Page 7 of Gamble with Me
My heart sank, and I felt dizzy. Not only had my husband screwed me and our daughter, but in a moment, I lost my job and the paycheck that came with it. Without an income, we would be homeless and hungry, and child protective services would take away my girl. I couldn't let that happen.
I opened my mouth to protest against Zyon's words because he at least should have given us some compensation, but a hand on my forearm stopped me.
"Don't do it," Alice whispered, pushing me out of the lounge. "He won't change his decision. You will only get on his radar."
"I'm broke," I breathed, stumbling over my feet to escape the casino. My head felt dizzy, and my vision was blurry from the tears which threatened to fall. "I can't stay without a salary. Chester ruined everything."
"We'll get through this," she reassured me, frowning at her reflection in the car window. Her perfect makeup was smeared all over her round cheeks. "I'll help you."
"Oh, God," I sighed, the heaviness of my situation crushing me. Before the shift, I thought about having a birthday party for my girl without having to ask someone for help; now, I had to think about next month's mortgage payment and where I could find a new job.
Zyon, his brothers, and my idiotic husband's decisions had destroyed my calm, everyday life. What the hell should I do now?
-4-
Zyon
Standing before the old window in Adam Rivers' office, I watched as Valeria Kellerman talked to her colleague. Alice often worked off the books in my other casinos because she needed money for her father's medical bills, but she never mentioned having such a gorgeous boss.
Anyway, they both looked terrified and nervous. This entire situation was unpleasant, but I had to find out where Adam disappeared with my five million dollars. Before throwing money on investigators and ordering my boys to check every fucking hole in this country, I had to speak with his employees. And thankfully, Valeria had her priorities straight, and she got me something valuable. I was about to discover if Rivers was stupid enough to hide on his wife's property.
"She is a cutie, isn't she?" Dorian nudged me with his elbow playfully, wiggling his eyebrows when I glared at him.
Yeah, Mrs. Kellerman was “a cutie” and a stunning beauty, but I would never admit to my brothers she made an impression and impact on my stone-cold heart like a nuclear bomb in Nagasaki. Even my sleep-deprived brain knew that if the rock in my chest started to beat faster when looking into those wide grey-blue eyes, it was weird at best. Nothing could bring me to life, but the redhead goddess who just got into a cab and left was very close to waking up that stupid thing with feelings and emotions from a years-long slumber.
"Are you interested?" I asked, turning to him. I hid my hands in my pants pockets, staring at my sibling, which was like looking in a mirror. Only his childish and sometimes naive personality was the difference between us: that and the lighter brown color of his irises.
"Of course I am." He smiled, lighting his face up. "Have you seen that ass?"
"And legs," Malin added, and I snapped my head in his direction. He was sitting in the armchair with his head tilted back and eyes closed, but he couldn't stay quiet and pretend he was asleep. On the contrary, he had to support Dorian's admiration of a woman whose innocent crying face was imprinted into my brain. "She has amazing legs. Did you notice the panda tattoo?"
He opened his right eye, peeking at me with one corner of his mouth slightly lifted. I could count on one hand how many times he’d smiled in the last year, so I knew he was making fun of me, but it worked. He instantly sparked my curiosity with that stupid question.
"What tattoo?" I barked, glaring at him, noticing Dorian's brows shoot up. He was in the dark, too.
"Yeah, what tattoo?" he repeated when Malin closed his eyes again, suppressing a grin.
"Every time she leaned forward to take chips when I lost," he started, and I immediately understood this was the reason why he'd acted like some gambler and lost thirty thousand dollars. "Her dress rolled up a little, and a tiny panda holding a flower peeked from behind the hem."
I involuntarily growled, jealousy and anger mixed in my chest into a huge mass of unpleasant feelings, and Dorian burst into laughter at my reaction. Before I could say anything in my defense, he high-fived Malin, and they both cast me a knowing glance.
"You're interested, Zee," Dorian said, clapping his hands. I didn't understand why he was so happy. This was a disaster.
"Maybe," I mumbled, turning my back on them.
Just the mere thought of Valeria having the last name Kellerman made me sick. And knowing what a prick Chester was, my insides curled with disgust at the idea of them being a couple. My sick brain illogically began creating scenarios in which I broke Chester's fingers because he touched his wife.
What the fuck was wrong with me?
I knew nothing about her. I had only met her once and already knew it would be difficult to get the picture of her out of my head. Those big eyes, which stared at me with fear swirling in them, pierced my black soul. I never wanted her to look at me like that. I preferred the appreciative glance she flashed me when I walked into the casino.
Valeria liked what she saw. She gently bit her plump lower lip, and her eyes narrowed when she gave me a once-over. When our eyes met for a split second, I noticed how her body tensed, and she quickly averted her gaze, acting as if she didn't notice me.
But she did. She watched me, studied me, admired me. I felt it from her when she was seated opposite me. In some twisted way, she was scared and excited to be around me. With my brothers, we frightened her to the core, but she didn't break. She chose to cooperate because she was intelligent enough to know she had to give us something. I was willing to start breaking bones if no one revealed anything about Rivers, and I was glad she prevented the tragedy. Because once we began, it was tough to stop us.
"Do you think you can get her away from Chester?" Dorian asked, his question hitting all the right places. He knew what he was doing. He provoked me, daring me to start something stupid and immature just because he thought it was right.
"Chester isn't competition for him," Malin replied instead of me, and I smirked. At least one of them acknowledged my qualities. "The bigger issue is the girl. They have a daughter." He opened his eyes and looked at me, the seriousness of his tone making me frown. "Will you destroy a family?"
