Rouge: A Dark Billionaire Romance (Tattered Curtain Series)

Kian

Watching Monroe announce to the world yesterday that he’s marrying my wife tomorrow night made me want to strangle the life out of him right then and there. I couldn’t stop myself from going after their limo, and the driver’s prompt exit was the only thing that prevented me from doing something foolish. If my plan doesn’t provide answers tonight, though, I don’t care about the Garde, the Keeper, or anyone else in this goddamn town. I’ll steal my wife back before she stands at the altar with someone else.

Ever since Monroe pulled that fecking stunt with Lacey in front of his hotel, he’s been out gambling, drinking, ogling, and schmoozing. I haven’t heard from Lacey despite having texted and called her the moment I got a new mobile and it’s driving me mad. But the contacts I’ve secured in the Baron Suites over the past two weeks have confirmed that she was safely dropped off in the Elephant Room by herself yesterday. It isn’t enough to ease my mind, but it’ll have to do until I see her tonight.

Three minutes ago, Lorenzo messaged the new mobile Merek secured for me, notifying me that Monroe was hemorrhaging money in my family’s casino. The fact that the bastard is in my family’s business right now makes me see red, but if he’s here, then that means my men can get into position and Lacey is still safe. I told my employees to keep him occupied for as long as possible while I quickly made my way here.

The casino is abuzz with the cheers and yelps of winners and losers at every machine. The tables are just as expressive, full of “oohs” and “aahs” as the tourists gamble. Once I get to the high roller room, I nod at Lorenzo standing guard. He juts his chin in response before going back to assessing his area. His alertness soothes my racing heart for the moment and I enter the room with less anxiety than I started with, spotting my prey quickly.

Monroe has a scantily clad dancer from the casino floor on his lap. I’ll have to triple her tips tonight for her sacrifice in entertaining this arsehole.

He reveals his hand to the table in the showdown between two other players. It looks like he’s won, for once, and he claims the meager pot, scooping the chips toward his seat as he gloats. The arrogant glee on his face quickly dissipates as the players get up and throw their cards on the table before leaving him and the game behind.

“Come on! Another one!”

“Deal me in,” I place the stack of chips I brought on the table and slide into the empty seat near Monroe before pushing a one thousand dollar chip in the center to place my blind bet.

The dealer begins to shuffle the deck while Monroe does a double take.

“Kian McKennon, I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“It’s my family’s casino, Monroe. Or did you forget?”

An onlooker at any of the other tables would think my smirk was about getting under another player’s skin, but this facade is the only trick that keeps me from succumbing to the urge to break his nose on the table.

Monroe’s flushed cheeks turn purple. The dancer in his lap tries to brush his hair back, but he swats her hand away.

“Get the fuck off me,” he growls, tossing her to the side opposite of me before she can obey his command. She hurries out of the room, but my hackles are still raised when she’s gone.

“Mind yourself, Monroe,” I warn. “She’s a McKennon employee. I don’t want to have to throw you out. If the press learns you nearly assaulted a casino dancer, it will look bad for your political aspirations. And getting arrested would ruin that rehearsal dinner I’ve heard is happening tonight.”

“Aw… is someone feeling left out? Did you want an invite to my party, Kian?” He snorts.

I shrug, ignoring his taunting tone. “Nah, I don’t think I’ll be missing much.”

He frowns at my dismissal and waves away my concern before placing two chips in the center for his blind.

“Well I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal about a stripper then,” he grumbles. “You won’t actually call the cops, and politicians are caught with their pants down all the time these days. Nothing a little money and handshaking can’t fix.”

He smooths the lapels of the same suit he wore for Mass despite it being a full twenty-four hours later. In this town, you can find almost anything you need at any hour. Women, drugs, booze… everything except for fecking windows. It looks like Monroe has been partaking in the first three all night long and the last has made him lose track of time. The sun shines bright outside, but you wouldn’t know it in here. Considering Monroe’s wild, bloodshot eyes, he sure as hell doesn’t.

“I knew this was your family’s establishment, by the way. I figured you’d be out fucking some whore.”

“No, Monroe.” I suck my teeth and shake my head. Two cards land in front of me and I glance at them before raising and pushing more chips into the pot. “That sounds like something you would do. Not me.”

“It’s Baron,” Monroe hisses as he calls, adding the same amount to the pot. “My father is dead, which means I get the title and the respect fair and square.”

“Fair and square…” My face furrows in thought. “Interesting choice of words, considering the circumstances of your father’s death. I know you’re new to the game, Monroe, but respect is only given once you’ve secured an heir. At its core, the Garde values family above individuals.”

The dealer discards the top card in her hand before placing three cards face up on the table. I’m careful not to make an expression while I watch Monroe’s eyes narrow at the board.

“As soon as I marry Lacey O’Shea there will be no problem securing that. I plan to fuck her until her virgin pussy is raw—” He gasps and presses his hand to his mouth. A smile lifts his goatee as he asks in an exaggerated tone. “Oops, is that a sore subject? You know, since she was supposed to marry you? I’m so ‘new to the game’ and all. I’d forgotten.”

He chuckles as he tosses chips toward the dealer.

My knuckles pop as they form into fists. I’ve been playing this game since I could talk and I’ve honed my poker face, but those countless hours of practice are barely holding back the rage building inside me.

Instead, I lie through a practiced smile and match his bet. “We don’t want anything to do with a family who doesn’t honor their agreements.”

“Yeah right,” Monroe scoffs. “You don’t let a piece of ass like that go without regretting not hitting it.”

