Chapter 30
THIRTY
CALEB
The trip from the motel back to the Roi de Pique takes an hour. By the time we return, I’m ready for another shower and a nap.
Unfortunately, as soon as we enter the casino via the garage entrance, two of the security staff approach us.
“Mr. Spade, sir,” the senior security officer says. “You have a visitor. Um, your grandfather is waiting in the private poker room.”
My blood freezes in my veins. “Grandfather? Why is he here?”
Greg shakes his head. “I don’t know. But he made it clear if you don’t meet with him as soon as you return, he’s going to… uh, rain hell on everybody. Those were his words.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Of course he is. All right. I’ll meet with him. Vortex, Havoc, you can take Seven upstairs. I’ll join you… in an hour?”
If I survive.
Vortex glares at me. “Is that a good idea?”
“Well, he isn’t going to shoot me in the casino,” I snap in annoyance. “I’ll bring Greg along.” I motion toward the senior security officer, who blanches.
“No,” Vortex says. “You’ll bring me.” He steps up next to me .
Greg looks even warier as he tells me, “He said to bring Seven.”
Seven freezes, and he presses up against Vortex.
“Now I’m definitely going,” Vortex growls, wrapping his arms around Seven protectively.
Havoc shakes his head. “Or, we all get back into that car and drive off. I bet we could make it to Mexico before they think to look for us.”
I glare at him. “You’ll leave your mother behind? What about Vortex’s sister? And whose passport will Seven use to cross the border?”
“We’re not leaving anyone behind,” Vortex says, though his voice is more subdued. “We’re going to go in there, talk to your grandfather, then we’re going to go upstairs and make it all better for Seven.”
Seven is trembling already, which isn’t a good sign. The last thing I want to do is let him near Leon, but I don’t think I have a choice.
“Is anyone with him?” I ask. “My father? Trent?”
My father is the Spade family underboss, but he’s been content to let me run the casino as I see fit. From the last time I spoke to him, it sounded like he was proud of my work.
“Your grandfather is old. Let him think he’s in charge for now. He’ll kick it soon enough,” Dad had said.
I hadn’t mentioned how important Seven is, though. I don’t know how my father would feel if he knew I was not just harboring a Lockwood runaway, but that I have…
That I have feelings for him.
Greg shakes his head. “No. Only your grandfather. Well, and somebody to serve him drinks and food while he waits.” He grimaces as he says that, which means whoever pulled the short straw there wasn’t happy to be the sacrificial lamb.
I look at Seven. “You don’t have to come,” I tell him. “I’ll deal with him on my own. He’ll yell a bit about how disappointed he is in me, and that’ll be that.”
Seven does not look like he believes me. “He said he wanted me there. I’m going. I’m not letting you deal with this alone.” He steps away from Vortex and toward me, touching my arm. “I won’t volunteer to go back to them, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“We wouldn’t let you anyway,” Vortex mutters.
“Then I’m coming too,” Havoc says. He glares at Greg. “Nice of you to ambush us like this.”
“We tried calling and texting Mr. Spade!” Greg says defensively. “He didn’t pick up.”
I sigh. “My phone is lost on the highway somewhere. Regardless, we’re stalling now.” I squeeze Seven’s hand. “No matter what he says, remember that we’re here for you.”
Seven nods, squeezing my hand back. “Let’s get it over with,” he says with an obviously forced smile. “We have other things we could be doing, right?”
I smile back. “Right. Let’s go.”
The casino itself is still bustling with activity, completely unaware that I’d been missing for a day. It’s almost surreal, but it’s also proof that I’ve done a good job picking my staff. They can handle things without constant micromanagement.
We walk past all the blackjack tables and to the private room in the back. I knock briefly, then enter without waiting for my grandfather to welcome us in.
Leon is sitting at the poker table, shuffling cards. He has a glass of whiskey next to him and a plate of appetizers.
“About time,” my grandfather says. He glances up from his cards and sets his piercing gaze on Seven. “So that’s the reason for all this trouble.”
