Rouge: A Dark Billionaire Romance (Tattered Curtain Series)

Kian

Click.

Having a gun pointed at me is never a pleasant experience, no matter the circumstances, and when the gun clicks empty twice, every tense muscle in my body relaxes.

Frustration and anxiety have Monroe cursing through gritted teeth as he examines his revolver.

“Put it up and sit back down, Monroe.”

“Don’t be so flippant,” he hisses but obeys my order. “This is a six-shooter. You only have so many chances before you run out.”

“Actually, every time you spin, there’s a one-in-six chance, but who’s counting?” I let myself relax a wee bit before I face the dealer again.

“Another hand, please, Suzette.” I point to the silver wedding band in the center of the table and announce my bet. “My blind bet is the ring you stole, Monroe. Lacey’s been wanting it back.”

He scoffs. “That’s what you’re betting? What a waste. It’s worth nothing.”

“If my wife loves it, it’s worth everything.”

His face sours at me as Suzette sends the cards we’ve already played into the discard pile and waits for him to place his bet.

“Fine, then. Roulette. Face.”

“My whole face, or is there a particular part you’re fond of…”

“Shut the fuck up, Kian. You’re making up your own goddamn rules, so I get to make mine. I said your face and that’s where I’ll aim after I win.”

“Grand.” I nod to Suzette and she quickly deals out our new hands. I study my cards and wait for Monroe to place his preflop bet.

His face is mottled with frustration. He’s almost too easy to read, and when he places a low bet—my black Audi, of all things—I play in kind despite the fact that I’ve started with two kings.

As the rounds go on, he begins to fidget and grumbles under his breath, “This is ridiculous.”

I ignore him and bet his back and thigh for his behavior with Lacey in his limo. Even though she kept Monroe’s abuse a secret from me, I let her off easy because she was protecting her family. Monroe won’t get the same treatment after hurting mine.

Suzette lays the last card and my heart leaps in my chest.

Feck yes.

When I meet Monroe’s wide, twitching eyes, I can barely resist a smile.

“Your left arm.”

His gulp is audible and I take great satisfaction in knowing he’s thinking about the fact that he broke Lacey’s.

He mutters his raise without any power behind it. There’s no use putting effort into a bet he’s going to lose.

Suzette’s tan cheeks are sickly pale as she waits for us to turn our cards over for the showdown. It’s a rarity that I have to mete out punishments or go “old school” with families in the Red Room. But it’s been twice in a month that she’s been subjected to it.

When we reveal our cards, she visibly sighs.

“Full house beats a pair of fours. Mr. McKennon’s win.”

“The house will comp your next vacation, Suzette,” I murmur. “You can take your family and go wherever you want. You deserve a break after dealing with all of this.”

Monroe snorts loudly, no doubt attempting to act less stressed than he is.

“You act like you run this shithole. Hey, McKennon!” He glances at my father. “You let your son dictate your casino?”

“Of course not.” My father laughs and I smile too at our wee inside joke.

“What’s so funny?” Monroe sneers.

“My casino.” I snatch the ring and pocket it in my suit jacket before rising from my chair. “Now stand up.”

“What?” Monroe’s eyes widen and his body stiffens as I grab the roulette rake from the table behind us.

“Which part was hard for you? Stand up? Or that the McKennon Hotel and Casino is mine? I bought it years ago from my father and I didn’t use the Garde to do it.”

“What?” Monroe’s jaw drops and I can detect more than a hint of jealousy in his voice. “How is that possible? You couldn’t have had your inheritance yet.”

I tap my palm with the wooden rake before signaling him to stand. He follows my order without even realizing it and backs away from his seat as I answer him.

“Some of us capitalize on what we’ve already been given rather than wait to be handed what we think we deserve. I’ve used my connections and resources to pave my own path. I don’t need the goddamn Garde. You need me.”

In one swift move, I lash the rake across his upper thighs. “That’s for touching her thigh in your limo.”

A guttural groan coughs from his throat as he doubles over. When he stumbles, I whack him across the back, and a sharp screech rips through the room.

“That’s for wrapping your arm around her and forcing her to smile for you.”

