Vegas Curves (A Masters of the Game BBW Erotic Romance) by Christa Wick

touch the lenses. Once they are in place, I leave the station and flag a cab discreetly waiting just for me. Climbing into the back seat, I hide my shock as I recognize the well-worn ball cap and denim jacket Luke wore for the last meeting.
    I expected a familiar face, just not his.
    For show, I tell him which casino and then I act like he doesn't exist. A manila envelope is on the seat and I open it. I drop Solandro's case inside and pull out a photograph. It is a headshot of a dealer from the Desert Crown Casino and Resort. I flatten the paper against my thighs and study his face.
    From the call until this very second, Luke has worked to get the Desert Crown on board. The casino's owner, however, won't consent to my just walking in and using the lenses. Instead, he will have the dealer feed me wins, which Luke promises to cover. Everyone else at the table will be in on it and I must turn the lenses over to the FBI before I can play. They have eight hours to analyze them, then back I go to Solandro with a purse full of money.
    Everything is moving too fast. In less than two days, I have moved from trusting only Tommy to being forced to trust many: Luke, his team at the casino, the FBI, the dealer at the Desert Crown and the casino's owner. That is more trust than I have and my heart is jackhammering inside my chest by the time Luke pulls to a stop in front of the Desert Crown. I pull a few bills from my purse for show and pass the money forward. Catching my hand, Luke's gaze holds mine in the rear view mirror.
    "I'll have eyes on you the entire time."
    Withdrawing my hand, I smile but my heart isn't in the gesture. I am too worried I will once again fail Rose.
    Inside the casino, I spot the dealer after about ten minutes of wandering, but I walk around another ten, surreptitiously looking for anyone who might be working for Solandro. When I finally sit down, the hands start small -- at table minimum. Three hours later, I am pulling in thousand dollar wins.
    Next to me, one of the players leaves. Like a real game, they rotate in and out, some set gesture signaling that another member of security is ready to slide into the seat as soon as it is vacated.
    Not this time.
    An outsider takes the seat next to me. Everyone at the table is a stranger to me, but I sense he is an outsider by the way the dealer tenses ever so slightly and how the man to my left coughs. Even though the wins and losses aren't real, the cough is his tell and he can't help himself. With no cards in play and catching the dealer's reaction, this is all I need to know the man on my right isn't part of the team.
    Absolute certainty comes when he puts his hand on the table. He holds a locket, the chain wrapped around his fingers for good luck. I know the locket. It belonged to my mother and I gave it to Rose on her sixteenth birthday.
    Sunglasses and a ball cap obscuring his face, the man tilts his head in my direction. "How about I buy you a drink at the bar?"
    Luke briefed me on this scenario. I promised him I would stay in place.
    I look at the man then back to the locket. "Sure, let me grab my chips."
    The dealer reaches for my hand, his smile shaky. "You're not going to walk away when you're winning, are you?"
    "Rule number 9 -- Lady Luck is a fickle bitch." Quoting my father, I laugh, the sound dull as I calculate whether the men at the table will let me leave. From the little I understand, these are the casino's men. The owner would not allow Luke's team on the casino floor. Luke is monitoring from somewhere else in the casino or outside it so I won't get burned by one of Solandro's men recognizing him as the owner of the last casino I used the lenses at.
    With the new player already leaving the table, I follow him. No one protests. By the time we hit the casino's entrance, his hand is locked around my elbow. We walk out to the street and a passing car stops in front of us. Flinging the back door open, my escort pushes me inside. He jumps in, the doors