Page 46 of The Gambler

Shit. Maybe he was losing his touch.Right along with my mind. Why else would he be running around town, fighting bikers, stripping to prove he wasn’t abducted by aliens, and now, apparently, going to save a cat.

Gibson.

Tess Gibson.

To be fair, she had warned him that he would rue the day he met her. Guess today was that day.

***

Where else would Alfie’s wife—ex—live but in a trailer park? And what else would the trailer be surrounded with but mud and dog poo?

When Tess walked up to the door, he blocked her with a stretched arm. “This time, we do it my way.”

“You say that as if my way doesn’t work.”

“It doesn’t. It so doesn’t. So far, nothing with you ever happened the easy way. There will be no more superhero talk, orFree Willystuff. We do this the old-fashioned way.”

“You mean you’re going to throw money at it?”

“Damn straight.”

“That’s very disappointing. You do know that not everything in this world can be solved with money, right?”

“First of all, that’s not true. Apart from health, pretty much everything can be solved with money. And second, I don’t give a shit about Alfie’s ex and their love for a damn cat. I have one goal.”

She sighed. “Yes. One goal only. To take revenge on the people who got you in jail.”

“Exactly.”

He clenched his jaw when he almost stepped in a turd.

Tess looked over at him as she knocked on the door. “Not exactly a place for your cashmere slacks, is it?”

“For once, I’d love for you to know a sane person. Someone who actually lives in a house.”

She snorted. “That’s your first mistake. Thinking that only sane people live in homes. My experience has taught me the opposite. The bigger the house, the crazier the person. In fact, you being a bit of a snob is probably one of the reasons you were targeted by Cruz and the people he worked with in the first place.”

“Ah yes, your little theory about my incarceration being part of a big conspiracy. What was it again? A black hat hacker goes after the rich of the world. What was his name?”

“Onyx,” she said softly.

“Right. This Onyx spotted me because I invested in a pharmaceutical company. Then, this person made Grace and Cruz team up with him to get me into jail as a punishment.”

“You don’t believe me.”

“You don’t say.”

Oddly, she didn’t look disappointed, merely relieved.

“Well, don’t ever say I didn’t tell you the truth, Mr. High and Mighty.”

Ah, there she was with her barbed tongue. His gaze swept back to said plump tongue and before he knew it, he’d swiped a raindrop from her bottom lip.

Her eyes turned dark. An expression he had familiarized himself with. It happened when she got aroused, when she got wet. Fuck. He couldn’t go there. Not now. They were on a damn mission.

“Luca… I—”

Whatever she wanted to say got stuck in her throat because the door finally opened. A pretty little brunette stuck her head through the door. She wore ripped jeans and a tee in all the colors of the rainbow.

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