Page 7 of Mafia Heir's Alpha
“Pull up the video. I wanna see the guy.” I grunted and pushed off the wall. “The regulars. Lemme guess. The twins?”
V and Brian chuckled. “Yeah. They got a little handsy with a cocktail waitress. She’s fine but shaken. They’re banned for the week.”
I kept my tone flat. “Forever. They’re cut off. Next?”
He brought up an app on one of the screens and skimmed the notes they were required to keep from shift to shift. “Main floor has three new faces. Surveillance is monitoring, but nothing out of the ordinary except…” He hesitated and glanced back at me.
“Spit it out.” I stepped closer to the video they pulled up of the three guys harassing Tonya. Seemed like the guys thought her offer for a drink was innuendo for more. Davey reached for her arm at the same time Donny stepped right up to her back, almost caging her in against a machine. Yeah, that shit didn’t fly with me. I wasn’t officially on the security staff at the casino, but Andro trusted my judgment, and I believed he’d agree with my decision.
V took his time before finally saying what he was afraid to say. “Guy in a linen suit, heavy on the cologneand looks like he’s never set foot in a real casino before. He was at the Russo event earlier and dropped some big tips while asking around for you.”
I straightened and thought about Ori. “Did he find me?”
“No. But he found a few of our guys. Chatted them up and tried to get their names. He wanted to know when your shift started.” He shrugged and looked up at me. “You got a fan, apparently.”
“Did he gamble?” I tapped the screen in front of me and nodded to Brian. “Bring up his footage.”
“He lost fifty grand in chips, then wandered the floor and ended up at the bar with some of the girls. Never tried to sneak off or cause trouble. Just…kept asking about you.”
The surveillance feed played on the big screen overhead, and I quickly spotted him. The guy was wearing a green linen suit with bleached-blond hair and tanned skin. I was fairly sure I’d never seen him before, but there was something familiar about him that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
“Tag all his footage. I want to know where he’s been, where he goes, and if he leaves the premises tonight. Ifhe doesn’t, I want a room number and a list of everyone he talks to.” I glanced at my watch and figured I could probably grab a few hours of sleep before the real work started tomorrow. “If he’s around later, I’ll find him and see what the fuck he wants.”
“You got it, boss.” They knew I wasn’t the boss, but I was an extension of all the bosses and that was apparently good enough for the title.
“Anything else I need to know before I turn in for a bit?”
V shrugged. “House is up by eight percent. VIP guests are all accounted for. Only thing out of the ordinary is how well-behaved everyone’s been.”
I barked a laugh. “If well-behaved is our biggest problem, you’re all getting raises.”
That got a chuckle from the guys. They knew I didn’t make those kinds of decisions, but well-behaved was the goal.
I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. I may regret asking for this later because of the rumors it would start, but I’d also regret it if I didn’t ask. I needed information on Ori, and against my better judgement, these guys could get it for me. “Hey, pull up the recentfootage we have on the guy in 517. Orlando something. I want to know his story when I come back down here later.”
Since they all knew what was good for them, they didn’t have any smart comments. “You got it. Get some rest. We clock out at eight, but we’ll set up a file for you to review whenever you get back.”
Sleep didn’t come easily, but I got in a few hours. Then, I was up before the sun and decided to get in a quick workout. The gym didn’t get much use on Saturday mornings, with most people working off hangovers or late nights, so after an hour at the bench and thirty on the treadmill, I showered and headed back to work.
As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I was curious to know more about Orlando. He was a one-and-done, and that was fine…but that didn’t mean I couldn’t spend a few minutes checking him out. And then there was my mystery admirer. Who the fuck was that dude and what did he want with me?
Suddenly, I was itching to find out.
At seven, I was back in the control room with the same crew finishing off their shift. All feeds were active, all staff was accounted for, and there were no active threats to worry about. At least, not yet.
I pulled up a chair at the far end of the room and ran a sped-up sweep of the entire casino. Anything the team had tagged earlier was highlighted, but nothing seemed concerning to me.
The guy I’d been talking to at the party was hard to miss. He looked like trouble, but not the kind that immediately got your hackles up. More like the kind of guy who seems harmlessly annoying and then sticks a knife between your ribs when you’re on the shitter.
“Keep an eye on him.” I nodded to the screen. “Minimal risk, probably, but with everyone here tonight, I want someone assigned to shadow him.”
“You got it, boss.”
With that problem out of the way, I could focus on Ori. And if I pulled up that footage on my cellphone so I could save images of him, that was not anyone’s business but mine.
5
ORI
