[smg id=31099 type=normal align=center width=150] (19 page)

I really wonder why someone like Costello – who commands a room much like my father – keeps him around.

“She’ll be playing hard to get. I think we need the challenge,” Zane comments, pulling his knife out of the tabletop. “No girl you bring down here will match her. She’s got a fine piece of ass under that dress,” he continues, giving me a wink as he pushes the blade away into the hilt to his knife. “But it’ll be a way to end the evening, for sure. Females versus males.”

“You seem sorely mistaken. If it’s this we’re playing at, you’ll find that you get to sit around naked while I get to stay wrapped in this dress,” I mock, tilting my head to the side and smiling gleefully. “You really don’t want to try this, Maverick. I’ll have you down to nothing but your socks within twenty minutes.”

“I think we can leave the young ones to play this game,” Costello comments, putting his hands out on the table as if his sign of admitting defeat. “Gentlemen, who wants to join me upstairs for a drink?” he asks, a few nodding their head. “Salvatore, I want to pick your brain over your newest protégé, join us.”

When Costello and my father leave, they take with them a few of the lesser known men and II remain with Zane, my brothers, Andrew, another of Costello’s men, David, and the two Stinson brothers who barely ever say a word.

Giovanni excuses the dealer and takes over control of the deck. “I’m only joining in for my sister’s total embarrassment. She might think she’s good, but I sure as hell won’t lose the chance to have her totally humiliated.”

“Fine,” I say and allow him to deal us all two cards each. I make sure I watch him to see if he deals a dodgy hand. As my two cards sit before me, I drag them across the table and find myself relieved to not see a bad hand, but it all comes down to the five cards we’re still yet to be presented.

“Anyone ready to fold?” Giovanni asks and grins wickedly as no one does.

He puts three cards out and flips them over. Immediately, I see I have struck lucky with a pair of jacks. Giovanni dares anyone to back out, but no one does and he lays a fourth card. He repeats this move and I find myself sitting with two pairs. I’m sure I’m safe from stripping down to my bra and panties.

“Show,” Giovanni instructs and puts down a queen and a two, immediately showing a pair of twos. I smirk a little as I show off two pairs and notice how no one has trumped that – especially Giovanni. Giovanni notices and rolls his eyes. “Amelia Abbiati wins. Everyone choose an item of clothing to remove.”

They all remove their jackets – the obvious choice, of course! What do I get the honor of removing first when I’m dealt a dodgy hand? Shoes, jewelry, underwear, or go for the most obvious, take my dress off and sit in my underwear while for the next few moves I take an earring off one by one, the same with my shoes.

Giovanni does the right thing by giving the pack of cards to Andrew, allowing him to be dealer. If we’re playing right, we’ll all be the dealer at some point. As the game carries on, I wonder just how long it’ll take for Giovanni to see that I’m not easily embarrassed.

Especially after almost ten rounds in and I’ve only managed to lose my heels, my necklace, and my bra. I know if I lose the next round, either my dress or panties have to go. And either I would hate to lose.

However, as my next two cards are tossed at me, I drag them forward to look at them and feel almost giddy as I get the queen and king of hearts. I look at my hand again, as if I’d read them wrong, but inside I’m doing cartwheels and fucking pitching a mad dance. On the outside, I force myself to frown. My eyes roll across the table until I’m looking at Zane. He winks at me and I just glower. He thinks he can be nice after objectifying me to be one of the lads. He’ll find out soon that won’t win him any points with me.

I watch eagerly as the cards are drawn and my head begins to race as I see an ace of hearts appear and I have to refrain from smiling hard as I see nine of hearts and six of clubs appears alongside it. All I need is a jack of hearts to appear and I can officially retire from the game for the evening. My breathing becomes shallow, my brain barely ticking over as the penultimate is laid and flipped for show. I feel a bit of disappointment gap open as I see it’s a measly six of spades and I can tell from Giovanni’s face that he likes having that. His poker face – while good – isn’t one that fools me. Much like mine doesn’t him. I always used to think we’d be a formidable force if we reconciled and teamed up, but even in my darkest and truly hateful moments, joining forces with him is the last thing I plan to do.

