Page 95 of The Trouble With Bad Boys

Yet.

Stopping by Tedesco’s side, I leaned both hands on the table and smiled. “Franco. Carmelo. So good to see you again.” Much to my pleasure—and their chagrin—Evie and Ruby were pushed aside as the two men reached to shake my hand.

“How’s winnings tonight?” I asked when they returned to their chairs.

“Well.” Mr. Tedesco gestured to the small pile of chips in front of him. “As you can see, I’ve had better days.”

“Just last month,” Santoro replied before nudging Tedesco with the back of his hand. “They about kicked you out for how well you did, remember?”

“I remember,” Todesco said, turning a wry smile to his friend. “I remember having to front you twenty grand so you could make it home to the missus without losing your head.”

“Bah. Mr. Leonetti would never harm a hair on the head of any of his beloved customers. Isn’t that right, Kingston?”

“Very right, sir.” A cold smile swept across my face as I leaned closer and lowered my voice. “That’s what I’m here for.”

Their laughter was raucous, drawing attention our way. It was fine by me. It kept half the room from seeing the security guards ushering the roulette cheater and two of his buddies away.

I stood a little straighter, then extended my hand to Tedesco again. “I’ll let you get back to your game. If you need anything at all, Ruby and Evie know how to find me.”

After shaking their hands—and giving stern looks to the girls—I sped through the casino as fast as I could without drawing unwanted attention. Our head bouncer, Cole, was waiting for me near the back doors.

“How bad is it?” I asked before coming to a stop in front of him.

“Coulda been worse,” he told me in a slow drawl. “They tried the mix-up a few times, made a couple grand each, but Sienna caught on quick enough. Guys upstairs didn’t catch the sleight of hand until you brought it to their attention. They’re good. Makes me wonder how many other times they’ve been here.”

My lips curled. “It’ll be their last time, that’s for sure.”

Cole’s smile was the kind that gave good people nightmares. Luckily for me, I wasn’t good.

“You got the bat?”

“Tony’s holding onto it for you.” He gestured toward the alley door, and I led him outside.

The three assholes were on their knees with her hands tied behind their backs—one of them was already in tears.

I grabbed the bat from Tony and stepped in front of the man Sienna had pegged. “Since you felt the need to come into our club and take what wasn’t yours, I’ll be taking a little something from you in return.”

The man flinched as I hit the bat against my open palm. His crying buddy blubbered, his words nearly incoherent. “You can’t!”

“Can’t?” I stepped to the side, and then used the end of the bat to lift his chin. “I can, and I will.”

“It’s illegal! You can’t hurt us!”

Laughter shook my shoulders. “It’s illegal.” I glanced at Cole. “The guy comes to an underground casino, steals from us, and then complains that it’s illegal to hurt him.”

“Pretty sure there ain’t no cops gonna come around here and risk upsetting the apple cart. Not with the kind of money they stand to lose.”

I looked back at the man, my teeth bared in a tight smile. “If you’re done with your sniveling, I’ve got work to do. Load ‘em up, boys.”

One of the bouncers pulled open the back doors of an unmarked white van, and the crying asshole burst into tears. As they grabbed him by the arms and threw him in the back of the van, the head cheater found his voice.

“I’m gonna fucking kill you for this.” He was more calm than he had a right to be, especially as they pulled him off his knees. “You won’t get away with this.”

With the bat resting on my shoulder, I tilted my head. “Good luck trying. It’ll be hard to kill me from the bottom of Lake Michigan.”

Before he had a chance to react to my words, I swung the bat, taking out his left knee. I tossed the bat to Cole, then turned back to the door. “Make them suffer.”

“My pleasure.”

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