“We consider this branch headquarters, although technically the other hotels and casinos on the strip is bigger. It’s just that this was where it all started.”
“Have you been with him for a long time?” I asked because of the admiration with which he spoke.
“Not as long as the others. Six years. Fresh out of college. Our families go back to Italy. I always had a job lined up for me with Giovanni if I chose it.”
“And you chose it,” I filled in.
He chuckled. “Of course. Only an idiot would pass on an opportunity like this. It was down to starting out on a salary of twenty grand a year or six figures. Which would you choose?”
I smiled. “That’s a no-brainer man.”
“Precisely.” He pointed through a door and I followed his gaze. “That’s us over there. There is no surveillance past that point.”
“What’s over there?” I asked.
“The Castle.” He smiled.
“Castle?”
“In case you hadn’t noticed Giovanni is very fond of playing cards. He’s the king, we’re the knights. That is the castle.”
“What of the queen, the joker and the ace?”
“The queen is dead and you don’t ask about her. That would make you the joker who ends up dead. The ace is me, his most trusted.” He made a show of flicking invisible lint off the shoulder of my jacket.
This guy really was a prick. I hated being touched, but I’d let him have that on account of this being a job and me trying to blend in on my first real day.
“Gotcha, Ace.” I smiled.
“You will meet the others now.” He started walking again and I followed.
He proceeded in the direction of the metal doors. Unlike the oak wood doors, these opened when he pressed his fingertip to the panel.
We went inside and I saw straight away that this section was different to everywhere else.
This section was more spacious, yet had further subdivisions that were sealed like vaults. It took me two seconds to guess that if the prints were going to be anywhere it was here. Had to be.
Absolutely fucking had to be. No surveillance so it couldn’t be seen.
It was the best way to keep something hidden.
“What’s down here?” I asked.
“Secrets.” Armand looked at me, giving me a cold stare and stopped to regard me. “It’s curious. Very curious indeed.”
“What is?”
“You. The rest of us had to wait at least a year to venture down here, yet you come along and hey presto, he wants you in on his secrets.”
That was none of my doing and very curious indeed. Last night’s conversation came to my mind. It seemed like I’d made more of an impression on the Vegas mafia king than I realized.
“I don’t know what to say. Maybe he likes me a lot.”
“Could be, but you know what’s more curious? Him thinking one of you was enough to replace four people.”
“Well, that says a lot about me now, doesn’t it?” It was my turn to be a prick. I leaned forward and flicked invisible lint off his jacket, smiling at the annoyance that washed over his face.
Armand didn’t answer. He just continued walking and I followed.
The corridor was our final destination.
There were three men standing there, talking and laughing. They looked the part of standard mobster tough guys.
I’d seen them the other night at the recruitment.
“This is Vinny, Frankie and Freddo.” Armand introduced them respectively.
Vinny had a tattoo of a black panther on his neck, Frankie had a nasty looking knife scar on his cheek, Freddo was clean shaven and seemed to be the youngest.
They all looked at me, assessing me.
“Guys,” I said tipping my head for a curt nod.
“New guy,” Vinny answered with raised brows.
“Yup,” I replied straightening up.
Vinny just looked at me. Frankie didn’t say anything. I assumed they were like this for the same reasons Armand had pointed out.
“This is our area. We protect what’s here, all that is inside,” Armand explained pointing to the rows of vault compartments.
“What’s inside?” I asked.
“That’s on a need to know basis,” Frankie answered for him. “That information is classified and if Giovanni sees fit, he will tell you.”
I sensed an edge of anger in his voice.
“He will tell you if the need arises,” Armand added. “The bulk of our time is spent watching over the casino floor by day and the special games that take place at night.”
“What kind of games?”
“High stakes poker games.”
Okay… poker games, the castle with vaults containing secrets I’d be told on a need to know basis. It was clear that the secret I wanted to know was not going to be divulged to me any time soon.
So, maybe I didn’t make that big of an impression after all.
I was going to be watching the area though with them so that was something. I’d gotten this far. it was just annoying as fuck that I really was going to have to figure out where the blueprints were being kept.
Shit, that might take forever… and there was no surveillance in this area. Finding the damn prints was looking like it was going to be more harder than I’d anticipated, and what I’d anticipated was already hard.
Armand moved over to the floor to ceiling glass window and I saw it held the view of the casino below on the lower ground floor. It all came full circle and was definitely quite the set up. Two hundred bedrooms in the world class five star hotel, a renowned casino and this space here. It was all very impressive.
We both stared down below at the crowded floor. It wasn’t even ten yet but the place was busy with life.
Busy with life yet the two of us saw the beautiful blond woman at the same time.
Jia walked by one of the roulette table and stopped to talk to one of the croupiers. She wore another dress that looked like it was made for her. It was a simple black business dress that was supposed to look professional but all I could see was how she made the damn thing look sexy. Her, not the dress.
Feeling eyes boring into me, I looked back to Armand and found him already staring at me.
“Beautiful isn’t she?” he asked in an even tone.
“Yes.” I wasn’t sure what else I was supposed to say.
“You can impress the boss all you want. Jump hurdles and do your fancy card tricks, Xander Cage, but be warned to watch yourself when it comes to Jia Marchesi. She belongs to me. Do not go there.” That fake smile filled his face again. Fake and filled with a warning I should heed.
Do not go there…
Yes, I knew that and I thought I deserved an award for my resistance of the beautiful blond who had looked at me like she wanted me on every interaction I’d had with her.
It was only because it was in my best interest not to go there that I was staying away.
“Easy tiger,” I replied and he walked away from me.
I turned my attention back to the beauty and watched her.
Staying away would be a lot easier if she didn’t appeal to me.
Even now she fueled that spark of curiosity that made me want to know more about her and want her.
Bad idea.
Very bad idea, especially since I wasn’t who she thought I was.