That was bad, and leaving Hadley behind is even worse, but we have no choice.

I have to trust that she can handle herself in there, alone, with Jerry. Deep down, I know she can. She’s more skilled at just about everything than most people give her credit for, and I know she can handle herself in this situation.

She said she had a plan, though. Something that would be risky. Something that I wouldn’t like. Before she could tell me, though, Jerry walked in, red faced and annoyed. It was lucky for me that one of the other enforcers had just caught a big cheat Jerry was on the lookout for, so my lie wasn’t exposed.

But now she’s alone with him, and I have to trust that she’ll be getting out of that room. If Jerry wants her to be able to gamble for him, he’s going to try to butter her up, first. Offer her a deal she can’t refuse. It won’t be until later he’ll start using other measures to keep her in line.

That doesn’t make it any easier for me to leave her in the dragon’s den with the boss himself, though. I hate having to leave things in someone else’s hands. I always have.

The most I can do right now is try to keep up contact with her as soon as she gets out of there, and tell myself that she will get out of there.

Earlier this morning, I remember someone clearing out of one of the VIP suites on the upper floors. I don’t want cameras to see me heading to Hadley’s room too often, so I decide to try to commandeer this one. I head to the elevators and ride it all the way up to the uppermost floors, where the real money stays. I head to the room in question and see a maid just finishing up inside, pushing her cart out. She looks at me, then looks scared for a moment as I approach, putting a finger to my lips.

“You never saw me here,” I say quietly as I slip her a $50 and use my card key to open the door. “And nobody will bother me in here for the next few hours, understand?”

“Yes, of course, sir,” she says hurriedly, and she bustles away, leaving me in peace with the room. I head inside and text Hadley the room number and nothing more, hoping she picks up on the message.

I pace around, thinking things over, waiting for Hadley to make it up to me and reassuring myself that she’ll be here. I never rely on anyone unless I’m positive they’re going to pull through, and god, do I need Hadley to pull through for me.

We’ve both been jerked around for too long by too many people. Beating the shit out of Carl felt good, but it’s a bitter feeling in hindsight, knowing I was just softening him up and intimidating him for a bigger plot Jerry is masterminding. And I know Hadley has been chafing under Carl for so long that she must be itching to be rid of him. The only thing I don’t know is whether she’ll be willing to cross that necessary line to do what needs to be done.

God knows I’m long past that line with Jerry. I’ll pull that trigger without a second thought.

I wait for what feels like an hour, or maybe several hours. Finally, I hear a knock at the door. Instinctively, my hand goes to my gun, and I approach the door silently, every muscle in my body tense. If Jerry got to Hadley, then there could be a whole group of enforcers waiting to storm in the door and take me down in an instant. If that happened, I was going to give them hell, but that wouldn’t do shit to help Hadley.

I reach the door and look through the peephole to see Hadley standing there. I know there’s a chance there still may be others around the corner, waiting to slip in after I open the door, but Hadley looks confident—more confident than I figure she would if she were a hostage like that.

So, I finally open the door, hand still on my gun.

Hadley forces her way in immediately and slides her arms around my neck, then presses her lips to mine as she pushes the door shut behind me and latches it locked.

She melts into my arms as I wrap my free hand around her waist and pull her close to me, and our moans run together as I walk her back against the wall and pin her against it.

“I take it things went better than I worried,” I growl into her ear once our lips finally separate with a wet sound.

“I never disappoint,” she purrs. “You know that by now.”

“That’s what I love about you,” I growl. “Now tell me the plan.”

“Later,” she says, her mouth covering mine and I slide my fingers into her hair and take a firm grip.

I pull her hair back and expose her neck, letting me put my mouth to it and suck on the soft skin. I can smell her perfume on her like pheromones, and it drives me wild. I move her body around and start walking her back toward the massive bed in the luxurious suite. As soon as we reach the edge, I push her down onto it.

We start stripping without even thinking about it. Our shoes come off, her gloves fall to the floor, my jacket hits the sofa, she slides my tie off me, and I help her out of that elaborate dress. The adrenaline is spiked between both of us, the risk of her plan making everything seem more urgent. We’re walking the plank to our deaths, and I’ll be damned if I’m not going to go out smelling like her.

I’m dressed well, but Hadley is always stunning. Taking her ensemble apart always feels almost sacrilegious, like I’m defiling something precious. And part of me thinks she likes that.

Soon, we’re both naked, and I can feel all the tension and desire that’s been building up in me suddenly boiling over. I descend on her, gripping her hips and bringing my mouth to her left nipple and start ravishing it. I bring as much as her breast into my mouth as I can, playing with her stiff nipple with my tongue and groping the other with a strong, firm hand. She gasps, desperate for my touch even as she squirms away from me.

