Page 3 of Wild Ace

She smiles and shrugs, handing me one of the glasses. “It’s a party shot.”

Laughing, I clink glasses with hers and we shoot back our shots, the cold vodka going down easy.

“Just like old times,” Cassie says with a wide grin. She looks down at the takeout menus I have on the counter and picks up the one for Anthony’s Pizzeria. “Now, let’s have one more shot for good measure, order a pizza, and then I’ll show you the dress I brought for you.”

I take this shot with a little more urgency than the last, knowing the dress she brought me will undoubtedly require me to have a little extra liquor to wear. I love Cassie for her confidence and love of clothes that show off her amazing curves, but I’m more reserved when it comes to showing off what my mom blessed me with.

I order us a pizza and she runs over to her bag. “You’re going to love this!” Unzipping her overnight bag, she pulls out a rolled-up dress, and when she holds it up, my eyes widen and my jaw slacks.

“You can’t be serious, Cass. That would barely cover me. Anywhere. I can’t wear that. It’s either boobs or legs, not both.”

“Fine,” she sighs. “I thought you’d say that, so I brought another one I think you’ll like better.” She pulls out another rolled up dress and holds it up.

I smile immediately, taking it from her. “Now that, I’ll wear.”

“I thought you’d say that. Which is why I showed you the other one first. It’s the dress I’m going to wear.” She smirks, grabbing her makeup bag and walking down the hall to my bathroom.

The dress is a pale pink bodycon with skinny spaghetti straps. It’ll probably hit me mid-thigh, but the slit that goes up the entire thigh will show off some serious leg. Which is why I’m glad the straight-cut neckline will contain my boobs nicely.

Meeting Cassie in the bathroom, we do our hair together and then take a pizza break when it arrives before starting our makeup and slipping into our dresses.

“Damn, we look good,” Cassie states matter-of-factly, turning to the left and right to look at herself from all sides. Her red hair is curled in big waves and it stands out nicely against her black dress. Her hair is like a siren to men. It never fails. “We’re definitely going to have the men clamoring to buy us drinks tonight.”

“I guess that would save me some money.” I laugh, pulling my dress down at the hem and then up at the neckline.

“We have to think economically, Lex. But you know my rule. Neither of us leaves the other alone for anything or anyone. We can lure the men in, but we don’t go anywhere alone with them.”

We had a scary mishap back when we were freshman at a frat party that could’ve had a horrible ending had I not gone looking for her when she didn’t come back from the bathroom after a while.

“I know,” I say reverently, and we share a look.

“Just making sure.” Clearing her throat, she gives herself one more look in the mirror and then leaves to go put her heels on.

I follow her into my room and do the same. “I haven’t worn heels in a long time. I’m not looking forward to the pain I’m going to endure in a few hours.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll just numb it with liquor. Or maybe find a way to weasel ourselves into VIP so we can sit.”

“Sounds good.” I smile.

Transferring my essentials into my small purse, I order us a cab.

Chapter 2

Lexi

The ride to The Aces is only ten minutes, and when we arrive, I instantly feel at ease inside the casino.

I’ve only legally been able to gamble on a casino floor for six months, but I’ve been gambling in casinos since I was eighteen and could pass as ‘old enough’. Besides, gambling is a relative term to me because it insinuates a risk, and I don’t risk much when I play. I win.

I haven’t had to use my particular skill in a while, but when I did, I always made sure to stay under the five thousand earnings limit so I wouldn’t have to show my ID and be outed as a minor, or fill out a form to claim my winnings as taxable income. I also flew under all the casinos’ radars when it came to card counting by only winning in small batches and moving on, and then not returning for at least a month.

I went to a different casino almost every weekend, and never once had been stopped or questioned. I was good. I am good. I just haven’t had to do it lately because I used my refund from my fall semester to pay for my spring semester, and I had a large enough stash of extra cash to live off of comfortably for a while.

On top of that, Charles bought out the apartment I live in when he first got together with my mom. He wanted to take a burden off her shoulders, which now means I get to live rent-free for as long as I’d like.

And while I’m very comfortable in the casinos in town, The Aces is the one I don’t run my game on, knowing full-well it’s run by the Carfano family. My mom told me to be careful if I ever went there. She said the Carfanos weren’t to be underestimated or messed with. Ever.

Of course, that only made me want to go more, and when I finally did, it was quite underwhelming. I don’t know why I thought I would be bumping into real-life mafia men the moment I walked inside. I was picturing overweight Italian men standing guard, each with a fat cigar in one hand and a pinky ring on his other as he runs it through his thinning hair. There were none in sight. Not even close.

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