Page 5 of Choosing Stella

“I don’t generally pay for things I don’t want.”

“That isn’t what you usually pay me for.”

“No.” He fastened his trousers and reached for his shirt. “Tonight I wanted both.”

Our previous bookings had been at Sanctum, where the rooms were designed for the kind of game we’d just played. This penthouse was new. So was the tarot request.

I set down my glass.

“What do you want to know?”

Antonio smiled.

“If I tell you, won’t that influence the cards?”

“Tarot isn’t a carnival trick. You can ask a question.”

“But your reputation says you sometimes see more than the cards.”

There it was.

I got up and crossed to where my dress lay near the bedroom door.

“My reputation says a lot of things.”

“Is that a denial?”

“It’s me telling you to let me get dressed before you start interrogating the psychic.”

His mouth curved.

“I knew there was a reason I liked you.”

“Several thousand dollars says you like me just fine.”

“That too.”

I pulled it back on and gathered the black lace from the bedroom floor. Back in the main room, I tucked the lace into the slim black bag I’d left near the bar and left my shoes where they were for the moment. Antonio led me to a round table near the floor-to-ceiling windows that had already been cleared.

The empty tabletop told me he’d planned this before I arrived.

I took my tarot deck from the bag and sat across from him.

Antonio poured himself a drink from a crystal decanter.

“Want one?”

“No. Water’s fine.”

He slid the carafe closer.

Below us, The Exchange Casino glowed along the riverfront, its warm gold light reflected in the black water beyond the glass. The Riverside District spread around it in wet pavement, marina lights, and dark building silhouettes. October cold pressed against the windows even though the penthouse stayed comfortably warm.

I set the deck between my hands.

“What’s the question?”

Antonio leaned back.