Page 47 of The Gambler

He gave Tess a stern ‘leave it to me’ look. “Mrs.…” Shit, he didn’t even know her full name. “Alfie?”

“It’s Fishburn. Mrs. Carrie Fishburn.” Her eyes watered. “That is, for as long as it lasts. I’m getting divorced. What can I do for you?”

“I’m here to buy your cat.”

“You want Loki?” Then her eyes narrowed. “Did Alfie send you? He did, didn’t he? Well, you go and tell that old man I’m not selling him. I don’t care how much you offer!” Then she slammed the door in their faces.

Tess gave him a pointed look. “I’d say that went well, but—”

“But you’d be lying,” he finished her sentence.

“Exactly. So, now what? Are you going to ‘make her an offer she can’t refuse’?” she added, with air quotes. “Or slip a note with numbers underneath the door until she eventually knuckles under?”

She had the oddest ideas sometimes. “No, Tess, I’m going to give her what she wants.”

“Obviously, she wants to keep the cat. I’d say she already has what she wants. She didn’t want your money.”

“Ah, Tess. Your brain is like a library, but you have no idea about the human heart.”

“I know everything there is to know about the human heart,” she disagreed.

“Oh, I bet you can tell me everything about its physiology. How many veins it has, how many times it beats in a minute. But that’s all biology. What I’m talking about, and what Mrs. Fishburn suffers from, is a broken heart. That can’t be saved by a cardiologist. It needs something else.”

She put her hands on her hips. It was a stance she used when she got annoyed. It was great to be on the receiving end of it ‘cause it meant that, for a change, he was the one doing the annoying instead of getting annoyed. How the tables had turned.

“I really hate it when you get that condescending tone.”

“Likewise,” he fired back.

Her eyes turned into slits. “Fine. Then tell me, how are you going to mend her broken heart? How would you even know what she needs to get it fixed?”

“Easy, little spitfire. I’ll learn by justaskingher.” He knocked on the door three more times until it opened again.

“What?” This time, Carrie wasn’t alone. The cat was in her arm.

Never before had Luca seen an uglier feline. It was tiny, thin, and had mean-looking eyes, as if he was plotting to take over the world.

“I think we got off on the wrong foot, Carrie. May I call you Carrie? It’s a beautiful name. My grandmother, may she rest in peace, had that name. She used to make me chocolate chip cookies every Sunday. You just reminded me of her.”

“Oh. I’m so sorry about your grandmother.”

Just as he’d expected, Carrie’s eyes turned soft. “Can I please come inside, so we can talk? I promise, afterwards, I will leave and never bother you again. I understand what it’s like to be going through a rough divorce.”

“You’re divorced?”

“Nope. I used to be engaged, but then she left me for another man. A man with money.”

One without the prospect of looking at twenty years behind bars.

Get out of my head, Tess.

Carrie’s eyes grew wider and he knew he had her hooked. After that, it only took an hour to tell her his life story while she served them iced tea. With chocolate chip cookies.

CHAPTER 18

TESS

As they drove back to Luca’s place, Tess let out a relieved breath. She considered herself an animal lover, but that damn cat had hated her. The ball of fur had battled her all the way over to Alfie’s place. For some reason, it constantly wanted to jump on Luca’s lap.

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