SANTINO
Never in mylife had I given up prey so easily. And even as I approached the manor, I still didn’t know why I had. But seeing the fear on her face left me feeling … guilty.
Which, for a demon, was a unique feeling. I was almost certain I’d never felt it or known anyone who had felt it before in my life. So, she had drawn a second unique occurrence from me: an apology.
Then, baffled by my response to her, I’d run because I feared that spending more time with her would result in more unusual circumstances, and two was more than enough for one night.
The shindig at the Archbishop’s Residence was my brother’s doing. There was no better place to lure humans into the sin of greed than a casino, and nothing more enticing than an exclusive one. So, we made it happen, and it was a huge success. We were on the fifth night now, and at this point, my presence wasn’t necessary. I was more interested in finding someone I might entice with my vice until I saw her …
And now my entire night was ruined.
I was ruined.
How the fuck had that happened?
“Santino, are you alright?” Brando appeared behind me, clapping a hand on my shoulder and startling me from my thoughts. I turned slowly to look at my brother—human and demonic—slowly processing his question.
“Yes.” He didn’t seem to notice anything was wrong as he grinned and looked out across the field of sinners.
“This couldn’t have worked better if we tried. The ones who don’t sell their soul for a little bit of luck will sell their soul to get revenge on those who defeated them … after a little encouragement from me, of course.” He tilted his head toward a table. “That one there is on the verge of losing everything. I think I will make him take it out on himself when it happens. It’s so fun to see how creative humans are when given a little nudge.”
He patted my shoulder once more before sauntering to the man in question. My eyes scanned the room slowly, finding my other brothers and sisters scattered amongst the players. Then the scent hit my nose, and I paused, inhaling once more.
No. It couldn’t be. How had she found her way here?
Following my nose through the room, I wove between tables before finding the source. It was faint, and it lingered on his elbow like she’d held onto it pleading with him not to come. From the sight before him, a small, pitiful stack of chips, I could see why. And the man stunk of vodka.
A burst of inspiration hit me, and suddenly, I couldn’t stop the devilish smile on my face as I approached the table. Nodding at the dealer, I took a seat in the empty chair next to the man who smelt like my little hellion. He looked at me briefly, giving me an eyeful of the collection of sweat on his forehead. He knew the end was near, and I was here to collect.
The dealer dealt the next round, and I lifted my cards, surveying the ace of spades and ace of hearts. The dealer laid out the first three cards, giving me a third ace. I nodded at the dealer before glancing at his pitiful little pile. I bet what he had left, watching his skin drain of the rest of its color. He looked at his hand, looked at his stack, looked at his hand again, and then swallowed almost painfully.
“A-all in,” he whispered as he shoved the last of the chips into the middle of the table.
The dealer drew the next card, a king. Her father’s sweat eased slightly. He breathed out in relief and offered the table a smile. Whatever he had, he thought it was good enough to win at this point. So, I nodded at the dealer once more and he ghosted his hand over the pack before pulling the next card.
Another ace. Four of a kind.
I smiled as I flipped the cards over, revealing my hand. The horror that washed over the older man’s face was a delight. His mouth opened and closed like a fish’s before he managed to snap it shut and turn to look at me finally.
“I think we should go and make a deal to cover your debts, Mr. Faulkner.” I rose from my chair, holding my hand out to the doors at the back of the room. The older man tugged at the collar of his shirt as he looked over at them and back to me. Finally, he nodded and shuffled to the door.
His mind told me how scared he was. Over the last few nights, many men and women go through that door, and very few of them came out. He thought that the Outfit killed those who couldn’t pay their debts. And perhaps, once upon a time, that was true. But these days—and this Outfit—we wanted something more than just his death. We wanted their souls guaranteed with it.
Pushing the door open, we stepped into a hallway, and I guided him up the stairs to the Archbishop’s guest rooms. We’d turned them into offices for our use, so I led him to mine.
“So, we have a problem, Mr. Faulkner. You owe us a lot of money. We’ve let you try and win it back, but it seems that luck isn’t on your side anymore.”
“Please, please, Mr. De Luca, give me some time. I can get you the money.”
This was how these things normally went, and sometimes, we did give them time, but money wasn’t what I wanted. Hell, I didn’t even want his soul. Steepling my fingers in front of my face, I leaned on them thoughtfully like I was considering his offer before finally shaking my head.
“Mr. De Luca—” I reeled back, holding a hand to stop him.
“I don’t want you to pay it back. In fact, I’ll clear your debts in exchange for something of yours.”
“Anything! Anything, thank you.”
“I want your daughter.”
His bumbling stopped immediately as he stared at me in mute surprise. My eyebrows lifted as I waited to see what he would say or do, face twitched as he tried to think of what he might say to change my mind or offer me something else.
“My … my daughter?”
“Yes, and to give you peace of mind, I will say that I have no intention of hurting her. I’d like to marry her. So, grant me your blessing, bring her here, and your debts are cleared. In fact, I’ll even front you another ten grand so you could go back downstairs and try your hand again to keep the winnings for yourself.”
His eyes gleamed at the prospect of another chance. He thought if he took the ten grand, he might be able to win back what he owed and spare her and himself. Not that he could take her from me once she was mine. But it was cute to see he wanted to try.
Greed certainly looked delicious on a man.
“Alright, you can have her. Let me call her and tell her to come.”
My heart raced with excitement, imagining the possibilities of having my little hellion for my own. And now it didn’t matter if I felt guilty or not because she belonged to me.