Page 4 of The Gambler

“My grandfather is very much alive, thank you very much. In fact, I don’t know anyone more lively than him. Or more crazy, but that’s a story for another day.”

“That still doesn’t answer my question. Why me? How did you come up with this idea in the first place? Or stumble across evidence that could supposedly get me out of here?”

Excellent question that led to an even more interesting story. Sadly, it wasn’t one she was willing to share. Ever. There was no way she could explain to him that following her archnemesis’ trail had accidentally led her to Luciano Detta. Onyx wasn’t someone you could explain in an hour, or even a day. Tess had been following Onyx’s trail of destruction for over three years now. The black hat hacker had taken down head pieces of Big Pharma. He was also the reason Luciano Detta had gone down for tax fraud. It was only later that Tess had discovered the linking pin between him and Jazzy. Then she got curious.

It’s true what they say—curiosity kills the cat.

She had followed the breadcrumbs and discovered that Luciano Detta was innocent. Well, innocent of tax fraud, that is; who knew what else he had on his conscience. After all, the guy was filthy rich, and behind every big fortune, there was usually a crime. Still, she had poked and prodded, scourged the dark web, and before she knew it, she actually had a file on him that would, at the least, prove there was a reason for reasonable doubt.

“Like I said, I’m a friend of Jazzy’s. I know that she was um… less than thrilled when your brother first hunted her butt down. But things worked out great for her in the end. When she told me about you, this idea formed in my head.”

Which was partially true. Radical honesty didn’t mean she couldn’t omit a few truths, right? She inwardly winced when she saw her pops shake his head in disappointment.

He leaned forward. “And is this what you think will happen—things working out great for us in the end—if you, as you boldly put it, ‘set me free’?”

For a second, she was confused. She had made him an offer, at no cost or risk to him, which to her sounded like a pretty great deal, so why wasn’t he jumping at it? Then it dawned on her. He wanted to know if she would expect the same fairy tale ending Jazzy had.

“Dude, you are so far off of being my type. I’d rather date a Stormtrooper before you. This is just a business proposition, not a marriage proposal. I have zero expectations from you.” There. She sounded all cool, collected, and businesslike.

Feeling pretty proud of herself, she got up. Then honesty kicked in. “It hadn’t even crossed my mind to actually… keep you. Broody and bitter guys like you aren’t my thing. Also, I’m into blonds.”

Once again, his eyes narrowed. “Are you always like this? Speaking whatever’s on your mind?”

She nodded. “Yep. I was raised with radical honesty, look it up. You thinkI’mstraightforward? You haven’t met my pops yet. He will blow your mind. And possibly blow up your house as well. Mind you, not on purpose—probably—but accidents sometimes happen when he’s reenacting the battle of Gettysburg or the D-Day landing. Anyway, I digress. There’s just one more thing. You can never ask me how I got the information that will prove your innocence. Do we have a deal?”

He didn’t make her wait this time. “You get me out of here, and I will give you whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want, being my father out of that shark’s clutches and his debt taken care of,” she stipulated their deal once more. “You will make it a priority. The first thing you do once you get out. Thefirstthing.”

“We have a deal.”

CHAPTER 3

LUCA

Luca stared at his youngest and most analytical brother, Jackson. The one who had seemed to take it the hardest when he went to jail. While his other two brothers had been fuming and been out to wage a war to get Luca out, Jackson had been shocked to his lawyer core when the laws he worked by and respected hadn’t protected Luca for going to jail on a false claim. It had been one of the reasons Luca rarely agreed to see Jackson in prison, for it seemed that every time he paid him a visit, more of Jax’s faith in rules and regulations crumbled. And though Luca had developed a passionate hate for the system that put him behind bars, he knew his brother needed to believe in that same system. Mastering the art of handling rules and regulations was his calling.

“I was surprised to get your call,” Jax said, as he took a seat at the table across from him.

“I was surprised to make the call myself.”

After this Tess person had left yesterday, he told himself she was crazy. He was used to crazy inside these walls. Women all over the country sent him nude pics or came up with conspiracy theories on how he was framed. Others promised to dedicate their lives to get him free. The old him would have rejoiced at that attention. He would have believed that it was a form of love and devotion, that he’d earned it. The new him knew better. There was no such thing as a loyal woman. The kind that, when the going got tough, she walked beside you, never to let go. Still, despite his skepticism, he’d called his brother. After all, what did he have to lose? Tomorrow, it would be two years that he’d been locked up. Two long years that would have been hellish if he hadn’t been a Detta. Guess he was lucky the way most inmates weren’t. Not everyone’s ass was protected by the Bratva. Didn’t mean he wouldn’t give his right arm to get out and taste the sweet scent of freedom again.

“How are you doing?”

Luca sighed. “Can we not do this?”

Jax frowned. “Do what?”

“This feeling shit. I’m in jail. It sucks. It did on the first day I got here, it does today, and it still will tomorrow.”

His brother seemed to muse over this for a second. “You know you have an alternative.”

Damn, even Jax seemed to be on the bandwagon of breaking him out now. For his most levelheaded brother to join Gio and Vince on that path must mean his situation looked really grim. His prospects of an appeal were probably slim to none. Guess they both knew the truth—Luca wasn’t getting out anytime soon. Not in a legal way anyway.

“You know how I feel of that… alternative.”

Jax nodded. “Part of me admires you for it while another part screams that it is your right. You’re innocent, Luca. You don’t deserve to be in here.”

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