"So, baby, tell me…"
I shivered just a little at the 'baby'—it wasn’t any better than sweetheart.
"Hmm?"
"How have you been? Alex not giving you any trouble?"
I wondered why he was asking. "Since you lengthened his leash a bit, he hasn’t been around much lately, mostly just to sleep. I get a little bored by myself." I shrugged, taking another sip of my drink. "I did call Zoe so we could meet up."
I met his gaze, and then lowered my eyes as I bit my lip, looking down at the glass I held on my lap between my hands. I carefully arranged my face, and he took the bait, a finger under my chin raising my face up so he could meet my eyes. His thumb tugged at my lower lip until I had to release it from my teeth.
"What is it, Destiny? Is something wrong with Zoe?"
"No… not with Zoe." I hesitated, instilling a little anxiety in my voice and look.
"Then what is it."
"Well, it's just… don’t tell Zoe, okay? I don’t want her to know, but… someone made a pass at me."
His expression went hard, like I knew it would. His hand on my chin tightened to the point of pain, but I didn’t show how uncomfortable it made me.
"Tell me who it is, Destiny."
I gave him the name Alex had given me, and I watched his eyes darken.
I didn’t even know what this guy looked like, but Angelo took me at my word. Even if he didn’t care about me, that one of his underlings would go around him like that was bound to piss him off. Angelo would go out of his way to teach him—and his other people by extension—a lesson, if he didn’t outright kill him.
He smiled through his annoyed look. I wondered if he knew just how much more frightening that made him. But he let go of my chin to ruffle his fingers through my hair.
"There's no need for you to worry about him, Destiny. I will have a talk with him."
"Just please don’t tell Zoe?" I pled again. She didn’t need to know about it.
He just smiled wider, and gave my lips a light peck. "Don’t worry. She does not need to know the information. If it bothers you so much, I'll make sure it doesn’t get to that."
I wouldn’t let Zoe—or anyone—get in the way of our plans. I'd thought we were friends, but she was my enemy now. I had no one else, which meant all my loyalty now lay with Alex and the future he'd promised me.
Even as I pretended relief and a return of my earlier happiness, leaning into Angelo's space, I knew why he would do this for me. Even if he found out his goon's goal was to kill me rather than sleep with me. Not because he wanted to protect me; because he would probably want the pleasure of killing me himself.
His eyes betrayed nothing, but I knew with a certainty that came from living with him for nearly a year. He was just that good an actor that he wouldn’t give it away. His drink was finished, and I reached for the bottle, pouring him another, then set it back down.
I threw my arm around his shoulder again, the other hand still holding the glass of liquor. "Thanks for doing this for me. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."
"Think nothing of it." His arm curled around me, hand on my hip. "No one working for me should treat you so callously."
I just smiled. Not unless it was himself.
"To be honest, I was a little worried about telling you."
"Why?"
I hesitated, just enough to amp his interest, but not so long that he prompted me to speak.
"It's just… I overheard something that worried me a little."
He took a drink, holding my eyes. "Tell me." It was a command more than a request.
I felt slightly bad for what I was about to do. But then I reminded myself that Zoe was willing to get me killed to push her new agenda. I had appreciated her as a friend in the time I had thought of her that way, but I wouldn’t flash my throat for her to slit over something she so easily tossed aside.
I sighed, taking a casual sip of my drink and avoiding his eyes. "I heard Zoe talking about money, if it was enough or something like that? I was a bit further away, so I couldn’t hear properly, I didn’t catch any details. He was trying to reassure her that he had enough; said something about them being able to go wherever they wanted, if she could just wait a bit longer. I couldn’t make sense of much of it, but I don’t think Zoe has the kind of money it would take to get her anywhere outside of Chicago. Not sure about your guy, though."
Chapter 17
Alex
Maybe two weeks after I met the last clients and collected the two hundred grand, Angelo contacted me again.
He wanted to meet; I didn’t.
Because I didn’t trust him, I hadn't spoken to him except for a few times over the phone since the first time I met him. But when his babysitter knocked on our door and handed me the phone, I knew I didn’t have a choice in the matter. I could go willingly, or he could have his people drag me.
It would be within the confines of the hotel, anyway.
I'd had him convinced I was keeping hold of the money as a failsafe. Of course, he wasn’t a man to play fair; he called Destiny and told her where to take the money, the threat to her health unsaid but very real if it didn’t get to where he wanted it to, when he wanted it. He was awfully confident I was still in his grasp, giving me excuses about my dad and why he still wouldn’t let me see him.
If I'd thought my dad's death no longer angered me, I was wrong. I realized, when I got to see Angelo for the first time in a while, that it wasn’t even close. He still looked as I remembered; a big guy, dressed in a dark, classy, expensive suit, with his glossy hair slicked back. A man that exuded an aura of 'rich' and 'power,' that attracted people—mostly, women—around him.
Seeing him sit there so calmly pissed me off. I wanted to rage at the world; to rage at Angelo. But what good would it do? I had to do what I always did; play smart.
