Page 5 of Painted in Sin

"I've been concerned. I was going to call you anyway. It seems Nicola is out. Prison overcrowding… He's seeking revenge, Bella, and he's not joking." Matthias sounds as concerned as he says he is. Just what I needed too—my ex who almost took me to prison with him is now hunting me down for revenge…

"Just come as soon as you can." I see Paolo coming, and I don't want him to know how scared I am. "I have to go," I tell Matthias, and I hang up before Paolo enters.

Now if I can't keep my hands from shaking, I can make a copy of this, an exact replica no one will be the wiser about unless they hire a different art appraiser or authenticator. And I pray my plan works or I'll be in a worse spot than I put Nicola in after the last time I did this.

4

VICTOR

My elbows rest on the felt, cards fanned in my hands as I watch what's happening around me at the table. With Rocco to my right and a few schmucks he picked up to round out our game, I've been throwing back drinks and gambling for a few hours. The music in this club thumps against my chest rhythmically, the way the hands of the gorgeous women fawning over me caress my back and shoulders.

"Call," I say, leaning back in the seat and letting the game play out.

This used to be my sort of thing, playing poker and taking money off wealthy men who think they can best me. Surrounded by beautiful women who beg to be the one in my bed that night and enjoying every second of it. Not tonight. I'm bored, passing some time just to have something to do.

The blonde lingering by me right now rubs my chest in a circle, leaning down every so often to press her tits to my shoulder and whisper in my ear. She's alright, the type to fuck and dump, but not much to look at from the shoulders up. Her whispered encouragement annoys me more than anything.

"Hey, sweetheart," I tell her as the dealer taps out another round of cards, "go get me another bourbon, neat." I wink at her and know she'll run off to do my bidding and leave me alone for a few minutes. Her vacancy is filled immediately by the next floozie, and one will be here if I send that one on an errand too.

"I fold," grunts Rocco, dropping his cards to the table and cutting his losses. "What gives tonight, man? You're sending them away like you're swatting at flies." He chuckles and nods at the buxom beauty now dangling off my shoulders like a cheap scarf.

"Meh… Have my eye on someone else." Swatting at the current armpiece, I eye a few others who linger around the table. Five men seated here and not one of these women seems to give a rats' ass about any of them but me.

"That art lady?" he asks, scoffing. His head shakes like a bobble head on a dashboard as he runs a hand through his hair. The women seem annoyed by my comment and his, though they don't retreat from their positions. At least the brunette hanging on me gives me space to move as I lean forward and lay my cards out. Large straight—winning hand.

"Yeah, the art lady." My arms reach out to collect my earnings, and I pull them into my chest and raise my hand. "Round of drinks on me!" I announce to a shout of celebration and applause. "Deal 'em," I tell the dealer and turn toward Rocco as the deck gets shuffled. "Got a problem with that?'

"Nah, man, I'm just sayin' it ain't like you to push away beauties like these." Rocco grabs the brunette away from my side and pulls her onto his lap. She snickers and wraps her arms around his broad shoulders as she settles across him with his arms pinning her down. "You can have any woman in this clubtonight, and you're holding off for an art appraiser? She don't seem like the risky type, man."

I roll my eyes at his ignorance and turn my attention to the table where I collect my cards. "And I take that one" —I flick my eyes at the woman on his lap, and then the ones standing around the table— "and she pulls the condom out of the trash to inseminate herself just to get knocked up and tell my father he's gonna have another heir. What then?"

The observation isn't the first time. I see the disgust in her eyes, but I know her type without even knowing her name. She must be the ringleader, because she stands up and snaps her fingers, and that fast, all five women milling around follow her away from the table with glares on their faces.

"Wow, harsh." Rocco chuckles and watches them, craning his neck to the side to check them out.

"Believe me, I'm saving you, you dumb fuck. You want to be some bitch's baby-daddy?" Raising my eyebrows at him, I tap my cards on the table and push a few chips to the center as Rocco takes his cards in hand.

"I'm just sayin', is that woman at the gallery worth spoiling your fun for the night? You won't even get pussy." Rocco scowls at his cards before collapsing them and holding them in a tight grip.

I shock myself as I think the words before I say them, but they ring true as I do. "There is more to a woman than her pussy, Rocco. She's intelligent and sharp as a whip. I can fuck any two-bit whore any day, but angling for a catch like that takes patience and practice." The dealer lays down the cards and I call again, sliding more chips to the center of the table. It's a good hand, but I'll end up folding before it's said and done.

"And how will Papà respond to that? Doting on a femme fatale known for art forgery?" Rocco lets on a bit more about Isabella's life than I'd like him to reveal in mixed company, but many women may still fit that description. Besides, her sordid past is the least of my concerns. I've murdered men with my bare hands. Faking a painting or two doesn't seem life-altering. Though, it's risky, considering what I'm paying her to do for me.

"Leave my father out of this," I grunt, knocking my knuckles on the felt. The blonde one returns with my drink in hand and sets it down next to me. Her slender fingers weave up through my hair and she leans down to whisper in my ear.

"Mr. Costa, I got your drink and I was hoping we could end this game and go somewhere private." Her tits brush over my shoulder, lips almost touching my earlobe. The attention on any given night would earn her a spot on my lap, but I'd rather be chasing the attention of the most intriguing woman I've met in years.

It gets around to my turn and I fold my cards together and shake my head, scrunching my nose as I lay the stack on the felt and turn to the busty beauty who thinks her favor of a drink served is going to earn her a pillow next to me.

"How about," I tell her, sounding seductively ready to fuck right here, "you get on your hands and knees and crawl under this table for me… Be a good girl, and whoever’s dick is out, suck it. But keep your tits off my shoulder and your paws off my back or you won't be needing rings anymore."

The woman straightens and backs away, her eyes narrowed, hands trembling. Rocco chuckles at it as he starts unbuckling his pants. The jingle of his belt buckle makes her jump and turnaround, and as he takes his dick in hand to stroke it, she smacks him hard and hurries off, stutter stepping and losing a heel.

"Now, tell me it's not more fun to hunt a little and have a woman make you work for it." The men roar with laughter as I stand and nod at Rocco. "Take care of my chips. I've got someone to see." I nod my head at them while smoothing my tie down the front of my chest and buttoning my shirt. I have somewhere to be now, somewhere I'm not expected, but a place I can't get out of my head. It's an itch I can't scratch.

I've got to see Ms. De Luca again.

5

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