Page 75 of Queen Of WildCards

Iwas honestly glad for it.IfI'dbeen sprawled on that couch in the morning, wearing his clothes, there was no doubt the others would never let him live it down, and their mocking would no doubt set him back.

Ihad to face downJoker, though, when we woke again becauseIwas in sore need of a bra to go under my strappy tank.Andhe was in possession of all my clothing in his room.

Isnuck in while he snored, oblivious to my comings and goings—or soIthought.WhenImade it to my bags on the far side of the room, his snoring stopped, andIheard the telltale groan of a man stretching, the accompanying noises a universal code forfuck mornings.

Hiseyes found mine asIturned to face him, on edge about the wayI'dacted last night, everything from my fit about the clothes to the wanton use of his bed, to howInearly tried to die in his bathroom.

Goodman that he was, he broke the silence first.

"Sleepwell?" he muttered, rubbing the back of his head as he took in the clothes on my body and my now decidedly less-pale skin.

Ishrugged, reaching down to rifle through my bag. "Islept okay."Maybeif he didn't ask me to talk about it, we could pretend it never happened.

"So, about last night—"

Ofcourse he'd want to talk about it.

Iwas saved from the awkward conversation by the fact that none of my clothes were where they should be.Ifrowned at the now-empty bag, lifting the one that had contained my shoes and finding it, too, empty.

Ifrowned at his sheepish expression. "Notto get sidetracked, but where are my clothes?"

Hisfrown turned into a little bit of a sheepish smile. "CheckWhoreNarnia."

No.Hewouldn't.

"Cassian,Iswear to god if you put my clothes side by side with—"

Iyanked the closet door open and was about to go full-on murderous when the bluster melted away.

Thisman, this beautiful fucking man, had removed all the whore clothes from his closet and replaced them with mine, or what little bitIbrought with me.Iwasn't sure where all the other clothes had gone, but he'd filled this closet with my things, even going so far as to line my shoes up on the floor nice and neatly.

Iturned back to him, stunned nearly speechless.

"Youdid this?"

Hisnod was barely perceptible, butIcaught it as he blushed a pretty shade of red. "Youwere safe with him, andIneeded something to keep me busy."Heruffled his hair absently, still not meeting my gaze. "Couldn'tsleep."

Iturned away, ashamedI'dsunk right back to that lowest of lows so easily.Iwanted to tell him everything—wanted to make him understand how fucked upIwas, butIwas ashamed that he'd gone out of his way to do something nice for me, and allI'ddone to him last night was use him for some fucking—literally.

JustasIpulled a bra from the hanger, someone knocked at the door, andJokerscrambled to open it before they pounded right through it.

"Keepyour pants on, asshole;I'mcoming—"

Heopened the door to an irateAce, whose face was now sporting a hell of a shiner on the left side. "Getyour ass to the kitchen.There'sbeen a complication."

CHAPTERTHIRTY-THREE

ACE

Trouble, as it turned out, was more than brewing.Whilewe'd been worried about one lone woman, while my men fell at her feet like horny lovesick fools in a matter of days, the enemy had snuck closer and sunk his talons into my turf—our turf.

Andthat couldn't be ignored.

Isat at the head of the table,BlackJackon my left,Spadeat my right, andJokerdirectly in front of me.

"Therewas a lovely development last night at the racetrack,"Istarted, notingSpade'sgrimace of frustration and pain as he nursed the stitches he damn near pulled to keep me from taking the butt of a shotgun barrel to the face. "Iended up on the business end of a pump action twelve gauge, reputation be damned.Turnsout someone's going around town, telling people we've lost our touch, and that we're jewel sharks now, thieving from our own kind to fill our pockets."

Jokersank lower into his seat, shame marring his sleep-tousled features. "I'vehad no luck pinning my contact down, and they've moved locations."Heshook the last dregs of exhaustion from his face and lifted the nearby coffee to his lips, basking in its warmth and the caffeine boost it gave him. "Ifhe's still around, though,I'llfucking find him, don't worry."

---