Free High Stakes by Erin McCarthy

table,Ringo watched Ethan Carrick emerge from the private elevator with his right-hand man at 10 p.m. just as he did every night. Carrick was a creature of habit, andRingo appreciated that.
    Made his job easier, that Carrick took his so seriously.
    Ringotook his job seriously, too, and could be considered a workaholic by some. But he didn't do anything stupid, and whatDonatelli wanted was stupid. Nodding to the dealer, he kept an eye on Carrick as he moved around the casino floor, chatting to an employee here and there.Ringo inhaled from his cigarette before resting it in the glass ashtray.
    Another reason he loved Vegas. He could smoke wherever the tuck he wanted. None of that huddling around a garbage can with twelve other people outside a crowded restaurant freezing his balls off- Here he could blow his secondhand smoke in anybody's face he felt like, and he appreciated that.
    You look like you're doing prettygood ," a perky voice said next to him.
    Glancing to his left, he noticed that a skinny brunette had taken the vacant seat, previously occupied by an ancient oil refinery owner. This woman was easier on the eyes than old Arthur had been, he'd admit that, but he didn't like to chitchat when he was working.
    "Not bad," he said in a cool tone.
    "Enough to buy me a drink," she said with a giggle.
    Ringostifled his irritation. He hated women who giggled. It was like air escaping from a tire, a signal that, once expelled, nothing but an empty shell would remain.
    This girl definitely didn't look too heavy in the IQ department, even if she had a pretty face, shiny black hair, and breasts that were too large to be natural on her thin frame. Yet he didn't think she was a hooker. There was too much genuine mischief in her eyes, a lusty sort of hunger hovering around her face.
    Probably one of the girls who were dead broke, and enjoyed milking men out of meals and drinks, then leaving them panting and desperate.Ringo wasn't desperate for anything.Hadn't been since he'd left the Marines and half of his humanity behind.
    With a flick of his wrist, he flipped a twenty-dollar chip toward her. "Go buy yourself a drink, gorgeous.
    And leave me alone to concentrate before I lose this whole pile because I'm staring at you instead of the wheel."
    She took the chip, wrapping her fist around it and caressing it with her thumb. "Thanks. I'll be back with your change, cutie."
    Yeah, right.Giggles was going to pocket that change, no doubt in his mind. But he didn't care, because Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    she was blocking his view of Carrick. As he picked up his cigarette and took a hit, she blew him a kiss with moist, cherry red lips, and sashayed off.
    Damn. He couldn't see Carrick anymore. He'd left the floor.
    Not that it mattered, really. Carrick did the same thing every night, and he never left his casino.Ever. He was a rich, young, reclusive nut-job. And contrary toDonatelli's crazy decapitation request,Ringo was going to plug the casino owner with a bullet, right to the heart. Dead was dead, and a bullet was cleaner than that messDonatelli wanted.
    The Italian was an eccentric client—he supposed they all were—and demanding, butRingo knew his job, and he'd do it the right way.The low-risk way.
    "I'm back. Did you miss me?" Giggles reappeared a minute later, a martini in one hand and a five-dollar bill in the other, which she set in front of him.
    "Not at all," he told her truthfully, taking a hit from the dealer on his hand.
    She giggled. "I'm Kelsey. I work here." If she started singing for him, he was going to shoot himself.
    "Yeah?" He might as well have said, "I don't give a shit," but that didn't stop Kelsey.
    "I'm a receptionist. Bet you thought I was a dancer or something, didn't you?" She winked at him. "I know how men are. But seriously, I'm a receptionist.For Mr. Carrick, the casino owner. I answer the phones," she added helpfully, like he lived under a rock and might not