17. Maria Fucking Caruso
SEVENTEEN
MARIA FUCKING CARUSO
G etting to sleep had been hard for Nadia, but she had woken up this morning refreshed and knew exactly what she had to do.
She now walked onto the casino floor with a clear mind, planning to go through with her decision.
After she hit the elevator button with certainty, it took several moments before it dinged, and the doors slid open.
The person on the other side had her star bound …
“Hello.” The beautiful woman in five-inch heels smiled brightly. “It’s Nadia, right?”
The little girl in Nadia, who had been bullied by beautiful girls in the past, wanted to wait for the next elevator, but grown Nadia had learned to handle herself, so she took a step onto the elevator.
“Yes. And you are?” she asked, really hoping it wasn’t one of Dante’s women who had been sexting him.
“Sorry.” She laughed, realizing how weird it might’ve come off that she knew her name before they were introduced. “I’m Maria. Maria Caruso.”
Oh, thank God. Nadia breathed, suddenly feeling the warmth come off the girl. “You must be … Dante’s daughter?”
“Yep.” She smiled, raising a perfect brow. “Who did you think I was?”
“Honestly, I was scared you might’ve been one of Dante’s—” She paused, not knowing the proper word for “one of his booty calls.”
“Oh no.” Maria practically gagged in understanding. “He’s my dad, but not that kind of dad .”
“Okay, good.” Nadia laughed it off, knowing a girl Maria’s age would consider a guy at Dante’s age a daddy.
“Yep, you’re totally safe with me,” Maria assured her. Then, moving to the elevator buttons, she lit one up that would take them down instead of going to the top to Dante’s office.
“Uh … I was actually on my way to see your fath—”
“I actually thought we could hang out for a bit.” The woman’s teeth sparkled even brighter. “I’ve heard so much about you from Leo and Amo. I’d love to get to know you myself.”
Nadia swallowed hard, looking at the numbers falling to the basement floor.
She had never been so frightened of a woman until this fucking moment.
It was weird to fear a tall, legged blonde goddess in a dress, but something in her told her to run, like it had with Lucca.
Honestly, maybe more so, because if there was one thing women knew how to do, it was how to hurt another woman much worse than any man ever could.
Maria fucking Caruso looked like she belonged to the plastics on Mean Girls … except somehow richer and prettier. No, worse than that. It looked like she ate Regina George for fucking breakfast.
“I-I-I should really go see him.” Her survival instincts tried to kick in to save her, but the gorgeous girl wasn’t having it.
Maria locked her arm with Nadia’s just in time for the elevator door to ding open. “Oh, he can wait. Plus, I have something fun to show you.”
She really, really, really didn’t want to walk down the dark hallway she was faced with, but Maria began dragging her toward a door that was waiting at the end. Listening to the girl’s stilettos hit the floor, she walked down, arm-in-arm with her, not knowing what to fucking do.
Dante’s offspring were not only turning out to be more good-looking than him but were quite honestly terrifying. She was sure she would rather take on The Boogieman again than this psychotic princess.
Sensing her nerves, Maria spoke but continued dragging her along. “I was so jealous I couldn’t join you on the yacht last weekend …”
“Uh-huh,” Nadia said, glancing back at the elevator … for it to already be gone. How the fuck do I always end up in these situations?
“But, you know, I’m married, and my husband and I haven’t even been apart for a day since.”
It was everything Nadia could do to stay polite and calm as Maria flashed her huge diamond ring.
“I-It’s beautiful.”
Christ , if Regina George was fucking real, she was with the thing that fucking spawned her.
“Thanks.” She smiled so sweetly before banging on the door like she was a prison guard bringing in a prisoner.
To think that One-Shot was going to be the one to take her out was a joke. It was the fucking Victoria Secret model who was going to be the one to brutally murder her.
The door flung open, and a big, suited guy stood on the other side, not looking happy to see Maria, but he moved to the side nonetheless for her to enter.
Nadia couldn’t believe what she was looking at. It was another casino full of tables and risqué-dressed women all over. This casino, she was sure, was the best kept secret in all of Kansas City.
Still holding her arm, Maria said hi to the passing lingerie-clad women as if she was on a first name basis with them all.
As she sat them at an empty blackjack table, Nadia could see she had no reason to fear for her life at all with the woman.
