Page 33 of One Night Gamble
She lifted herself up to look at him. “For what?”
“For agreeing to date me,” he said at last. “I know that you have history with men who make their living gambling and it can’t be easy for you. But I’m not like them.”
“I know,” she said, but she didn’t. Not really. She hoped he was different and for tonight, for this moment in their relationship, it was enough. She put her hand on his pec and then lowered her head. “I never really understood why someone would risk what you have for what you might get.”
He laughed. “I think either you get it or you don’t.”
“And you do?” she asked, trying to understand what made this man tick. He fascinated her. Of course, a big part of it was the way he watched her and made her feel like the most desirable woman in the world, but there was more to it than that.
“Yes. To be honest I never had anything so there wasn’t a lot of risk involved at first,” he said.
“How did you get started?”
He rolled to his side, curling his arm under his head so that they faced each other. The light from the hallway provided just the right amount of illumination in the room.
“It’s not pretty.”
“It’s okay. I’m not going to judge you,” she said.
“I was a street kid and learned to hustle, usually with the ‘watch the rock’ trick. It’s a form of three-card monte. I would get people to bet they could find the rock. I did pretty good, but the cops were often one step ahead of us. I got sent to juvie and that’s where I met Darien, who was in for graffiti, and Nicholas, who was in because his dad was a hard-ass and wouldn’t bail him out.”
“That’s crazy. So how did you turn street hustling into gambling?” she asked.
“We got sent to a halfway house instead of back home,” he said. “I didn’t have a home to go back to, but the foster family I’d been with said they didn’t want me back. Anyway, at the halfway house, there was a huge library with all these old books on Vegas and gambling. I just read them all and each night, I’d try my skills out on Nick and Dare. Those two don’t let anyone win and eventually I was beating them every night. I watched the cards that were played and from reading, I knew the odds of getting certain cards.”
He touched her arm again. She realized he liked touching her and had to admit she liked it, too.
“So, when we got out of the halfway house, Darien staked me at an underground poker game. I won and split the winnings with him. I kept playing in those games until I was old enough to enter the legit ones. And I always took half my winnings and put it in savings.”
She reached over and squeezed his bicep, then ran her hand down his arm. He flexed his muscles and she smiled.
“Why did you do that?”
“Because when you grow up poor, money means something,” he said. “I never wanted to be at anyone’s mercy again.”
“I get that. Dad talked a loan shark into giving him the value of Gran’s house to gamble. When he lost, Paulie came to collect and Dad was in the wind. So I had to make a deal with him to pay it back. He’s a nice guy.”
“Paul Castiletti?”
“Yeah, you know him?”
“Only by reputation. He’s a dangerous man,” Casey said.
“I know. But if you keep your word, he keeps his. I was still in high school at the time. I told him how much I made each week and promised to give him half. He took the deal. Each year, as I made more money, I paid him back more of the loan. I’ve been working two jobs for most of my life. The job at Jokers Wild is the best paying one I’ve had in a long time, so I should be able to make the last payment to Paulie this month. Then Gran’s house will be hers again. And now that Dad’s gone, we don’t have to worry.”
“Ah, babe, I’m sorry you had to do that,” he said, pulling her into his arms and holding her close.
He made love to her again and she drifted off to sleep, feeling certain that Casey wasn’t like her father. He’d never gamble away something that mattered to him.
Chapter Eleven
Casey moved around his kitchen as if he was a guest in his own home. It was clear to Talia that the man had no clue where the coffee was. But he looked good in a pair of basketball shorts that clung to his hips and no shirt. She’d give him that.
“Um…I usually order something from the casino,” he said, turning to face her. “I want to be like a regular guy…”
She had to smile at the way he said that. It reminded her that everyone was fighting their own battles when it came to daily life. “You’re you. I like that you’re not like everyone else. Also, I love the mocha latte that the café makes, so I’ll have that if you’re ordering.”
“I am. Also, I seem to be pretty limited in the food department, except for martini olives and snacks, so what do you want for breakfast?”
