The man flipped his hand with a grin. “The rumors about you, Ms. Miller, are correct.”
He also had an ace high. His second highest was a 10.
“Ms. Miller, the pot goes to you,” our dealer said.
“Rumors?” I asked as I collected the chips from the center of the table.
“Beautiful, mysterious, and lethal,” he said, raising his glass.
The small hairs on my neck and arms rose like lightning rods. That was the exact wording Marion had used in Chicago.
The play concluded and we all waited as our chips were counted. Next was the declaration of the ten advancing contestants.
Patrick came up behind me as soon as the announcements were complete. “Good job, Mrs. Kelly, you advanced.”
My gaze met his as Marion approached. “Let’s get out of here,” I said, standing.
“Mr. Elliott,” Sterling said, stepping in Marion’s path.
“Mr. Sparrow?”
“We have business to discuss if you have any hope of anything other than an empty facility in McKinley Park.”
Patrick escorted me from the room as Mason stood guard beside Sterling.
“Are they really talking business?” I asked as we made our way down the stairs.
“Talking about business, yes, but it was a diversion. Sparrow has already sabotaged Elliott’s chances.” He shrugged. “But there is some satisfaction in hearing men like Elliott beg.”
The second night progressed much the same.
The third night wouldn’t.
I would have no choice but to face Marion to win.
Patrick
It was midmorning on Saturday when Reid called. His voice and image came from the computer upon the table in the center area of the hotel suite.
“Bykov finally reached out.”
“Where the fuck is Ivanov?” Sparrow said. “Two days of tournament play and he hasn’t shown.”
“He’s showing tonight. There have been more problems in Detroit. Bykov agreed they need help. He said Ivanov is leery since Hillman. Ivanov is losing control and needs help but doesn’t want to ask.”
“What kind of problems?” I asked.
“Fighting in the ranks. He lost four men last night to a second-rate gang. The rats are fighting amongst themselves, and it’s chipping away at the bratva’s base. The fucking city will implode if we don’t step in.”
Sparrow shook his head. “I’m not losing my men because Ivanov fucked up. We’ll offer limited resources for a finite period of time. Do you think this Bykov is capable of steering the ship?”
Madeline stepped from our bedroom, standing in the doorway. She had one arm across her body holding her opposite elbow. Her other hand was near her soft pink lips. The fancy dresses she wore both nights of the tournament were in the closet. Now, she wore soft black pants with a wide-neck light-gray t-shirt, exposing one shoulder. Soft socks encased her feet, and her hair was braided to one side, similar to how Ruby wore hers. With very little makeup on, my wife was the personification of the girl I’d married, complete with the curves that came with maturity.
In other words, my Maddie girl was spectacular, just like her recent play in the tournament.
Madeline ended play Friday night ranked third behind Edward Bellows, a local businessman, and Elliott, who too was ranked behind Bellows. Tonight with two other players, the winner would be determined.
Near Madeline’s green eyes were lines of concern.
The others turned her way.
“I’m sorry if I’m eavesdropping,” Madeline said. “Why would Sasha need to steer the ship? What’s happening to Andros?”
Sparrow and Mason turned to me.
With a deep breath, I stood. “In a nutshell, Hillman was planning a coup.”
“Of you?” she asked.
“Maybe in the future, but no,” I replied. “His first goal was Detroit. He had it all in the works. He played Ivanov.”
Madeline’s head shook. “No, Andros doesn’t trust many people.”
“He trusted the wrong one,” Sparrow said. “Now the city is faltering. Ivanov declared war on Chicago when he thought he had Hillman’s recruits. Now he’s trying to keep what was his.”
Her lower lip disappeared. “He had gained control before I went to…before he bought me. I’ve never known him to not have supreme control. He must be furious. I can’t imagine.”
“His decisions led him to where he is now,” Sparrow said.
“And Antonio would have succeeded if he hadn’t taken Ruby,” Madeline said.
