Page 59 of Burn the World Down

I shoved all thoughts of the holiday out of my head. We walked through a wide doorway and onto the main casino floor.

Nash led me through the maze of tables. People were playing cards, throwing dice, shrieking in delight as they won, or groaning in disappointment as they lost. I realized that Nash wasn’t watching the gambling the way I was. He was alert and assessing the security. He nodded at a man in a suit with an earpiece, who had to be staff.

We wandered on.

“You want to try some blackjack?” he asked.

I laughed. “No. Not my thing.”

“Roulette?”

I shook my head. “Do you gamble?”

“Not really. I occasionally get together with Bastian and the others to play poker. Bastian always cleans us out.”

We strolled on and a broad-shouldered man with blond hair at a table caught my attention. I froze.Oh my God. It was Sam Alden. Snyder’s thug. There was a dark-haired man beside him. Zanotti. Alden bumped a shoulder against Zanotti, the men laughing and slugging back their drinks.

All the blood drained from my face.

“Georgie? Georgie?”

All I could see in my head was these two men hurting Viv.

“Georgie.”

I blinked and looked at Nash.

He cupped my cheeks. “What’s wrong?”

“Snyder’s men,” I whispered. “Alden and Zanotti.”

Nash pulled me against his chest, his big hand cupping the back of my head. His lips brushed my ear. “Zanotti’s dead. I killed him.”

I clung to him and remembered. I’d seen Zanotti go down. I lifted my head and looked at the blond man playing blackjack.

It wasn’t Alden.

I released a shuddering breath.

Nash ran a soothing hand up and down my back. “You okay?”

I nodded. “I’m sorry.”

He tilted my chin up. “You have nothing be sorry for.”

“Nash, I can’t wait much longer. I have to stop Snyder and the others before they hurt another woman.”

His face turned serious. “I know.”

Suddenly, a man’s raised voice cut across the floor. A woman screamed.

I turned and saw Nash’s head whip up, like a dog catching a scent.

Two men were pushing and shoving. A woman in a tiny, blue dress was scrambling out of the way.

“You cheated!” one man bellowed. “You stole my chips.”

“Fuck off,” the other man said. “I didn’t touch anything.”