Page 51 of Toxic
The one who must be the little ringleader says, “Private game,sorry.”
The first one’s eyes bulge out of his head when Gracin extracts a rather large wad of money from hispocket.
“You’re sure?” he asks with a cheeky grin at me. “My lady and I are looking to have some fun tonight. She’s never been to a poker gamebefore.”
The two guys look to their leader, who favors Danny enough in the color of his skin and bone structure that it makes me think they are distantly related. This one has about thirty pounds on Danny and a rounder face, but the eyes are the same. I’d never forgetthoseeyes.
Gracin wraps an arm around my shoulder and presses his lips to my hair to whisper, “Stay calm, little mouse. Don’t worry, I’ll take careofit.”
I could end it here. Reach for Gracin’s gun and put bullets in the three of them. Killing Danny’s relative would send a hell of a message, and I like to think I’m getting pretty good at being just as ruthless as the man beside me. But sending a message like that may cause Danny and Sal to go further to ground, so I relax and send him a sunnysmile.
Breaking from his grasp, I brace my hands on the pool table to accentuate my cleavage and bat my eyesatthem.
“So, what’s it gonna be, guys? Are we gonna have some fun tonightorwhat?”
The tensionin the room is palpable, and the three guys, who I learned are named Desmond, Cody, and Jasper, are sweating so much their skin reflects in the yellow light from the overheadfixture.
About an hour ago, the bartender, I still haven’t gotten her name, led the five of us back to a dark room with a small card table and a couple of chairs. The felt table is worn to the pressed wood underneath and not one of the chairs sits squarely on the ground, but the three men don’t seem to care. After Gracin flashed his money, they only had eyes for the pocket where hestashedit.
The first two hands, Gracin sat back in his seat and quietly listened to the three of them talk shit. He let them beat him until they felt comfortable. Then this attention grew much morefocused.
It’s their tenth hand, and Gracin hasn’t been kind to their wallets. I can tell Desmond— the one who looks like Danny—wants to call him out on something, but he wisely bites his tongue. Which is surprising considering how much they have drunk. While they’ve been downing Jack and Cokes, Gracin’s sipped his warm beer and studied them. A panther waiting to attack, all sleek muscles anddarkeyes.
“Call,” Gracin says and places his bet. “So are you gentlemen fromaroundhere?”
I nearly snort into my third beer, which I’ve been drinking much slower than the first two, but I manage to contain it. He’s lulled them into such a false sense of security and plied information from them so subtly I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it with myowneyes.
So far we’ve learned they visit California and Mexico frequently and that they all have family in the area. I wanted so hard to perk up when they revealed that little piece of information, but I forced a bored expression on my face and pretended like I’d rather be anywhere else in the world. It wasn’t hard because I’d rather be with Danny watching the life drain fromhiseyes.
“Yeah, they’re from around,” Desmond says with a side-eyed look at me. He’s the only one of the bunch who wasn’t completely charmed by my faux airheadedness or wooed by the stacks of cash Gracin kept piling on the winnings in the center of thetable.
“Why are you so interested?” he asksGracin.
“Just makingconversation.”
When the others aren’t looking, he sends me a look under his lashes, and I tense, my body coming alive. Whatever he’s planning is going tohappensoon.
Desmond doesn’t look mollified. If anything, his suspicion grows. “Then I’d suggest you focus more on your cards and less onchitchat.”
He places his cards face up on the table. The others do the same with Gracin at the end. Desmond’s aces best Gracin’s kings, and Gracinsighs.
“Sorry, baby,” he says to me. “I didn’t mean to ruin ournight.”
Desmond sends his friends a wordless order, and they surge up from the table, their hands slipping knives from where they’ve been stowed inpockets.
“You think we didn’t know who you were the second we laid eyes on you?” Desmond says. “You must be dumber thanyoulook.”
“That’s a possibility,” Gracin says calmly without bothering to get up. He takes a sip of his beer and casually places the glass back down. “What is it you think you’re going to do with those pigstickers?”
“You’re coming with us,” Desmond says. “Uncle Sal’s been lookingforyou.”
“I don’t think I can accommodate you,” Gracin says and begins tucking his things back into his pockets. “You can give him a message for me,though.”
Desmond scoffs. “I’m not giving him shit. Keep your hands where I can see them. Your lady, too.” He jerks his chin at me, and the two men circle the table and bracket me oneitherside.
“You’re going to want to leave her alone,” Gracin says with forced calm. “Put a hand on her, and I’m gonna have to put my hands on you, only I won’t be as nice. All I wanted was a fewanswers.”
“I’ve got one,” Desmond says, “fuckyou.”