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The Gambler(4)

By:Jordan Silver


Shit...her, he didn't have shit all in his place for a female.

Picking up his phone he made another call, which was picked up on the first ring.

"Sir?"

"I need a complete wardrobe of female clothes in size..." He eye balled Jenna's form under the covers.

"Two should be about right."

"Sir?"

"What the fuck Minnelli, didn't you hear me? I need a full wardrobe,  everything from the skin out. Use the Bloomingdales account, I'll get  her the better stuff myself later. I'm also going to need toiletries,  the best they have on the market." Shit, he knew fuck all about women's  shit. He was going to have to learn real soon though, because Jenna was  going to be a permanent part of his life from now on. He would've  preferred to talk to his mother about this shit, but Stella and Petros  were in Europe sight seeing, or some silly shit. What was left for them  to see was a mystery; they'd been taking one of these little trips,  traipsing across Europe, since he was a young boy.

"Sir is this for a child?"

"What, no, why?"

"Well you said size two and I thought, never mind; it would help if I  knew something about the recipient so I could make my choices."

"She's mine, you know me, go from there." He hung up the phone after that, sure that his orders would be carried out.

That should take a few hours to accomplish. He still needed something for now though.

Rummaging through his drawer of old college things, he found a washed  out pair of jeans and an old t shirt, still too big, but it'll do for  now.

She awakened not long after, her eyes flying open as she took in her  surroundings, until they landed on him. He held his breath, waiting to  see what would happen next, will she remember him or...?

"Angel." That fucking smile was going to be his undoing.

"Good morning little Jenna."

The smile became a full-blown grin as she lifted her arms from beneath  the covers and held them up to him. Walking over to the bed, he sat next  to her and accepted the hug; she felt soft and warm and he felt his  heart open and let her in as she rested her head against his chest.

Petridis and the Bonatas were so fucked.





Chapter 4





He set up her bath for her, making sure the water temperature was just  right, as she smiled and flitted around the gigantic bathroom, getting  into everything, and nattering away at him. Bath salts were opened and  cast aside, until she found a scent she preferred; it was his favorite,  sandalwood. She poured a heavy dose in the water and he told himself to  remember to check if there was any danger in the amount used. For now,  he decided to just watch and see if she had any sort of reaction to it.

"Angel, bubbas."

Bubbas, bubbas. "Bubbles?" She nodded her head with that smile that  tugged at his heart every time. Where the fuck was he gonna get bubbles?

"Get in the tub little Jenna, I'll go see about your bubbles.

He ran down the stairs calling for Willy, who appeared like smoke at the bottom of the stairs.

"I need bubble bath, now."

"There's none on the premises that I know of, and the shops will be  closed for at least another couple of hours sir." Was the man always so  stoic? Shit, it was barely past six and already he was Mr. Reserved.         

     



 

"Shit, never mind." He pulled his phone and started calling around; Garrett was first on his list.

"Does Kate use bubble bath?"

"Does a bear shit in the woods? She's a female boss."

"Yeah well, I need some like yesterday."

"On it, be there in ten."

He hung up the phone and hurried back up the stairs, should he have left  her alone this long? Was she accustomed to taking care of herself? He  didn't know shit. Alice had been an independent sort even as a kid, but  he knew of many who weren't quite as proficient. When he got back to the  room, he was brought up short by the sweet sound of her voice coming  through the door. She was singing an old lullaby, something he hadn't  heard in a long long time. It was as though someone had opened the  stairway to heaven and given him a glimpse of something not seen by men.

He held onto the doorjamb as his world turned on its axis, and let the  sweet sound wash over and through him. If he'd harbored any doubts  before, he no longer did. There was just too much going on too quickly  for him to put it off as coincidence.

He walked to the bathroom door, and with his ear pressed against it,  listened to his heart, and understood, that his life was about to change  in a big way.





As promised, Garrett was downstairs ten minutes later, with a few  bottles of scented bubble bath. Andros barely spared the other man a  moment to say thanks, before he was running back up the stairs.

"I'm coming in little Jenna okay?"

She laughed and told him to come on in. He kept his eyes above her head  as he approached her in the tub. Holding out each bottle, he gave her  enough time to sniff them, before exchanging one for another. She  finally settled on some strawberry girlish scent, and remembering the  bath salts episode, he poured a liberal amount of the bubbles into the  water he'd just warmed up a little.

The place was soon filled with the scent of berries and sandalwood, a nice mix that pulled at the senses.

"I'm right outside the door little Jenna."

"Angel sit."

She pointed to the chair in the corner of the room, directly across from the tub.

Shit, I can't stay in here, how the fuck do I get out of this? She was  fast proving to be a bossy little thing and somehow she just knew she  could pull his strings. At least that's what he told himself as he  reluctantly took his seat.

She chattered away at him in her way, with short one or two word  sentences; asking him about the things in the room, his hair, where they  were, what they were doing that day? And each time he answered, even  when she forgot and repeated the same question twice. She smiled wider  each time he responded, as if he were giving her something special. It  hurt his heart to think that she'd not always had that.

When she'd been in the tub a good half an hour by his estimation, he  thought it a good idea to get her out before she turned into a prune.

"You done little Jenna? Do you want to get out?" She held her arms up to  him, so innocent, so trusting. He made a promise to himself, to her and  to the memory of another innocent, that he would fucking end anyone who  dared harm her again.

Turning away he got one of his bath sheets that was sure to swallow her  up it was so big. When he turned back she was standing in the tub, water  glistening on her flesh and so fucking gorgeous. He closed his eyes  against the onslaught, the blow to his senses.





Fuck me, what now? She had no qualms about showing her body he knew,  because she didn't see things the way others did. It was going to take  him some time to get used to her innocence, to go slow.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and made fast work of wrapping her  up, before lifting her out of the tub. Before he could put her down, she  rested her head on his shoulder, so he carried her in his arms, back to  the bedroom.

He helped her get dressed in his over sized clothes, which literally hung on her.

First chance I get I'm taking her shopping.

He looked down at the dress she'd discarded, not bad, but nowhere near what he wanted for her.

"Angel, momma."

Aah, he'd been wondering how long before that came up. He had no problem  calling the Petridis residence, in fact, he'd had all intentions on  calling to speak to her mother, to find out some of her likes and  dislikes.

"I'll get her for you baby." She clapped her hands and went back to fiddling with the edge of her shirt.         

     



 

He called the operator for assistance, but as soon as he said her family  name, Jenna held out the bracelet she wore on her wrist.

"Momma."

He looked closely while the voice on the other end asked how they could  help him. Sure enough, her name address and phone number were there on  the inside of the bracelet. He kissed her hair and hung up without  answering.

Calling the number, he held his breath, hoping the lady in question  would answer and not her asshole son, or the father he had yet to draw a  bead on. He didn't know much about Paulie Petridis, but he knew if the  other man allowed his fuck of a son to mistreat someone as precious as  his little Jenna, he was fucked too.

Sonia Petridis answered on the second ring.

"Andros here, I need some info on Jenna's likes and dislikes, but first  I'm going to give her the phone because she wants to talk to her momma.  You put anyone else on, I'm hanging up and the consequences will not be  pretty, and hey, do no upset her."





He'd whispered all of that so that the room's other occupant couldn't  hear. Passing the phone off, he got a better idea and hit speaker. At  first she still held the phone to her ear, but soon quickly realized  something was different and pulled it away.

"Momma, Jerry."

Jerry, who in the fuck was this Jerry asshole? Calm down Andros; her  eyes had flown to him just like that, as soon as the anger rose at her  mention of another man's name on her lips.