“One more card,” Andrew comments, drawing that fateful card from the pack, and I look nowhere else but at the slow movement of its reveal. “Jack of hearts.”

My heart enters freefall because I know there is no way Giovanni will beat this, and if he doesn’t, he’ll hate me just a little more. My pulse accelerates as we go around and reveal. As mine approaches, I ready myself.

“I got the family,” I say and lay out my cards, displaying how I managed to get a royal flush. “Nice dealing, Andrew.”

“You cheated!” Giovanni is quick to accuse.

“From across the table?” I ask, sneering my words at him. “Of course, Giovanni, I’m that fucking intelligent, aren’t I?” I watch him and just chuckle a little. “Sorry, you’re just a sore loser.” I start to stand, finally deciding to call it quits.

“Where the fuck are you going?” Giovanni asks as I start to move, throwing my cards at Andrew to sort them. “A whore like you should love the attention you’re getting in this room. One more loss and you can give them all the real show.”

“Hey now,” Enzo steps in, bristling with anger. “You don’t fucking talk to her like that, Gio. I tolerate you for so much because I know Amelia can handle you, but you are stepping way over the mark.”

“Well, she throws herself at anyone,” Giovanni states, leaning back in his chair. “Maverick is just a causality who got Stockholm syndrome and can’t leave her alone. She brought Lorenzo here, he fought for her, but after months of sex, she dropped him and he fled back to another country. He got lucky by getting out.”

“You’re a lowlife, big brother,” I mock, giving on the pursuit of a decent poker night. I stand up, reach onto the table and take my shoes, bra, and jewelry. “I cannot wait for you to get some of the karma you’re long overdue.”

“You’re the one who got dead man’s hand,
princess
, not me,” he speaks, sardonically executing every syllable and punctuating the use of a nickname to rile me.

While he waits for a response, I decide to just leave. It’s my best bet, and I will not ruin this evening and the opportunities it holds for my father and Zane. I stuff my bra into my bag, the same with my jewelry and begin to climb the stairs. I might bail and leave early and leave Zane to revel in the testosterone. He needs to and I need to think of a way to repay him for his comment just before we played strip poker.

“It seems Maverick’s driven by protecting your daughter,” Costello comments as I make it to the final step and see him alone with my father. “That’s going to be the death of him.”

“I’m not sure,” my father replies, causing me to still enough in the doorway to continue listening. “I like the fact he’s a guard dog for her. It means I don’t have to be the overprotective father. She hates me enough as it is without me adding fuel to that fire.” There’s a brief pause and I imagine it’s filled with regret – that’s my idea anyway. I’m sure my father will just be adding a dramatic push. “I’m glad she’s found someone who does protect her fiercely. It means I know she’s well looked after when I send them out on business. He’s pulled through multiple times now for me not to doubt him. Just tonight really showed me how much he’s willing to show his readiness to commit.”

“He really did scare Andrew, which is good because he needs to see that people aren’t scared to put him in his place,” Costello responds, a note of annoyance to his tone. “He seems to think he can get a free pass on being an annoyance.”

“Why do you keep him around?” my father asks as I watch as he takes a casual sip of his drink.

“Same reason you keep Amelia around, I guess,” Costello replies, mockery and mirth lacing every syllable he speaks. “He’s blood. They’re deviant, weak little souls, but they’re family and we always entrust hope in our own, don’t we? They’re the only times we offer second chances.” There’s a burst of laughter, before Costello continues, “Or in your case, give Amelia multiple.”

The chortle my father releases worries me, and as I watch, he’s looking far from happy. I don’t know if it’s the topic of me being brought up or me in general, but I know if I stand here anymore, I’ll find out just what is thought of me.

