Page 2 of The Gambler

He fisted her curls, twisted them around his wrist, making her skull hurt. “No, what I’m going to do is fuck you and make you purr. You’re a wild one, aren’t you? With your purple hair, tight little shorts, and these leather cuffs.” His hand went to one of her spiked leather wrist bands. “I bet you like it rough.”

Dammit. The BDSM scene had ruined any leather gear with spikes on them.

“Those are just for decoration. It was a gift.”

From my crazy grandfather. Oh, there’s also a chip in them so he can track me down when shit hits the fan.

Please don’t let shit hit the fan.

“Let her go, Bane. She’s here for me.”

Bane turned away from her and she peeked over his shoulder. Irish accent, red tracksuit, and sounding familiar. Yep, this must be the guy she spoke to the other night.

Saved by the loan shark. Wonderful.

“She don’t look like one of the girls from your stable,” Bane said, a snarl in his voice.

Tess gritted her teeth. Now she was being compared to a prostitute. Could this night get any worse?

Mick looked her up and down. “That’s because she ain’t.” He chuckled. “When Rufus told me you were a computer genius, I expected big glasses and pimples.” His eyes roamed over her body, resting on her unicorn top declaring that a unicorn didn’t believe in humans. “I didn’t know you were pretty. We could certainly find you a clientele.”

Keep it cool, Tess. Remember, you’re inhisworld now.

“That’s really flattering, and also makes me want to vomit. No offense.” She held up her bag. “Can we please wrap this up? I got what you wanted. Where’s Rufus?”

Bane’s head snapped back to her bag.

She couldn’t help but give him a grin. “I bet you regret going for me now instead of my bag, don’t you?” She rubbed it in.

He growled, but since Mick was apparently top dog compared to Bane’s junkie ass, he let her go. After one last hateful look, he slithered back into the night.

Tess handed Mick the bag. “It’s all there.” He didn’t even bother to count the money. Just peeked inside the bag, made sure it was in there, and then zipped it shut. She looked into nearby cars to spot her father. “Now, where’s Rufus?”

Mick smiled. It wasn’t a nice one, more of a cross between a grizzly and a Sith Lord.

“See you next week, unicorn. Make it twenty this time.”

“What? Wait. No! That wasn’t the deal.” Tess realized she had made a monumental mistake—she paid him off too quickly. Now he believed getting him twenty grand was a walk in the park.

He laughed right in her face, like a cartoon villain. “It is now.” Then he simply walked away with her hard stolen money.

This clearly wasn’t going to work. Unlike what he seemed to think, internet scamming wasn’t child’s play. Not in the long run, when being caught increased every time you did it. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the means to go up against Mick by herself.

She pulled out her phone and glanced on the app that had just copied Mick’s phone. Mick Rourke, bastard extraordinaire, had just made it on to her shit list and was about to find out you never cross a geek.

Because what did you do when you couldn’t beat a loan shark? You brought in a Kraken.

CHAPTER 2

TESS

San Quentin prison was exactly what Tess expected it to be—dark and gloomy. It sent chills through her as she passed along security and was led to a structure away from the actual prison. The place was barred with a big fence. From what she could see, it was more like a row of motel rooms stacked against each other. At the end of the row, she saw another guard leading a woman inside. Her husband, or boyfriend, was waiting for her outside, and they crashed into each other in a big hug. No hugs for her, of course. That wasn’t the reason she was here.

Nope, she was here to enlist someone’s help in exchange for a favor. She was getting really desperate at keeping her little family together. To not knuckle under the weight of the financial mess her father had put her in. Every day, it became more and more difficult not to cross over to the Dark Side. Sure, Anakin Skywalker had turned into a freak after he succumbed to his darker side, but hey, look at the man now. He was doing just fine, roaming in a galaxy far, far away. Darth Vader never had to worry about paying rent, putting food on the table, or help pay off his father’s debts.

It would be really easy too. All she had to do was hack into a few credit card accounts, hardly a challenge. Of course, she would pick big corporate assholes, starting with the CEO’s of Big Pharma. They wouldn’t even feel a few thousand dollars gone missing here and there. But then what? The Dark Side would lurk. Collecting digital coins could quickly get out of hand and in the end, she might get caught. She was already skimming money from too many various sources. The more she took, the bigger the chance of it no longer going undetected. Thus, landing her ass in jail. Then who would take care of her pops?

All of this went through her head as she stood waiting in the small hallway for her prince in orange armor to show up. It didn’t take long before her mark entered the room.

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