I sit up on the bed and turn her around, sitting her in my lap and reaching around her hips to finger her with my left hand while my right touches her breast and my lips brush against her neck.

“I’ve been waiting for this all day,” I growl.

“That makes two of us,” she whispers back, but I cut her off at the last syllable by slipping my fingers deeper into her and playing with her. She twists and squirms, but I keep her pinned against me as I start stroking gently, feeling the warmth and wetness of her folds the more I explore them. I push my hips up and grind my cock between her ass cheeks as I finger her, and I know she’s getting her own thrill out of the feeling of my cock pulsing with need for her.

It doesn’t take her long to get wet enough for me to enter her. I bring my fingers out of her pussy and up to my lips, and she shivers with pleasure before I hoist her up by the hips. I let her wet pussy feel the bulging crown of my cock that sticks straight up toward her, and she arches her back instinctively as I lower her onto me.

The dark, bulging tip of my cock grinds against the front of her inner walls, and the shiver of delight I feel from her whole body is like nothing else in the world. She’s hot, wet, and soft, and my rough hands reward her with long, loving strokes along her smooth inner thighs. I start pushing my hips up and bouncing her on my cock, and it takes her no time to find a rhythm with me.

She rolls her shoulders back and leans against my broad chest, feeling my warmth and muscle all around her. I keep my hands on her breasts, flicking and gently pinching her swollen nipples while I feel her get slicker on my cock with each new thrust. I start almost panting, letting out sharp, hot breaths as I rut up into her, and that seems to have an effect. She starts gasping for air along with my rutting, and I can see her blush growing out of the corner of my eye.

I bring my hands down to her hips and hold them, pinning her to me, and at the same time, I start rutting up into her harder and faster. I forget that we’re making love and turn to pure, raw aggression. I fuck her hard from below, wanting to tease out that peak that I know is just around the corner.

And just as expected, a moment later, Hadley’s hands go to my thighs, scratching me on her way to the sheets. She grabs handfuls of them and braces herself as my relentless thrusting drives her to orgasm, and she lets out a sharp cry as she does. I slide a hand over her mouth and silence her while she comes, and I keep thrusting up, never giving her a moment’s break until she’s finished.

Once she is, I use my arms to carefully twist us around and put her on her knees on the bed. I push her forward until she’s on her hands and knees, and I grab her hips again to start fucking her from behind.

I notice Hadley’s hair is strewn over her face, so I reach down and gather it up, wrapping it around my fist like a leash and pulling her back until her whole back arches. The sound of her desperate gasping is music to my ears. Each time I thrust into her, I feel my powerful body pulsing with desire, more than ready to release into her. My balls are swollen and heavy, and I’m eager to let my load blow into her...but not yet.

My hips pound into her so long that she almost collapses on the bedsheets. She scrambles to grab a pillow and hug it as she lets her face get planted into the sheets while I pull her back, holding her tight against me as I abuse her tight pussy. It fills her so completely that I can feel everything, every little twinge and change in her, each one giving both of us unending pleasure.

She bites down on the pillow moments before she lets out what would have been a loud, desperate moan as she comes again, and I hold her hips tightly, possessively, greedily hoarding her for myself as pleasure washes over her entire form.

But this time, she seems genuinely worn out, so I slow down, taking it just a little easier on her as I guide her through the orgasm. I massage her insides with my cock until it’s over, and after that, I slide out of her carefully and turn her around, laying her down on her back.

She looks up at me absolutely dizzy, panting for breath as I slide my cock back into her from the top. She closes her eyes and shudders in delight as I enter her, but this time, I bend down and kiss her.

For a few moments, I go gently with her, assuming she’s worn out. I move my cock back and forth, glancing down and seeing its thick girth appear and vanish through those wet lips over and over again. But as I’m doing that, I notice her start to push her hips up, and she pulls her legs back to drape over my thick shoulders.

“Come in me,” she dares me through gritted teeth. I look at her blushing face, so full of determination and desire. “Don’t hold anything back.”

I can sense the unspoken words just behind her lips.

This could be our last time together.

I lift her hips up to angle her up, and from there onward, I give her what she wants. I start thrusting into her from this new angle, feeling new sensations ripple up my body and make my balls tighten and beg me for release with each thrust. I hold out so, so long, pounding into her and hearing our wet slapping fill the room that belongs to some other rich fuck who’s going to feel our lovemaking in the air.

I watch her whole body get thrusted back each time I push into her, and even so worn out and vanquished as she is, she pushes up and works with me. She starts clenching her pussy, urging me to release, and finally, I start to let myself go.

I feel a spurt of precum escape me as the tightness in my shaft starts to unwind bit by bit, and in the next thrust, I feel myself jolt over the point of no return. I completely lose the practiced rhythm and descend into wild, primal rutting that makes her gasp and pant as I bring my mouth to her neck and ravish her. I pin her arms to the bed at the wrists, and I feel my hot, white seed burst into her.

