Page 77 of Saviors

“How did you make your money?” I was too curious about them to feel embarrassed about my question.

“Reid inherited some. But I made my own.”

“Doing what?”

“Playing cards.”

“What?” My head shook in disbelief. I saw him playing around the house, solitaire or other games with Maverick. But I didn’t think much of it. I thought it was for fun.

He looked serious as he pulled a deck from his pocket. The edges of the box were worn, and the cards were discolored from years of use. “My dad was a dealer at a casino. He learned to play by watching and he taught me when I was little.”

The way he spoke about his father told me he was gone. My chest ached to ask, but I didn’t. I knew about wounds you didn’t want to open. If he wanted to tell me, he would.

“I play in games with high stake bets and I win a lot.”

“I had no idea you could make a living like that.”

“If you know what you’re doing.” He shifted the salt and pepper, then moved aside glasses on the table, creating a space for him to deal the cards. “Have you ever played poker?”

“No.” I listened to him lay out the rules. His love for the game was infectious. I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face as he tried to teach me. It was like he was sharing a secret. A part of himself I hadn’t known existed.

I spent the rest of dinner losing to him. Our plates balanced on the edge of the table as he dealt round after round. We had bites in between playing. It should have made me feel more out of place, but by the time we were eating dessert, I didn’t even notice the people anymore.

Except for a little girl.

She was only nine or so and seated by herself. Her table didn’t have a tablecloth. Instead, it was filled with napkins, forks, and knives. It was shoved into the corner closest to the kitchen and used for the servers to roll silverware.

Her brown hair fell over her cheeks as she did just that. Over and over again, she tucked the napkin around them. It was clear this was something she did often. She had a faraway expression on her face. Not bored, but disconnected.

I’d seen that same expression in the mirror a million times. She was too young to look like that.

I wondered where her parents were. Why she was here. Every few minutes, she’d turn her eyes to us as if she longed to join our game.

My view of her was obscured as someone approached our table. He had a white coat with the restaurant logo across his chest. He couldn’t have been older than twenty-one with frizzy, curly brown hair and tan skin.

“Felipe.” Connor smiled as he stood to hug him. “Good to see you.”

“I wish I could say the same.” He said even as he embraced him back. “I didn’t think they let gangsters in here.”

I sucked in a sharp breath at the insult, knowing it couldn’t possibly be true. But Connor wasn’t fazed; he just laughed. “Yeah, the standards have really gone down when they started letting a street kid cook.”

“The pot and the kettle.” I didn’t have time to wonder what that meant because Felipe turned his attention to me. “And this must be your girl.”

“Oh, well…” My voice faded as I reached out to shake his offered hand. I wasn’t sure how to define what we were, especially without Maverick and Reid here. Did other people outside the club know what they were like? Was the fact that they shared women common knowledge? If I came here with one of the other guys, would it look like I was cheating on Connor?

Why did I continue to care about other people’s opinions?

“It was delicious, as always.” Connor saved me, redirecting his focus.

“Yes. I loved it.” I was just happy to enjoy food again without worrying. But maybe that was the man in front of me and not the meal. I trusted him to keep me safe, no matter what.

“Thank you.” His smile was full of youthful confidence. He seemed too young to be a head chef at a high-end restaurant, but I couldn’t deny that the food had been amazing. “Tell Mav I’ll be calling soon to set up—.”

“I’ll let him know.” Connor slapped him on the shoulder, ending the interaction. Felipe smiled before he walked away. He didn’t greet any other customers as he headed to the kitchen, but he did stop to ruffle the little girl’s hair. She looked up at him with round, innocent eyes.

“I’ll be right back.” I felt bad when Connor stood because I hadn’t been listening to him for the last few minutes. I’d been too curious about the little girl, seeing myself in her. Beaten down. Alone.

I watched the muscles in his body rippling as he walked away. I expected him to turn down the hallway into the bathroom. Instead, he slid into the booth across from her.

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