Havoc puts himself between Seven and Leon. “Watch how you talk about him, old man.”
Leon’s eyes narrow, then he looks at me. “You need to keep your underlings in line.”
As if I can keep Havoc in line.
“Havoc won’t do anything I don’t approve of,” I say mildly.
Seven stays behind Havoc, and I can’t quite see his face. Vortex, on the other hand, is radiating hostility that he’s usually much better about hiding. He never used to be this much of a hothead.
I guess Havoc is rubbing off on him.
“Is this a thing your kind do? Dress up in matching shirts?” Leon asks.
I’m confused, until I remember that we’re all still wearing the clothes I’d bought at the gift shop last night. We’ve all got the same Calamity City t-shirt.
“If I’d had more time to prepare, I wouldn’t look like I just rolled out of bed,” I say mildly. “But I thought you’d appreciate haste over presentability.”
From his glower, I’m not sure my grandfather even knows which he would have preferred.
I spot the server standing near the bar. She gives me an imploring look.
“Clara, thanks for your hard work,” I say to her. “You can go back to your regular duties.”
“Yes, Mr. Spade,” she says gratefully.
My grandfather scowls as she leaves. “You never could handle having a woman around, could you?”
“I have no problem with women,” I say, taking a seat at the poker table. “Half the staff are female, and I have more women in upper management than is the industry standard.”
Leon scoffs loudly. “That’s not what I meant.”
Vortex guides Seven into a chair on the opposite end of the room, then sits next to him.
Havoc joins them, still staying between Seven and Leon.
“No? Then what did you mean?” I ask my grandfather.
He sneers at me, and I wonder if he’s going to say the sexist or homophobic comment I know he’s thinking.
Instead, Leon ignores the question and looks back at Seven. “Rory Lockwood, is it?”
Seven’s face drains of color, but his chin juts up and he stares defiantly at Leon. “Yes, sir . And you’re Leon Spade.”
Vortex glances at him, surprise briefly flickering across his expression before he gets it back under control.
Leon deals two cards to me. I pick them up out of habit. I don’t see an immediate play, but Texas Hold ‘Em is highly dependent on which cards appear on the table.
“You’ve known I’ve had Rory Lockwood here for a while,” I say carefully. “Why visit me now?”
Leon barks out a laugh. “Earl called me frantically. He said he’d pay me back for all the money I had to spend bailing him out. He of course was happy to tell me his plan without much prodding on my part.” He discards the top card of the deck and proceeds to reveal the flop, not even bothering to place bets. “Where is Earl, anyway?”
The two cards on the table make my hand suddenly look a lot better. “Out in the desert, in a shack somewhere. I was going to send somebody to pick him up after he’d sweated a bit.”
Leon shakes his head. “If I hadn’t shown up, I’m sure you would have let him die out there.”
Yes , I mentally agree. I still have no real desire to rescue Earl, but if it’ll get Leon off our back, I’ll do it.
“Are we betting on anything?” I ask. “Or simply playing for fun?”
Leon sets his cards down. “You’re going to lose, Caleb,” he says. “You think you can outplay me? You’re nothing without me. Everything you own is by my grace.”
I meet his gaze steadily. “In that case, tell me what you want. Tell me why you wanted to see Seven, why you’ve had Trent spying on us, why Earl got it in his head to do any of this.”
“I asked Trent to find out why you’re so committed to this stupid war with the Lockwoods. This boy isn’t worth anything.”
Havoc suddenly gets up. “Shut your fucking face, old man,” he growls. “Seven is worth everything.”
“Havoc…” Vortex warns, getting up and grabbing his arm.
Seven gets up, too, getting on the other side of Havoc. He whispers something to him that I can’t hear.
Havoc’s face gets redder, but he sits down .
“If you spoke to Trent, you know why I’m committed to this,” I answer calmly. “I know the idea of loyalty is foreign to you?—”
“It must be foreign to you, too,” Leon barks. “If you aren’t aware, your boy is sleeping with at least one of those two men over there. You know what I’d do with an unfaithful whore like that?”