He yelps as I drive a kick into his lower back, where Lacey still has a nasty dark-purple bruise. I toss the roulette rake to my father and yank Monroe up by his hair, remembering the way her pretty strawberry-blonde curls were in total disarray as I cradled her in my arms.

“G-get off me, McKennon!”

“What’s wrong, Monroe? You thought you could lay a hand on my wife without consequences? Don’t throw the punch if you can’t take the hit, motherfucker, and don’t cast bets you can’t pay out.”

He flails at me, but I grab his left arm before it can make contact with my face and twist it behind his back. The move helps me force him to stand and I shove him into the wall face-first. He wriggles fruitlessly and I tighten my grip as I explain his fate.

“When the doctor read out Lacey’s injuries, I made a note of each and every one.” I shift my weight and feel Monroe’s forearm creak underneath my hand. “And now, I’m going to give you everything back tenfold.”

“No, no, don’t, please—”

“You have followers, I hear. I don’t know how I missed that, but after what I do to you, they’ll know good and bloody well what will happen if Lacey McKennon is harmed in any way.”

I use my body weight as leverage and yank Monroe’s forearm into an unbearable angle. A loud snap crunches underneath my hands as I break his wrist where he broke hers. His high-pitched scream pierces the air around us, but it’s dampened by the Red Room’s heavy curtains. I throw him to the ground, where he wails and rolls around on the carpet.

Did Lacey cry nearly as much as this eejit? I doubt it. The girl has likely pirouetted through a recital on broken toes. No doubt this posh fecker sobs at a paper cut.

After a few more minutes of listening to him blubbering, I smooth my lapels and sigh with a shrug at Suzette.

“While we’re waiting, I’ll have a seltzer water, please, if you don’t mind.”

She nods hastily, fetches a bottle from her minibar underneath the poker table, and hands it to me. I thank her and unscrew the top, breaking the seal to take a sip of the cool, refreshing bubbles before addressing Monroe again.

“Play again, Baron? Best of three, right? Or would you like to call it a tie? Of course in the event of a tie in a McKennon casino, the house wins.”

“Fuck you, McKennon,” he sniffles and grumbles as he staggers from the ground.

“I’ll take that as a yes to playing again, then.” I motion to Suzette to proceed. She takes the cue and retrieves all the cards before shuffling for the next round.

Monroe snivels and whines as he holds his broken wrist to his chest and plops into his chair.

“D-deal me in, bitch,” he stammers as he curses.

“Hey, arsehole,” my father calls out before I do. “Don’t go disrespecting our staff, you understand? Mind yourself, or I’ll be avenging Suzette’s honor if there’s anything left after Kian’s done with you.”

Anger welts red blotches on Monroe’s cheeks, but he at least has the good sense to shut the hell up.

“Your bet, Monroe?”

His eyes narrow. “You think you’re so fucking invincible, but Charlie O’Shea isn’t. If you and Lacey don’t get an annulment, there’s no reason for me to keep O’Shea alive in jail. Do you think she’ll be in love with you when she finds out this stunt you’re pulling got her father killed?”

I chuckle. “Is that your bet? We can decide that one right now. Go ahead and call your man. See if I care.”

Monroe goes for his mobile, but he pauses. “Wait… why don’t you care?”

I tilt my head and lift my shoulder in a shrug. “Well, when was the last time you spoke to your contact in the jail? A lot can happen in twenty-four hours.”

Monroe’s pale face blanches. “What did you do?”

“Let’s just say you no longer have the upper hand over me, Lacey, or Charlie O’Shea. In fact… if the O’Shea were to, I don’t know, be freed and have his name cleared after your suite was broken into while you were at your rehearsal dinner… I’d say you don’t have any power at all.”

His jaw drops and sweat beads on his brow at my revelation. “The Keeper is out of j-jail?”

“Sure is.” I grin and tap the poker table. “By the way, I’m raising and betting your bollocks.”

“My… what?” His face scrunches before he spits. “I didn’t fuck your whore, McKennon!”