Strikes seven and eight.

Including the wee show I had to see earlier, Monroe won’t like when I make him pay for all his transgressions.

The dealer burns another card before laying a fourth.

Fuck.

There’s no way I’ll win this game easily, but if I get in his head, I could still come out on top.

“You know…” I move a stack into the center, feigning a strong hand by raising the bet. “For a wannabe politician, you talk like a fecking first-year at uni. We were engaged. Then we weren’t. Now you’re marrying her. Big deal. Not much else to say.”

Monroe scowls and we both watch as the dealer discards the top card before flopping down the final community card in the center. He shifts in his seat and I could swear the beginning of a smile twitches his goatee.

“I don’t know how any of you thought that you could get away with that arrangement anyway. A McKennon marrying an O’Shea?” he barks a laugh.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Monroe’s pride mixes with the liquor and drugs in his system, loosening his lips. “The Garde would never allow the two reigning families to unite. Right now, there’s a semblance of power among the rest of us. If you consolidated it, we would be mere subjects under your rule. They had to do something to stop it and the O’Shea had to be punished for overstepping.”

My eyes narrow. I’d thought it was just a few players against the O’Shea, but…

“Are you saying the families were against the marriage contract he and my father brokered?”

Monroe nods and opens his mouth to answer, but whatever he was going to say catches at the edge of his tongue.

“Um, well, none of that matters now.”

Dammit, he isn’t drunk enough yet. I’ll have to let him talk shite and hope he’ll slip up again.

“You dodged a bullet anyway. The O’Shea girl needs to be house-trained.”

Nine.

I reach for the chip in my pocket, but I remember too late that I gave it to Lacey as my fingers meet the empty pocket’s silk seam. My jaw clenches and I breathe deeply through my nose to center myself. I hope Monroe knows what’s good for him and shuts the feck up before I lose it and punch him in the bloody face.

“The O’Shea obviously wanted you instead of me,” I counter. “So a fiery redhead is what you get. If you can’t handle her, that’s on you.”

“I can handle her,” he hisses. “She’s just a womb. After she’s done her part, I couldn’t care less what happens to her. It’s being Keeper that I want.”

I bristle at the remark. “Ol’ Charlie’s got to croak first. Once he goes, then the job’s open.”

Monroe’s chuckle digs a pit of dread in my stomach. “With as upstanding as our little organization is, it’s incredible that we still rely on a man who’s behind bars to guard their ideals. Who would’ve called that? The Keeper keeps our secrets safe, but he holds our freedom over our heads with them. Granted, we get the beautiful women, money, and power and while that might be worth it to some, the key is to get it all. That’s the best part about a marriage arrangement with the Keeper’s daughter. And in my case, I won’t have to wait long after marrying Lacey to get it.”

My brows rise slightly, but I doubt the drunken man can tell. “Do you have an in with the grim reaper, then?”

He chuckles again. “Let’s just say I know one of his minions in jail, and he’s been itching to get his hands on the O’Shea.”

My watch buzzes on my wrist. I glance down to see the thumbs-up on my screen from the text message I’ve been waiting for.

“Fucking phones. Let me guess. One of your many conquests?”

“Something like that,” I mumble and pull out my mobile to text Merek back.

Do it. Tonight during the rehearsal.

“Women are so fucking annoying with their constant texting and calls. That Muñoz girl messaged Lacey incessantly yesterday. I had to turn it off.”

My brow furrows. “You had to turn it off?”

Is that why she hasn’t responded to my messages?

He huffs. “The bitch is always on her phone. I took it away from her after she tried to show off at the church. All she has to do is show up to the rehearsal dinner anyway. She doesn’t need her phone for that. She’ll be a piece of work to discipline, though, I can already tell.”

My heart thunders in my chest as what he said finally hits home. He thought I was Roxana… fucking hell, that was close.

“When I get my inheritance and become the Keeper, she better straighten up. I’ll have secrets to blackmail everyone she loves if she doesn’t. She’s proven that’s the only way to get her to do what I want.”

He finally turns over his hand, reminding me that we’re playing a game in the first place. I’d been too wrapped up in trying to find answers and now this bastard has a smug grin on his face.

“An ace of clubs… and a queen of spades to pair with the queen on the board,” the dealer declares.

A pair is hardly a guaranteed winning hand in a showdown, but it’s no better than mine. Reading him was difficult with his drunken ramblings, but it paid off in the end.

“You O’Sheas and McKennons thought you could trick the Garde’s system,” Monroe taunts. “But once I’m Keeper, I’ll have it all and you McKennons will have to answer to me.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong.” I lay down my ace of hearts and my queen of diamonds sword side up.

“A tie,” the dealer announces. “A chopped pot to split between the two of you.”

“I don’t want it all, Monroe. I always have my eye on one prize.” My fingers graze my queen and ace combo that turns our game into a draw and I meet his frustrated frown. “I answer to one person and that sure as feck isn’t you.”

I push my half of the winnings to the dealer and nod to her. “Distribute them out to the others working on the floor.”

Monroe purples with rage.

“Rematch!” he yells, but I’m already leaving.

“Don’t you have a rehearsal dinner to go to?” I call over my shoulder. “Freshen up before you go. You stink.”

“Name the time and day! I’ll have my rematch.”

I shake my head, not chancing looking at him. If I do, there’s no way I won’t murder him right here in my own casino. I only have so much willpower.

“I don’t rematch in my own house, Monroe. One way or another, the McKennons always win.”