FOURTEEN - JAMESON
I stood frozen in complete and utter shock as I watched the nightmare unfold in slow motion. It was as though everything going on around me were a lucid dream. Except it wasn’t. Roman fucked Chris up—straight up whooped his ass—and I was pretty sure Chris had no idea what had hit him initially.
Security showed up in the nick of time, pulling the two apart. Thank fuck for my guys because there was a handful of patrons watching in horror from the table games, and there was no way in hell I could have intervened successfully. Ivan was as useful as a fork in tomato soup.
I wiped my face dry as Roman approached. “I’m—fuck.” He ran his bloodied hand through his hair. “I’m sorry about that. He just—”
“Go get yourself cleaned up. Ivan can take over from here.” My vision had returned, and my body finally calmed from shaking to toe with adrenaline. I needed some space and time to cool off. So did he. “I’ll find you in a bit.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He didn’t argue this time. His voice was soft and low, barely audible over the dings and rings and music blaring around us.
“You okay?” Ivan asked me as Roman walked away.
“A little shaky, but I’m fine.”
“Chris shoulda seen that one comin’ a mile away.”
“Really? Roman’s fucking unhinged. That was completely unnecessary.”
“Eh, maybe a little much, but that’s why we need him around.” He grinned. “Plus, we saw it comin’. I was checking on things in the surveillance room. I told Hector to keep an eye out. Soon as he saw Chris, we came running.”
“Well, the pissing contests around here are getting old. It’s a damned good thing you came when you did, or he might’ve killed him.”
“Doubt it. He mighta beat him within an inch of his life, but I bet Chris won’t touch you again.”
I had no doubt Ivan was dead serious. Truth be told, as scary as that was to watch, I was slightly grateful for Roman.
Something deep and dark inside of me felt a rush of excitement at the insane actions of one man—that Roman would come to my defense so quickly and to such an extreme over something as simple as another man putting his hand on me.
At this point, I wanted nothing else to do with Chris unless it was work related.
Even then, that was debatable. He’d already been out of line telling me how much he missed having me bent over his desk, then had the audacity to cop a cheap feel.
The thought of his hands anywhere on me anymore made me want to vomit.
I shivered at the thought.
Ivan lit up a cigarette. We were in one of the few places I allowed smoking inside, and I didn’t even want it here. “You want me to tell Roman to take the rest of the day off? Let him cool down?”
I thought about his offer for a second. “No, thank you. I’ll be fine.” Roman and I had other business to handle, and I didn’t need Ivan or anyone else around. “He’ll get over it.”
“You sure? I don’t mind. It’s not like Cindy’s gonna bitch and whine about me not being home another night.”
Cindy had been Ivan’s wife for longer than I’d been alive.
I didn’t know how the hell she’d stayed with him so long in this line of work, but she did.
She just stayed as far away from here as possible.
Mostly, I think it was having access to his credit cards and her proximity to the Main Street Mall.
“I’m sure. Just text me later and let me know how Chris is. He’s the one who needs to take the next day or two off.”
I still needed him here, but the way he’d been beaten, I wasn’t entirely sure he’d even make it to the fundraiser this weekend.
Ivan laughed. “You’re probably right about that. I think they hauled him to the clinic to get checked out. I’ll pop in and see.”
“Thanks. While you’re at it, get someone to give buffet comps or hotel vouchers to anyone and everyone on the floor. Not that it’ll stop them from talking on social media, but it’ll make them feel better about what just happened.”
“You got it, boss. I’m taking off. I got eyes on you. Let me know if you need anything.”
I felt like a fish out of water in my own casino. I barely knew my own crew anymore; I had no one to turn to for answers now that I was the one at the top of the chain of command. Something had started to feel very off about every rung below me.
Just as fast as the fight had broken out, things had already seemingly gone back to normal…whatever that was anymore. No one had run out of here screaming for their lives; people were still playing the slots and table games, unbothered.
My phone dinged with a text as I contemplated heading to my own bar and getting drunk before noon.
Roman: Are you okay?
Me: No! I’m not fucking OKAY!
I typed it out but immediately deleted my response.
Me: Yes. I’m fine.
Roman: Do you need me?
Me: More than you know.
Delete, delete, delete.
What the hell was wrong with me? My intrusive thoughts were not about to win this battle. How I felt about Roman at the moment, good or bad, didn’t matter. What mattered was getting through the weekend alive. What I cared about even less was him knowing how I felt about him right now.