“I knew she’d always cause me a bother, but I never thought it would amass to this. Falling in love with a detective?” my father asks rhetorically, laughing again. “What was I thinking? I should have nipped that in the bud when she first started seeing him. Since then she’s been some fool in love and even after the first breakup, she was reckless. I used it to my advantage and made her believe every lie I told her, but we all spiraled before I could even stop any of it. It doesn’t matter who I know to keep her from getting into trouble, she still finds it. I can’t mold her into what I want now.” There’s a brief interlude, a pause of deliberation. “She’ll be gone soon, I’m sure of it. If not by her own choice, I’m sure she’ll meet her maker with the enemies she making along the way.”

“Won’t you help her?” Costello asks; curiosity is killing him as much as it is me.

“No,” my father’s brisk response hits me hard. “This is a life I sadly cannot save her from anymore. She’s racked up a body count of her own, crossed many lines, and become a deviant I can no longer rescue. Like Giovanni, she’s on the way to self-destruct.”

“From what I heard from your brother, she’s already there.”

Costello confirms that I’m apparently gossip, and I realize again that I live in no family, have no parent to trust, and my future is squandered. I ruined my own life ten times over just so could say I was part of the family. Now I’m no longer that.

I linger on the spot, desolation crashing down on the already broken pieces my soul. I guess they are always right – eavesdroppers never hear anything good about themselves. I’m a walking joke to everyone. No matter how hard I try – I have destroyed my ranking, have left my legacy in tatters, and have annihilated my own chances of salvation.

“Hey,” Zane’s voice comes from behind me, his arm trailing around my back and waist as he comes to stand directly bedside me. “Why are you standing here?”

“I wasn’t needed in there,” I comment, gesturing to the room where we all had drinks prior to the fun and games. “I’m going to head home.”

Zane’s brow furrows and I watch as he tries to read me. “Don’t you like it here? I thought you loved all the fun of a poker night.”

I laugh sadly, shaking my head at just how wrong he is and go to make my exit. “I like very few things in this life, Zane... Expensive liquor, intense sex, and power,” I say, and I stall my attempt to leave. Putting my hand on his shoulder, I lift my body onto tiptoes to whisper into his ear. “Tonight promised me all three.”

“When’s the intense sex coming?” Zane asks, his words whisper into my hearing.

I just smirk and begin to walk away. “See you at home.”

***

I hear everyone come home and get off my bed. I’ve laid for hours in the middle of the bed allowing my mind to roll over the words my father said, and each time, my mind flashes back to the bad omen I was dealt back at Costello’s. I feel like I’m at a limit and the breaths I have are ones I take on borrowed time. I feel as if my life is grains of sand, waiting to run through an hourglass to declare the end.

While my misery continues to drive my insanity through the roof, I hear Zane’s voice and I remember his earlier words –
She’ll be playing hard to get. I think we need the challenge... She’s got a fine piece of ass under that dress... It’ll be a way to end the evening, for sure.

I could continue to wallow or I could show him that I don’t take kindly to a man who protects me and then insults me all in one hour.

Unzipping my dress as I hear him tell them he’s coming up to get me, I allow it to pool at my feet and I step out from the loop it’s formed. I make my way to the already open door and open it more, standing in the doorframe ready. I see him walk along the landing, jacket and tie abandoned, top few shirt buttons undone, shirt no longer tucked in. I feel myself moisten immediately, but berate myself to behave and see this through.

“You finally come home then?” I say, standing in my doorway in nothing but my bra and panties.

He exhales, looking me up and down with an aroused and heated look. When he meets my gaze, he smiles cheekily, eagerness maiming him beautifully. “Yeah, we played a few more games,” he says and approaches me, reaching into his side pocket. “These are yours.”

“How do I ever say thank you?” I ask, making sure my seductive tone is alluring enough.

“I think we can find a way,” he comments, stepping in front of me.

I fall away, not allowing him to take total control. He follows me into my room, slamming the door closed. I smirk but give him a scrutinizing look, disgusted at the amount of clothing he has on. Without a second thought, his shirt is gone, his belt buckle undone, and his trousers pooling at his feet.

As he slips his shoes off and kicks his pants aside, I realize one thing – this is all too fucking easy apparently.