I slam my hand on the table, making Monroe jolt. “You called her a ‘womb,’ you piece of shite. It’s fair play. Call her a whore again, though, and I won’t keep up this ruse of a game to make you bleed. You’re lucky I play by the rules.” My glare still burns at Monroe, but I take the sting out of my voice with Suzette. “Deal us, please.”

She distributes the cards deftly and Monroe tries to hold both his useless hand and his two cards.

“Do you want my help, Monroe?”

“Fuck you.”

“Suit yourself.” I have to push down my rage as I bet his throat. Remembering Lacey’s raspy voice and the fingerprints on her neck will make it hard not to kill him if I win this round.

“Head,” Monroe repeats for his preflop bet. He’s shaking in his chair, rattled and no doubt trying to figure out his next move now that his advantage is gone. I wonder if the cocky son of a bitch has realized yet that he’s playing his last game on borrowed time.

Suzette takes that as her cue to flop the community cards and we continue the rounds. I place my bets with his punishment in mind, but for every one of Monroe’s, he just grumbles and repeats “head.”

I doubt he knows it but injured and pissed is actually his best poker face yet. No matter what card Suzette places on the board, I can’t get a read on the man. I have a good starting hand of a king of spades and a jack of clubs, but it’s no guaranteed winner. When Suzette places the last two cards on the table, though, hope rushes in my veins and my chest aches.

An ace of hearts…

“Who could’ve guessed the wild ace had a heart?”

… followed by a queen of diamonds.

“Only for his queen of diamonds.”

“Head,” Monroe barks again, but I swear there’s more hope than usual in this one.

“Mouth,” I reply.

“Mouth? I never punched her face.”

Rage heats my cheeks. “I know you didn’t strike her face, but you forced her to kiss you for a photo op, you goddamn bastard.”

“Oh yeah.” He chuckles. “I blocked that out of my memory. It was like kissing a dead fish. Your whore’s already put out for you, though, so tell me… is it the same when you fuck her—”

I surge from my chair so violently that it falls backward.

“Kian! Mind yourself. You’re letting him get in your head, lad.”

Monroe grins as my chest rises and falls with breaths that I’m barely keeping under control. I pick up my chair and set it on all four legs before sitting back down. He laughs boldly and a sick feeling churns in my stomach as realization settles in.

He thinks he has a winning hand, and I…

I’m not so sure.

“Your cards, gentlemen?” Suzette asks.

For the first time ever, I’m slow to turn over my cards. I’ve never cared what I played for before, but now that my life with Lacey is at stake, I’ve got everything to lose.

I reveal my king of spades and jack of clubs and glance over to see Monroe’s nine of clubs and eight of diamonds.

Suzette’s posture relaxes again. “Straight with the ace high beats straight with ten high. Mr. McKennon wins—”

“No!” Monroe lunges from his chair and tugs his gun out of his waistband. “I will be the Keeper! Lacey is mine!”

My eyes widen as he aims and slams his finger against the trigger.

Click.

Click. Click.

Click. Click. Click…

Click.

“What the fuck?” Monroe shrieks and gapes at his gun with shock. He keeps his broken wrist against his chest as he jabs the barrel in my direction. “You… you cheated!”

But I’m as stumped as he is.

“I cheated? I won, and yet you tried to empty your gun on me—”

“Like I knew you would,” my father interrupts as he stands beside me. “The Barons have always been cheats and thieves.” He hands me the roulette rake before he spills the bullets from his pocket onto the table. All six of them. “My son didn’t cheat, but you just proved that you would have.”

“Leave, Suzette,” I calmly command as I level my glare on Monroe. She sprints out of the room without a word.

As soon as she leaves, he moves, swinging the pistol in a wide arc toward the side of my head. I’d laugh at this eejit, thinking he’d be faster than me, but I’m too angry. I catch his gun and wrench it from his hand. The bastard tries to throw a punch as I toss the revolver to the side, but I effortlessly sidestep his arm and his missed right hook lands him on the roulette table. He wobbles as he backpedals away and flips a chair over to stop me, but I leap over it and land closer than I started. His eyes widen at our closeness, and I use his shock against him to shove the roulette rake against his neck and drive him into the wall. He nearly trips and his hands flail at the rod, but I keep us both upright by hooking the rake underneath his jaw, cutting off his airway.

