Page 25 of Drowned in Gold

Honestly, I love when he does this. It brings the energy of the group flying high. He just dropped two hundred thousand on one hand. Either the casino is going to kick him out, or laugh as he starts kicking chairs over.

“C’mon you beautiful son of a bitch.” Ace clenches the ledge of the table, scratching the green felt. “Yuri, I’m talking to you. If I win this, I’m kissing that bald head.”

“Hey, I still have some hair left.” Yuri untangles a curl from behind his temple.

Ace laughs nervously.

The dealer starts the hand.

The first set of cards comes down the line. Deuce and six for the random players, king for Yuri, jack for Ace, seven for me, and queen for Tony. Dealer’s showing a queen.

“Give me that pot ’o gold, hunnie. Do it for big daddy.” Ace glances at the dealer’s eyes, then back to the cards.

I’m holding Ace’s shoulders in anticipation.

Here it comes.

Ten. Three. Six…

The dealer pauses on the big drop. Ace!

“Woo!” The Russian cackles.

“Wait,” I say. “Dealer has to check.”

“Insurance?” She looks at all of us, asking if we want to hedge in case she has blackjack.

Big Ace puckers his lips. “Let it ride, baby.”

The dealer flips a king, and no one is upset that they lost, because Big Ace brought it home! That’s a three-hundred thousand profit. Blackjack pays one-and-a-half at this table.

He jolts out of his seat and kisses Yuri on the head, as promised. Then he takes a ten-thousand-dollar chip and beckons the dealer to lean over the table and come get it.

“Ah, ah!” Ace holds up a finger, stopping her from taking the tip. “Give me a big one, right here.” He points to his cheek.

She glances over to her manager – who rolls his eyes.

The dealer smiles and plants a big kiss on him. See? I told you Big Ace is infectious. The table cheers as if we’re playing craps, and no one’s complaining about it.

“Welp! Better get out of here before I clean out the entire casino, eh?” Ace flips the two random players a thousand-chip each, and saunters toward the steakhouse at the end of the casino. I’m up about fifty-thousand, and Yuri about seventy. We’re all riding on a high, which is the perfect time to bring it down a notch.

I hang back with one arm around the Russian. “Bet you didn’t have this much fun with the Barones.”

He looks at me with a side-eye, suspicious.

“Fine, don’t want to bring up the other families? I can respect that.” I drop my arm off his back and fix my blazer.

“You know, Bullion… Don Gio and I got along once upon a time. Even before he was the big boss. Would I have went gambling over a drink with him? No. He was a little too much for me. But.” He holds up a finger. “I respected his business.”

“The son’s even better,” I say.

“Maybe yes, maybe no. But one thing I can’t stand, is that spawn of Satan that came out of Shadow’s dick.”

“You know he’s no longer a problem…”

“Ah.” He coughs. “Sometimes, that’s not enough. The Rigiano name is one I will never associate myself with again. Bad dealings led to my brother six-feet under. Shadow could crawl out of jail to kiss my feet, and I’d still kick his teeth in. Someone has to be responsible.” He presses his hand hard on the back of my neck, massaging it so I get his point.

“What if I told you, my crew isn’t a big fan of our little alliance either?”

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