Page 120 of The Innovator

There was nothing peculiar about the bar that stood out to me. Two bartenders also dressed in black served two gentlemen in front of Rafael. I leaned on the counter, looking around at the five poker tables and spotted the golden table.

Holy shit, it’s ugly.

I stared at the giant golden legs that supported a thick slab of gold. The slab was probably some granite painted in gold. Above the table hung a chandelier that reflected on the table. Shaking my head, I sipped my wine.

“It’s a unique table, don’t you agree?” A woman in her early forties wearing an elegant black dress stood beside me, holding a Mojito. She had dark brown hair that framed her oval shaped face.

“It’s very . . .shiny,” I said.

Her light green eyes sparkled. “Indeed. I always wondered how they could concentrate sitting there.” She raked her eyes down my body and looked at my watch. “What’s the asteroid that changed the sea?”

Fuck.

That caught me off-guard, and I flipped through my memory, trying to remember what Uncle Derek had said. It was the weirdness of the question and the answer that helped me remember.

I lifted my wine glass to her. “Asteroid Sedna. She’s quite the character.”

“She is indeed. What do you know about her?”

I told her what I remembered. “She didn’t want to marry the man her father chose for her, so she married a dog. Furious, he took her out to sea in a boat and tossed her overboard, but she clung on. A woman who knows what she wants doesn’t give up easily, right? He cut off her fingers and she became the goddess of the sea. Like the sea, she could be gentle or disruptive. I’m sure the sea embraced her.” I finished my wine and placed it on the counter. “What’s your name?”

“Linda Conner.” She smiled. “You’re well versed in myth and astrology.”

“Not really.” I let out a laugh. “But they fascinate me.”

“I know you.” A smirk appeared on her lips.

“You do?”

“My husband knows you too.”

This conversation was getting interesting. Rafael went off to gamble after seeing me chat with Linda.

“He’s over there, getting ready to play at the god-awful golden table.”

I saw three men already seated at the table, but my gaze fixated on the man I never imagined would be here. “Robert Conner, The Commissioner for the City of Providence DPW, is your husband?”

“Isn’t he handsome?”

I studied her. “I’ve never seen you before.”

She sipped her drink. “It’s because I travel for work between Texas, California, and Rhode Island. He’s needed here in the city. We don’t get to see each other often.”

I’d always enjoyed working with Robert, but then again, people wore masks. And he wore his well because this was a complete surprise to me.

If anyone else had asked me that secret question, I’d still be looking for the elite members. But Linda Conner asked me, and in doing so, she gave me the answers—she and her husband were two of the elite members.

The other gambling kings at the golden table were probably part of The Trogyn too. People who could afford to gamble at that table had a lot of money. I didn’t know Robert Conner was a wealthy man. He didn’t come off as one. Perhaps it was his wife’s money. It didn’t matter. He was one of them.

“Nice meeting you. Enjoy your evening.” Linda excused herself, walking over to a couple who had wandered in.

Did she suspect me? She had no reason to. I was a wealthy man visiting a luxurious club. I didn’t know they frequented this place, and they didn’t know about my visits. Perhaps this was a surprise to us both. Robert didn’t even glance my way as he was concentrating on the players at this table.

Finishing my wine, I turned to the bartender and asked for a Kamikaze. Then I asked to use the restroom.

After placing a dime-sized bomb into toilet paper rolls inside a cabinet, I made my way to the back room, hiding one there as well. Slash had provided extra bombs, and this was my opportunity to use them.

On my way back, the waitress who had “invited” me to the back room earlier held a tray full of drinks, heading out from the bar. Pretending to look at my phone, I bumped into her. Her tray crashed to the floor, spilling drinks everywhere.

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