urprisin

in my father' s world, allowed me to convincingly invent a network of high-rollers and illicit games. I gave hi

t kind of players-tourists with more money than sense, looking for a thrill. I prov

truck. I wore a simple dress I' d ordered online with the first bit of cas

re my muscle. Silas trusts me, but he doesn' t know you.

. The players he' d found were exactly as I' d predicted: a drunk oilman from Texas, a couple of co

e we started. "Avoid him. Focus on the

he atmosphere of exclusivity and high stakes. Barney played,

ight with over a hund

thousand. My cut w

as a different man. The fear was gone, r

ing at me with something approach

of idiots with m

arney would play, and I would manage the operation. The r

on my face, tear my clothes, and let Barney tie me to a pos

her lesson," hi

ng. A steady stream into his account, a l

rs passed

He even started treating the horses better, hiring a proper vet. The

. I spent my days with the horses and my nights planning. I used my share of the money for o

ptocurrency. His job was simple: to watch Stella. To inte

she' d "learned her lesson." Three years was the timeframe he' d vagu

ion-who was now as gentle as a lamb with m

y' s office. He was counting a

e phone and dialed a

ntrol Board," a b

for Barney to hear. "It' s run out of various hotels in Las Vegas. The mastermind is a

s and locations of o

ained from his face. He stared at me, h

up th

he whispered, his voi

the game,"

dragging me out of the office and into the main paddock. The rag

me. Pain exploded in my face, my ribs. He tied my wrists to the

face inches from mine. "You rui

eaming when I sa

sine was pulling up

her wa

ar door opened, t

iar, sick

one from my wrists. The p

mousine, in my own body, wea

lla. Her face was bruised and bleeding from B

p was c