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“Yes. Sorry.” Cherry nodded before walking off, making it known she wouldn’t make that mistake again. No woman who worked down there would make that mistake again.

Dominic finally relaxe—

Maria shot back her tequila in a second, then sucked the lime into her mouth in another.

Dear God … Watching her suck that lime until there was nothing left made him adjust in his seat. She was making him pay for not letting her wrap her pretty mouth around his dick, and Dominic silently asked God why he had morals in the first place. He wasn’t a fucking saint!

Taking a few giant gulps of his water, he waved to stand on his twenty.

“So, why aren’t you marrying him?” Sadie asked, getting back to their conversation about him that didn’t particularly include him talking.

“You know how I feel about marriage,” Maria told her with a flip of her hair. “I just want him to fuck m—”

Dom slipped his hand over her loud mouth, whispering to her quietly, “Let’s not do this here, princess.”

She already had an audience of men at the other tables trying to listen in, as well as the women working, who were still shocked Maria Caruso had come here with a man.

He didn’t let her mouth go until she silently nodded.

A smiling Sadie flipped the card under her three to reveal a ten, right before she dealt herself an eight.

Watching her father’s money that Maria made them gamble get taken with the house’s perfect twenty-one, he gave Maria a death glare. “I thought you said you didn’t lose,” Dom ground out. There was no way in hell he was going to touch these chip—

“She just got lucky,” Maria assured him, sliding the chips she gave him in the circle and making him bet again. “Are you going to drink this?”

Watching her point to the second tequila shot, he wanted to tell her, “hell no,” but he went with a simple, “No.” There was no way he’d feel comfortable drinking down here. Alcohol would make his eyelids heavy, and Maria wasn’t going to catch his eyes slipping below the neck unless they were on her, which he never hid anyway.

Not fucking her—because God knew he wanted to—was the only way he was ever getting Maria to marry him, and he was getting her to marry him. Maria was his future wife, and she had to get the fuck over it.

Plus, he wasn’t going to give her his sin—

Maria sucked the lime as if for dear life after downing the second shot.

Fuck me, he groaned inwardly, the tightness in his jeans becoming unbearable. Could this night get any worse?

Sadie dealt them new cards, but the hand was short-lived as she flipped over an ace with her ten down.

Dominic was in for a long fucking night.

Forty-One

Maria The Drunk Virgin

“I’m sorry, honey, but it’s time for me to cut you off,” Sadie said when Maria asked to take out another thousand from her father’s account.

Giving the pit boss a silent thank you, Dom took the shot of tequila from Maria’s hand before she could throw it back. “Yes, I think we’ve had enough fun for one night.”

A very intoxicated Maria pouted. “But we haven’t gotten enough to pay for my ring yet.”

“Oh, that’s all right, princess,” he assured her. “I have a feeling there won’t be much of a wedding if we don’t stop gambling with money that isn’t ours.”

“We can always”—she hiccupped—“gamble with Lucca’s money instead.”

“As fun as that sounds”—Dominic helped her ass out of the chair—“it’s time to go.”

“Oh my God!” Maria gasped, looking at a worker pass by before she ran after her. “I love your shoes.”

Shaking his head, he kept his eyes on her while he picked up her unattended clutch off the table. Opening it, he retrieved his money clip full of cash. Counting out hundreds, he placed the thousand Maria took from her father down on the table.

Sadie took the cash with a smile.

Placing a few more bills on the table, he slid them over to her.

“Drinks are on the house.” Sadie slid the money back to him. “And if you tip Cherry or any other woman down here ever, they could get the wrong idea.”

Understanding that she was probably right, he slid the money back to her. “For you. Thank you for giving Maria a good time.”

The pit boss hadn’t made him feel uncomfortable when she stared at him or commented on his looks. It hadn’t been to impress him; it was to compliment Maria. And if it somehow made the woman he wanted to marry actually contemplate marrying him, then Sadie was worth every dime he had.

Sadie placed her hand on the cash, sliding it back over more seriously this time. “Thank you, but the only money I take is from Mr. Caruso.”

After a moment, Dominic nodded. Then, picking up the cash, he put it back in his clip and slid it back into his jean pocket.