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I left the file room and paused in the hallway. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I still felt anger coursing through me. But that anger would not be helpful. It would not solve anything.
When I stepped back out on the showroom floor, I needed to be calm and unbothered. No one, especially the guests, could see anything but that on my face.
Once I was sure I was sufficiently calmed, though the anger was still present, I quickly returned to my position on the game floor. My eyes immediately found Amber, serving drinks without her usual flirtatious energy.
“Did I miss anything while I was gone?” I asked a bartender.
“No, don’t believe so. Been a slow shift for the past hour or so,” he responded. “Oh, but that new hostess, Amber, she disappeared for a while. Are we giving the new girls extra breaks?”
“Hmm, I’ll keep an eye on that, thank you.”
“Yes, sir.”
I returned my eyes to Amber as she tried very hard not to look back at me. As I watched her, many thoughts ran through my mind. Different solutions to the problem I stumbled upon. Easy, simple solutions. Chief among them was the fact that I could kill her.
That would certainly solve everything. Well, it wouldn’t solve everything. But it would solve all of my problems.
The issues for the casino that she presented would clear up for sure. Another rat squashed beneath our heel. It was a simple choice.
Sure, Amber definitely wouldn’t like that idea. It wouldn’t solve her problems, though she would get to stop worrying about them.
Though, her friend’s problems would only be just beginning. I doubt Conii would be kind. But that wouldn’t be my problem to solve.
Maybe I should kill her, I thought. Just get it over with. Move on. Forget about all of this.
“Ryrik!”
I was snapped out of my thoughts and turned to see Draven approaching, a huge smile plastered on his face.
“Draven, how can I help you?”
“Just pretend we’re having a conversation,” he responded in a hushed tone.
“Who’s the mark?”
Draven subtly gestured over his shoulder to a Mondion behind him in a finely tailored suit.
“He’s a high roller,” Draven responded. “I’m trying to get him to spend big bucks on box seats for him and his family for the big fight next month. Now, pretend I just asked the impossible from you.”
“But, sir, it can’t be done,” I said loudly while shaking my head, emphatically enough for the Mondion to notice. Then I leaned in to speak in a quieter voice. “We don’t have a big fight scheduled for next month.”
“If this guy forks over the money, you better fucking believe we will,” Draven said with a sharp smile.
The Mondion watched us, rapidly and nervously tapping their foot.
“Sorry, Draven,” I said loudly. “All those seats have already been booked. Unless someone has a big offer, we can’t?—”
“All right!” the Mondion shouted as they raced over to us. “What if I pay double the asking price for the seats? And rent out a full floor of the hotel for three nights. Can I get those seats? I can’t miss that fight! I can’t miss… Wait… Who’s fighting?”
“It’s a surprise,” Draven said with a smirk. “Why don’t we go back to my office and finish working out this deal, okay?”
Draven led the Mondion away, only looking back at me once to wink.
I returned my attention to the floor and instantly spotted it. Amber watched me, her face pale with a slight glisten of sweat. Draven and I had served two purposes with the fake conversation.
Draven would get a lot of money coming into the casino. Meanwhile, I got the fun of making her nervous. I probably put her on edge, thinking I was about to tell Draven everything about her.
“Shit,” I muttered to myself.