I let out a long groan as shot after shot releases into her. At the same time, I feel her honey flooding my shaft as she comes, and we buck into each other with untamed ferocity until we’re completely, utterly spent.

Finally, it’s just the two of us and the sounds of our panting filling the large room as we stare into each other’s eyes.

I slowly slide out of Hadley, feeling the last few pulses of unbridled pleasure ripple from my shaft up through the rest of my body, and I watch the thin trail of white run from her nether lips once I’m out of her. I lie down next to her and let out a deep, ragged breath, staring at those beautiful eyes, that glowing, satisfied face on the silk sheets as she watches me.

“That right there,” I say, nodding to her, “that’s why we deserve better than this.”

“Because we fuck so good?” she teases me, propping herself up on an elbow and batting her long eyelashes at me temptingly. I chuckle and lean forward to kiss her.

“Yes,” I say, “but I mean, what we have. You’re in a whole higher league than the likes of Carl, just like I’m a cut above Jerry. We don’t need either of them. We’re making something... so fucking beautiful together,” I say, looking up and down her body. “We could run this city, if it were up to us. We just need to figure out how to get up there, and slipping around their backs forever isn’t going to cut it.”

“My plan might be able to... take care of that.”

“Why don’t we discuss it over a shower?” I suggest, nodding back to the large bathroom.

“Is this even a room you have checked out?” she asks, laughing as I reach down and take her hands to pull her out of bed and up to her feet.

“No,” I admit, “so someone could walk in on us at basically any time, but they can fuck off. What we’re doing right now is more important.”

“I like the way you think,” she says with a smile.

Moments later, we’re in a bathroom that’s quickly filling up with hot steam and stepping into the shower, letting hot water soak and cleanse our naked bodies. I feel the water run through my short hair, and the moment drops of water start to patter on her immaculate face, I want to push her up against the cool glass and fuck her all over again.

Instead, I content myself to turn her around and hug her from behind, resting my cock against her ass and feeling it pulse softly while we rock back and forth together.

“So, what’s this plan of yours?” I ask.

“Well, if we want to run things the way we want to,” she says, “it won’t do to just deal with Carl and Jerry. We need something bigger than that.”

“You’re right,” I say. “There are too many people still loyal to him. He holds a lot of sway with... well, the entire casino. These are mafia politics we’re talking about. We can’t just go in all guns blazing.”

“No guns blazing, in fact,” she says, surprising me. But the look on her face shows just how pleased she is with the idea, and she goes on smoothly. “We’ve got the easiest way to make Jerry Laskin look bad sitting right in front of us: catch him cheating.”

“At what?”

“At one big game between him and Carl, winner takes all,” she says smugly. “I convince Carl that I’ll go peacefully and hand over Vanessa to Jerry as the cherry on top. But I want him to put us up as part of the pot. Winner takes all, and Jerry has to win us, fair and square. At a public game.”

“So, if Carl wins, he keeps you and Vanessa and doesn’t have to pay his debt back, and if Jerry wins, he gets you both and every penny Carl’s got.”

“Exactly,” Hadley says, turning to look up at me.

“You know Jerry would just kill Carl if he lost, right?”

“Yes, and that doesn’t matter one bit,” she says. “Because security is going to catch Jerry cheating at his own rigged game.”

“And what idiot in his right mind would dare call out Jerry Laskin for cheating in his own casino?” I ask. I know I sound like an asshole, but I’ve got to make sure her plan is completely airtight in every possible way. But as always, Hadley impresses, and she looks good while doing so.

“Easy,” she says as if waiting for that question. “I know a security guard who Vanessa has wrapped around her finger. He’d do anything to make sure she’s safe, but Jerry doesn’t know that.”

“Impressive,” I say, stroking her sides and massaging her hips. “Last but not least, what makes you think Jerry will cheat in the first place? What if he plays straight and takes Carl to the cleaners?”

“That is a risk,” she admits, “but Jerry wants me. You probably saw how he was looking at me from up above. My guess is they’ll both be cheating, but Carl cut his teeth counting cards when he was in his twenties. He’s a good cheater, and less likely to get caught at it if we have our man watching Jerry instead. And if a mobster wants something bad enough, he’ll do anything for it.”

“You learn that from watching me?” I tease, slipping my finger between her legs and rubbing it over her clit. She gasps, but she lets out a soft laugh as she leans back against me.

“Maybe,” she says. “This is the only way I can think of getting out of this without bloodshed. Without me having to run from the mafia for the rest of my life. Without having to run from you. From this.”

“I like it,” I admit, smiling down at her. “Just one problem—get the two bosses on board for it.”

She turns around and looks at me with those eyes that show me every ounce of cunning she has, and a smile that tells me just how willing she is to use it.

“Leave that to me.”