He turned my way slightly, his dark gaze settling on me.
Something about his touch comforted me, reminding me of the power in his veins that circulated with his blood. I never wanted to be dependent on a man for anything, but I found myself thriving in his shadow, getting high off the invincibility he gave me. I didn’t realize how attracted I was to power until now.
“Beautiful?” His voice escaped as a masculine whisper, his tone washing over me like the incoming tide from the ocean. He must have detected the emotion in my heart because he kept looking at me, pressing for an answer to a question he never asked.
“It’s nothing…” I pulled my hand away and looked out the window.
He reached for it again and held my hand on my thigh. His thumb gently brushed over my knuckles as he turned his gaze out the window.
After another ten minutes, we pulled up to a tall building with no lights. From the outside, it looked abandoned. There were no cars anywhere. The buildings surrounding the area looked abandoned too. It seemed like the bad side of town, except there were no homeless people or thugs walking the sidewalk.
A large door on the side of the building opened suddenly, and the car drove inside until we were in an underground garage. We pulled through another door until we came to a private sector where there were no other cars. The car stopped in front of an elevator guarded by a dozen armed men.
Now my heart was racing.
Bosco seemed calm as usual.
One of the men carrying a rifle opened my door while the driver opened Bosco’s door.
I didn’t move for a second, uncomfortable by the enormous gun the man held in his hands. When he backed up, I stuck one leg out then pulled myself up. Bosco reached me and took my hand. He gave a slight nod to his men as he walked to the elevator.
The doors opened for him without pressing a button, and he pulled me inside. The elevator car was lined with red. The tile was red, and the walls were the same color. The buttons on the wall seemed to be made from solid gold. The elevator shifted before it began to rise.
Like we were attending a fancy party, he grabbed my arm and hooked it through his. His free hand moved into his pocket.
I gripped the inside of his arm, my other hand resting on his forearm. I was nervous in a way I’d never been before. Before I met Bosco, I was calm and free-spirited. I never worried about anything because there was nothing I couldn’t handle. Now the adrenaline had spiked, and it seemed like I was in perpetual danger.
The second the doors opened, we were greeted by loud music, cigar smoke, booze, and flashing lights from the girls dancing from the ceiling. The sound of constantly moving chips filled the background. The floor was covered with red carpet, and poker tables were spread out everywhere.
Bosco stepped inside, moving like he owned the place, which I guess he did. There was security everywhere, men dressed in all black who looked at Bosco as he passed. They kept their positions along the wall, following both of us with their eyes.
Every seat was taken by a man of the underworld. Topless women carried trays of drinks around, and some of the men looked up to stare at their racks, but most of them were too involved in the game to care.
As Bosco took me deeper into the casino, the music became louder. Men looked up to see him pass, and sometimes they looked at me too.
Bosco seemed indifferent to everyone in the room.
We reached a table positioned slightly farther away from the others. The lights were lower there, and there were two vacant seats at the table. A dealer was there along with two other men.
A man appeared out of nowhere and pulled out the chair. “Will you be joining, sir?”
“Yes.” Bosco took a card out of his pocket. “Two hundred.”
Two hundred what?
Bosco pulled out the chair beside his and took my hand to help me sit.
I lowered myself into the chair, doing my best to appear calm the way Bosco did. There was a lot going on, from the topless waitresses to the naked woman dancing in the cage just a few feet away.
The men at the table didn’t look at me, didn’t acknowledge my existence at all. They had women at their sides. One guy had two, actually. The women smothered the men with affection, like they were constantly working for their attention.
Bosco sat beside me, and the chips were placed in front of him. An ashtray was placed beside him along with a lit cigar. Two men catered to his every need, positioning a glass of scotch next to the cigar.