Chapter 3
ALEK
It’s been five days. The technicians weren’t able to find anything out of the ordinary, and I’m getting frustrated. I need to blow off some steam. Gray took last night off to take a beautiful tattoo artist to dinner. I think I’ll go harass him.
“Enter,” he growls when I knock on the door.
I wish he would trust me more to take on additional responsibilities. I get that he’s a control freak, as am I. He wasn’t pissed about my key cards being stolen, not that he could give it much thought. He’s been occupied with gaming commissioners coming in and wanting to talk and conduct inspections.
“Don’t get mad at me because you feel the need to handle everything yourself.” I smirk, and he just shakes his head.
“It’s as if this place can’t function without me,” he exclaims, throwing his hands up.
He reaches toward his ponytail to pull it out but stops. His eyes focus on his computer screen. I’m pretty sure I know what caught his attention. Behind him on the bank of monitors is every angle he can see her from. He watched her every chance he could yesterday before they went on their date.
“It can. You are the one who has left your number for everyone to call in case of an ‘emergency.’” I give him air quotes. “It’s not an emergency when a whale loses. It’s not an emergency when a cook calls out. You have plenty of them.” He needs to trust in his managers to do their jobs, or he’s never going to have a life.
I approach his desk as he turns toward the wall of monitors. Gray watches as she exits her suite that he upgraded her to.
“If you want a future with her, you’ll need to get your head out of your ass.” I gesture toward the screen, where the beautiful, tattooed woman is waiting for the elevator.
He chuckles as he grabs the folder of information I gathered on her. He uses me more to pull up dossiers on whales and other people. But I also manage the books, and security answers to me. I should tell him I want to take on a bigger role.
He sets the file down and picks up his cell phone. When I catch the smile on his face, I know he’s texting her. I decide I’m intruding and quietly return to my wing.
I watch our tech team as they run surveillance cameras and advise security and pit bosses on various issues. When the camera pans across the blackjack tables, a redhead catches my eye. It’s not her beauty that attracts me. No, there’s something about her that is vaguely familiar. Besides that is her demeanor. She seems distracted, her eyes tracking around the room, instead of paying attention to the people at her table. I pull up the schedule for the day to find out who she is.
Ainsley Duncan.
I begin to conduct a background check on her. She has a common last name, but still it’s too much of a coincidence to ignore. Jimmy Duncan has been causing Gray and me issues for years, even before we opened the casino.
“Hey.” Gray pops his head in the door. “I need you to do me a favor. It will cause too much of a stir if I do it.”
“Okay.”
I don’t question him because he is my friend, and I know he wouldn’t ask me to do something unless he really needed me to. Plus, I owe him for helping get me out of the Bratva. Oh, I still have some things to do with them, but I’m mostly staying clean. I don’t want to end up like my father.
“Will you take lunch down to Erika?”
“I can do that.”
I don’t like to socialize with people I don’t know, but for him, I’ll do this.
I make my way down to the in-house café, where he ordered her lunch already, and then head for the ballroom where the tattoo convention is being held. Women watch me as I pass, but I ignore them. When I reach her booth, I stand back and watch as she helps her client up. She cares for her, making sure she’s hydrated and steady on her feet before she lets her go. As I approach, her eyes move over me, but not in a sexual way. She’s curious.
“Hello, I’m Aleksei. Mr. Aldridge asked me to bring you some lunch and a drink.” I hold out the bag with her lunch in it.
She reaches for it but stops, and I watch as a wicked smile pulls up her lips. She’s stunningly beautiful and very petite. Smaller than my lisichka. When she turns to look at the camera, I have a feeling she’s going to give Gray a run for his money, and I kind of like that. He needs someone to keep him on his toes.
“How do I know you are with Mr. Aldridge?” She turns a sweet smile on me.
Unsure how to answer, I look at the camera, knowing Gray will be watching. When I turn back to her, she leans forward, and I keep my eyes above her cleavage. Gray would kill me if I didn’t. Plus, I’m not interested. She isn’t my girl.
“Why don’t you show me the secret handshake? If you know it, you know you have to kiss me.” I rear back. I’m not kissing this woman. No one else’s lips will touch mine until I find my lisichka, and again, I value my head on my shoulders, not rolling around the desert floor.
“I know that if I so much as touch you, they’ll never find my body. I can tell you that Mr. Aldridge is watching us right now,” I answer.
She smiles again, and this time it’s warm and kind. “Fine. So, Aleksei, will you tell me this super-secret job that Mr. Aldridge does for the casino?” She takes the offered water from me.
“Mr. Aldridge is very important to the running of the Lucky Dice.” I leave it at that. I’m aware Gray hasn’t told her he owns the casino.
When she steps away from her station, I fall into step beside her, doing as Gray asked, keeping an eye on her. She turns her head and inspects my visible ink. I don’t recoil or try to cover it. I’ve grown used to people checking it out.
