Servario smiled back with the cigar between his teeth still, "What brings you to Rome, Jon?"

James gave Servario a weird look. I gagged, being so near to them both.

Coop shrugged, "My friend Steve said I just had to see it. Me and my lady are on our honeymoon. Thought we would stop in and play a bit of cards."

Servario's women were sitting on a couch off to the side. He nodded at it, "You realize your lady cannot stand behind you?"

Coop nodded, "I know. I just need my good luck kiss, boys." He turned and grabbed me. His lips pressed against mine. I wanted to fight, but I didn’t. I let him kiss me like he was made to. I would have swooned over a kiss like that, had I not already been in heart failure. He let me go, wiping my lipstick from his lips and pointed at the couch, "Have a seat, baby."

I walked over, ready to bolt from the room. What the hell was going on? I caught Servario's eyes in my peripheral. He looked like he might bite his cigar in half. Did he know me?

I sat there with the other bimbos and avoided everyone's eyes. I looked like a stripper.

Shit.

The game started but I ignored it. I just listened to the idle conversation of the bimbos and my own heartbeat.

I was getting tired, which was a bad thing. As the night wore on, I was getting less and less scared of the room full of murderers, liars, and anal-sex lovers.

I stifled a yawn and noticed Coop's massive pile of chips was almost gone. The hand ended, and I got a bit excited we might be able to leave and do our jobs from the shadows, like we were meant to. He slammed his hand down on the table. Servario smiled, "You have many tells, my friend."

Coop laughed, "I know I do. My poker club back home is always telling me that."

Servario looked at the few men who were left, "Should we allow borrowing in the game?"

The other men looked hesitant. Coop looked like he might say no, but he stopped himself. Servario nodded, "Fine, next hand you offer what you think is fair and we shall decide."

The cards were dealt. Everyone put in. Coop had just enough for the ante. His lips twisted into a grin. He gave me a smile, it was the smile I hated. It was evil and devious, and usually involved me being sacrificed in some way. I sat back and watched him.

One of the bimbos leaned over, "Your husband is gorgeous."

I nodded, "Lucky thing. He has a really tiny penis." I watched as his face turned red. He could hear what I was saying.

She made a face but I shrugged, "God is fair, ya know. Hot guy, little dick. It always works out that way."

She sighed, "That always happens. It sucks. Only the skinny ones and ugly ones have great dicks." She nodded at Servario, "His is pretty decent but he's weird. The other guy is shit though." I realized she was looking at James. I laughed, "Oh really?"

She nodded, "Oh so bad. He has no idea." She didn’t need to tell me.

I laughed harder. Servario's eyes shot up. He knew it was me, maybe. My laugh was my tell. Shit. He seemed suspicious, at the very least. So I did the thing I thought was the least like me. I smiled at him, like we had just met up at a grocery store.

James was oblivious. Looking at him, I barely recognized him either. He was a stranger to me. I wasn’t even sad sitting there so close to him. I was savagely angry and desperate to carve his eyes out, but I knew it had to be the right moment. We needed his boss. The card game was not the right moment. We just needed to get out of there alive. I didn’t even understand why we were there. I didn’t see the point. It seemed like an awful idea to out our being there to Servario and James.

One sentence shot out into the calm of low voices they spoke in, "I bet a night with my wife, Kim."

My eyes lifted instantly. My jaw dropped but Coop gave me a look of daggers.

My heart was trying to crawl through my massive water bra. I looked at the table of men. Each got a naughty look on their faces, even James. How disappointing for him if he won. God, please let him win so I can murder him.

The bimbo next to me leaned in, "At least you'll be getting a big c*ck for the night if the dark-haired guy wins."

I nodded blankly, staring at the possible suspects and trying not to care that she had slept with Servario. I forced myself to be more angry with Coop. He may have liked me but he was all about the job, that much was obvious. He was doing his job. Not that I understood the point in selling me out for a night. He better have a royal flush.

Shit.

The hand was played out when Coop called. Everyone lowered their hands. Servario had a full house and was in the lead. Coop lowered his cards, two pairs. Two pairs. He offered me up for two pairs.

I felt like I might cry when he got up and walked over to me as everyone else shook Servario's hand and laughed. James gave me a nod of approval and slapped his hand on Servario's back. I was about to cry and run from the building.

Coop kissed me on the cheek, "Find out what the f**k we need to do next."

I shook my head, "He's with James. Did you know they would be here?"

