Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 88580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
I rotate in for a young girl named Addie, and she gapes at me as we switch places. I can tell she wants to say anything, but I purposefully ignore her as I try to get into the game.
It’s not easy. The next couple hours are a nightmare of stumbling mistakes. I catch Big Dan watching me at least once, and he must be able to tell I’m struggling, but he doesn’t pull me off the table.
Instead, I’m left alone, with my two goons lingering nearby.
Everyone knows. At least, they heard about me kissing Adler in the space lounge. That was a stupid mistake; we never, ever should’ve done that in front of Macy.
Heck, we never should’ve done it at all.
And now here I am, paying the price.
The Sunrise does two things well: manage table games, and spread gossip. The moment I sat down with Adler somewhere a staff member could see it was the moment I basically begged for the whole world to hear about it.
And the worst part is, it’s only going to get worse.
I manage to make it halfway through my shift. That’s a solid four hours of ignoring the simmering conversations all around me. Whatever Leon did, he somehow made things worse, and by the time I finish my fourth rotation, I’m all but sick of it.
This is exactly what I didn’t want to happen.
Sunrise is my home. It’s the only place where I ever felt at peace. The cards, the coworkers, the people—I loved it all.
Now I feel like I’m an outsider and it’s killing me.
I turn on the goons the first chance I get. Square guy seems a little taken aback when I approach them feeling like I might punch them both straight in the face.
Though I’m pretty sure that’d hurt my fist more than it would hurt their jaws.
“I want to see Adler,” I say, crossing my arms.
The two guys exchange a look.
“Who?” Square guy asks.
I roll my eyes at him. “Don’t do that. You know who I am. I want to see my husband, please.”
“Uh, I don’t think—” Tattooed guy starts, but Square interrupts him.
“If we take you to Mr. Costa, promise you’ll stop giving us shit for doing our job.”
“I’m not promising anything.” I step closer to them, pitching my voice lower. “You know who I am now, right?”
They exchange another look, but this one’s different.
Is that a hint of fear?
“All right, Mrs. Costa,” Square says and turns away. “If you’ll follow me.”
I stare at his back as he starts to walk away. Tattooed gives me an appraising grin, head tilted to the side like he’s impressed.
I didn’t expect that to work.
But there’s no time to think about my newfound power. I hurry after Square, through the bustling late-afternoon crowd, and toward the elevators that lead up to management.
Chapter 13
Casey
We pass through a series of increasingly bewildered secretaries, assistants, and lackeys until I’m deposited into an unoccupied office. “He’ll be with you shortly,” an older woman says. She gives me an uncertain glare before disappearing.
I’ve never been on this floor of the Sunrise before, much less in Adler’s private office. I look around, unable to help myself, poking through the bookshelves and prodding at things on his desk.
It reminds me of his apartment: strangely impersonal. There are decorations, but they look like things he picked out of a catalogue instead of items that mean anything to him.
There’s only one picture. It’s of a young Adler, maybe teenaged, standing with his mother on the beach. She’s wearing a huge hat and a shawl, while he’s in a t-shirt and a bathing suit. She’s hugging him tightly, and they’re both beaming at the camera like someone said something funny.
I’ve never seen him smile like that before.
The door opens. Adler appears, looking annoyed as he lingers on the threshold. I put the picture down quickly as if he might not notice that I was looking at it, though he doesn’t seem to care.
“I was told my wife was making a lot of noise about seeing me.” He brushes past me and sits down heavily in his chair behind his desk. “What can I do for you, Casey?”
“First of all, don’t act like I’m such an imposition.”
“You realize I’m busy, right?”
“I’ve seen how busy you are, wandering around the floor aimlessly.”
“Aimlessly?” His eyebrows raise.
“I’ve also noticed that you’re always conveniently showing up nearby when I’m working. Should we talk about that?”
“I’m stalking you,” he says, looking at his nails. “Have been for a long time.”
“Right.” I sit down, crossing my legs, fighting back frustration. “We have a problem.”
“Which is?”
“People are talking.”
His lips quirk down. “That doesn’t sound like a problem.”
“They’re talking about us.” I give him a quick rundown of my day and the brief conversation with Leon. “What are we going to do about it?”