We reach a rest area set up in the convention hall with an arrangement of chairs and take a seat.
“You’ve known Grayson for a long time?” she asks, and I tip my head to the side, finding it interesting she calls him by his full name and not the nickname everyone else calls him.
I contemplate the question, not sure what I should say. Yeah, we’ve known each other a long time, both in this life and the one we walked away from. He and I used to be runners in the criminal world. We went to juvie together. I’ve helped him beat the shit out of punks who thought they could look at his sister.
“I’ve known Gray since he came to live with his…” I pause for a moment, choosing my words carefully. “With his babushka. My father lived close by.”
She opens the bag and peers in at the contents before closing it again. She’s upset, and I can imagine why. I’ve given her nothing more but partial truths.
“Thank you for the sandwich and water. Tell Grayson I’ll see him this evening but only if he’s ready to give me the truth. Goodbye.” She gets up to leave, and I’m out of my seat, walking alongside her again. I escort her back to her station, where she stands next to it in the crowd to eat.
I hold my arms out to protect her after she gets bumped a few times. “You were out of the way over there. You might think you’re pissing him off, but he’s angrier that these people are bumping into you,” I say as I try to control my anger bubbling under the surface. My blue-eyed gaze bores into her, hard and cold.
“Fine. But I only have another fifteen minutes. I don’t want to sit there just staring off.” She huffs.
“I won’t tell you anything other than what Gray has already told you. I’m loyal to him. You get that, right?” While I won’t give her more about my friend, I’m curious to know more about her. What are her motives for being with him?
“You think I’m after him for something?” she asks before returning to the seating area.
I once again follow beside her and take a seat. As she settles in a chair to eat her lunch, I look her up and down, taking her in. She’s not only covered in tattoos and beautiful but has an air about her. She’s intelligent, sophisticated, and her clothes and jewelry are expensive. She has money and taste.
“You think there is something you could gain from him?” Instead of answering her question, I give her another one.
“I’m fairly certain if he’s in security like I suspect, I probably will be the one needing a prenup. But we aren’t talking forever here. I’m all for just a bit of fun.” She takes a gulp of water, and I hold in my smile.
I’m aware of her big trust fund and the fact she doesn’t use it for much. Her tattoo parlor brings in enough income to support her lifestyle.
“Tattooers, please return to your stations.” The announcement comes across the speakers, and we both rise.
“Thank you. Please tell Grayson I said thank you also.”
“What do you want from him?” I finally ask her the question that has been weighing on my mind.
She purses her lips as she considers her answer. Like me, she is careful with what she says.
“Honestly, I don’t really know. Something about him calls to me. Maybe a good fuck will get him out of my system. But I can’t focus on him right now; I have a piece to complete in two more hours.”
She returns to her booth, and I follow to ensure she is tucked away safely before I head upstairs. She will definitely give Gray a run for his money.
The whole way up to the executive level, I think about my lisichka and how I wanted more with her, even though she stole from me. It makes me want to question why Gray wants this woman.
I step into his office. Neither of us struggles to find female companionship, but we both don’t seek it out either. His first love is this casino, while mine is ensuring I’m never vulnerable or left again.
“Why her?” I finally work the nerve up to ask. We’ve been putting out fires for the past hour. The hacker is at it again. Access alarms are going off on various floors and in the stores and restaurants.
Gray looks at the screen he has dedicated to watching his girl.
“She’s beautiful. Pure of heart. It’s hardened though and been hurt. What her parents did to her, leaving her, makes her doubt everyone around her. I’m going to have a hell of a time showing her I’m here for the long run. She’s sexy. Artistic and fresh. She’s not like any of the women around here. She doesn’t give a shit what others think of her. Maybe she won’t have a problem with who my family is.” His last words are pensive.
I know he’s concerned about telling her he owns the casino, but I think what he fears most is how she will react to him being a son of the Bratva.
“She doesn’t know you own this place,” I state the obvious.
“No, she doesn’t,” he responds. “But I’m more worried about how she’ll feel when she finds out who my father is.”
I was right. I get why the latter worries him. His father wasn’t just any Bratva Pakhan; he was the deadliest. When he reined here before Gray’s brother, Andrei, took over, he would kill for the smallest infraction. The man who double-crossed my father has still never been found.
We go on to discuss how she got her money. He tells me that her grandmother’s family was on the Mayflower when it came over. I understand her not wanting to commit because of her parents leaving her. I’ve felt the same vulnerability after losing mine. My mother died before we left Russia, and I lost my father when I was thirteen. Gray’s babushka took me in and raised me as best as she could. She raised us all—me, Gray, and his brother and sister. I rebelled like crazy, hell-bent on revenge. It took the Pakhan threatening to send me to Latvia to get me to settle down. I wanted to kill and maim every person who was involved in my father’s death. I lived for the revenge.
