Page 3 of The Gambler

The first thing she noticed about Luciano Detta was that he wore no orange jumpsuit. He was dressed in jeans and a black wife beater. She should have known that. After all, conjugal visits were to sustain relationships between an inmate and his family, so the situation should look as normal as possible. The second thing she noticed was the impassive look on his face. He was standing in the doorway that led to a small living room. His arms were folded in front of his large chest—much larger than she’d seen from pictures—and his legs spread wide, as if he was taking a stand. He didn’t look anything like the corporate guy in a ten-thousand-dollar suit she had familiarized herself with.

She gave him a tentative smile. “Hi, I’m Tess Gib—”

“Don’t give a fuck. Drop your pants. Turn around. Hands and face to the wall.”

“What?”

“Don’t pretend like this is a fucking date. You’re not the usual crazy the twins send to me, or what I expected, but hey, whatever gets your motor running. It’s not like I got anything else to do. Now, remove your pants, and turn your ass to me.”

Oh.

It suddenly dawned on her that he actually expected the conjugal visit to be, well,conjugal. And judging by his words, it was a common occurrence as well. Not that she was surprised by that. He was hot, in a “bad boy with great arm muscles” kind of way. So, it was no wonder that apparently women threw themselves at him, even when he was a convict. Then again, there were women who would bang anything. Even serial killers had a prison following, after all.

“Um, there seems to be a misunderstanding,” she started.

He was on her in a heartbeat, pushing her up against the wall.

His breath was hot on her cheek. “What? Not what you expected from a convict? Did you picture this to be a twisted romantic story in your head? You thought I was going to makeloveto you?” He laughed, sounding bitter. “This will be nothing more than a quick fuck. You got me?”

Tess channeled her inner Princess Leia to push him away. When he noticed she wasn’t playing around, he let her go. The surprise on his face was almost comical.

“There will be no fuck, quick or otherwise,” she stated. Why were the men in her life always prone to a quick fuck? Whatever happened to the long, hot love making sessions she read about in romance novels? “I didn’t come here for that. Not with you, a dude I barely know, and definitely not in a place that’s probably swarming with bacteria. Yuck. Also, I have a boyfriend.” Trevor may not be able to make her lady parts tingle every time—or much at all—but they were committed nonetheless.

His eyes narrowed. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Now you’re just sounding like Hector. You could have just asked that question without dropping an f-bomb.”

Finally, a form of understanding dawned on his face. He folded his arms in front of his chest. “My brother sent you.”

“Nope. I’m here all by myself. See, my father is in trouble and I want you to help him out.”

His lopsided smirk told her he thought she was crazy. Sadly, that reaction was a common occurrence. “Sure. I’ll just break myself out and then go help you. Easy.”

She didn’t appreciate his sarcasm, but couldn’t really blame him, as she was explaining this poorly.

“I will provide you with documents that will get you out of here. In return, I want you to get Rufus out of the hands of a certain loan shark. Do we have a deal?”

He slowly looked her up and down, his eyes lingering a sec on her black thermal fingerless gloves. It didn’t seem as if he saw anything he liked. She really hated that dismissive look. She almost pointed out that he’d been ready to fuck her a minute ago, but again shut down the crazy in her head. It wasn’t like she actually wanted him to want her. Nope, there was only one thing she needed Luciano Detta to do—get rid of Mick the Dick.

“Youare going to get me out of here? Sure, I’ll bite. Do you have magic beans we can plant and then go up a beanstalk? Or maybe you’ve brought a flying carpet with you?”

Asshole. “For a guy who’s been given a chance to get free, you areawfullysarcastic.”

He was silent for a beat. “You have a lot of balls. Supposedly offering me the one thing I want most. So, what is it that you really want? How do you even know about me?”

That was an easy one. “I’ve heard about you through Jazzy. She’s my bestie.” They may not be collegemates anymore, but they were still close.

Also, I’ve been trying to get you out forever.

But I can’t tell you why.

His eyes narrowed. She sure was talking to Mr. Suspicious here. “If you really know my sister-in-law, then you should know she would help you if you asked her. So, why come here?”

It was a valid question. She could have asked Jazzy for help. After all, she was married to a scary dude who had the means to put the screws to Mick.

“I don’t want to owe anyone, or involve Jazzy in a possible dangerous situation. I’m in this mess because my father owes money to some bad people. I kind of want to break that cycle. Also, us Gibsons might not have much, but we never owe anybody anything either, as my pops would say.”

He cocked a brow. “So, you’re here to ask me for my help to honor your dead grandfather’s way of life?”

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