Romance in Vegas - Showgirl! (16 page)

He smiled back at her, as he stroked her
hair. "You got it."

The next day, the headlines screamed, 'Dani
mugged onstage,' and 'Where was Scaletti?' and worse, with the
picture the photographer took in the emergency room, 'Too Little
Too Late!'

But, Lefty handled all that for Al. His boss
was in seclusion with Dani, in the house on the hill, and he left
them alone for a few days.

Al was with her constantly, he even slept
sitting up on the wrap around couch when she said she was having
too much pain to lie down. He cooked her meals and helped her to
the toilet and shower. And he worried as, day by day, she grew more
listless.

On the fifth day, as she sat on a lounge
chair in the shade, staring at the swimming pool, he came and sat
next to her. "What can I do, Dani? How can I help you?"

Her trusting green eyes came up to meet his
gaze. "Help me find out who I am. Where I came from. Who my parents
were. Why they gave me up. Why I had to grow up like that. I need
to know."

He nodded, brought her hand up and kissed her
palm. "I have just the person. He'll get to the bottom of this and
he'll find out what happened. Will you trust me on this?"

Smiling now, she said, "I've trusted you with
everything else."

And he thought of the news Lefty and Teeny
brought him when she was newly hired. Her parents were dead, but he
just couldn't bring himself to tell her. If it came from a third
party, she wouldn't blame him. Besides, if he had his contact
search further, they might turn up some relatives.

Chapter 14

Day by day, Dani seemed to be more
comfortable and Al finally felt like he could go back to work and
leave her alone at the house, at least during the day. Her pain was
at a minimum and he thought it was just a matter of time for her to
heal.

The newspapers, however, had not backed off
and there were numerous pictures of him entering and leaving the
casino, with headlines like, 'Where's Dani?' and 'Scaletti - Alone
Now.'

Luckily, none of them had been able to follow
him home. This day, he'd just managed to shake them off by taking
back roads.

He let himself in the front door. "Dani?" he
called, but when she didn't answer he grew worried.

"Dani!" he yelled. After a quick search of
the downstairs, he ran up the staircase. A noise brought him to the
work-out room. Weights were scattered around, and Dani walked, now,
on the stair stepper with her earphones on. She wore a leotard. Her
head came up as she saw his reflection in the mirrored walls. She
turned the machine off and faced him. She was flushed, with her
hair pulled back in a long braid. It was the happiest he'd seen her
in two weeks.

Smiling, he walked up to her. "You aren't
overdoing it are you?"

Pulling off her earphones, kissing him on the
cheek, she said breathlessly, "No, I'm not. It only hurts a little
today. I need to do something and work out or I'll go crazy."

"Let's go downstairs. I'll fix us both a
drink and we'll talk about the latest casino gossip."

Once downstairs, they sat on the couch.

"How is the show?" she asked him eagerly, as
she sipped her drink.

"You don't want to know. Adriene is pregnant
again, so that takes her out pretty soon. She can't be up there
with a little stomach on her. Last time she didn't show until four
months, though."

"I'll have to call and congratulate her. Will
you hire her back afterwards?"

"Of course. We'll just put her on maternity
leave. She'll still get her salary. I spoke to Stutgart today about
it."

"So, what else?"

He sighed. "Lorali is getting fat. I don't
mean just a little flab. She's getting worse every day. And she
feels like I'm singling her out about it, but I have to say
something to her. It's part of my job and it's only fair for me to
be impartial."

"Isn't there a clause in her contract about
that?"

Al looked at her strangely. "Yes, I suppose
it's in there somewhere, and that would be my last resort."

"What?"

"You're pretty smart sometimes. I just don't
know what to make of you."

She smiled at him. "I've got another zinger
for you."

His hand came up and stroked her hair.

"You should take Winner Takes All on the
internet."

He was silent for a minute as he searched her
face. "I brought your laptop to you last week. You've been
researching this thing, then?"

She nodded. "Along with a few other
things."

"So, talk to me."