“Who ran the background check on the last round of blackjack dealers we hired?” I ask, returning our attention to work. I need to know how someone possibly related to Duncan could have gotten a job here.
“I think it was just a general review through security. Why?”
“One of the dealers has the last name of Duncan.”
“Interesting. Have security keep an eye on them and also run a deep dive.”
“Already done on both accounts.”
“Are you bucking for my position?” He jokes, and I shrug.
I knew what needed to be done, and I did it.
I return to my office and continue working long after Gray leaves for a date with Erika. It makes me miss my lisichka more and more.
Lyric
I’ve been fucking with the Lucky Dice systems for a few days now. I have the proof that Jimmy lied to us, but he’s gone to ground and is hiding out, which means I can’t confront him about it. I also have access to watch Aleksei all I want, especially since he works so much.
I watch him chat with a petite woman participating in the tattoo expo at the casino. My body vibrates with jealousy. I itch to fuck with her, mess up her credit. But the more I watch, I notice he’s not trying to touch her. If anything, he’s keeping a respectable distance. I look her up. Erika Arnold from Eastport, Rhode Island. She’s one of the finalists in the tattoo competition. She exudes confidence. She’s stunning in ripped jeans, high heels, and a tank top. Her exposed tattoos and piercings only add to her beauty. I wonder who she is to him. Before I can dig more, the lock on the door disengages.
“Did you find out anything about the Lucky Dice?” Ainsley asks as she returns from her shift at work.
“Not really.” I don’t tell her the truth yet. She thinks Jimmy hangs the moon and excuses his behavior every time. I’m sick of it. I want him out of our lives. I wish I’d never found him. He’s evil and dangerous. He won’t like our other plan if he ever finds out about it.
“What have you found?” She drops into the chair next to me.
“No women. No kids. Nothing illegal going on.”
“Well, I have some runners going there again. We just need the commission to catch them on the property when they are there. I also talked some shmuck who wants a bit more with me into going and counting cards. It’s going to be fun to see how they react to that. If we can get them hurting someone on video, that would help us.”
I shake my head at her; she just doesn’t get it. “It’s not like that, Ains. They don’t have cameras in those kinds of rooms.”
“Keep watching and stop trying to get out of this. You wanted to make them pay too. Plus, if we can prove that Aldridge stole the Lucky Dice from Dad, he’ll reward us.”
I stand up so fast my chair falls to the floor. “No, he won’t. Don’t you get it? He is just using us. Has he ever introduced us to our brothers? Has he ever done anything for us?”
She walks over to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. “He doesn’t have to prove he loves us. We are his daughters. You better not be going soft on me because of Belyaev.” She calls Aleksei by his last name just like she does with Grayson. I think it’s her way of keeping things impersonal in her mind. They aren’t people, just a means to an end.
I shake her off and slam my laptop shut. I don’t want to argue about the fact that I still crave Aleksei. I want to contact him, but I don’t.
“I’m out of here. Can I use your car?”
I shove my laptop into my bag. I want to follow him. I want to know where he goes when he leaves the casino. I have the address, but I want to see the place where he lives for myself.
She points to her keys, and I grab them on my way out the door. I’m getting sick of her. She’s so delusional at times it’s ridiculous. I hate that she keeps throwing it in my face that I have feelings for Alek. Now she says it was just sex to him, so I should forget it. She claims to see him constantly flirting with servers and female dealers. I don’t believe it. I hardly see him on the floor, except for today with the woman at the tattoo expo.
I drive over to the Lucky Dice and proceed to play around in their system. I leave tracks so they can see me but don’t let them find how I got in. I imagine I’m frustrating Aleksei. He seems so controlled and tight-laced. After a few hours, I watch the video feed as he emerges from his office and heads down the stairs. I set my laptop in the passenger seat and wait. It’s not long before the valet brings his G-Wagon around to the front and Alek exits the casino. He’s in the same gray suit I saw him in earlier. The soft color looks good on him, and the blue of the tie matches his eyes.
I start the car, ready to follow when he pulls out. I’m not very good at tailing someone, but I don’t think he sees me. He heads out of town toward Summerlin. After the traffic clears, I make sure to keep my distance, certain he’s heading to his house. He turns into a gated community in one of the exclusive areas. I drive past, noting the manned gate. Even though I have a Grub Hub and Uber Eats sticker on the car, I can’t follow him in. I wouldn’t get past security without a name and order number, and I don’t want him to find me.
I park and wait about an hour before calling it quits. As I’m getting ready to leave, I see his G-Wagon pull out of the gate. I carefully trail behind him and pray he doesn’t notice me. When he starts gaining speed, I figure the jig is up. Instead of continuing my pursuit, I turn and head to the cybercafé. I have work to do, as well as contemplating how to proceed with Ainsley’s plan without getting hurt more than I will. My heart is going to shatter when Alek discovers it’s me who’s giving him issues.