Page 38 of The Gambler

Tess stared into the floor-length mirror. “This isn’t what a female Darth Vader looks like at all!” Her costume was some sort of a black latex-white satin-pink ribbons mash-up which included a skirt.

Tommie smirked. “You know, it’s okay to be a princess and an evil galactic warlord at the same time.”

“Vader isn’t evil. He’s just misunderstood.” Tommie had no idea what almost absolute power felt like.

“Uh-huh. Didn’t the guy spend his free time blowing up planets?”

Carmen gave an exasperated sigh. “Not this again. I hear you two speak one more word of geek and it’s on.” She waved her whip in a threatening pose.

Tommie took a step back. “Now, since I’ve dressed you two ladies up, it’s time for my own Bohemian transformation.” He went into his bedroom, leaving Tess to her own worries.

“So, where exactly is this Halloween party?” Not knowing where they were headed made her anxious. There were a million things she needed to do. Then again, she could use the distraction. Waking up after her hugging session with Luca had been an experience. In the morning, she could still feel his touch, smell his scent, and want him. Oh, the want. It was an ever-present supernova burning through her veins. It made her feel vulnerable. She needed to do something to even the playing field. There was only one way to do that—make him want her just as much. It was only fair to their experiment. Sex was a team sport after all. He’d told her so himself. Thing was, did she dare take that step and go all the way with him? What if she got disappointed? Or, even worse, disappointed him?

“At a club,” was Carmen’s non-descript reaction.

Right, back to the present. “What kind of a club?”

Was that a blush on Carmen’s cheeks? “A private club.”

“You know, we can go all night long like this. You, not properly answering my question. Me, asking another one, and another one. Why don’t you just tell me what the secrecy is about? And why haven’t you invited Jazzy, or Mary, or even Katya?”

“Jazzy is celebrating Halloween with her husband. So is Mary. And Katya, well, I can’t bring her where we’re going. Kristoff would not approve.”

Meaning he would think it was unsafe. “Where exactly are we going? Is it safe?”

“Of course.”

“Then why did you say Kristoff—”

“Because men like Kristoff think they rule the world. He thinks he is Katya’s keeper. Always keeping a tight leash on her. Men like him think women are nothing. Objects to be used when they deem it fit. They rule by our fear. With an iron fist.”

“Now, don’t hold anything back on what you think about Kristoff Romanov,” she said dryly.

Carmen started pacing on the carpet. “This isn’t about him. I need to go to this party because someone I’m looking for will be there. I need to talk to him,” she said, sounding antsy. “Make him leave me alone.”

“Talk to whom?”

“I can’t live with the regret anymore,” Carmen whispered, her eyes suddenly a million miles away. “It’s the worst thing in the world. Knowing you could’ve done something different, altered the course of your destiny, but you were too afraid to take that step.” A determined look crossed her face. “Never again. Never. Again. This time, I will take matters into my own hands.”

Taking your destiny in own hands didn’t sound too bad. Still, something seemed off. “What exactly did this guy do to you? Do we hate him? I’m a good hater. Just say the word and I’ll be Hater Haterson. Or Hater Haterovski. Or Hater Haterovic.”

A hint of fear entered Carmen’s voice. “This man, he… hurt me.”

Oh, shit. This was serious. “Let’s go to the police.”

“And say what? What he did didn’t happen today. It was years ago, with Franco. He took me to a place and this man was there too. They… I didn’t want to. I told them to stop, but—” She swallowed. “What happened doesn’t really matter. Point is, every time I saw him after that, he kept checking me out. I told Franco once, but he got violent. He called me a whore. Said I wanted his friend. He called me a lot of names that night,” she said softly.

Good thing Franco was already dead or she would have helped Carmen become a widow herself. “Let me guess. Since Franco is gone, this guy started bothering you again?”

“Yes.”

“Like I said, let’s go to the police. We can—”

“No, we can’t. I have no proof.”

“I kind of got that. Okay, forget the police. Let’s go speak to your brother-in-law. Gio’s a scary dude. I’m sure he speaks the same language as this asshole who’s been bothering you.”

“No. You can’t tell him. I can’t put his life at risk. Also, he has other things on his mind.”

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