Free Gambling with Gabriella (Menage MfM Romance Novel) (Playing For Love Book 2) by Tara Crescent Page A

ask sharply. “How did they find Sammy’s tables? You have to know someone on the inside to find the games, right?”
    She frowns. “That whole night was so strange,” she says. “I wasn’t the only one playing recklessly. Everyone seemed off their game somehow.” She shakes her head. “It all seems so hazy. All I know is that I lost an absolutely inconceivable amount of money, and when I woke up the next morning, I had the worst hangover in the world. Even though I’d only had one drink.”
    I’ve seen her in action; she can hold her liquor. My intuition tells me that she’d been drugged on Saturday. Most people have heard of roofies, but there’s an absolute flood of designer drugs on the market and a few of them work by lowering your inhibitions the same way that alcohol does. If Gabby had been drugged that night, it would explain her uncharacteristic losses.
    “I’m going to make some calls,” I tell her.
    “I don’t want to piss off Sammy, Carter,” she warns me. “He has enforcers, and I’m not interested in making waves. I don’t want my kneecaps busted.”
    Her statement confirms my hunch. She’s spirited, but she’s not reckless. She knows how to weigh the consequences of her actions before she jumps in. Something made her lose that money. Something or someone, and I’m going to find out who was responsible.
    “I promise you, your kneecaps are safe,” I say, drawing her into my arms and kissing the top of her head. The thought of her being hurt in any way brings out my protective side. “I won’t do anything you don’t want me to. All I’m going to do is investigate a little bit. Call some friends, try to see what the word on the street is.”
    Try to see if a new designer drug has made its way onto the open market.
    “Okay,” she concedes. “But if I end up in a wheelchair, I’m going to get one of the electric ones, and I’m going to run over your leg with it.”
    I laugh. She’s adorable when she’s feisty. “Fair enough, Gabby,” I smile at her. “Now, can I interest you in dinner?”
    “Chinese?” she asks. “Bulldog’s game yesterday was behind a Chinese restaurant, and it’s given me a terrible craving for kung pao chicken and fried rice.”

11
    Gabriella:
    O kay , I confess. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy to know that Carter and Dominic are watching out for me. Carter’s questions about Sammy and the night of the big poker loss should irritate me, but I just feel protected and safe.
    This is bad. I’m a gambler, sure, but even for me the idea of trusting two men, men I barely know, feels risky and reckless.
    I haven’t brought anything formal to wear with me, but I do the best I can, pulling out a turquoise silk blouse and my most flattering pair of jeans and taking special care with my makeup. Carter’s eyes heat up when he sees me, and he growls in his throat. “I’m tempted to rip your clothes off and feast on you,” he says.
    “What about Dominic?” I ask, then immediately regret it. I don’t know what the expectations of a threesome are, but asking Carter what the rules are makes this a more serious conversation than I’m prepared to have. Whether I have the money for Sammy or not, I have to leave Atlantic City at the end of the week. What’s the point of wondering whether Carter will consider it cheating if I have sex with Dominic when he’s not around, or vice versa?
    He shrugs. “I don’t know all the answers, Gabby,” he says honestly. “This is new to me too. This is the first time either Dominic or I ever wanted something more out of a threesome than just sex. But we are three adults who are rational most of the time, right? I assume we can figure it out.”
    This is the first time I’ve ever wanted something more… I don’t know what to do with his words, so I avoid thinking about them, smiling brightly at him instead. “Shall we? Somewhere out there, there’s a plate of kung pao chicken calling me, and I want to find it and put