"Internet is the wave of the future. I
suppose I see a vision of people playing poker in their
pajamas."

"And still keep the two casinos then?"

"Of course. You'd have to check on the legal
end of it. State restrictions and that sort of thing. But, what you
could do is reward the online players with comps for casino visits.
That way, if they take a vacation, they'd end up at the casinos in
person. It's a win-win situation."

Sitting back on the couch, he asked, "So what
else have you been researching?"

Dani hesitated. How could she tell him? She
just couldn't admit that she'd never finished high school. Then
he'd never think she was smart. She'd sent for some materials for
online classes, but she'd filled in the casino address with her
room number. "Oh, just things," she said vaguely.

Marie watched Vito come in the main cage side
door. "Hey, you," she said brightly, "what's shaking?"

But he was in a foul mood, and just muttered
something under his breath as he headed for the safe. And she
wondered if there really was any hope for a romance between her and
the general manager. Leaning back, she checked out his back end.
"Nice," she said to herself.

Robert sat in surveillance, thinking about
Scaletti and he wished the man was a little more approachable.
Their department was suffering because of Leroy's constant
absences. They were tired of filling in for the man's shift.
Rubbing his face, taking a sip of coffee, he checked the
monitors.

Nothing much going on today, he thought, so
he replayed his tape from the morning's soft count. Although he was
tempted to skip over the cage safe monitors, just for kicks he
thought he'd give them the once-over.

Now, he watched Vito checking the day's
deposit slip and cash. The man's eyes shifted, checked the monitors
first then slid three one-hundred dollar bills into his pocket.

Robert shook his head back and forth and
cracked his neck. He didn't believe what he just saw. He thought he
was too tired from working so much. He watched as Vito left the
room with the huge rubber-banded deposit in his hands. He gave it
to Marie, and left through the cage side door.

"Jerry," he said tiredly, "can you look at
something over here?"

The man came and stood in back of him. Robert
pressed the back button, reversing Vito's entrance.

But when he pushed play, they both saw Vito's
pilfering.

"Shit!" Robert moaned.

"Scaletti's going to be pissed." Jerry sat
next to him. "Rerun it would you man?"

They saw it again. Same thing.

"He's the one," Robert said glumly.

"You've got to tell Scaletti."

"I suppose you heard what he did to the 'Dani
Man'?" They'd nicknamed the man who assaulted Dani onstage.

"That was different. This is work, guy. It's
your fucking job. You should be proud of yourself. I never even
would think Vito skims. I barely checked him out."

"Yeah. Guess I'll call Marie first and see
how much the deposit is off today. Have her recount it right
now."

While Al and Dani were chatting on the sofa,
Robert's call came through.

Dani watched the expressions on Al's face go
from relaxed, to incredulous, to rage. "What is it?" she asked, as
he stood up.

"They found who's stealing money from me," he
said with his blue-grey eyes glinting.

Grabbing his suit coat, he spat, "Vito. I'll
be back in about two hours." Then looking down at her, he said in a
softer tone, "You'll be all right then?"

"Of course. Take your time. Do whatever is
needed. And," she paused, "reign in your temper. Anger shows
weakness."

He nodded and left for the casino.

Vito wandered the casino floor aimlessly, and
congratulated himself for the deposit money. Three hundred. He
sniffed. A pretty good hooker for the night. Although, he thought,
Marie had the hots for him and she wasn't bad looking. Nice figure
and she didn't talk back.

Heading for the cage, he stopped at her
window and laid his elbows on the counter. "How goes it baby?"

But he thought she looked nervous, as her
eyes darted back and forth and her gaze wouldn't meet his. "How
goes it Marie?" he repeated.

"Pretty good, Vito," she said finally, still
not looking at him for some reason.

"Okay, I'll leave you to your money, then,"
he replied, irritably. Hell with this, he thought, as he walked
along.

A few minutes later, his cell phone squawked.
"Yeah?"

The voice sounded smooth. "It's Al. I need to
see you."

