All because of Edgar.
Bitterness filled Bill’s mouth. He had turned a down-on-his-luck accountant into the Money Magician, like turning polluted water into wine. Bill had even set him up with his younger sister, Irene, thinking they’d make a nice match.
And what did that dirty dog do?
Stabbed Bill in the back...and killed Irene on the way out the door.
Pain squeezed his heart, rage setting his blood on fire. For a moment, he shut his eyes in quiet misery. Bill had never imagined that Edgar was capable of murder, but he’d never underestimate him again.
Suffering was in store for that two-faced, double-dealing liar.
A comeuppance was due, and Bill was going to make sure Edgar got it. Slowly. Painfully. He’d make a list of Edgar’s body parts to hurt and check it twice once that man was kneeling in front of him, begging for forgiveness.
Enzo strutted past the roulette wheel, wearing a two-thousand-dollar suit, shaking hands and kissing cheeks as if the 51 percent stake in the Windfall that Bill still owned was already his.
They were roughly the same age, had started making their mark about the same time, and both had ambition in spades. Enzo dyed his gray hairs and kept a trimmer physique, but the crucial difference was his deep familial connections in the syndicate supporting him.
A type of protection Bill lacked.
Bill had created this on his own, from nothing. Losing it because of Edgar, a man he’d protected, vouched for, had almost considered family...a man who’d killed Irene, was unconscionable.
Such a betrayal couldn’t go unpunished.
Seething, Bill headed for the poker room.
Twenty tables open 24/7, offering Texas Hold’em, Omaha and seven-card stud for cash or tournament play.
Enzo slithered across Bill’s path, intercepting him before he made it inside. “You’re looking sharp as always.”
“Good to see you making the rounds,” Bill said, swallowing bile as he went through this nightly farce once again.
Given a choice, he’d sooner shove an ice pick in Enzo’s heart than spout false pleasantries, but unfortunately, Bill’s back was up against the wall and he had to endure this.
For now.
“We need to talk,” Enzo said.
“It’ll have to wait. I’m busy.” Bill let his tone slide toward dismissive.
“Now,” Enzo stated coldly, blocking Bill’s path. “My office.”
Any office was the last place they should talk. Didn’t that fool know the radioactive level of scrutiny Bill was under? The FBI had bugs and agents throughout the casino. He’d wager there were federal eyes on them at that very moment. The feds had guys sitting in vans outside his restaurant and house and following him everywhere.
He wouldn’t be surprised if whoever the special agent in charge was had a report detailing how often Bill went to the bathroom along with what kind of toilet paper he used.
“Let’s have a drink later.” Bill patted Enzo on the shoulder. “We’ll talk then.”
“Full operational control and seventy-five percent of the profits,” Enzo said.
Bill chuckled, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I’ll see you in hell before I give you seventy-five percent of my casino.”
“Not the casino. The girls.”
Alarm sent a chill down Bill’s spine. Enzo was making a play for the lucrative sex trafficking ring.
“Not here,” Bill whispered, glancing around to see if he spotted any of the agents in the vicinity. Between the lounges and displays, casinos were full of loiterers, which made spotting surveillance almost impossible. The feds always had at least two agents tracking him. Sometimes more. Whenever Bill caught one watching him, they quickly looked away.
Did they think avoiding eye contact would make them turn invisible?
It only made them look more suspicious.
A pretty lady with deep olive skin and thick, glossy hair from a Pantene commercial left the Texas Hold’em table and walked their way. She wore a revealing tank top, flashing more skin than a fed would, and slacks. He noted her shoes.
Sensible shoes a person could run in was one telltale of those agents on mobile surveillance.
This woman wore killer high heels and had no qualms meeting Bill’s gaze.
“I offered to discuss it in my office. You declined. So we’ll do it here,” Enzo said, checking out the woman passing by. “I don’t care who hears us. It doesn’t endanger me. Only you. I don’t have a vested interest. Yet.” Enzo pulled on a smug grin that Bill wanted to slap off his arrogant face. “The bosses are meeting in a week here in New Orleans to discuss your future.”
Time was almost up. Bill needed Edgar and any incriminating information he had on the lot of them pronto. It was his only salvation.
“Look, I’m trying to help you.” Enzo’s smile widened like he wanted to devour the whole world. “Give them a reason to spare you. After all, we’re friends.”
“Like a viper and a mongoose are friends,” Bill spit.
“Which one am I?”
You’ll find out when I rip off your damn reptilian head with my teeth and dance on your cold-blooded corpse. Bill smiled back but said nothing.
Tommy strode over and gave Bill an affirmative nod, which meant one thing.
Devlin had Edgar.
If Bill wasn’t standing in the middle of the casino in front of this dirtbag and didn’t have bad knees, he would’ve jumped for joy and pumped his fists in the air. “I’ll have something that I think the bosses will be much more interested in,” Bill said, “but thanks for the offer.”
He’d give the vultures Edgar’s bruised and broken body to pick at and use whatever evidence that traitor had squirreled away for old-fashioned blackmail. Put them back in their places. Show ’em Big Bill was the boss once again ruling New Orleans.
“It better be good or it’s your funeral.” Enzo turned and left.
Bill took a cleansing breath and led his nephew to one of the four restaurants in the casino. They entered the busy, gleaming kitchen. He acknowledged the head chef and some of the underlings and went into the walk-in refrigerator, where sides of beef hung from the ceiling. Tommy closed the door behind him.
It was freezing in the tin icebox, but it was a safe space to talk freely.
“What did Enzo want?” Tommy asked.
“Seventy-five percent of the sex ring.”
“Wow.” Tommy rocked back on his heels. “They’re really gunning for you.”