Toxic (3 page)

“Nah. I'm an only child. Mum took one look at me, and thought 'fuck it, I don't want any more of those'.”

“You're lucky. Mine are a pain in the arse.”

Suzy almost reminded Todd that it was Raw and Carol who had rescued him from a Spanish prison, but she thought better of it.

“What about your parents?” Todd gestured to the waitress for another Jack Daniels.

“My dad's a bastard,” Suzy said. “He used to knock Mum around. Then he walked out on us.  Haven't seen or heard from him for years. Mum started to drink and screw around after he left, and she hasn't stopped since.”

“Parents? Who'd have 'em?”

Suzy finished her beer.

“You want another, honey?”

“Why the hell not? How come you don't get along with Rawhide and Carol?”

“Not worth talking about.”

“Come on. I've told you my sad, shitty story. Least you can do is tell me yours.”

“Carol's okay, but she's always sticking her nose in.”

Todd took a swig from his glass.

“And Rawhide?”

“It was okay when we were kids. We used to do stuff together, you know.” He took another drink. “Then Dad decided to play favourites. He spent all his time with Raw, and more or less ignored me. He said it was because of the business, but I knew better.”

“What do you mean?”

“Dad didn't want another kid. They had the perfect family—one boy—one girl. Then I came along and screwed it all up.”

“Did he actually tell you that?”

“He didn't need to. It was obvious. Raw was with Dad all of the time, Carol had her own friends, and I was—” Todd stared out of the window as though lost in his thoughts for a moment. “It didn't matter. I preferred my own company anyway. I still do, but those two won't let me be. Every time I look over my damn shoulder there's one of them checking up on me.”

Suzy could sense his anger growing, so decided it was time to change the subject. “Are you stinking rich?”

Todd smirked. “You're very direct aren't you?”

“Don't ask, don't find out. Are you?”

“Not like Raw. I get a measly allowance each month.”

Suzy suspected that her idea of 'measly’ and Todd's idea were probably very different.

“Fucking allowance!” Todd's temper resurfaced. “They're still treating me like a kid even now.”

“I wish someone would pay me an allowance.”

“It's my money, but I can't get my hands on any of it except for the monthly payments. Dad deliberately set up the Trust that way.”

“He probably thought you'd blow it all on booze and women,” Suzy said.

For a moment, she thought Todd was about to explode with anger, but then a smile crept across his lips. “He'd have been right. What a way to go though.”

“I'll drink to that.” Suzy raised her glass.

“To booze and women.” Todd clinked his glass to hers, and then drained it. “Another beer and another Jack Daniels,” he called to the waitress.

“Do you think maybe we should call it a day?” Suzy said.

“Hell no.”

Chapter 4

Suzy wasn't drunk when they left the restaurant, but she had one helluva buzz going on. Todd had paid the bill in cash, and had left a twenty pound tip for one very happy waitress. That had reminded Suzy of the fifty pound tip Rawhide had given Lacey when she'd delivered pizzas to his penthouse. At the time, Lacey had been convinced the bank note was a fake.

“Thanks for the meal,” Suzy said.

“No problem, honey.”

“What's with the
honey
all the time?”

“Don't you like it?”

“It sounds stupid.”

“Okay, babes,” Todd mocked. “I promise not to call you honey again.”

She punched his arm. “What are we doing now? Are you going to give me a tour of London?”

“I thought we'd go win some money.”

Suzy looked puzzled.

“Have you ever been to a casino?” he asked.

“I've been in the arcades at Blackpool.”

“That's why I like you. You're so classy.”

“Hey. I can do classy,” she said. “Will they let me in looking like this?”

“They will if you're with me. I'm one of their best customers.”

“Are they open at this time of day?”

“They never close.”

“Wow!” Suzy mouthed, once they were in the main gaming room of Napoleon's. She'd only ever seen casinos on the television before. Beautiful women in low cut red dresses circled the room offering free champagne to all of the customers (or guests as they insisted on calling them).

“Where shall we start?” Todd looked like an excited kid who'd just been given the keys to the candy store.

“You're the one with the money. You choose.”

“Roulette then. You'll be my lucky charm.”

“I wouldn't bank on it.”

“Here.” Todd patted the seat next to him. “Sit next to me.”

“It's okay. I'll stand here and watch.”

“Sit down,” he insisted, as he handed a wad of banknotes to the croupier in exchange for a pile of chips. “You can play with these, honey.” He divided the chips into two piles, and pushed one pile over to Suzy.

“Seriously?”

“Why not?”

“Cool. What do I do?”

“Just watch me. You'll soon get the hang of it.”

“How much are each of these worth?” Suzy picked up one of the chips.

“Ten pounds.”

“How much money did you change?” She glanced down at the two piles of chips.

“A grand.”

“A thousand pounds? You're bonkers.”

“The trick is not to think of it as real money.”

“Yeah. I'm not sure that's going to work.”

Suzy toyed with one of her chips as she watched Todd slide five of his onto the square labelled 'RED'. There were three other people at the same table: two men and one woman. The croupier glanced at Suzy who shook her head. It was mesmerising to watch the ball fly around the wheel. Suzy's heart was racing, and she didn't even have anything at stake. Todd couldn't have looked more relaxed.

“Fifteen, black.”

Just like that—he'd lost fifty pounds.

“Come on,” Todd said. “Place a bet.”

Suzy picked up a single chip and placed it on the square labelled 'EVEN'.