Angelo asked Destiny and me both to meet him in the casino. I'd assumed we'd get a quiet night, settle in for some sleep. We couldn’t do anything at the hotel—I wasn’t sure just how closely we were being monitored and didn’t want to risk it at the suite—but I would feel better if it was just the two of us.
We hadn't gotten to spend much alone time outside of the suite, what little there had been we'd spent going over plans. I was starting to regret that 'no intimacy' rule that I'd asked for. And then Angelo decided to be annoying.
We were supposed to look upscale, so I at least had the privilege of being the first to see Destiny all dressed up. We were just going to the lobby, but the casino was part of the hotel, and there was a dress code. It wasn’t quite so strict; but Angelo was.
I was in a black shirt and slacks, while Destiny had decided to go with red, a halter dress of simple design that fell to her feet, but with a high slit up one side, to mid-thigh. She had heels that brought her height to mine, her hair held up in a messy hairstyle, with gold earrings and a matching gold necklace, a ring and a couple of bracelets on each wrist.
I gave her the look that dress deserved, and she smiled. I held my arm out for her, waiting for her to place her hand around my elbow, and I led her outside. I may not have been born into the high-class lifestyle, but I'd learned to play as if I had.
We entered an elevator with a few people inside. All eyes were most definitely on Destiny. Moments later, we were on the first floor and gliding across the lobby to get to the casino. The doors were wide open, and pretty much anyone could go inside. But we weren’t going to mingle with the just 'anybody’ crowd. I navigated us through the crowd, to a closed door near the back.
Only a few people, compared to the rest of the casino, ever got past those doors. It was opened for us before we even got there.
The room was just slightly smaller than the other, and pretty much the same décor except for the green carpet that covered the whole floor. Also, there were fewer people, fewer tables, and the atmosphere was quieter, more mellow. I prefer the comfort of being surrounded by a crowd, but the quieter room did have its use. It was mea
nt for the people that didn’t play for a joy ride or a walk on the dark side; they were serious about the game, and stakes were always high, which meant concentration had to be higher, with more smarts in the games than luck.
Another door led to the computer stations. Since the room was open to just about anyone so long as they paid the fee, it had a separate door from the other room, which made this an adjoining door. it probably only opened on one side, so uninvited patrons didn’t wander inside.
Destiny and I weren’t going there, though. Angelo was waiting for us at a table in a far corner, simply observing the action in the room. He noticed us walk in, and gestured for us to get closer. One of his men sat next to him, setting up a laptop on the low coffee table in front of him.
As we neared him, Destiny slid her hand out of my arm, and I had to stop myself from automatically holding her there. Angelo gave her a tight smile a she sat beside him, but he was appreciative of her looks. I took a seat diagonally from theirs, keeping my face blank, so he wouldn’t see I wanted to punch his face in.
I wasn’t sure how a fight between us would go, though. He was slightly bigger, and I didn’t doubt he'd know how to fight. Most of the fights I'd gotten into—and they were few, my bigger love was tech so I mostly just got into a few scuffles for the little scams—had been in the streets, and the down and dirty kind.
Scratch that. I knew how that fight would go; he would wipe the floor with me. The guy was ruthless; I knew nothing about that kind of shit. I would kill to save my own life, but I imagined he did it as more of a hobby.
"Alex, so glad you could make it," Angelo greeted me.
"Of course. You asked me down here after all." My tone was bland, and we exchanged tight smiles.
I could tell something was up. It wasn’t so obvious, but I was good at reading people—in physical poker, it came in handy—and I could tell that he was a bit unsettled.
I wondered if it had something to do with what Destiny told him when they met last. I would have thought the feds, but he thought all authority as something easily taken care of, and thus not a matter of concern. I didn’t get the details, I'd gotten back to find her gone, so I'd hid the money and waited. It was a surprise hearing Angelo had called her out. She couldn’t go into it, but the grim look on her face told me she had said something to him—and he'd taken it to heart.
They were about to start playing, or were already playing, the clients we'd worked with. Angelo wouldn’t have called me in for anything else. He probably wanted me to monitor everything. I never said I would, but he probably thought I could. He turned to his man, watched as he finished his set up, then waved him away.
"You were asking for a computer a while ago."
Yeah, weeks ago. I gave up when he refused.
"I need you to monitor a few games for me."
I got up and sat behind the computer. It was already hooked up to the house's system, all I had to do was find the virtual rooms the games would be taking place, and look at them.
"Look at them closely and tell me if anything is amiss. I will be looking at the progress, here," he held up his phone, that I'd synched to my own phone, but he received minimal information compared to what I got. "I trust you'll be able to see any discrepancies?" he arched a supercilious eyebrow.
"Yeah, I can. I'm the best, remember?" I smirked.
He answered with a tight smile, and it was marginally warmer as he turned to Destiny, even as his eyes remained cold and calculating. "Why don’t we leave Alex to his work, hmm? I have some friends I would like to introduce you to."
Had he asked me to bring Destiny along as a threat? If I didn’t do as he wanted, would he hurt her? I didn’t want to find out.
