Page 13 of Risking it All

“I’m sure you boys can handle it.” I shrugged as I slid onto the seat of one of the barstools in the high roller section.

Manny was one of the best bartenders in the world, if you asked me. Two of his old fashions always put me right where I needed to be. Right before I could order the first drink, one of my security supervisors was already on my heels.

Friday nights were my off nights. No, I didn’t leave Cashville to the wolves, but I liked to consider myself off because I allowed myself to drink and partake in a nice woman’s company. If I was lucky, she was much naughtier than she was nice.

Most Friday nights at Cashville were predictable. In my line of business, you learned to appreciate predictability. There were a couple of bachelor and bachelorette parties, a birthday party, and a class reunion taking place at the same time. Those things were loud and sometimes boisterous, but the most we could ever expect was a little tussling here and there or someone getting handsy with the servers. I could deal with loud and obnoxious much easier than I could deal with heists or money laundering. Those things could be handled with a little brute force and a lot of bass in your voice.

Cashville was a casino that moved millions of dollars a day. I wouldn’t kid myself into thinking that shit wouldn’t and couldn’t pop off. You never knew what would actually go down, so I liked to keep my head on a swivel. Thankfully, I had a good team that helped me to make sure things were on the up and up. Every once in a while, I had to let my hair down, or my head would explode.

“One of the guest claims someone stole his watch,” Chris mentioned.

“Handle it. It’s nine o’clock on a Friday night. What does that usually mean?” I quizzed.

“Mr. Ash, your usual,” Manny said, pushing the glass of golden-brown liquid in front of me with a nod before proceeding to the next customer.

“I don’t think he had a damn watch. I think it’s a money grab. One of the guys said he was already talking smack about losing a thousand dollars.”

“Have someone from hospitality assure him that if he lost something, it will be recovered or compensated for. In the meantime, you go to the surveillance room and roll the footage. You’ll see if he ever had the watch and what happened to it if he did. If you find that he’s lying, tell him he can either calm the fuck down, leave quietly, or be removed not so quietly.”

“The chef at the steakhouse also wants to know when Nick is going to be here or when Reed is coming back so they can approve of the menu changes.”

“Have him forward the menu to Nicholas’ email. I’ve already told Marta that he works primarily from home now.”

“She insists on seeing him in person.”

I chuckled. Nicholas had been dealing with Marta hands-on since she came to Cashville. She was a fine-ass middle-aged Colombian woman. She wanted Nick bad, but even before he got married, he didn’t like mixing business with pleasure. He knew he would never sleep with her, but he let the woman cook for him every day because he was a greedy bastard just like me.

Now, since he was married and spending most of his time at home with his wife and kids, she was thinking of any excuse in the world to try to get him out here. He needed to control the brewing shit storm before it hit, because she was a beast on the grill. I told him time after time that flirting with that woman was going to get him more than a tender ribeye. If he messed up my weekly surf and turf special, he was going to need one of those steaks for his eye.

“She wants to fuck him,” I said, chuckling as I took a swig of my drink.

That made Chris laugh. “Ms. Marta?”

“Yes, Ms. Marta. She’s not that old.”

He shook his head. “Shitting me. That lady is in her fifties.”

“Exactly, fifty is still young enough to get it. I might just have to take one for the team. I need my lobster tail and prime rib every Wednesday.”

“Now that you mention it, she’s not all that hard on the eyes.”

“Nah, don’t you go down there messing it up for everybody. Stay away from her. I’ll go look over the menu.”

“Man, why do you get to have all the fun?” he asked with a devilish smirk.

“I’m not about to mess with that damn lady. She’s a nice woman. She just loves herself some Nicholas with his ugly ass.”

“I can’t believe you’re jealous.”

“I’m not jealous. I’m pre mad. I just know she’s gonna start messing up my food once she realizes that he’s more interested in being a stay-at-home dad than coming up here every week to flirt with her.”

“Get his ass up here then because I was gonna put in an order for a lobster bake while I was down there.”

I laughed. “See what I’m saying.”

“One more thing, boss.”

“Damn, Chris, what is it now?”