Page 5 of Royal Flush

When he turned abruptly, taking a couple of steps away, I was rewarded by several guests giving their nod of respect.

“You’re like a mafia boss,” Travis said from behind me.

I was able to chuckle at his off the cuff remark. “No. More powerful.”

Steve spun back around in my direction, now pointing his finger at me. “Make no mistake, Mr. Royal. You will pay for this. I have friends. I have colleagues. This club will go down.”

He knew better than to make the threat directly within an arm’s length. Fucking coward.

After he’d headed off to probably try to regroup, I smirked. “Make certain our guest is on that flight, Travis.”

“Yes, sir.”

“A shit of a night.” My comment was said more in passing than anything.

“Well, then I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it might just go from bad to worse.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning,” he huffed. “Now, I’ll show you what I brought you here for.”

My reputation of being a dangerous man remained intact, something that allowed me a peaceful feeling.

Most of the time.

But even without Travis’ warning, I could feel a storm brewing.

One with dark clouds and a destructive aftermath.

And I was never wrong.

CHAPTER 2

Braxton

As we walked through the festive area, I was more than curious as to what he could possibly show me that would be more of an irritation.

“What’s going on?” I asked as we continued our walk toward the main casino.

“I would normally handle the situation, Mr. Royal, but she’s not a regular.”

“Travis. You’ve worked for the family long enough to call me by my first name. Not that I don’t appreciate you keeping a keen eye on the establishment, but you seemed quite antsy to show me whatever issue you mentioned.” A she. Very few things ever befuddled the man. The fact that a female guest had meant she was running a con. I could already feel it in my blood. “A con artist.”

“How do you always know? You’ll need to see her expertise yourself. That’s why I troubled you. I’ve never witnessed anyone quite so… effective.”

“Now you have me more than curious.” The man knew how much I enjoyed sparring with difficult women, although none had been worth their salt during the last few years. That made the bad boy inside of me churn with even more sadistic needs.

“Well, let’s say what you’re about to witness will satisfy your adoration of beautiful women, but I daresay you’ll consider them much more cunning than before. Right this way.”

Several private alcoves for high dollar poker games had been established early on. Some guests, usually males, enjoyed nothing more than coming to the Royal Players Club for the cognac, Cuban cigars, and the ability to indulge in their love of poker for days on end. In my mind, they could do that in Vegas, bypassing such an egregious price, but who was I to complain?

The rooms hadn’t been designed with the ability to close them off, the open layout something else we were noted for. That allowed for management to check throughout the night to ensure everything was as it should be.

The only areas that didn’t have full access to them were the private rooms designed for a couple or multiple couples to engage in their carnal acts. We had even recently added a blocked-off forest for primal hunts, all the rage in the kink world. I wouldn’t mind tracking down a beautiful, naked woman, tying her to a tree for heated discipline. Sadly, it wasn’t in my job description.

I headed to one of the bars, which was only feet away from the entrance to one of the rooms. After ordering my signature scotch, we walked closer. Travis nodded toward the only woman sitting at the table.

I was struck by her extreme beauty, especially when she turned her head in my direction. Her eyes were the color of rich plums, her irises rimmed in gold. With her long, dark curly hair, the violet dress accentuating her eyes and the shimmer of her skin, I was surprisingly mesmerized.

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