𝐏𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐃 // 𝐇.𝐒.

42.

She shouldn't have done that.

I lean off the wall, taking her wrist in my hand when she teasingly drags it down towards my abdomen. I break my stare from her mouth to then look at the set of nails. "It's pretty, baby," I let slip, which makes us both freeze for only a minute. Meeting her eyes again, she emits a soft hum and her back touches the wall behind her.

Silently, she reaches over and my lips part when she touches my lip. "Yeah?"

Fuck me.

"Yeah," I respond, looking into her eyes again when something takes over me. With her fingers so close to my mouth, I allow my tongue to drag along her forefinger when I find myself wondering how sweet her rawness would taste.

She has me that fucking weak and it's so fucking annoying.

I pull from her finger with a sharp suck. I watch her gasp as my unfiltered mouth runs, "Your pretty manicure would look better around my cock, though."

I'm going to Hell.

"I bet it would," she whispers before slipping her hand from my hold to begin walking away.

I let her walk ahead as I reach for the phone in my back pocket. With over thirty minutes until seven P.M., I can't let her out of my sight.

I have to do what I'm told. Even if it makes me the biggest asshole she's ever known—or just another liar in her life.

"Not escaping me this time, D'Amore," I say as I catch up to her.

___

I've killed time as the hour approaches. With her watching me gamble, I figured she would be intrigued enough to want to play as well. Manipulative, I know.

She adjusts the strap of her bag onto her shoulder again after I've dropped all my chips into it. "I wanna gamble," she then shares, looking at me with her mind already set as we walk.

"No way," I spit, as if I'm trying to convince her I'm opposed to the idea. I am, I remind myself. I am opposed to the idea of having to use her but my rights to do otherwise have been stripped. To add on to my act, I then say, "Let's just cash the chips and get out of here."

"I said, I wanna gamble."

Reverse psychology twistedly plays in my favor. I stop walking when I realize she's already stopped and standing a few meters behind me. I turn and so does she. I watch her walk away and almost fade into the crowd of strangers, but I catch up.

"D'Amore, wait!" I call and she stops near a row of slot machines, but not the one I need her to play.

"What? I'm not asking for permission-"

"Chill out," I interrupt as I come to a stop near her. I then look around in search of the specific machine I had been eyeing. "I was just going to advise you to play the Triple Seven slot machines."

Here we fucking go.

When she asks where they are, I huff from the frustration I already feel from what I have to do. I start walking, leading her to where I want her.

Shit.

I stop when there's a woman already occupying the specific machine, the one with the highest jackpot, that I need Jo to play. Though, she's packing up to leave by chance.

After she asks me why she can't play a vacant slot machine, I explain, letting her know she wouldn't win much with such a low jackpot.

It's almost seven. Looking up at the bright screen above our heads with the date and time displayed for all to see, I dig nails into my palm again.