when his lips descended from hers to head for her cleavage. Ryske hooked the back of her knee on his wrist and guided her leg around him, putting her knee to his ribs. He held it there with an elbow.
“What’s the story with you and Penzance?” Harlow asked, running her fingers through his hair as he liberated her other breast to pay it the same attention as the first.
Go All In (A Go Novel Book 4) Page 23
