Page 41 of Diamonds

“You always this lucky, stud?”Serafina asks in my other ear, making me even harder.

I flash her a smile.“Guess you’ll have to tellme.”

Serafina grins at Pia.“I like this one.”

Pia leans in, her champagne flute brushing the side of my jacket.“One more roll?See what fate has in store for you?”

I hold her gaze for a long moment.Then, without breaking eye contact with Pia, I toss the dice again.

They tumble, spinning fast.

“Snake eyes.”

Fuck.

A groan sweeps through the onlookers.I lean over the table, tapping my fingers against the felt as Shellby sweeps a portion of my winnings away.

Pia’s eyes gleam as she pouts her lips.“Looks like the luck’s shifting.”

I pick up the dice again, rolling them between my fingers.“Maybe.Or maybe it was a fluke.”

Serafina’s smile turns sharp."Or maybe you just need a little extra motivation."

She grabs my ass and squeezes it hard.

Pia gazes toward an older man standing behind us—a silver-haired figure in an impeccably tailored suit, his eyes cold and assessing.A salt-and-pepper goatee frames the lower half of his face.He’s grimacing at us.

My jaw tightens.I’ve seen this man before.He’s a regular at the club.

And something tells me one of the two women clinging to me is his guest.

“Are you with him?”I ask Pia.

“We both are.”She walks her fingers up my arm.

Fuck.Both of them?

I whip my arms out of their grasp.“But you can only bring one guest to Aces.That’s one of the hard and fast rules.”

Serafina giggles.“Rules are meant to be broken.Our friend over there has enough influence with the higher-ups here that he’s allowed a second guest.”

So he’s rich, and probably in bed with Rouge.

Not the kind of guy I want to piss off.

“If you came as his guests,” I say, “you really should be spending time with him.”

Serafina laughs.“We come here for the free booze.Our host knows that, and he respects that.He looks good just having the two of us on his arm when he walks in.That’s all the service we need to provide.”

Pia grins.“Besides, it would appear he’s found some company of his own.”

I look at the older gentleman again, and sure enough, he’s running his hands up and down the arms of one of the waitresses.A tall blond woman, wearing the same skimpy black bikini as the rest of her coworkers.On her left shoulder a red diamond, and on her right the number nine.

The Nine of Diamonds.

From what I can tell, she’s one of the more popular girls here.I often see her being taken behind the red velvet curtains to a private area.She started here about five years ago, and the men immediately formed a line to take her behind closed doors.Last I heard, the suggested “tip” for her private services started at a thousand bucks an hour.

He takes her into one of the private rooms, and the velvet curtain falls, closing them off.