Gambling with Gabriella (Menage MfM Romance Novel) (Playing For Love Book 2)

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Book: Read Gambling with Gabriella (Menage MfM Romance Novel) (Playing For Love Book 2) for Free Online
Authors: Tara Crescent
he’s even going to show up, or if this entire thing is a gigantic waste of time.
    “Another five minutes and we’ll get going,” the young dealer tells us. He doesn’t look a day over eighteen, but his gaze is alert. “Bulldog’s just waiting for a few more people.”
    “Do you normally wait for the tables to fill?” I ask him, shamelessly pumping for information. Hey, any bit of information might be useful in finding Carter’s nephew. “That’s different from the places I usually play in.”
    “Not always,” he confides, then shrugs. “Still, when the boss says to wait, I wait.”
    Five minutes later, Ed Wagner walks in.
    I’ve seen his photo; I know what he looks like. He’s got blond hair and hazel eyes, and a thin face. But photos are never a substitute for seeing someone in person. Up close, Ed looks tired.
    He’s also older than I expected. Looking at him under the unforgiving fluorescent lighting, I’m guessing he’s in his forties. Carter’s in his early thirties and his sister Chloe was a twin, which makes her at least a decade younger than Ed. Ten years isn’t a huge age gap, all things considered, but it’s notable. Maybe this is why Carter’s so angry with Ed. Maybe he thinks Ed led his sister astray.
    This situation is filled with unknowns. For Ed to resort to snatching his child away from Carter, there has to have been so much history and bad blood between the two men. Should I even be involved in this mess? I don’t know.
    I remind myself to keep an open mind. As worried as Carter is, Ed is still Noah’s father . As I think of my close relationship with my parents, what I’m doing prickles at my conscience. I’m interfering without knowing all the facts.
    Then again, Sammy’s goons know how to wield their iron pipes, and I’m extremely fond of my knees.
    The dealer at the table raises his hand in greeting to Ed as he walks up to our table and takes a seat. “Ed, long time no see, man.”
    Ed shakes the dealer’s hand. “I’ve been away,” he says dryly. “You’ve heard?”
    “Yeah. That was a bum rap, dude.”
    Ed’s hazel eyes glitter with anger. “My brother-in-law set me up,” he says. “But I’m going to hit him where it hurts.”
    What the heck? He went to prison because Carter set him up? Neither Dominic nor Carter have mentioned this. I sip at the can of Coke that I got from the vending machine in the corner, thoughts bouncing off the corners of my brain.
    Is everything on the up and up? Carter and Dominic haven’t gone to the police, though that would be the first thing I would do if my child went missing. They’ve acted like they don’t know where Bulldog holds his games, but Atlantic City isn’t a large town. Are they being straightforward with me, or am I being duped by them?
    If the situation isn’t exactly as described, I don’t want to be the person that comes between a father and his son. Ed is Noah’s father. Sure, I need the money to pay off Sammy. But at the end of the day, I’m not going to aid and abet in the kidnapping of a child for it. Though I really hate the idea of disappointing them, I can call my parents to help me with my poker debt, and I can ask my friends.
    Don’t trust Carter and Dominic quite so readily, Gabby, I caution myself. Not before you fully understand what's happening here.
----
    W e play a few hands before we stop for a cigarette break. As luck would have it, I’m doing really well, and Ed Wagner is doing really badly. He’s nervous and distracted. He keeps checking his watch. When the dealer calls a fifteen minute break, he retrieves his cell phone from Bulldog’s closet and goes outside.
    I follow, bumming a cigarette off Wall Street guy, who is also losing heavily. It’s been so many years since I last smoked. When I was sixteen, a rebellious teenager in London, my mother had caught me with a pack in my jacket. Shit had hit the fan, bigtime. My mom yelled and my father looked bemused, until he realized he

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