“This is for trying to strangle Lacey to death.”

His face purples as he pushes the rake. Even with both arms, this sack of shite wouldn’t have been able to stop me. With one broken? There’s no fecking chance. The rod chokes him and he wheezes to breathe. When he realizes fighting the rake is futile, he claws at me instead. He catches my forearms, but my training has me moving before I’m conscious of it, and I stretch away, putting me out of his reach.

“Is this how she made the scratches you show off now? No one else wears my wife’s marks and lives, arsehole.”

His bloodshot brown eyes widen as he finally understands the gravity of the situation his ego and fecked-up decisions have trapped him in. Lackluster kicks try to make contact with my shins, but they only cut off his airway further. Tears streak down his face, carrying his confidence and arrogance with them.

“The moment I found out you were behind sabotaging my marriage, you were a dead man walking. Every touch after that was another wound added to the final tally. This was always going to be your fate, Monroe Baron. How painful it would’ve been was up to you.”

“Y-you said you wouldn’t k-kill me. Wh-what h-happened t-to honor?” he gargles. His eyes bug out as I push harder to shut him up.

“I said I wouldn’t kill you in my casino, and I played our game fair and square. But you tried to cage my queen and snuff out her light. I’ll let her tell me how she’d like to proceed. In the meantime”—the smile that forces its way onto my face draws a shudder from Monroe—“I’ve got just the cage for you.”

On that final note, I lean my body weight behind the rake and into his windpipe long enough to make him pass out. When I let up, he plops to the ground and I slam the rod into his head once, not hard enough to kill, but hard enough to crack the thing in half and give him a concussion like Lacey’s.

“Good night, Monroe.”

I toss the two halves of the bloody rake onto the table. One clatters and the other rolls along the felt surface, flicking and trailing blood over the deck the dealer left strewn about in her haste.

When I step back, I take the ace of hearts from the last hand and stuff it in my suit jacket. I stare at Monroe, waiting for him to wake up, even though I know he’s down for the count.

A throat clears beside me, snapping me out of my paranoia, and I turn to find my dad holding out a joker card with smeared blood on it.

“You sure about this, lad? It’s your one card.”

“I am,” I accept it without hesitation. “I’ll have the backing from the queen of diamonds to do it as well.”

My father chuckles. “She’s a firecracker, that one. Do you need that card as well?”

I shake my head with a wry grin. “I’ve still got the one you gave me that started all of this.”

His laugh rumbles at the reminder and he points to the broken roulette rake. “Less blood this time, but you’ll have to buy more of those if you’re wanting to go after the rest of the traitors.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure no one gets between Lacey and me again.” I huff a mirthless laugh. “If roulette rakes are the only McKennon casualty in my revenge, then so be it.”

“I don’t blame you. You want cleanup?”

I nod. “Fetch Lorenzo and bring him in here.”

My father disappears from my side and the bouncer appears at the door in seconds.

“You needed me, boss?”

To his credit, he doesn’t look squeamish in the slightest, maybe even a wee bit hungry for the bloodshed. He’s coming around nicely. He’ll be perfect for this next job.

“Get a cleaning crew—Garde, not casino. Keep it discreet. Detain Mr. Baron in the vault while Lacey recovers. In the meantime, get me a barrel, cement, and ready my boat. When Monroe laid a hand on my wife, he decided to take a long swim in the middle of Lake Mead.”

“I…” He clears his throat. “I saw what the bastard did to Mrs. McKennon.”

My heart soars at hearing my wife’s new last name on someone else’s lips for the first time, but the rest of his sentence makes me scowl.

“And?”

His face hardens. “The lake is too good for that asshole.”

“I agree, but trust me, I’m not done. And neither is he.”

Lorenzo smirks before leaving to follow my order. As soon as he’s gone, I study Monroe and stuff the bloody joker into my pocket. I snag a poker chip with the least amount of crimson stain on it and flip it in my hand while I speak to my enemy’s unconscious body.

“The house always wins, motherfucker.”