Before the croupier could spin the wheel, Todd had picked up another four chips from Suzy's pile, and placed them on top of the first one.

“Hey, they're mine.” Suzy said.

“You've got to make the bet worthwhile.”

The wheel seemed to spin for much longer this time.

“Twelve, red.”

“I won!” Suzy said much louder than she'd intended.

The other woman at the table shot her a look.

“How much do I win?”

“You double your money,” Todd said, just as the croupier slid another pile of five chips over to her.

“Bloody hell! I've won fifty quid!”

“Fun isn't it?”

“Let's leave,” Suzy said.

“We've only just started.”

“We might lose it.”

“Come on. Place another bet.”

Suzy slid five chips onto the square labelled 'RED'. Todd put a much larger pile of chips onto 'BLACK'.

“Are you crazy?” Suzy stared at the pile of chips. “That's two hundred quid.”

Todd shrugged, and beckoned one of the waitresses over. He and Suzy both took a glass of champagne as they watched the wheel spin.

“Twenty-four, black.”

“Come to daddy.” Todd grinned.

Suzy watched her chips being raked away.

It was scary just how quickly she forgot it was real money. After a brief winning spell, which saw her two hundred pounds to the good, she became reckless and lost four hundred pounds on two large bets.

“Let's quit while we've still got some left,” Suzy said staring at the now much smaller piles of chips”

“No way. I'm just getting warmed up.” Todd pushed all of his chips onto the square marked 'First 12'.

“What does that square mean?” Suzy asked.

“If it lands on any number between one and twelve—I win.”

Suzy's hands were trembling as she watched the ball fly around the wheel. It wasn't even her money, and yet she felt sick with nerves.

“Five, red.”

It took a moment for the words to register, but then Suzy turned to Todd.

“Fuck me!” she screamed. “You did it.”

Everyone, including the croupier, glared at her.

“Sorry, sorry.” Her cheeks reddened.

Todd ordered a whiskey for himself and a beer for Suzy.

“My turn,” Suzy pushed all of her chips on the square marked 'ODD'.

“Now you're getting into the swing of it,” Todd planted a kiss on her forehead.

“Odd, odd, odd,” Suzy said under her breath as the ball flew around and around the wheel. “Come on odd.”

“Eighteen, red.”

Suzy stared at the ball lodged in slot 'eighteen'.

“You lose.” Todd grinned.

“Five hundred quid,” Suzy said. “I've lost your five hundred quid. I got carried away. Sorry.”

“Don't worry about it. Plenty more where that came from.” Todd pulled a thick wad of fifty pound notes from his pocket.

“Don't change any more,” Suzy said, but he'd already slid the money over to the croupier.

“Three thousand pounds, sir.” The croupier slid a huge pile of chips back to Todd.

“Why don't you try the slot machines, honey?” Todd gave Suzy a handful of chips, and pointed to a huge bank of machines which stretched the full length of the back wall.

“What about you?” she asked.

“I'm feeling lucky here. Go on. I'll come and find you in a few minutes.”

Suzy felt conspicuous as she walked alone over to the slot machines. One middle-aged woman in particular gave her a disapproving look. In return, Suzy gave the woman a '
want a photo?
' stare—daring the woman to say something.

The slot machines weren't like any she'd seen on Blackpool pier. For a start, none of them accepted cash. Instead, they took either a five or a ten pound chip. Suzy walked along the row of machines until she found one which took her fancy. It was the simplest one she could find—she didn't do complicated. Placing the pile of chips on the small shelf underneath the machine, she fed the first chip into the slot. The dials on the display showed only three different symbols: 'X', 'O' and a 'BAR'. Three ‘O’s paid two hundred pounds. Three ‘X’s paid five hundred pounds.  Three 'BARS' paid one thousand pounds. Suzy pressed the button and watched the reels spin.

X

X

“Come on!” she said a little louder than she'd intended.

BAR

“Shit.”

Her next four spins met with no more success, but then:

O

O

O

“Holy shit!”

A bell rang and an avalanche of chips dropped into the tray. Suzy could barely contain her excitement. She scooped them up, and practically ran back towards the roulette table, but stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted a woman draped all over Todd. The long-legged blonde's skirt barely covered her knickers. The plunging neckline of her blouse revealed breasts which owed much to cosmetic surgery. The woman leaned forward to whisper something into Todd's ear.

Suzy marched over to the roulette table, and stood right behind the woman.

“Excuse me.” She tapped the woman on the shoulder.

“Yes?”

“Do you mind if I ask you something?” Suzy was all smiles.

“Sure.”

“Why don't you fuck off?” Suzy's smile had disappeared.

“Sorry?” The woman's face was a picture.

“I said FUCK OFF!”

The woman glanced at Todd who just shrugged his shoulders. After one last look at Suzy, the woman grunted something under her breath, and then hurried away.

“I won.” Suzy held out the pile of chips. “Two hundred smackeroo.”

“Smackeroo?”

“National currency of Suzyland. Good eh? Who was that tart?”

“She's a whore.”

“You can say that again.”

“No really. She is a whore. The casino turns a blind eye.”

“Why was she talking to you?”

Todd shrugged. “Why do you think?”

“You've been with her?”

“A couple of times.”

“Why would you pay for sex?”

“Why not? No ties, no complications.” He caught Suzy's expression. “It's not like I do it often.”

“That's disgusting.”

“Haven't you ever had no-strings sex?”

“Not for money.”

“What are those then?” He pointed to the chips in her hands.