“What’s your name?” I asked Gavin for the hundredth time.

“Gavin Aimes.” I erupted with laughter. “Why the hell did they give me the same first name, but a different last name? Wouldn’t it have been more covert to have a completely new identity? Makes no fucking sense to me.”

“That’s the FBI for ya.”

I opened my envelope and dumped its contents into my lap. Grabbing my new license, I flipped it over to see who I was about to become, and sure enough the first name listed was indeed my own.

“Looks like I’m Blair Aimes.” I wagged my eyebrows at him. “You know what this means, right?” I dropped everything in the floor and crawled into his lap. “We’re married.” I bit my lower lip as my eyes searched his.

“Is that right?” He rested his head against the couch cushion, and his hands smoothed up my thighs before wrapping around my waist.

“That’s right, husband.”

A low rumble vibrated his chest. He leaned forward until our noses were almost touching and braced his hands against my back. “I like hearing you call me that,” he whispered against my lips, his words feeling like feathers tickling as they went.

“I like calling you that,” I whispered. His mouth connected with mine, hungry, and full of need.

Gavin leaned back just enough so that our lips weren’t touching anymore, “I’m so proud of you, Blair. You know that, right?” I wasn’t sure where his statement was coming from but I nodded my head. “If something happens and we don’t take down the person, or persons, responsible for these murders I want you to know that I am unbelievably proud of the woman you are.”

“Okay…”

“All I’m saying is, I don’t want you to beat yourself up if things go south.”

I tilted my head and clasped my hands around his neck, bringing his lips back to mine. My appreciation of him was being shown through that kiss as he opened his mouth for me to deepen it. I poured every bit of love for him into it, wanting to show Gavin just how thankful I was to have him in my life.

“Blair,” He breathed against my lips, “We really need to go over our assignment.”

I moved my lips down his jawline, onto his neck, and continued a path across his bare shoulder, thankful he’d come back shirtless after showering. I gently nipped his shoulder, knowing it would turn him on.

A growl rumbled deep within him as he flipped me over, pinning me to the couch. “You’re a bad girl, Blair.” He ran his lips up the column of my neck, stopping when they reached my ear. “Now get your ass to studying the assignment.” He bit down on my earlobe, leaving me lying on the couch in a heaping mess of hormones.

* * *

I stepped out of the bathroom in our hotel suite and found Gavin sitting on the bed adjusting his watch. The sound of me clearing my throat brought his attention my way, “What do you think?” I spun around to show him the full view of the burgundy three-quarter length sleeve dress that hugged my body like a glove.

He stood from the bed and closed the distance between us. “You look absolutely stunning.” Gavin’s hands wrapped around my waist and pulled me flush against his chest. “Do we really have to leave this room?” His husky words danced across my lips before he placed his lips gently against mine.

Gavin made me feel alive. He made me feel things I never thought possible. I used to have a one-track mind on being the best in my class; never did I think I would find someone like him when I arrived at Quantico. That camp changed me. Not just physically, but also mentally. I was insecure about being good enough to achieve graduation, but I pushed myself harder and harder until I reached it. Gavin had a lot to do with that. He was always there pushing me forward when I was so close to throwing in the towel. The very first time we met I was running one of the courses for practice when I failed trying to get over the giant wall we had to climb. I gave that damn thing four tries, the last time my ass hit the ground I did my best at holding the tears at bay. I didn’t want anyone to see me cry, especially the men at the camp. Weakness was frowned upon.

When a man squatted down beside me asking if I was all right, I was furious with myself for spending too much time wallowing in my sorrows. That quickly changed when he helped me up and offered to do the course with me. I was running like a bat out of hell toward that wall as Gavin kept pumping me up for the climb. As soon as we reached it we both made it over without a hitch. I couldn’t believe it! I shocked the both of us when I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. From that day forward, we had a connection unlike any other.

“Unfortunately, we do have to leave this room.” I pulled his arm so I could check the time. “In ten minutes to be exact.”

