Page 1 of Playing with Trouble

CHAPTER1

Violet

“You’re insane,” Andrea informed me.

I barely blinked.She said that about me often enough that it didn’t even register as an insult anymore.“No,” I countered easily.“I just knew everything was going to be fine.”

Andrea scoffed and shook her head, muttering beneath her breath, “A guy threatens her at work and ‘everything’s fine’, she says.”

She continued perusing the racks of clothes at the boutique we were in, occasionally pulling something out to look at it thoughtfully before hanging it back up again.The two of us were half-sisters by blood, but Andrea was also my best friend and I was grateful that despite our tangled family drama that technically made me the product of our father’s infidelity, none of that had ever mattered to her.

It wasn’t either of our fault that our dad had been a cheating scumbag.Andrea was a good person, and a better friend.I loved her.I even loved Madison, our older sister who lived in San Diego with her husband, Rick—my half-sister, Andrea’s full—even though I wasn’t as close with her as I was with Andrea.I was incredibly lucky with the siblings I’d ended up with, including my brother, Christopher.Even if our parents hadn’t been there for us growing up, and all of them were now deceased, we at least had each other.

“This isn’t the first person who’s lost their head when their luck took a turn for the worse,” I pointed out.It happened all the time at the casino where I worked.“We have security guards and cameras for a reason.”

Andrea didn’t look placated.“He still tried to punch you.”

“And he would’ve lost his balls if he had,” I said, and meant it.“I can handle myself.”

The guy in question had been one of the players at my poker table the night before who’d lost over fifty grand, which definitely sucked.But then he’d accused me, very belligerently, of cheating on behalf of my employers and had threatened tomake me pay.

As if I needed to cheat in order for the house to win.That was just the nature of how gambling worked.Odds were, you were going to lose more often than you won unless you had the ability to count cards.

As the saying went, Las Vegas wasn’t built on winners.

Andrea finally cracked a small smile.“Would your bosses have been okay with you castrating him?”

“Eh.”I shrugged as I continued browsing through different outfits, trying to find just the right one to wear for my first night ever at The Players Club, thanks to the invitation Andrea had given to me.“I’m sure it would have been a fun story for the higher ups to spread around.Don’t mess with our dealers, they took lessons from Robert de Niro inCasino.”

Coming from the school of hard knocks was what made me a good card dealer.Nothing rattled me.Las Vegas was a glittering playground, but it was also a pressure cooker where people lost money they couldn’t afford to spend and drowned their pride in overpriced cocktails.I’d had people sob, scream, beg, and yes, threaten me.I’d seen it all.

But occasionally you came across a guy like the one from last night, who clenched his fists and glared and promised retribution because I’d cheated, even though there were cameras everywhere in the casino, scrutinizing our every move that would prove otherwise.He’d been an idiot, and I’d had a lot worse than some random drunken loser yelling in my face and threatening bodily harm.And if he’d dared to touch me, I wouldn’t have hesitated to defend myself with a swift kick to the nuts before grabbing his head and smashing his nose against my upraised knee.I didn’t need a knight in shining armor to protect me.

Andrea snorted in amusement.“I think Robert de Niro could’ve learned a thing or two fromyou.”

“You flatter me.”I pulled out a dress, examined it, then returned it to the rack.I wanted something truly head-turning for tonight.Something that said,I’m in the mood to play, if you dare.

“You don’t have to overthink what you should wear,” Andrea said, practically reading my thoughts.“A lot of people in the club wear lingerie, or robes, or casual clothing.I’ve even seen a few people in sweats during aftercare.”

“I want to make an impression.The kind that gets the right guy’s attention and tells the wrong ones not to bother because they’re not worth my time.”

Andrea laughed.“Vi, you never do anythingbutmake an impression.”

I spotted a glimpse of slinky, emerald-green fabric on the clearance rack and pulled the dress out to give it a look.“Well, not all of us are lucky enough to snag one of the club’s sexiest doms on their first night like you did.”

Andrea batted her lashes and gave me a playful “who, me?”kind of look.

Yes, my sister had lucked out with Chase Noble…though the road getting to their happily-ever-after definitely had its ups and downs.It was a good thing he’d finally pulled his head out of his ass, because I would have had to take matters into my own hands to make him see reason.And Chase’s face was just too pretty to bruise with a sucker punch.

“It didn’t hurt that Chase didn’t want me playing with anyone else,” she said, grinning at me.

I rolled my eyes.“He’s such a typical alpha male.A possessive, domineering neanderthal.”And I meant that in the most affectionate way possible, considering he was going to be my brother-in-law in the near future.

“Not always,” she said, not the least bit offended by my description of her fiancé.“He does have a few soft spots only I’m privy to.”

“It’s certainly not his pierced dick that’s soft,” I retorted.Not that I’d seen his dick, but Andrea hadn’t been shy about sharing the wonders of his Prince Albert and Jacob’s ladder hardware with me.

She giggled and tossed her dark, wavy hair.“Definitely not.”