Page 58 of Possessive Mafia Vows

Kyle’s eyes flicker momentarily. “He understands. This isn’tRain Man. You don’t count cards and then plead ignorance when you get caught.”

“He was counting cards?” I don’t know what this means exactly—my knowledge of card games is restricted to Rummy for beginners and Crazy Eights—but I do know that cheating will never be tolerated. “Will you ban him?” Maybe it would be the best thing that could happen to him.

“It isn’t that simple. He owes a lot of dangerous people a lot of money, and I can’t just let him walk out of here with a verbal warning to stay away. I have to let these people know, do you understand?”

“I think so. Is it some kind of casino-owner code? You know, like a pirate code?”

Kyle smiles. “Something like that.”

“Why am I here, Kyle?”

“He refused to go anywhere until he saw you again.”

I shake my head. “He does realize that I’m not responsible for him, right?”

“That’s why I wanted to speak to you in person.”

My phone vibrates then. It isn’t a call. It’s something I’ve only heard once before, when the new alarms in the gallery were being tested.

I stare at the screen. “Fuck. I’ve got to go, Kyle.” I’m already sliding out of the booth. “Someone is trying to break into the gallery.”

14

KYLE

“I’m coming with you.”

Her gaze instinctively slides towards her father, who is sitting with his head in hands like he has no idea where things went so wrong.

“What about—” she begins.

“Terry will take care of it, Sienna.”

I recognize the look in her eyes. It’s despair. Overwhelmed. Weariness.

She doesn’t deserve this.

I lead the way through the casino and down to the basement lot where Seamus is waiting for us with the car engine running.

Sitting in the back seat with Sienna, the brightly lit store windows flashing by in a blur, I berate myself for not insisting that she stay in a suite at the Wraith when I had the chance. Too many coincidences. Nick’s disappearance. Her father somehow convincing her to stay at his apartment and then getting caught cheating …in our casino.

It’s all connected. But despite throwing every second of my time at it, I still don’t know how.

Sienna’s face is turned toward the passenger window. Her shoulders are tense. Her fists are clenched by her sides. Her reflection in the glass is ghastly pale.

I cover her hand with mine. “You’re cold.”

She turns to look at me, and her eyes plead with me to tell her that everything will be alright.

“The NYPD will already be on the scene. Any damage that has occurred: I’ll get it sorted tonight, Sienna.”

I hope that she can read between the lines and know how much I love her. It’s my fault that she has to rebuild her trust in me, and I’ll give her all the time in the world if that’s what it’s going to take.

She doesn’t speak. We spend the rest of the journey with my hand over hers, and her hazy reflection haunting me from the passenger window.

What is the point of wealth if I can’t take away her pain? The question slides back and forth behind my eyelids like a mantra.What is the point…?

The revolving blue lights come into view as we pull into the road housing Sienna’s gallery. My pulse races. I’d hoped that it might be a false alarm, a glitch in the system, or a mouse scurrying across the floor inside. Now, the best I can hope for is that the damage is minimal.

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