Gavin kissed my forehead and grabbed his suit coat from the corner chair. I drank in the sight of him as he slipped it on over his navy-blue shirt, top button left undone just like always. The charcoal suit fit him perfectly and his chocolate locks were cut short on the sides, leaving the top long enough to style with product.

I slipped my feet into my four-inch matte black heels and grabbed the matching wristlet from the dresser. “Ready?” I turned to Gavin.

“I’ve been ready.” A loving smile adorned his lips.

I took a deep, lung burning breath and let it out slowly. “Here goes nothing.” I smiled widely as we exited the room and made our way to the casino.

It was a little past nine when we stepped into the madness of Roulette Casino. The vibrant golden, red, and black décor stretched from the ceiling all the way to the large tile floors beneath us. Giant curtains draped the walls, adding a sophisticated feel.

I was in complete awe.

“This place is unbelievable,” I praised as I took in the hallway that lead us to the room that held the infamous Revolver slot machine.

Every three, maybe four feet, a painting hung on the wall, which would’ve been completely ordinary, but the subject within them caught my eye. Each one housed an image of a man or woman; there wasn’t much detail…more like a silhouette of the figure painted in one of the colors to match the rest of the décor. The haunting part was that each image in the paintings was aiming a gun towards the next one.

Apparently, the owner of the casino took the whole gun thing literally; the name, the infamous slot machine, the décor…someone had an obsession. I wondered if it was all fun and games, or if they took it to another level. Hence the bodies being found around Las Vegas.

Gavin leaned down so his mouth was close to the shell of my ear and whispered, “Don’t let the lavishness of this place throw you off.” Our eyes connected and I nodded in understanding. He was right; I was allowing the outrageous décor and throngs of people into my head. I was there to do one thing, find out what in the hell was going on in Roulette.

As we approached a long gold counter Gavin wrapped an arm around my waist and guided me towards it. A large sign that read “registration” hung above the counter. Since our packets didn’t house casino badges, we had to stop like everyone else.

Three couples stood between us and registration. Time to become Mrs. Aimes. “Baby…” I ran my hands up the front of Gavin’s suit, locking them behind his head. “I’m so happy you brought me here.” His eyes twinkled at my words.

“I’d do anything for my beautiful wife.” A sexy smile crept across his lips as he leaned forward and kissed me deeply.

“Special occasion?” A man in front of us asked.

“Our five-year wedding anniversary,” Gavin quickly replied.

Good one.

“Congratulations!” The blonde beside the man piped up. The way she eye fucked Gavin didn’t go unnoticed by me. Her manicured hand was resting against the graying man’s arm, and her large chest was overflowing her knee length dress.

“Thank you!” I smiled sweetly at the couple as Gavin pulled me against his side. “I’m Blair.” I extended my hand to each of them. “And this Gavin.” I patted his chest.

“Nice to meet you both. I’m Richard, and this beautiful young thing is my girlfriend Maggie.”

Of course, she was a girlfriend. Richard looked to be in his mid-to-late fifties, while Maggie was barely thirty. Gavin nudged me as if he knew exactly what I was thinking and I stifled the laugh that tried to escape me. But before anything else could be said one of the ladies behind the counter called for the next person, which just so happened to be Richard and Maggie.

“I don’t understand couples like them…” I shook my head as I continued to watch Maggie press herself against Richard as they spoke with the woman behind the counter.

“You’re on a completely different level than that woman will ever be.” Gavin kissed the side of my head as another woman at the counter called us over.

Not even five minutes after we stepped up to the counter we were walking into the casino. The dinging from the machines blended together as people hooped and hollered about winning or losing. The lights were low, giving the atmosphere an intimate feel and the same color scheme stretched around the room. To the right were the card tables that seemed to go on forever, with well over a couple hundred people as far as I could see. Casinos were a huge market in Vegas, and Roulette wasn’t lacking.

Gavin directed us to the bar where he ordered bourbon on the rocks. Not my favorite drink of choice, but one he knew I would sip instead of gulp down. He was thinking two steps ahead.

