know what else, and it’s barely noon. You act like you’re so cool and in control of everything, but you’re not.”
“Oh, so you’re going to judge my entire life based on seeing me for…what? A total of like twenty-four hours since you got here? While you spend the bulk of your time with Mr. Millionaire over here?” She snorts derisively and jerks her chin at David.
“My spending time with him is a result of your actions, Deanna! You are the reason that I’ve been at the Fortuna, under lock and key, for almost a week.” My voice is quivering with anger. She’s being so unreasonable. “You bet more than any sane person would have at that card game. We aren’t those people, we don’t have that kind of money! You pissed away six hundred and fifty thousand dollars like a maniac, money that could’ve changed our lives, and then you doubled down without even having any collateral!”
“And you’re the one who offered yourself up for collateral!” Deanna snaps back at me and stamps her bare foot against the crummy carpet beneath our feet.
“ENOUGH!” Antony interrupts with a giant roar. “Fucking enough. You can take your goddamn family problems elsewhere. I don’t know what all this drama is about and I don’t fucking care. All I need to know is how I’m getting my hundred and ten grand. Because nobody plays at The Glamazon and doesn’t pay their debt.” He pauses as he levels his gaze on Deanna. “That debt’s gonna get paid, missy. One way or the other.”
Chapter Twenty
David
Before Deanna can open her mouth and start spewing more garbage to make this mess even bigger, I step in.
“Antony, I’d like to talk shop with you if you don’t mind. In private.” I nod at Lilly and Deanna.
“Unless you’re about to pay off this bitch’s debt, Milner, I don’t wanna fuckin’ hear it.” Antony’s voice is shaking with barely contained rage. I can’t blame him for being pissed.
“That’s exactly what I want to discuss with you,” I say, as calmingly as I can manage. There’s no point meeting his anger with anger of my own. Antony is in the right here. Deanna is—as usual—the one who has fucked up. Surprise, surprise.
Antony raises his eyebrows but does nothing beyond that. I take it as a yes.
“Great. Mike,” I turn to Mike, who has been looming in the periphery since we got in. “Please take the girls and wait just outside the door.”
“Got it, boss.” Mike starts to usher the girls.
Lilly gives me a questioning look, but after what I told her earlier, she does as I say.
“Wait, my shoes!” Deanna screeches and trots back, barefoot, to grab a pair of beaten-up looking heels from under the card table. “Don't try to sell me off to this asshole, Mr. Millionaire,” she hisses at me as she walks past on her way out. “Or my sister either!” The door clangs shut loudly behind her.
“Christ, what a piece of work,” Antony lets out a low whistle. “She was sober when she got in. Seemed alright. Didn’t expect her to be such a handful.”
“Happens to the best of us. So, she’s been playing all night then?”
“Yeah, she was out on the floor at first and doin’ pretty good, so we gave her some comps and invited her back here. You know the drill.”
“Sure.”
“Was a friendly enough game at first. Those other two, they’re in here regular. The workin’ gal likes to play after she’s done with her Johns for the night.”
“Yeah, we get some of those too.” I nod, stuffing my hands into my pockets and leaning against the wall. Antony is a small fish in Vegas. The Glamazon is a dump compared to casinos like Fortuna and Destino. I’m not trying to be a jackass. It’s just a fact. Everyone knows it. Even Antony. If I’m going to get him to agree to my deal, though, I need him to think that we’re on the same level. Compadres. I can’t damage his ego.
“Anyway, so it was fine for a while. Up some, down some. The usual. Then she got sloppy. Started drinkin’ too much. Maybe some other stuff, I don’t know. I don’t like drugs under my roof but it’s hard to stop in this town.”
“I hear you.” I nod, like this is all par for the course, maintaining my casual pose.
“Once she got sloppy, it went downhill. She’s got some obvious tells, ya’ know? So of course, the whole table got in on the