The Gambler(26)

"Butterflies." Her voice had gone whisper soft as she understood the  significance. He had no intentions on sharing the fact that his Jenna  could talk to her dead daughter; that might open a whole can of worms  that he wasn't ready for. Knowing his mother, there would be séances in  his fucking house every other night. He answered as many of her  questions as he could before hanging up.

"What's the matter baby?" She was just staring at him with a look of  longing on her face. He really shouldn't laugh, he didn't want to  encourage her, but she was just so damn cute. And when she sighed and  blushed he couldn't resist pulling her to him for a kiss.

"Behave yourself, I have work to do, let's go." He figured she'd end up  in his lap anyway, at least this way she would still have the  reassurance women seemed to need after giving themselves to a man for  the first time.





His guys were already hard at work when they walked in; gramps was  chewing out someone on the phone. He walked to his desk and sat, making  room for her on his lap, where she plopped herself down and proceeded to  take over his computer.

"Did you guys get anywhere with this mess yet?" He was about done with  the bullshit; he still didn't know why anyone had put a hit out this  woman, was it because of the expose` or was there something else going  on? And who the fuck else was involved.

"We did find some stuff boss but it's mostly like they were watching her  every move. There're ledgers and shit … I mean." Garrett looked over at  Jenna when he sad it but she was busy meddling in his shit. "Sorry boss,  uh, they have extensive records on everything this woman did for the  last two years. They know her routines, almost down to the last detail.

"Let me see that." He looked over the sheets of paper and wondered why  anyone would do the same shit every week like clockwork? Didn't people  know to change shit up for just this reason? They even knew what she had  for breakfast for fuck sake. He could only shake his head.         

     



 

"Come on card girl, I need to win some of my money back you little  thief." Gramps was done with his bitching on the phone. Jenna grinned at  his teasing and started to hop off Andros' leg. She turned her face up  and puckered her lips for a kiss.

He pecked her once and hoped that was enough. He wasn't too keen on an  audience, and who knows what the fuck she would get up to. She seemed  happy enough with her smooch and ran off to fleece gramps again the  jackass.

"Okay guys we have to figure this thing out, we've only got a couple  more days before the hit. I need to know what the hell this lady is into  and who all she pissed off. No actually I need to know if she's friend  or foe."

"Well, the info does say that she's working on that expose`."

"Yeah I know what it says but I don't trust shit, especially where Jenna's concerned."

They went back to digging and he turned his attention to other matters.  He still had to find her father and he wasn't sure what to do about the  sister in law and his ex assistant, but that would have to wait for now.  He had business of his own that he hadn't touched in a couple days.

Gramps for all that he'd griped about staying didn't seem in any rush to  leave now that the coast was relatively clear. That's the thing about a  complete hit, you didn't leave anyone behind who actually gave a shit  about the deceased; so you could move the fuck on with your life without  looking over your shoulder.





Later that afternoon, after he'd settled an argument between Jenna and  gramps because the idiot was into her for twenty large and was trying to  renege and she wasn't having it, Willie came into the office to fetch  him.

"Sir that thing we spoke about is finished if you and the young lady  would like to have a look." He almost didn't know what the other man was  talking about until he remembered the conservatory. "Already?"

"Yes well, since the structure was already standing it was just a matter  of running the mesh under the glass. Also I imposed upon them that you  wanted it done immediately sir and, well, they were only too happy to  oblige. The other delivery just arrived a few moments ago."

He bet. Willie probably dropped his name a few hundred times and for  some fucked up reason people tended to think he was difficult, so they  went out of their way to do his bidding. All in all it was a good deal.

"You two done squabbling?" Jenna was grinning from air to air because  he'd made gramps give her an IOU, and the old man was still grouching  about his losses.

"Come Jenna I've got a surprise for you." She clapped her hands together  before grabbing her cage with one hand and dragging gramps with the  other. She had a dilemma because she wanted to hold his hand but she'd  used all of hers. He put his hand through her elbow and led his two  charges from the room.

She loved it. Well if the wide-eyed wonder was anything to go by she  did. She looked from the hundreds of butterflies flying around the room  to the two in her cage and back. He could see her fighting with the  decision, but in the end she asked him to open it.

"Angel free." He kissed her little face and did as she asked. Just then a  ray of sunshine shone through brighter than it had been and he had the  fanciful thought that maybe it was his sister smiling with favor on him.  He'd lost his fucking mind.





She seemed pretty content to sit in the conservatory with the  butterflies for the rest of the day. He'd had the place fitted out for  her every comfort, and he'd put a man inside on her with the usual  guards around the perimeter at all times.

But every once in a while he'd go check on her. She seemed to be engrossed on each of those visits, so he left her alone.

He got back to the business of trying to find the senator; it seems she  was travelling around the country to build up support for her cause.

He couldn't find anything incriminating on the almost sixty year old  lawyer turned senator, so that should put her in the column of friendly.  But she was a politician, and in his experience, they were all corrupt  fucks, so he was treading carefully.

"She looks clean boss, can't find shit on her except for some student march shit in college."         

     



 

"Uh-huh. Well I guess we're gonna have to go to her then; but since  she's travelling all over the fucking place we'll have to wait until  she's back at the target location.

Problem is we don't know when the hit's supposed to take place, day or  night. Get eyes on her in the meantime, we'll head in as soon as we know  she's there."

"On it boss."

He took care of some other shit that was waiting on him and then  prepared to relax for at least the rest of the afternoon. It felt like  he'd been going nonstop for the past three days.

So much had happened in such a short time he needed a breather, time to  sit back and take it all in. His phone chimed and he smiled before he  looked because he knew it was his girl.

She'd sent him a row of hearts. He took that to mean I love you, so he  sent the words back to her. Her answer was a smiley face with a heart.  He didn't know where the fuck she was getting that stuff from, so he  just kept writing out the words. ‘You okay baby?' She sent him a thumbs  up.

"Before I forget, what did we find out about the two sisters?"

"Oh get this boss, Petridis' wife was taken down in the hit on Junior;  apparently she was putting in overtime with the boss' son."

"Damn, didn't they just do her husband?" It's a sick fucking world.

As if he didn't have enough to worry about, he started worrying about  why she hadn't asked for her mom. Usually his treasures were creatures  of habit, but she didn't seem to have too many set wants.

Except for her shows, her games and chocolate, she seemed pretty  comfortable doing whatever. It made him wonder how many fucking  shoot-outs and shit she'd been around. Better not go there, he'd killed  practically everyone involved already, finding out now that there was  even more shit that he needed to avenge her for would only make him  crazy since the enemy had already been obliterated. Well, except for the  parents.

"What about the bitch that was here?" It still galled him that she'd  gotten so close; he ought to kill her just on principle. He didn't like  knowing that he'd been so lax. It goes to show how uninvolved and  disassociated he'd become over the years.

Looking back on some of the risks he'd taken, he knew he was on a  collision course with danger. Now with Jenna in his life he had to  change all that. Now he wanted to live for a long fucking time, which  meant changes, lots of changes.

"She's still in her place; you want us to grab her?"

"Nah, if there's a need I know where she is." He hadn't found anything  that would justify ending her; she hadn't given them anything in the two  years she'd worked for him, because he'd never given her anything to  share. It must've been very frustrating on their end. It looked like all  he really had left on his plate was the senator and then he could get  down to the business of spoiling his wife.