That's all I need today, Vito thought. He
always had trouble looking at Al's face after he stole. It seemed
like the man could see right through him. "Can you wait for a few?
I'm checking something here on the floor."

"No. Come right away. Penthouse." And the
phone went dead.

"Crap."

He took his time catching the private
elevator to Scaletti's penthouse. Once up, he went into the den
where Al could usually be found. When the man wasn't around, he
helped himself to his favorite aged scotch and sat on a chair. At
least he'd get a drink out of the thing.

Al strolled in a few minutes later, and stood
in front of his desk. "How's everything going today, Vito?" he
asked in a soft voice.

He'd never heard this tone in Al's voice
before, and Vito was instantly on guard. "Okay. Deposit was off
again though."

"And how much was it off?" Same tone of
voice, same bland look on Al's face.

Vito rose. "I think it was three hundred or
so."

"Was it exactly three hundred off then?"

"Geez, I guess I'd need to call Marie."

Al waved toward the house phone on his desk.
"Be my guest."

Vito felt sweat crawling down his chest, as
he made the call. When he heard Marie say the amount he hung up.
"Yeah Al. She says exactly three hundred."

He faced Al now. "Don't worry boss. We'll
catch who's doing this pretty soon. I can feel it in my bones."

Al gave him a hard stare. "Is that
right?"

"Yeah."

After a minute, a long minute for Vito, Al
said, "First of all, don't ever call me 'Al' again."

"Okay, boss--" he began.

Al held up one hand. "Second, don't ever call
me 'boss' again. Pack up your things and get out. Now." Then
handing Vito an envelope, he said, "Your last check."

Two guards showed up at the den doorway, with
their hands on their guns.

"But--"

Smiling tightly now, Al said in a softer
tone, "Now. Get out now, before I do something I will regret. And
you are no longer my cousin. Don't ever tell anyone ever that you
are related to me in any way. Understood?"

Vito gulped. "Sure, boss, if that' the way
you want it--"

Looking past him to the guards, Al said, "Get
this man out of my sight. Right now."

One guard on either side of his arms now,
they escorted him out.

Dani waited anxiously for Al to come back
from the casino. She'd never seen him so angry. She thought of his
eyes and the way they gave him away. When he was angry or upset,
they were almost all grey colored. But when he looked at her the
way he did sometimes, the passionate times, they were deep blue
with little grey flecks.

In his absence she'd taken a bath and now sat
in her robe.

He let himself in just before dark.

From the living room couch, she asked him,
"How did it go?"

Taking off his suit coat and tie, while he
unbuttoned his shirt, he said tiredly, "He's gone. Forever."

Sitting next to her, he sat back and closed
his eyes.

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked him,
while her hand stroked his arm.

"Just be you. That's all I need." He turned
his head towards her, but she couldn't tell whether his eyes were
grey or blue.

His hands came tenderly around her back and
pulled her to him. "Just be the wonderful person you are,
Dani."

And after they sat for a few minutes, he
said, "I need you to come with me now." He helped her up and they
went to the bedroom.

She lay on the bed, while slim daylight
filtered through the blinds.

"Your robe," he said huskily, while he pulled
off his clothes.

She wiggled out of it carefully, and dropped
it on the floor.

He stood by the bed now, by her, and her
hands roved his muscular legs, back to his buttocks then gently
rubbed his hardness. It grew with her stroking, and he whispered,
"Bellissimo," with his eyes closed. After a minute, he caught her
hand with both his own. "I want this to last, and that feels too
good."

Lying next to her, he lightly gathered her in
his arms. His kiss was electric and hard, as his tongue moved
frantically, sensually in her mouth. Licking her lower lip, he
whispered, "Just for you," and he pushed his hardness between her
legs, outside, softly, slowly. His fingers found her wetness as his
lips kissed her breasts, sucking then running his teeth across her
nipples.

"Now," she told him urgently, while her hand
roved over his muscular back.

"Oh, no," he breathed, against her lips now,
"I've waited too long for this."