Page 93 of Queen Of WildCards

Spade'schuckle greeted me, and what little hardnessIstill had in my cock went flaccid at his tone.

"Jerkingone out, were you?"Ididn't grace him with a reply, so he continued. "I'mfighting tonight.TheKingsare supposed to be in attendance, and ifIdon't get back in that ring,I'lllose my cred.Lastthing any of us needs is for my good name to shrivel up like your cock."

Irolled my eyes but pulled my sweats on nevertheless. "Andthis concerns me why?"

"Becauseyou're coming to the match, and you're bringingMallorywith you, dipshit."Hehuffed, covering the receiver to muffle the sounds around him. "You'reall coming, but one of you needs to stay at her side, and maybe if you volunteer for the position,Acemight let her out of his death grip and we can play with her again."

Ihad to admit,Ivery much liked the sound of that. "Fine.WhatdoItell her to wear?"

Hegrowled in my ear, both our minds already on the same track. "Somethingsexy."

"Whydoes that not surprise me?"

* * *

Thefights werein full swing when the five of us strode into the gym,Spadedressed to the nines in his gear, bouncing around like a fucking fool, his arms windmilling around in a circle as he worked out the kinks of two months out of the ring.

Inever once in my life doubted the man, butIhad severe misgivings about his capabilities tonight.

Spadeat top form was a beast.Spadeout of shape and out of practice?

ThetruestWildcardof the bunch.

Aceclearly held no such doubt, as he was already off to the bookies to place bets in the man's favor.BlackJackwas glued toMallory'sback, his eyes sharper than usual after hearing theKingswere in the building—at least one of them.

Spadewas bopping along to her left, like a kid hyped up on candy, teasing her as she blushed prettily and threw fake punches in his direction.I'dnever seen him happier to be in his element than he was when she was with him.Untilshe came on the scene, his pregame routine was to take off to the locker room and brood until they called his name to bash in the skull of some poor sap.

MalloryStantonmight have been a complete accident, but she was a happy accident, andIwouldn't trade her for the world.Beingwithout her felt incomplete, and now thatIcould put a name to the feeling of constant drift we'd suffered before she was in our lives,Ididn't ever want to live that way again.

Withthe understanding that we'd meet back up whenSpade'smatch started, the four of us split up,Malloryarm in arm with me asItrailed around the ring and eyed every poor sap in the crowd about to lose his weekly winnings, trying desperately to spot theKingsbefore they spotted us.

Ofcourse,Icouldn't get that lucky.

"Hey,Cass,I'vegotta hit the bathrooms."

Isneaked a look over at her and pulled her tight against my front, languishing in the feel of our bodies molded together as they should be.Wefit like two pieces of the puzzle, andIcouldn't deny how good it felt to have her in my arms again.

"Youhave to hurry, and stay in sight, okay?"Ireaffirmed, knowing damn wellI'dbe in sight the whole time.Still, there were actual pieces of work in the crowd, andIwasn't about to take any chances with her.

"Yes, yes,Iknow,Cass,I'llbe careful."Shewaved off my concern and trotted off after leaving me with a chaste kiss on the cheek.

IfIhad my way later, she'd be kissing another part of my body, a lot less chastely.

Myeyes stayed glued to her backside as she trotted over to the far wall, unmolested by any of the leering men who dared to look at her.Myeyes locked withBlackJack'sacross the room, andIshook my head.

Wedidn't need any casualties tonight, not here in the open.

Thesemen might be utter shit, but they were not the target tonight.

TheKingswere.

We'dmanaged to suss out most of the leads we found, and the results weren't pretty.Allsigns pointed to the oldRizzoliMafia, trying desperately to stir something up to move in on two of the largest territories in the city.Ihadn't managed to pin it on them for sure yet, but it was only a matter of time, andBlackJackwas the best intel guyIknew.Ifanyone could link the bastards to the bad intel, it was him.

Wejust needed to buy some time.

Iwaited around for another few minutes before an apprehensive shiver ran down my spine, andIstarted a slow saunter over to the bathrooms lining the far wall.I'donly turned away for a second, maybe two, to look inBlackJack'sdirection; there was no way she'd disappeared in that amount of time.

Butshe wasn't one to take long when she knew we were watching for her.

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