It wasn’t a question, but I answered. “Yes. It was his critical mistake. I didn’t kill him because I wanted to help Ivanov or expose the weak link in his chain. I killed Hillman because he had our daughter.”
Her green eyes glazed over. “Hillman took Ruby and killed Oleg. That wasn’t with Andros’s blessing.”
“The coup had begun.”
“Why take Ruby?”
We believed we had the answer to that, but I didn’t want to tell Madeline until Elliott was dealt with. Based on communication between Hillman and Elliott—Hillman had been at Elliott’s ranch prior to going to Corpus Christi—we had every reason to believe that Hillman knew Elliott’s predilection for younger women and took Ruby as a bargaining chip to lure Elliott away from Ivanov.
I was glad the man was dead.
“We’re working on that,” Mason said. “The most important thing is she’s safe.”
Madeline nodded. “I think the answer is yes.”
I turned to my friends and back to Madeline. “What was the question?”
“Can Sasha handle it? I think the answer is yes. The one quality he has always shown above Andros is a calm, cool head. Unlike Andros, he doesn’t easily anger. He makes hard decisions and can be as equally ruthless. In a way, it’s scarier. I think he can do it.” She looked up. “Is that what you all want?”
“I want Ivanov eliminated for you and Ruby,” I said.
“He threatened my city,” Sparrow said, “and at the time had a fucking good plan.”
“We don’t want to lose more men to an unnecessary war,” Mason added. “So, yes, we’d like to support the change in regime from Ivanov to Bykov.”
“I don’t know how I feel,” Maddie said, taking a seat on the sofa.
I tilted my head toward her. My friends nodded as I stepped away from the table where we’d all been seated. Offering Madeline my hand, I smiled her direction. “Come with me. They need to keep working with Reid.”
“I’m not the enemy.”
“If any of us thought you were, you wouldn’t be within earshot of what’s happening.”
She nodded as she stood. Together we walked back into the bedroom.
Closing the door, I asked, “Talk to me?”
Her green eyes turned upward to mine, glistening with unshed tears. “He promised me that I’d hate him.”
“Ivanov?”
She nodded as she paced near the large bed. “When…after he first bought me, I was so…” She looked my way. “…scared, naïve, and also grateful.”
I hated hearing her say that; however, after hearing about the cell house, I understood.
“He told me,” she continued, “that he wasn’t nice or good. I remember him telling me that as he was looking for baby furniture.” She shrugged. “I was so young and unworldly. I didn’t know they made more than baby beds. That was what the foster homes had with babies, and I was an only child…I thought. I remember him looking online for furniture for my baby, and I thought he was the most generous man I’d ever met. Here he was providing for a child that wasn’t his.”
“Madeline, I’m grateful too. I am. No matter his motivation, he allowed you to stay with Ruby.”
“He did. It was after she was born that he told me I’d hate him one day.” Her head shook. “I didn’t at the time. I was, as you said, happy to be with Ruby. I couldn’t even recount the number of times in that cell-house basement that I feared I’d never even
know the sex of my child or ever hold him or her in my arms.”
“Was he right?” I asked. “About hating him.”
Madeline took a deep breath and sat beside me on the edge of the bed. “Yes. It wasn’t all the time, and didn’t usually last, but yes, there were times I hated him. One was recently at Marion’s house when together they announced that I’d been again sold.” She looked up at me. “I don’t want to think anymore about why I hated him, the things he did or made me do, but yes, I did hate him. And then there were times he was…” She shrugged. “Nice, just like he said he wasn’t. And more recently, in the last five years, we’d come to a kind of understanding. He wanted other women. Not that I really had a say, but I was all right with that. It wasn’t an option for me to be with other men, and that was fine too. He would even talk to me about…” She shook her head. “In a way, it was like we were friends…friends where one friend holds all the power. I hated him off and on during that time too.”
