Page 54 of Gambler's Conceit
“If he’s a missing person, he might have gone missing years ago.” I press thereplybutton and consider what I want to write.“You could try to press Seven for information too. See if he’s willing to tell you where he’s traveled.”
Actually, that might be a job for Havoc. Seven doesn’t trust me or Vortex, but he’s less wary about Havoc—or he was, before the date. I really need to find out what happened there.
“Yeah, I can try,” Vortex says, nodding. “I don’t know how much he’ll say. You know he’s locked tighter than a safe, and he’s been…” He scowls. “Fucking Havoc.”
So I’m not the only one who’s noticed his strange behavior.
Grant makes a noise. “Wait, I thought Seven was your new boy toy, boss?”
“He is,” I answer, glancing at Grant. “But he’s young and bored. I’m not going to kill him for being restless.”
“Restless,” Vortex repeats with a scoff. “All right. I’m taking him on a date tomorrow after I deal with this shit. I don’t want to push too hard, but maybe he’ll get to talking.”
Grant shakes his head. “You gay guys have it easy. If I tried that shit with a woman, she’d have my balls.”
“Hardly. My grandfather had at least two mistresses while married to my grandmother.” That always made family reunions a riot, depending on which mistress and illegitimate children made it to the gathering,” I respond.
“Isn’t at least one mistress required, these days?” Vortex jokes, but I can tell his attention is no longer on me. “I’ll do some more research on this journalist and figure out the best way to get rid of him. And I’ll work on Seven, but I won’t push too hard. I’m not going to spook him.” He pauses, then adds reluctantly, “Maybe Havoc found out something, but he wouldn’t tell me if he did.”
“I’ll talk with Havoc. I can think of a few ways to put pressure on him, if it comes down to it.” I notice Grant scowling. “What now?”
“Why’d you hire Havoc, boss?” Grant asks. “That asshole should be banned.”
“He is banned, in a way. He can’t gamble here anymore. And this way, I can keep an eye on him.” It sounds like a reasonable reason, but truthfully…
I know I did it for Seven.
I need another pair of eyes on Seven, and it’s easier if Seven likes the man.
It also helps that Havoc is a handsome man, and Seven looks good riding his cock.
Vortex doesn’t look any happier than Grant does, though he’s irritated for entirely different reasons. “All right. I’m heading out,” he says. “That okay, boss?”
“Yeah, get out of here, both of you.” I wave them away, and they both leave me to this email.
I have to figure out how best to couch my response.
I am amenable to hearing your offer. However, I do not deal with people I don’t know.
Even if they don’t respond, I’m feeling more confident in my guess.
Seven wants to be a mystery, but I don’t intend to let him.
He hasn’t figured out yet that I own him completely—and that includes all his secrets.
FOURTEEN
VORTEX
The so-calledjournalist lives in a dump.
It doesn’t surprise me. The cost of living in Calamity City is at an all-time high, and while he’s got enough of a following to be a nuisance, he hasn’t hit it big. I bet he dreams of having a million followers on social media, where his opinions will be heard and he can have an even bigger audience to preach to.
It’s bad enough he’s got the local media interested in his supposed findings.
Fuck.
I don’t particularly feel like killing him, though that has more to do with the ensuing cleanup than anything else. One of Caleb’s men can handle the body, but I’ll still need to do a thorough sweep of the house to make sure there are no security cameras. He’s probably paranoid enough to have them on hand, which is why I pull the ski mask over my head right before approaching the front door.