He nodded, "The stamp on the note for this hotel was pretty obvious."

He kissed my cheek and let Servario walk over to us, grinning like a Cheshire Cat. "This is my wife, Kim."

Servario took my hand in his, "I am Gustavo. It is lovely to meet you, Kim." He handed Coop a card, "See you tomorrow at that address."

Coop leaned in, whispering something. Servario nodded, "I am always a gentleman, sir."

I almost rolled my eyes but that would have been too obvious.

I gave Coop a hateful look, "See you tomorrow, Jon."

He nodded, "I'll miss you all night, baby." He leaned over and kissed me again, with as much fervor as last time. I let him again. James had been walking over as he did it. Turning away from a kiss would have made me instantly recognizable to him.

Coop turned and walked from the room. James and Servario were speaking to each other in hushed tones. Were they discussing me? Did James know who I was? Was Servario telling him? My heart was pounding. Servario pulled me along, "Shall we, my dear?"

As we walked across the floor, I looked up at him, "I need to use the bathroom."

He nodded. I slipped away from him. Inside of the bathroom, Coop was sitting on the counter. He grinned, "That was some turn of events."

I tossed my purse at him, "Fuck you, Coop. How did you know I would go to the bathroom?"

"You are getting good at this shit again, Evie. Calm down and think slowly about it all."

I pointed back at the door, "If he knows it's me, which he undoubtedly does, I am going to be put in a very compromising situation."

He rolled his eyes, "This is a job, you see that right? You aren’t being whored out, Evie. You never were. Just say no. He knows who you are. I watched him recognize you when you laughed. You're f**king lucky James didn’t. No, go back out there, find out what the hell is going on, and do your job. That doesn’t mean sleeping with him."

I leaned against the door, "I don’t know what to do. How do I get him to tell me and not have sex with him?"

He shrugged but I could see something in his eyes, "Do your job, Evie."

I could have choked him, "This is what you wanted, isn’t it? You were hoping we would end up back with him, and he would just do our job for us like last time."

He smiled wide, "It makes it so much easier when the answers just fall into our laps. Right now, we need to know why he isn’t in hiding, why is he with James, is he on our side, and why is James still alive? I'm going to start thinking he is a clone or a robot."

I sighed into my hands, "I hate you. I just f**king hate you and the way you do shit and not tell me what we're doing."

He chuckled, "I'm senior officer."

I lifted my flushed face and growled, "Yes, sir. You are senior officer."

He laughed harder, "I like it when you call me sir." His eyes changed for a second as they filled with real humor and charm. "Get over here."

I walked across the bathroom to him and leaned into his nape, the way he always did to me. I pressed my lips softly against his skin, taking in a deep inhale of his cologne. He smelled intoxicating. I whispered against his neck, "You like the wig, don’t you?"

He nodded, "And the boobs." He ran his hands up my waist, cupping them, "These are awesome." I couldn’t even feel his hands on them, there was so much water and foam.

"You can have them to play with when I'm done with them."

He laughed, squeezing them, "I like them on you."

I laughed and placed another kiss on his nape, "Tonight, I want you to dream about how those feel and then…” I shoved him, “Go f**k yourself. Tomorrow, you better be at the spot to pick me up. Not like last time."

He pulled me back into him and wrapped his arms around me, "I'll be there, Evie. I want to play dress up with the wig later."

I pulled back, "It's not your color."

He laughed, "I think I'd look very sexy as a blonde. The bra worries me though." He kissed the top of my head, "Be safe. Jack is tracking you, don’t worry."

I turned and walked away from him, "Famous last words as far as this team is considered."

Servario was standing outside of the washroom. He smiled, "You ready to go then?"

I gave him a sour look, "Of course. I'd hate for you have any of your paid-for time wasted."

He winked, "Girl after my own heart." He grabbed my hand, squeezing too hard, and pulled me out of the casino ballroom to the elevators. He walked too fast, dragging me in my heels. James was gone as far as I could see.

When we got to the elevator, he stopped. He seemed on edge. I didn’t now what to do. Did I tell him I was Evie, or just assume he knew, or let it ride as Kim? Was he going to f**k me? I knew that answer and felt horribly excited about it.

The elevator dinged and he pulled me inside with a jerk. Inside, he didn’t molest me. He didn’t move beyond pressing the very last number. He stood there, focusing on the numbers or the little bit of his reflection he could see in the metal strip in front of him. He just held my hand and waited.