She was the friendliest girl she had possibly ever met—
“You wish.” Maria flashed her left hand and shiny rock, practically taking a man’s eye out when he leaned too closely to her so he could whisper in her ear.
When his eyes drifted over to Nadia, then, her next words came out as a hiss, “Does she look familiar? Or did you happen to miss yesterday’s paper.”
Realization hit the man like a Mack truck.
The blonde’s pouty lips lifted into a wicked smile. “Unluckily for you, you happen to not only hit on his girlfriend, but his daughter in one fell swoop.”
Now the man looked like he was going to shit himself. “I-I’m sorry. Please tell your fath—I mean, Mr. Caruso—I apologize.”
“Hmm …” Maria tapped her chin with a manicured nude nail. “I’ll think about it.”
Correction: Maria eats men for breakfast.
Nadia would have a reason to fear for her life if she were a man, but luckily for her, she wasn’t. This poor sucker, however, wasn’t as lucky.
“That’s your cue to leave,” came from a female voice.
When the man scurried off, Nadia turned to see the woman who now stood on the dealer side of the table.
Snickering with Maria, she was a different kind of a man’s dream of a woman than Maria was.
Where the blonde bombshell was a tall, legged, sophisticated woman, fit for a runway, the dealer was every horndog’s wet dream—short, curvy for days, and had a pair of tits on her that Hugh Hefner would have wanted plastered on the cover of the next issue of Playboy .
It would undoubtedly be a bestseller, too, and Nadia herself would purchase it.
“I’m Sadie, the pit boss,” she introduced herself with a fast shuffle of the deck. “But for Maria, I go back to dealing just for her.”
Watching Sadie take several hundred-dollar chips out of the tray to place in front of the blonde, she didn’t want to hold them up. “I’m sorry. I don’t have anything on me. I lost my purse the other day, and I didn’t think I’d be gambling when I came here.”
“Oh no, you will not be paying to gamble in my father’s casino,” Maria said, halving her chips and placing them in front of Nadia. “He owes you a lot more than this for getting you plastered on the front page of The Kansas City Tribune .”
“That’s right.” Sadie nodded firmly in agreement before giving her a wink. “Plus, what good is it to be the boss’ new girlfriend if it doesn’t come with perks?”
“Oh … I’m not …” Nadia couldn’t even say the words, knowing a one-night stand with the man was far from being called his girlfriend.
“Honey, we all saw the picture.” Sadie’s tone matched a mother’s telling her daughter that she knew everything there was about love. “If he’s not asked you to be his girl, he will soon.”
Maria simply bobbed her head in agreement, like the best friend who was telling her that her mother was, in fact, right.
“Oh God.” Nadia’s head fell to the table, her mind that was once clear wavered back into a jumbled mess.
“Don’t worry, honey. You came to the right place.” The pit boss assured her before yelling to a passing waitress, “Cherry, two tequilas and two waters!”
Maria patted her back in comfort. “Yeah, Sadie’s the woman whisperer. She’ll sort you right out.”
“That’s right. I sorted Maria out, and now look at her. She’s married to the second finest man in all of Kansas City.” Confidence slipped through the pit boss’ lips.
Again, Maria held up the big diamond as proof on her left hand.
“It’s beautiful,” Nadia told the girl again so she would finally put it down.
“Wait—who’s the first?” Maria went back to Sadie, catching that she had called her husband only the second finest man in Kansas City.
“Oh, buttercup”—Sadie tapped the tip of Maria’s perfect nose—“I love you and all, but if I told ya, then I’d have to kill ya. Now, how is Dom doing?”
“Good.” Maria laughed, letting her drop it. “He’s still perfect, of course.”
Nadia said a silent prayer for the man named Dom. Within the ten minutes she had known Maria, she was a handful and probably had the schmuck by the ball—
“Oh, I know,” Sadie said in agreement, clearly approving of her choice in husband. As she was dealing out the cards, it was starting to feel like an AA meeting for girls. “Unfortunately for all of us, we got it bad for a man.”
Ugh , she was right. Nadia slammed her head back on the desk.
“Just in time,” Sadie announced when two shots, along with the waters, appeared on the table. “Drink up. It’ll give you some clarity.”
“You can have mine, too,” Maria told her, sliding her shot of tequila closer to Nadia.
Sadie’s brow lifted in suspicion. “What? Are you pregnant?”
“No …” The blonde quickly tapped the table to hit her thirteen. “I’m just not drinking tonight.”