I focused on the computer in front of me, using my phone to track down my software. The internet was a big place. It was easy to get lost in. With millions of pages online and open at any time, finding one specific one, without a keyword, could be difficult. There weren’t nearly as many virtual poker rooms as that, even though there were a lot, but the poker players were another matter; and I needed to find about five of them. The other, earlier versions should have bitten the dust already, if they'd been used immediately.
Finding my targets was easy though.
I had a moment to be proud of the new recalibrations I'd added to the app. They were in the app to begin with, like a hound with a good nose, they could track footsteps. I made sure I could hack into the games my software was active in and play on top of that player, with my own separate hand, and we'd both be getting wins; all synched to the 'home base' I set up in my phone, and it wouldn’t be traceable. I'd been leery of interfering before, but this worked out perfectly; I didn’t own the devices the software worked from, so none of it would come back and bite me in the ass.
Then I decided, why not do a little playing myself? I hadn't in a while. I was here, and I was already growing bored; Angelo had wandered off with Destiny, and I kept a cursory eye on them. I needed something to do, and there wasn’t a rule that said I couldn’t participate in one of the games.
As I settled in to watch and play, I took a pair of earphones out of my pocket, attached them to my phone. I didn’t use an ear bud in one ear, keeping the volume low so I could keep track of my surroundings. I smiled a little at the clear sound that came through.
"Please, meet my lovely date, Destiny Turner…"
It was Angelo's voice, speaking from some distance across the room, and I heard him as clearly as if I was standing next to him.
Though I was better at software than hardware when it came to tech, Belt made sure his team more than made up for my lack. I'd asked Destiny to put on those specific earrings for that reason, so I could hear whatever went on between them. I had to sneak out again just to get Belt to bug them, though I hadn't realized we'd be using them so soon.
I was dividing my attention into three, but I was good at multitasking.
In between playing, I watched. I was raking in money—even though it was just from the small games—and I wasn’t the only one; all the guys I'd given the software to were getting good winnings, if not high. A couple of them worked both low earners and high priced tables, so they were getting more money faster. It would burn them out sooner, but already I could see they were each close to earning out their down payment.
I wondered just how closely Angelo was following the games when I heard something in my ear.
"What's wrong, Angelo."
I looked up surreptitiously to see them standing by themselves, close to the wall, away from the group they had been talking to. He was looking at his phone, Destiny beside him.
"There's something wrong."
Destiny leaned in closer to him so she could see, and I felt annoyed at the proximity.
"I don’t get it. Those are wins, right…?"
"They are. But do you notice that bar at the bottom? It's my account, where all the money we're earning should be going in. The $200,000 from the last collection hasn’t even reflected yet. You took the money where I told you to, right?" His voice sounded low and threatening.
"Yes, I swear. The day before yesterday, just like you said. No one else knew about it, I didn’t even tell Alex, except maybe…"
I listened closely, surprised yet again at how good an actor Destiny was. And she claimed she didn’t have any intelligence.
"What?"
"Zoe. We talked a bit before you told me, even argued a bit. She said some strange things, but… You don’t think…"
"What?" he repeated, impatient.
Destiny continued in a halting voice, full of disbelief. "Do you think Zoe could actually try to steal from you? Because I don’t know anyone else I could think of. She was only with the one guy, that I knew of, so if you've taken care of him then she has to be working by herself."
"How could she possibly do that," Angelo persisted.
"I don’t know, Zoe has always been so careful around me, so I have no idea what she's capable of. But you have Alex, right? Mayb
e she found someone like him, who knows about this sort of thing? Did you already take care of that guy?" she asked him.
"I… took care of him, made sure he understood what it meant to cross me," he answered.
She hesitated again, laying it on a bit thick, but she had his full attention. I was watching them while keeping a lazy eye on the ongoing games.
"There was… something. The day after I stopped by Zoe's place, she came to visit. She didn’t get into the hotel, though, asked me to meet her outside, so I did. Only I didn’t even get to talk to her. I caught her on her phone and I heard some more… stuff. I think there'd been a change in her plans, when that guy she had helping her didn’t show up."
I could hear their conversation grow steadily angry and desperate, as he continued to ask for an explanation, and she gave plausible stories that he couldn’t entirely discount. I continued to win. Hell, I was feeling good enough, a nice plan falling into place, that I played some of the bigger tables.
I worked on something quickly on the side, because I didn't like the tone Angelo was suddenly taking with Destiny. A discreet look their way told me he had his hand wrapped around her arm in a punishing grip. It took me a minute, while my app continued to work automatically, as I set something up.
The money wasn’t going where he was thinking. The apps were wired to send the money to a different account, besides the original one. The account it went to, was one closely monitored by the FBI under suspicion of money laundering. The money would get there under the hotel's tag, just enough evidence that the FBI could make an arrest if they wanted to.
I sent Destiny fake generated account info to her phone, using a router so it would look like it was coming from a blocked number. I watched, as she took her buzzing phone out of her purse and looked at the message. Then handed the phone to Angelo so he could see it, too.
Chapter 18
Dirty Money: A Dark Mafia Romance (Alpha Men Book 1) Page 11