“I’m not going to lie to you,” I said, reaching for her hands. The sight of her ring made me smile. “Maddie, you and Ruby will never be completely free of him as long as he’s alive. He made bad choices and now is the time.”
“But I heard one of you say you approached him for a truce.”
“We did. We lied.”
A giggle rolled from her lips. “I forget that you’re all bad men too.”
“We are. We gave Bykov our word. He’s aware the truce with Ivanov is a ruse.” A smile came to my lips. “You’re right, we can be very bad, and maybe, when we get back to Chicago, I can show you how bad.”
Maddie shook her head. “It was the paintings at the club that gave you the idea, wasn’t it?”
I lifted a brow. “No, I had my ideas before those pictures. I have nothing against a little bondage or spanking, but some of those pictures…I’d rather have you in my bed than tethered to a St. Andrews Cross.”
“Next to you in bed sounds better to me too. Tonight?” she asked.
“Yes, you’ll be in my bed tonight and the next and the next—”
“I don’t want to think about it, but please tell me…will he die tonight?”
“Not at the club. Sparrow has promised the powers of New Orleans civility, but yes, after the tournament. Bykov will deliver him for a one-on-one meeting with Sparrow. The location is set.”
“You’re not letting Sterling walk in there alone, are you?”
“Sparrow is capable of taking care of himself.” We wouldn’t allow him to go alone, but he was capable.
“Sasha is capable of manning the bratva,” Madeline said. “However, I’m not confident that he’s capable of setting up Andros. He’s been with him a long time.”
“Do you think Bykov ever hates Ivanov, like you?”
“Probably. It’s difficult to be around Andros all the time and not hate him from time to time. I know Mitchell was intimidated by him.” Her eyes widened. “Mitchell helped me. I couldn’t find my phone the second day of the Chicago tournament. I’d missed calls from Andros. We went to Club Regal to see if it was left there. Mitchell helped by keeping that information secret from Andros until we located the phone.”
“Where was it?”
“In the room. It must have fallen.” She grinned. “I thought you’d taken it.”
“I should have,” I admitted. “I wasn’t exactly thinking straight after seeing you again.”
“I wonder…”
“What do you wonder,” I asked.
“What Mitchell knows about this uprising.”
“Maddie girl, he has been off the radar since he killed Veronica Standish.”
She sprang from the bed. “Veronica, the lady from Club Regal, was killed?”
Taking a deep breath, I stood. “There was a lot happening during that tournament. We believe Ivanov was involved in the robbery of the entire tournament purse. We still don’t know how Veronica was involved, but Beckman was definitely part of it. They’re both dead.”
“Andros was right,” she said. “He isn’t a nice man. Please be careful after the tournament. He won’t hesitate to kill anyone who he perceives to be a threat.” Her eyes clouded with memories. “Even Sasha isn’t safe.”
“That’s why Ivanov has to die.”
She looked over to the clock near the television. “I should get ready for the tournament.”
I reached for her forearms and pulled her close. “You know that you don’t have to win tonight. That pressure is all self-imposed.”
Her green eyes shone up at me. “I don’t know if I want to keep doing this.”
“Playing tournaments? Or this tournament.”
“In general. It is what I do, what I excel at doing, but I have no desire for limelight. I think I’d maybe enjoy helping Araneae.”
Surely she didn’t mean at the institute.
“With Sinful Threads?” I asked.
“I know it’s crazy, but maybe I could do something to help other victims, other survivors. If she’ll allow me, at first I’ll observe. Who knows, perhaps there’s someone out there who knows about Cindy.”
“Madeline, my only request is that you keep your word by keeping those rings on your finger, proudly using your real name, and waking beside me every morning. The rest is open and up to you. I’m proud of you when I’m watching you command the poker table, and I’ll be proud of you if you work with Araneae and Laurel. The world is yours.”
“The world?”
“Yes, it’s another of the items on my list I plan to lay at your feet.”