I clutch my cards tighter. “I know, yes. But unlike you, I am not insecure and prone to fits of jealousy.”
I’ve struck a nerve. Leon gives me a nasty sneer, and I can tell he wants to do more than simply yell at me. Men like him can’t handle the thought that they might be irrational or emotional.
“I’m not convinced protecting him is a good idea anymore,” Leon says. He discards a card and pulls another. “Tell me why I should continue with this farce.”
Negotiate from a position of power , I remind myself. I swallow and try to come up with a convincing argument, one that won’t leave us even more vulnerable. I’ve already seen how getting Trent involved had given the Lockwoods an opening.
I wish I’d had time to do research and to practice a speech.
“This casino was nothing before I took over,” I say. “The money we earn through other means would be under extreme scrutiny if not for all the work I’ve done.”
He’s heard all this before. It’s not going to convince him. I wrack my brain for something else to say.
I notice Seven heading for the bar. He catches my gaze. “Whiskey, Mas… Caleb?”
I nod gratefully. “On the rocks.”
Leon scoffs. “That means it’ll be watered down—like everything you do.”
“Christ, do you have to criticize everything?” Havoc says in annoyance. “You’re a broken record.”
“Thank you for your commentary, Havoc,” I say sarcastically. “It truly adds to this conversation.”
Seven approaches with my drink, and he hovers nearby.
“Are you going to give me back, Mr. Spade?” he asks, and there’s something strange in his voice that I can’t read. “Are you going to let them take me back there?”
Leon glances up at him. “If my idiot grandson can’t tell me why keeping you is more beneficial than returning you? Yes. I’ve got a call with Abigail Lockwood this afternoon.”
Seven looks at me, but instead of the despair or even resignation I expect to see, there’s only resolve. Before any of us can even speak, I see the glint of metal — then blood starts to flow from an open gash in my grandfather’s throat.
Leon makes a gurgling sound and clutches the poker table. The blood splatters onto the green felt.
I stare in shock as the scent of copper fills the air.
Havoc is the first to react. “What the fuck? Seven—what the fuck did you do?”
“I negotiated from a position of power,” Seven says calmly. He smiles at me, a few blood splatters on his face. “Did I do good, Master?”
Vortex sprints over, grabbing a towel from the bar on the way. “Fuck! Here, Caleb, hold this?—”
I know it’s too late, though. Even as I take the towel from him, Leon slumps over onto the table.
My grandfather is dead.
I stare at the still bleeding corpse. I wonder how long it’s going to take for all the blood to drain out of him.
“We need to call…” I stop and grip the edge of the table. I can’t call any of the usual clean-up crew. This is my grandfather. The head of the organization.
Havoc curses. “How do we clean this up? Shit.” He looks at Seven. “Good job and all, but… crap.”
This isn’t a good job. This is a disaster.
But part of me is relieved, too. I no longer need to put up with my grandfather’s needling or micromanaging or his barely-veiled comments about my sexuality.
I no longer need to worry about him threatening to return Seven .
I take a deep breath. “Okay. Clean-up. We can roll him up in the carpet. Pull the mat off the poker table, too. Havoc, go find cleaning supplies. I’ll…” I look between Vortex and Seven. “I’ll find more towels. Vortex, stay with Seven.”
Seven’s face is more tranquil than I’ve ever seen it.
Vortex wraps his arms around him from behind, but he looks dumbfounded.
“He was going to send me back,” Seven says. He lifts his chin, his eyes finding mine. “I’m never going back.”
“No, you aren’t,” Vortex says immediately. “But Seven, we need to figure this out. Go sit down. All right? I’ll get you a drink.”
I leave the room, in part to get the cleaning supplies, and in part to escape Seven. I don’t know what to tell him.
If I admonish him, he’ll be crushed.
If I praise him, he might do something like this again.
His words echo in my mind. “I negotiated from a position of power .”
This is my fault.
But in between all the guilt and panic, I have to admit: I’m proud of him.