Page 101 of Royal Flush

As long as Jasmine was left to enjoy her life the way she wanted without interference.

“Yeah, some crazy stuff in this world,” Jack said.

“I appreciate you finding what you have.”

“You know Santini is dangerous.”

“And I’m not?” I asked, growling from seeing Jasmine’s provocative wave before obviously winning another hand. What the hell was I going to do with the woman and her… cheating ways?

“You know what I mean, Brax. There’s word on the street that Jasmine is considered a valuable commodity. With those photographs surfacing of the two of you together, innocent or not, there is no doubt you have a target on your back.”

“Such is life. I need to get back to her.”

“Maggie. It also took some digging, but it appears she’s the daughter of a rival. She was hiding her identity but that might be why she was fired.”

Things were starting to make sense. “Excellent. Now, I need to go.” I doubted Jasmine knew the girl’s true identity.

“Wait. I need to show you something. I don’t know what it means but it’s worth you looking at.” He pulled up his device, getting to a secure network. Within seconds, he’d found a DC news broadcast.

As I listened to the reporter, images floated back and forth from one important street and neighborhood to another. The reason for the heavy police presence was unanswered, although it would appear reporters had been trying. “What the hell?”

“Like I said, I don’t know but I have an itchy feeling there’s something going on that has more to do with politics than typical crime. I have feelers out but even I’ve hit a dead end.”

Something stuck in my craw, a feeling that I knew wouldn’t go away. “Just keep me informed.”

“You’ll be the first to know. Enjoy your evening with that beautiful woman. And, by the way, the suntan looks damn good on you, buddy.”

All I could do was laugh.

Jasmine

Maybe I just enjoyed living by the seat of my pants, risking it all for that taste of danger that had always excited me. That’s why I continued to push buttons, including with Braxton.

If he’d known I’d conned a couple of the hapless older men, he hadn’t said a peep. I guess a part of me had simply wanted to defy him to see what he would do. Now we were back in the villa doing one of my favorite things, gazing at the ocean.

He was in the process of removing his tuxedo jacket and tie, tossing them aside without his eyes ever leaving me.

“What?” I finally asked.

“You were breathtaking tonight, the belle of the ball.”

“I don’t know about that. There are some beautiful women eager to surrender to ugly old men.”

“Hey,” he taunted, slowly removing his black onyx and diamond cufflinks. Every time he was dressed up, I sensed multiple thousands of dollars. “Careful what you say, my little koala. A lot of those men are my age.”

“As I said. Old.”

He shook his head, appreciating the banter as much as I had up to this point.

Being given the privilege of seeing him in a cheap pair of swim trunks had been a sheer joy, a favorite memory. But you could take the man out of money; you couldn’t take the money out of a man.

At least he was the sexiest eye candy around. I realized I was dragging the tip of my tongue back and forth across my bottom lip in appreciation. He certainly noticed as he started unbuttoning his shirt.

“You are one bad girl, but I do adore that about you. Why don’t you slip into the shower?”

“Am I a dirty girl too?”

He took several deep breaths. “Let’s just say the ocean was invigorating and it’s hard to ignore the passionate effects.”

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