Me: I’m planning out the rest of the day. Taking as much of it off as possible.
Because I needed a fucking break. My body felt like it’d just run the St. Jude Marathon. I couldn’t remember the last time I didn’t have to watch over my shoulder. Last night was the first decent night’s sleep I’d had since I could remember.
Roman: Just let me know what you need from me. You know where I’ll be.
I didn’t respond. I tucked my phone into a pocket that I’d had sewn inside the waistband of all of my work skirts and pants. It was the only way I could keep my hands free and still carry around a phone.
My stomach growled. What little breakfast I’d eaten earlier that morning had long gone. That was my cue to vacate the area and head to the kitchen.
“Josephine?” I called out as a courtesy when I entered the space. The woman had a knack for popping up out of nowhere and scaring the shit out of people.
“You looking for me?” I knew she was here, yet her voice still startled me from behind.
“Jesus Christ, Josephine, you’ve got to quit doing that.” I put my hand over my heart. “I’ve had enough scares for one day.”
“So I heard.” She breezed past me with a stainless-steel dish in one hand and big-ass butcher knife in the other. “You came to my kitchen. I’m just working; you’re the one who’s jumpy.”
“It’s been a hell of a morning. What do you have to drink around here?”
She gave me the side-eye. “Ma’am, this ain’t that kinda kitchen. You want food? I got you. Sweet tea? No problem. What you’re looking for is at the bar.” She waved her knife toward the door, causing me to duck out of the way.
I propped up against the island countertop and folded my arms. “Ma’am. I know what goes on here. Where is it?”
“Eh.” She shrugged.
Typical. Everyone always wanted to be vague; nobody ever wanted to be forthright about anything.
I glanced around the empty kitchen. “Where’s everyone else? It’s like you’re always the only one ever in here.”
“Because my people are working. I give them what they need to do their job and send them out of my way. Where’s my Romie? Ain’t he supposed to be following you around or something?” She pulled a handful of carrots out of the bin and started chopping.
I rolled my head from shoulder to shoulder and massaged the back of my neck. “Your Romie is taking the rest of the day off.”
Maybe.
“Hmm. Sounds serious.” She set her knife down and disappeared into a storage room. A second later, she came out with a muffin in one hand and a syrup bottle in the other. “Take a few squirts of this, but don’t let anyone see you. Then tell me what’s really going on.”
I grabbed the bottle. “Really? Aunt Jemima? I don’t need syrup.
” She gave the bottle a shake in my grip, and the liquid sloshed around.
“Oooh.” I flipped the top and tipped it back.
My throat burned like a mother, but I swallowed down a few swigs of the drink.
“Jesus Christ. What in the backwoods redneck shit is this?”
She took the bottle from me with a smile. “You’ll appreciate that backwoods redneck shit in a few minutes.”
I released my breath and thought I was going to blow out actual flames. “Thanks for that, anyway.”
“Now,” she said, going back to cutting. “Talk. My crew’s gonna be back soon to get refills.”
I gave her a recap of my morning, telling her everything I’d witnessed from the time I hit the casino floor until the time Chris physically hit the floor. She didn’t talk; she just listened to me rant.
“So what’s the problem?” she finally asked.
I jerked my head back. “What’s the problem? Did you hear anything I just told you?”
“Of course. Y’all brought Roman back to do a job. He did it. I don’t see the issue.”
“Josephine! You can’t be serious.”
“You’re lucky Roman gave him a second chance.
I’ve known that man just as many years as you, but I know him a lot better.
I’ve watched him grow up from a boy to a man.
You don’t know the shit these guys had him doing out there.
” She flicked her eyes toward the back door.
I glanced at it and got a sick feeling. Maybe it was the shot I’d just taken that caused my stomach to churn.
“They made a man out of him real early on, you know what I mean?”
Every hair on my body stood on end because I knew exactly what she’d meant. Ivan had hired Roman to do their dirty work, unfathomable deeds that I didn’t even want to try to pretend I knew anything about. I could only imagine what he’d been put through.
“You’re right. Maybe all this isn’t for—”
“Plus, he loves you,” she said without looking up from the vegetables.
“What?”
“You heard me. I didn’t stutter. Now, get out of my kitchen. I got work to do.”
“Josephine! You can’t just—”
She physically spun me around and shooed me away. “Go. Bye. See you later.”