The Gambler Read Online Free Page A

was about to say. Her sweet innocence resonated inside of him in a way that nothing else had in a very long time, and he couldn't resist kissing the skin of her neck.
    She giggled and scrunched up her shoulders.
    "Tickles."
    "Sorry, what were you going to tell me? You two need something to do?" He turned to glare at the two fucks across the room. He hadn't missed the secret smiles on the men's faces and well understood where they were coming from. Even when he visited his special place, as friendly as he usually was with the children and men and women who lived there, he was never this relaxed and carefree. He'd learned not to open himself up like that ever again; but he had no shield against this one, there was no way to keep her out of his heart; in fact he was afraid it might already be too late to even try.
    She went on eating her cookie and he figured she'd already moved on in her head from whatever it was she had wanted to say, so he didn't push. She seemed to be having a calming effect on him, something he hadn’t felt in ages. Not since he was a young boy with another innocent trailing behind him and hanging onto his every word, as he tried to teach her everything he’d learned that day.
    Life sure knew how to throw you curve balls. He had no idea yesterday when he left his house , that his life would be changed so drastically in a matter of hours. And how was it that he felt so right with her there in his arms when he hadn’t let anyone that close in forever?
    It wasn’t that he hadn’t had encounters ; he’d had plenty. He just never let himself get involved. It took her less than a night to worm her way into his heart. Something he would’ve sworn until today was an impossibility. He wasn’t overly worried about the Bonatas and their retaliation. As long as he kept her safe he could take care of the rest. The fact that old man Bonata was rumored to be her godfather didn’t mean shit to him either. If the people in her life had cared so much about her, she wouldn’t have been subjected to what had happened to her last night in that room.
    One way or another , he was going to make the bastard pay, him and anyone else he found had ever mistreated her. The mother seemed to be off the hook, because Jenna didn’t give off any vibes when they’d been on the phone. But everyone else was pretty much fucked.

 
    He’d got lost in thought as he watched her take tiny nibbles of the cookie, forgetting for a moment that the others were in the room? There was so much that needed doing; he would have to make a lot of changes in the house. His place was more of a showplace than a home. With her here, he’d have to see about smoothing out the rough edges.
    Fuck if he knew where to begin. Maybe he’d just take her to the store and let her pick out whatever she liked. Her mom had given him a list of must haves that he meant to pick up sometime today , but he wanted to make things as comfortable for her as possible.
    "Where's Minnelli?"
    "We sequestered her in the small library on the first floor, told her you wanted her to find your original copy of Sun Tzu." Jameson was still grinning as he said it.
    "Good, when I'm done here I need to ask her a few questions. Did we know that her sister is married to the...the one who..." He rolled his eyes at himself. He didn't want to say Alec's name for fear that it would set her off, and he didn't want to call him an asshole in front of her because for certain, if she was anything like Alice had been, she'd latch onto the new word and use it at every opportunity.
    Which come to think of it had had its moments when he was younger. He smiled at the bittersweet memory of his little sister and her antics. Drawing Jenna closer to him , he smelled his shampoo that he'd used to wash her hair earlier, somehow her own scent was in there as well, making for a heady combination.
    "She's sisters with the sister in law from last night."
    "Nope didn't know, I mean the name's not popular, but