Page 11 of The Gambler

"I'm a pretty idiot." She clapped her hands in joy at her achievement, while Andros turned furious eyes on the two men in the room, who both shook their heads and held their hands out in surrender. He felt his blood heat up as he tried to figure out who the fuck he was gonna have to kill. He hadn't believed for a second that it had been either of his men. He knew Willy would never say that to her, neither would Sue and Simon didn't know those words as far as he knew; and she hadn't been alone with any of gramps’ men, so that left only one culprit.

While his little Jenna played with the collar of his sweater he was thinking of the best way to teach the bitch who'd called her that, a lesson.

It broke his heart just a little that someone had said that shit to her, that she thought it was a good thing. But all he could do was try to replace the words in her head without bringing too much attention to what he was doing.

"You know what my little Jenna, I think you're pretty amazing."

"Say it again Angel." She placed her fingers against his lips as he repeated the words slower this time, and though some might say she didn't have any knowledge of what the words meant, the softening of her voice as she repeated them back to him in a near whisper, coupled with the sheen in her eyes said different.

"Dig a hole in the backyard boys." I’ll just bury the bitch alive.

"Andros." That was Garrett, always the voice of reason.

"Fine, I'll just think of something else; get the car ready Jameson. Garrett where are the packages that that..." Again he censored himself for her sake. He couldn't very well call Eileen Minnelli a cunt in front of her now could he?

"Yeah, gather the packages, we'll drop those off first and then we're going shopping. Come little one I have to find you a better shirt, this one has flour all over it."

She looked down at her shirt where he was pointing and he tapped her nose.

Picking her up he headed up the stairs with her in his arms, which she seemed to like, as she placed her head on his shoulder and clasped her arms around his neck.

In his room he found the smallest button down shirt of his in the closet, while she sat on the bed singing to herself again. He’d be fucked if he’d let her wear any of the shit that bitch had bought.

"Up." She held up her arms for him to remove the shirt she now wore and he put the other one on, buttoning it up and tying it at the waist. She was a sight.

"Let's go." On his way back he stopped off at the library where the clueless bitch was busy combing the shelves for the book he kept on his night- stand. If Jenna wasn’t there with him, he probably would’ve done a hell of a lot worst than he was about to, but this will have to suffice for now.

"Get out of my house; if I ever see you again I'll shoot you on sight." To say she was surprised would be putting it mildly, but when she saw the young girl held close in his arms, a place she'd been trying for the better part of a year to be, she put two and two together.

How was she to know the girl would repeat what she'd said to her? She didn't think her kind had enough sense for that. She was about to argue, to find a way out of it; convince him that the imbecile had misunderstood her somehow. But the look of fury on his face waylaid her.

She was no fool, she'd heard the stories about this man and what he could do when riled, and she did not believe for a second that she would get off lightly because of her gender. So with one furious glare of her own for the simpleton in his arms she grabbed up her bag and flounced from the room.

"You're pretty amazing my little Jenna, the most amazing girl in the world." He looked into her eyes as he said it and reveled in the joy he saw there. Good, hopefully that would erase the ugliness of the viper’s words. The thought that that shit had happened in his home did not sit well with him at all, and he found that his shit list had grown by one.

She had to say bye to Willy and Sue before she left the house. He watched the two older people with her, but he should’ve known he had nothing to worry about. Then again he would’ve thought that about the bitchthat’d just left, and look where that had got him. She seemed comfortable enough around them that he didn’t have to worry so he sighed in relief.

“We’re taking the tank.” He called to his shadows as they all headed for the door. The tank was gramps’ idea, shit always made him feel like he was in downtown Baghdad, but if it made the old man happy he’d oblige. Now with his Jenna here, he was thinking of even more ways to beef the shit up.

The grounds fascinated herand he promised to show her around once they got back, that was the only way to get her into the truck. He answered all her questions as they headed out the gates, not once losing patience with her seemingly never-ending stream of ‘Angel guess what’. And when she reached for his hand in her excitement he figured there wasn’t anything else he’d rather be doing.

Chapter 6

Their first stop was the local Salvation Army, where one of the guys ran inside to drop off the shopping bags full of overly expensive clothing. Andros didn't even bat a lash at the money he'd just pissed away, as long as none of it touched his little Jenna, he didn't really care one way or the other. Who knows what the fuck that idiot had done to them?

She was staring wide eyed out the car window, which she'd begged him to roll down as they rode through the picturesque landscape of the Hudson Valley. He got so much pleasure from the joy on her face from such a simple thing, and for the first time in a long while he found himself looking forward to the holidays. Something he hadn't done since his sister had left him.

The valley was beautiful that time of year, with the houses and lawns decorated. He was sure his girl would go crazy over that shit and made a point to remember to get some lights and shit for their home too. It would be the first time his place was done up.

Home, that was also a first. He’d never really thought of the place as such before, but in the short time she’d been in his life, she had him thinking of shit like that. There was a part of him, a small part that wanted to hold back, to keep back some part of himself so that he didn’t get burnt. But he knew that wouldn’t be fair to her; he could never live with himself if he shortchanged her in any way. How could someone so small have so much power over him he wondered, in such a short space of time? She seemed to fit so effortlessly into his life, his plans. Where before yesterday he hadn’t even known she existed.

“Angel look.” She tugged on his arm pulling him out the window with her.

He looked out the window where she pointed, and saw the ducks on the water.

"Stop."

Jameson pulled over to the side and Andros got out and waited for her to join him. With her hand held securely in his, he led her to the water's edge.