“I don’t want the whole world.” She wrapped her arms around me. “I just want the part with you in it.”
Madeline
Wearing the green Sinful Threads dress Patrick had had delivered to the hotel closet, I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror at Boston Club. My long hair was curled and falling down my back. The bodice of the dress was low cut and the back was open. The style didn’t allow the wearing of a bra. The long silver necklace that had also appeared with my things hung between my visible cleavage. While I wouldn’t be showing as much skin as our dealer, if I had a chance of distracting my opponents, this was the dress for the job.
“You can do this,” I whispered, reassuring myself that this tournament was almost over.
With a touch-up to my lipstick, I smacked my lips, put the tube back in my handbag, and made my way out to the hallway and my waiting handsome husband. As soon as our eyes met, I knew something was happening. “What?” I asked in a low voice.
“Ivanov is here. He and Bykov are in the tournament room.”
“I’m not as worried about him as I am at having to finally speak to Marion. I swear looking at his condescending, narcissistic mug makes me see red. I have to concentrate on the game. I can’t let him distract me.”
Patrick’s one eyebrow rose as his shining blue orbs scanned down my body, heating my skin beneath. “Maddie girl, no red-blooded man can help but be distracted by you. You’re gorgeous and that dress matches your eyes.”
The timbre of his compliment went straight to my core, warming and melting.
Placing his hand in the small of my back, Patrick led me toward the tournament room. As soon as we crossed the threshold, I noticed the change from the night before.
“Holy shit, is that the purse?” I asked, nodding my head toward a glass case filled with cash.
“It is. Sparrow informed the powers-that-be about the break-in at Club Regal. Their way of protecting over ten million dollars was to keep it in plain sight.” He tilted his chin to the door behind us. “And they have the firepower. Two armed guards at the door and two who will stand sentry near the cash.”
A cold chill crawled down my spine as I shivered, taking in the armed men. “It’s a bit intimidating.”
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Elizabeth’s voice came through the speakers. “Welcome to the pièce de résistance of our tournament. Let me introduce our final five contestants. One of these talented or perhaps lucky players will le
ave tonight with the lion’s share of what you see this evening to my right.”
The room filled with murmurs of anticipation.
Sterling and Mason were already seated near the table where I’d be playing. Andros and Sasha were seated against another wall. With the exception of the seat beside Sterling, it appeared that the room was filled to capacity.
“You should be seated,” I said, smiling at my husband who was still at my side.
“I’m not leaving until you are seated.”
It wasn’t as if I would argue.
“We will now draw for seating,” Elizabeth said as the room quieted. The bowl before her held pieces of paper.
In a way, it was humorously low-tech, considering all that was at stake.
“Our first player to be seated in the number-one chair is…” She unfolded the small piece of paper. “Mr. Grant Walters.”
We all turned and smiled his direction. There was no need for competition; this part of the tournament was beyond our control. When I turned back, my gaze met Andros’s cold stare. With a quick nod, I brought my attention back to Elizabeth.
She was unfolding another paper. “And our contestant in the number-two seat is Mr. Marion Elliott.”
“Well, thank you, little lady,” Marion said with a tip of his hat.
“And our third seated contestant, as well as our player beginning this round in first place, is Mr. Edward Bellows.”
The room applauded.
He bowed toward Elizabeth before approaching his chair.
“Our fourth seated contestant and our prettiest, if I may say so, is Ms. Madeline Miller.”
Patrick squeezed my hand as I stepped forward.
As I sat, the final name was announced. “Mr. Julius Dunn.”
Sitting to my side, Julius whispered, “And look at me getting to sit beside the prettiest contestant.”
I willed my smile to appear. “Oh, Julius, I don’t know about that, but you are sitting next to the soon-to-be-crowned tournament champion.”
As our trays of chips were delivered, I couldn’t help but notice the way Marion kept looking my way. Finally, he spoke to all the contestants. “Well, good luck to one and all. You’re going to need it.”
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