Beautiful Moves (Shifting Steel Book 3)(44)
“Better than expected. On our way back.”
“Oh good. Vick got your window boarded up while Ella and I cleaned up the rest.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that. I hope you guys didn’t stay up too late. I could’ve handled the clean-up, I just didn’t want someone coming in the window while I was gone.”
“FYI, when you get back, all the guys are going to be talking about you and Ella.”
“Great.” Wolf’s eyes closed. He’d forgotten Vick and his sister would be able to smell that he’d slept with Ella.
“What the hell pissed you off? I would’ve thought getting laid would’ve mellowed you out.”
“Ella’s wild. She looks sweet but it’s a ruse,” Wolf teased.
“Okay, never mind, TMI,” Char gagged. “Hey, you better check on that girl. Don’t pull a dick move and not call her.”
“I already tried, but she didn’t answer.”
“Yeah, cause she’s probably still in the air.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Wolf paused midstride.
“She invited me over for a drink, after we finished cleaning up. She must’ve gotten a call or something, because she was really upset. I think a family member is sick or dying. Ella asked me to watch her dog for a few days and take her to the airport.”
“I know her sister is pretty sick, but Sabine’s at one of the hospitals in town.”
“Well I don’t know. She didn’t say.”
“Alright. Thanks, Sis,” Wolf frowned.
He jogged to catch up with MD and Keith as they approached Trip’s parked SUV. Keith’s reunion with Amy was touching. Wolf nodded as Amy expressed her gratitude, his mind elsewhere. All he could think about was Ella, upset, trying to maintain her composure on an airplane.
God, I hope she doesn’t bring the plane down, Wolf worried.
8 The Neon Lights
Ella
“Here you are. The Palazzo. Enjoy your stay in Vegas,” the cabbie announced as he pulled up to the hotel.
Ella paid the man, walked to the front desk and booked the cheapest room available for a single night. She ignored the cascading fountain and the vaulted views. Yes, the lobby was beautiful with its towering columns, friezes, and pediments, but it was a modern interpretation of old-world architecture. It didn’t have the same aura, that could only come from enduring for centuries. None of that mattered though. Ella wasn’t in Vegas to sightsee.
Her heels clicked on the terrazzo tile, as Ella followed signs that led to the casino. When she entered the giant game room, she was assaulted by a cacophony of ringing bells and strobing lights. Ella had never stepped foot in a casino. She didn’t know how to play any of the games laid out before her. The place reeked of a mix of excitement and desperation. In her current state, she added to the pathetic vibe.
Ella walked around the room studying the games and the players. She bypassed by the slot machines. They had digital displays, and paid credits onto cards, rather than spitting out chips or change. She didn’t dare try to mess with them. Ella ignored the card games altogether. Her gift was no help there. She wasn’t psychic, like Wolf’s friend.
Ella stopped when she came to the Roulette table, with its spinning wheel. People were gathered around the table laying chips down on the red felt, betting on specific numbers, or red versus black.
“No more bets,” the croupier announced, then spun the wheel and sent a little white marble careening.
Everyone held their breath as the marble rattled and bounded from one space to the next on the wheel. Ella smiled at a young woman wearing a giant button announcing it was her twenty-first birthday. She was bouncing excitedly as she watched the ball.
Ella reached out with her gift, testing how it felt to nudge the marble as everything slowed. She aimed for the twenty-one, since that was the number the birthday girl was chanting. Once in the numbered slot, Ella held it there, as the birthday girl jumped up and down squealing in delight.
This is my game.
She watched a few more spins to get a better feel for how to play. Some, Ella let ride on their own, others she picked a random number for the ball to land on. It wasn’t too hard to get it to go where she wanted. It didn’t take finesse, since the marble danced erratically in the wheel before stopping.
Ella stepped up and set her money down on the table. After the plane ticket, the cab ride, and her room for the night, she only had four hundred dollars to play with. It was the remaining balance of her checking account. Ella bet all but fifty bucks that the number would be odd, then worked her magic.
Cheating at the game was harder than she thought it would be. Not because she couldn’t get the marble to do what she wanted, but because after several wins she realized it would look strange if she kept winning. Even though she was mainly betting on the odd/even or red/black spaces, she was clearly making more than she was losing. People around her had started betting on the same spaces she chose. After a few more spins Ella collected her seven thousand in chips and moved to another table.