Page 162 of Wounded King

The machine flashes, lights spinning like a Vegas firework show, and then?—

Nothing.

A low buzz hums from the screen, and the lights flicker once… twice… and then cut out completely. The entire display goes dark.

A collective groan rises from the crowd behind me.

"What the hell?" I blink at the blank screen. "Did I… did I break it?"

"Noooo," Cat cries loudly, leaning in like she's trying to intimidate the machine with her presence. "Tell me this thing did not just die."

Pippa kicks the base. "You've got to be kidding me."

A grainy message suddenly appears on the screen in pixelated red:

System Error. Please contact casino attendant.

"NO!" I shout at the machine. "I was one spin awayfrom glory!"

"Do we call security?" Elaine asks, half-laughing, half-scandalized.

"I'm not leaving this chair," I say, gripping the sides of the seat like a woman fighting for her life. "If they try to take me off, I swear I'll glue myself to this plastic."

Scarlet leans over to whisper, "Do you think Marcello could, like… buy the machine?"

"I think he'd buy the whole damn floor if I asked him nicely," I mumble, still staring at the screen as if sheer willpower will revive it.

A flustered casino attendant arrives, headset askew, breathless. "Uh… ma'am, did you say this machine just shut down during a jackpot trigger?"

"Yes," the girls say in unison, nodding frantically.

Gigi holds up her phone; she'd been going to film my big moment. "I have proof. You better fix it or bring her a check."

The poor guy blinks like he's facing down a mafia don in lipstick and heels. "We'll, uh… We'll need to call a technician. But don't worry—if it hits, we'll see it in the system. Could take an hour."

"Anhour?" Scarlet says.

I sigh, glance at the crowd still watching, and rise from the chair like a woman leaving behind a battlefield. "Fine. But someone bring me a pizza, a coffee, and a lawyer. I'm not leaving this floor untilI get my spin."

As we walk off to wait, Elaine threads her arm through mine. "At least you're not the bride who got banned from the casino before her wedding."

"Yet," Pippa mutters with a grin.

I glance back at the machine one more time and whisper under my breath, "You owe me." I'm determined to have a word with my father about this later.

"You look beautiful," Elaine beams at me. She looks a bit distorted because both Gigi and Sophia have insisted I pull the freaking veil down.

"I look like a white marshmallow," I complain, looking in the mirror.

The other girls ran out to findsomething bluewhen we realized that this was the one thing I was missing for my big moment. Other big moment. According to casino records, I wouldnothave won, but Papà handed me a check for a hundred thousand dollars, with the casino's apologies, after both Gigi and Pippa causeda bit of a riot. It wasn't the same as winning would have been, but I took the money and donated it to the victims of violent crimes fund. Seemed like poetic justice.

"Do you miss Mom?" Elaine asks. This is the first time either of us has mentioned Mom since arriving in Vegas. Besides mom's swearing she would never set foot in Vegas again, I didn't even invite her. Papà missed Elaine's wedding, so I figured it was only fair for Mom to miss mine. Besides, I'm still too mad at her over everything to have her here; it would have ruined the day for me, looking at her.

I do feel terrible. A bride should have her mom beside her, and a mother should be part of her daughter's wedding. Nothing about this is fair, for any of us, but it is what it is, I suppose.

"I do," I admit to Elaine.

"Well, if it's any consolation, she made me more nervous on my wedding day than Dad seems to make you."