Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 88580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
My eyebrows shoot up. “You knew?”
“We all knew,” Con mutters. “He wouldn’t shut the fuck up about it at first.”
“He talked about you a lot,” Erick confirms.
“Constantly,” Jayson says. “Obsessively. Until he realized we were starting to worry about him and he stopped. But until then, I swear he mentioned you nearly every day, something about what you were doing, how your recovery was going, little things he shouldn’t have possibly known unless he was directly in your life. Do you know what I’m saying?”
I stare at my hands. At the way they move, dealing the cards. Another blackjack for Erick. Con curses when he gets a sixteen.
“He was following me,” I say quietly, glancing over to where my floor manager’s struggling to pretend like three of the most important people in this company aren’t sitting at my table. Well, two of them are sitting, one’s still standing and glaring. “I already told you, I know about that.”
“It’s more than he said.” Jayson’s tone is firm, but not hurtful. “He was obsessed, but he refused to ever cross the line and speak to you. I’ll admit, it worried the hell out of me, the way he couldn’t seem to get you out of this head, and I was relieved when he stopped mentioning it. Now you’re back, and I’m worried for him. I’m also worried about you. I’m worried you’re not as safe as you think you are.”
I stop dealing. I can’t handle this. “Are you warning me right now?”
“I’m telling you that Adler is not what he seems,” Jayson confirms. “I don’t know how much he’s telling you or how he’s acting when you’re around, but my brother’s moods run deep and dark. His obsessions are impossible to break, and I’m afraid you’ve been his darkest secret for a very long time.”
“But he said… he’s doing this to keep me safe.” My head starts to hurt. I rub my temples, not even bothering to pretend like we’re playing anymore.
“Keep you safe from what?” Con asks, now sounding concerned.
“I’m not sure. I mean, Tony Vetch, I think. But I don’t know why.”
Erick and Con look at each other. “Sounds odd,” Erick says.
“Tony’s not the issue here,” Jayson says, rapping his knuckles on the table. “Adler’s the issue. You’re the issue. Look, we don’t know you, and that’s fine. Only I remember the way he was over you, and I’m concerned that you don’t know what you got yourself involved with.”
“You need to be careful,” Erick says.
I shake my head, trying to imagine how bad it must’ve been to make these men come to my table like this to warn me about their own brother. “Do you think I should be afraid?” I ask Con, staring at him like he’s my only hope.
His face is grim. “I think my brothers wouldn’t fly all the way out to Atlantic City just to speak with you if their concerns weren’t legitimate.” Which isn’t the same thing as agreeing, but might as well be.
I rub my face with both palms. “I need to talk to him.”
“Be careful,” Jayson says. “I’d avoid telling him we spoke with you. Not because I give a damn if he’s angry with us, but because I’d be afraid he might take it the wrong way.”
“You think he’d hurt me?”
“My brother is capable of a lot of things.” Jayson moves away from the table. “There, I said what I came to say. You seem like a nice girl, Casey, a nice girl that got involved with something way over her head. You should think carefully about what you do next.”
“Think hard,” Erick says, pushing back from the table. He swoops his chips up and shoves them into his pockets before turning away. Jayson and Erick walk out of the high-rollers room together, leaving Con alone at the table. He fiddles with his chips, stacking and unstacking them.
“They just made Adler sound like a serial killer,” I say, trying to keep the tremble from my voice.
“Does that surprise you?” he asks, glancing up. His fingers pause. “You know our business.”
“But—” I stop myself. The suits, the work. They all seems like businessmen, but they aren’t.
Not really.
These are violent men. Mafia men. Adler’s alluded to that a few times, how they came up in the casino, running around and getting into fights.
They earned their positions through violent means.
“Jayson and Erick might be exaggerating,” he says though he doesn’t look like he means it. “They have their own reasons for having this conversation with you. I’m not sure I totally agree with them, but I also think it’s smart to be wary. Adler can be difficult.”
“He cares about me.” But that sounds hollow, even to me. “At least, I don’t think he’d hurt me.”
“Probably not.” Con shoves the chips at me. “Color out?” I consolidate his money without thinking and return the same amount in the fewest number of chips possible. He pushes a fifty-dollar tip across the felt. “Not that you need it.”