He braced an arm on the bar and leaned into me. “Where do you want to start?” The mixture of Gavin’s sensual voice and the burn from the bourbon was causing my head to spin. I pushed the glass towards the bartender instead of finishing it off.

“We need to find the slot machine.”

“I’m not sure it’s a good idea to go directly to that machine, Blair.” He ran his hand up my neck and stopped when his fingers reached my hairline. The feeling of them intertwined into my hair sent chills across my skin. His simplest of touches did things to me, even if our conversation was business oriented.

Gavin brought my face closer to his and whispered, “The security guard near the bathrooms to your left has been watching us since we walked in.” I knew better than to look in his direction so I kept my attention focused on Gavin as he pressed his full lips against mine, pulling a throaty moan from deep within me.

There was a decent size dance floor behind where we were seated at the bar. I could see couples dancing over Gavin’s shoulder as I sat back in my seat. The song playing came to a close and I linked my hand with one of Gavin’s, pulling him from his chair. “Let’s dance,” I smiled sweetly. He nodded and we made our way to the dance floor.

Gavin pulled me in close, resting his hands on my lower back, his fingers brushing the curve of my bottom. My arms were wrapped snugly around his neck as I laid my head against his chest. We turned towards the security guard and my eyes connected with the guard's. A smug grin tipped the corners of his lips as he stood taller than before. I pretended not to notice and closed my eyes, taking in the feel of Gavin’s strong body against mine.

I opened my eyes and found him staring down at me. Without saying a word, I leaned up and took his lips with my own. As the song came to a close I excused myself to the restroom while Gavin went back to our spot at the bar. I knew I had to cross paths with the security guard that had been watching us, so I kept my eyes fixated on the restroom entrance instead of him. He was standing to the right of the door as I passed, but what he said stopped me in my tracks.

“You sure the man you’re with can satisfy a woman like you?” I took a step back from the entrance and connected my eyes with his. He gauged my reaction before dragging his deep brown eyes from my face to my legs and back up again. Nothing but pure annoyance washed through me. Usually I would’ve thrown his ass to the ground, but I managed to keep my composure. I stepped closer to his body and ran my hand down the middle of his chest, stopping midway. “He does more than a fine job of making my legs shake.” I smiled wickedly, removed my hand, and headed into the restroom.

I did my business and checked my makeup in the mirror before heading back out, hoping the security guard wasn’t still planted beside the door. As I rounded the corner my eyes connected with Gavin standing just outside of the restroom entrance. “Everything okay?” He arched an eyebrow at me. He must have seen the altercation.

“Just peachy.” I looked around for a moment.

“Looking for the security guard?”

“Yeah. Where did he go?”

“As soon as you walked away, he went through that door.” Gavin nodded toward the door a few feet away that read Employees Only in big bold letters.

“Probably had to go relieve himself,” I snickered.

“Blair…” Gavin groaned. “What did you do?”

I diverted my eyes to the checkered carpet and laughed.

With my body firm against Gavin’s I placed my lips just centimeters away from the shell of his ear. “He asked if you satisfied me, and I told him just how much you do satisfy me.”

A low growl rumbled through Gavin’s body as he wrapped an arm around my waist and ushered us back to the bar to have a seat. “You’re going to be the death of me,” he whispered through gritted teeth.

“Sorry.”

He squeezed my hand that was resting on his thigh. “Twenty minutes until they turn the machine on. The bartender told me the machine is located in the far right corner once you enter the gambling room on the floor above us. I think it would be best to head on up and check things out.” If someone was watching us it would’ve seemed as if he was sweet talking me, not talking about the case. Gavin was smooth, a prestige agent.

I fixed his collar and agreed before he waved the bartender over and handed him a fifty for our two drinks. The bartender’s eyes went wide as he thanked us for the tip. Gavin gave him a nod and we made our way to the escalators that led to the infamous Revolver slot machine.

It was time to get the ball rolling.