Page 6 of Queen of Diamonds

It was a stupid drink.

I began shuffling my deck quicker as I watched the dancer below.

I had taken time to scent these cards. A perfect blend, so painfully faint in the air as I shifted them between my fingers. They were the only scents in the universe that brought me absolute calm—or as close to them as I could get.

Pear grove ... Like being drawn into the arms of a bear, he held me close, his crisp and comforting scent whispering me to sleep…

The rain and wind in a lightning storm… Static in the air, crackling between us as his fingers tangled in mine, squeezing as if he would never let go…

Snow santal … A cool winter forest, reminding of a time when I knew if I stumbled, he would catch me. Every time. No matter what it cost…

Forbidden. A million miles out of reach. But… once mine.

It was working. My nerves were settling. A million flashes of what should have been a sad song shoving away my nightmares.

There was no sign at all that anything was truly?—

“Glade?” I jumped violently when Leisha poked her head through the break room door. “Travis says there’s a pack in Bluff asking for you.”

“What?” I froze, my blood turning to ice, cards freezing in my hands. I didn’t do private sessions with clients. “By name?”

“Nope. Asked for the hot bartender on floor two.”

My panic mellowed as I gathered myself. “Tallow’s… hot,” I said stupidly.

“With ‘big hair to the waist’.”

Ah.

Okay. Well. “I don’t take clients.”

Bluff was one of the penthouse rooms on the top floor reserved for private meetings. Anyone who came to the High Roller had to be a member, but frequent fliers knew the Ice Queen absolutely did not do private showings.

“That’s what Travis told them. They paid a premium to sit up there on the off chance.”

“Well. They can enjoy the evening alone—and tell Travis I won’t be taking drinks up there, either.” Tallow could. I did deliver up there sometimes, but if some pack had it in their head they could buy my evening, I’d steer clear.

Leisha added. “They’re really good looking.”

“Travis said that?” I laughed.

“I did. And he said they were very respectful,” Leisha added, shooting me a side eye.

“If they weren’t, they’d be out on their ass.”

She snorted, but left me to my cards, alone in the small break room.

I checked my phone. I had what? Another fifteen before Tallow would get pissed.

I needed every second to still my frayed nerves.

Shuffling my deck, I tried to focus on the dancer below. She was mesmerising and beautiful. I wanted to pretend that today, my biggest fear was never having that much confidence in myself.

I paused, glancing down.

Something felt wrong with my deck. The cards’ edges were rough, softer than average, but…

I frowned, turning the cards and sifting through them.

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