“Well, me neither.” Nadia slid the shots back to the blonde. “Last time I drank … I just have to keep my wits about me this time.”
Now Sadie’s suspicious gaze went to Nadia, seeming to know exactly what she meant.
Rolling her eyes, she picked up the two shots, downing one and then the other like it was simply water.
Whatever love life problem Nadia was having, it looked like it paled to Sadie’s in comparison.
Maria’s, however, was clearly as perfect as her and the twenty-one she had just made by receiving an eight of hearts.
Hitting her twelve didn’t go quite as perfectly as Maria’s had, busting with a face card.
Then, when it was Sadie’s turn to reveal her house card, she had a six hiding underneath, forcing her to hit and get another face card, making the house bust. The analogy was almost a perfect representation of their love lives.
Maria beamed as Sadie slid over her winnings.
“Perfect twenty-one and Dominic Luciano. Girl, you just can’t lose.”
Nadia had been taking a drink of her water and practically spit it all over the table. Dominic Luciano?
“You okay?” Maria asked her with concern.
“Mmhmm …” she choked out. “You mean, Luciano as in …” The fucking rival mafia family in Kansas City?
It was Sadie who answered in understanding. “That’s the one.”
Oh, this girl, Maria, had it out for every man, including her father. She was sure … “I don’t take it your father took that very well.”
“No, he did not,” Maria assured her, but Nadia didn’t miss the hint of sadness in her voice. On the outside, it looked like Maria’s life was perfect, but it was clear that even a girl who had everything still had some scars deep down.
“Want me to hurt him for you?” Nadia asked, knowing her father had hurt her in some way.
The beautiful blonde laughed at the joke, and the sadness that didn’t belong on a girl like her left. “Thanks for the offer, but something tells me Karma might just be catching up to him.” The way Maria was looking at her made Nadia feel like she was said Karma.
“You going to place your bet, hon?” Sadie reminded her to move a new chip in the circle.
“No, I think I’m done.” She sighed, giving Maria back her chips.
The pit boss placed her hands on her hips. “What’s wrong?”
“Honestly, I hate gambling,” Nadia confessed to the girls. It had ruined so many of the kids’ lives who went through her charity due to their parents’ addiction. It made her feel so guilty to even be here.
“Oh, girl, I am so rooting for you.” Sadie laughed along with an agreeing Maria.
Her not liking casinos, or gambling, for that matter, seemed to be that bit of Karma that Maria was looking for, after all.
Sadie began dealing just for Maria. “So, what’s the plan?”
“The plan?” Nadia asked her, confused.
“The plan of coming here today? Do you know what you’re going to say to him?”
Damn, Sadie really was the woman whisperer. She knew exactly why she was fucking here and didn’t even need to hear it. It must’ve been written all over her torn face.
Taking a deep breath, Nadia decided to fuck it and confide in them, but before she could, a cold familiar voice greeted them.
“Hello, ladies.”
Seeing Lucca Caruso for the second time wasn’t quite as jarring as the first. Nadia found herself no longer fearing The Boogieman; she could see past the man to the child beneath.
Like in Leo, she could see the trauma, but it wasn’t marred on the outside.
It was deep and hidden beneath the wicked darkness, yet it was still there all the same, like it had been with Maria.
Had their father been the cause of all their pain?
“I hate to interrupt, but Dante would like to see you now.”
Yikes . Him being on a first-name basis with his father told her about all she needed to know.
“You ready?” His dark voice ominously asked her when she hadn’t made a move.
Thankful that she hadn’t taken that shot of tequila, she wondered if the three pairs of eyes staring at her could see the fear and nerves on her face.
Managing to finally muster up the courage, she finally nodded and stood up from the chair. Was it weird that this felt like it was going to determine the rest of her life?
“Good luck, girl.” Sadie winked at her.
Maria, however, stopped her from leaving and, for the first time, Nadia got a good look at her bright, emerald-green gaze that matched the green in her older brother’s.
“I may be rooting for you just so you can turn his life upside down,” Maria began confessing as harsh words spilled for her pretty lips, “but I can already tell he doesn’t deserve you.”
That revelation from his daughter sent Nadia’s already fucked-up mind in a tailspin. So much so that she missed the odd look between Lucca and Maria before he started to walk her out, and the room full of people parting to give him a wide berth.
It wasn’t until she was faced with Dante’s door that everything stopped, and it was just …
Clear.