Chapter 24: Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

Las Vegas, Nevada....

Bright lights and heat greeted the newly wed couple as they ventured along the strip and gazed at the many shops and restaurants that came across their path. Other people seemed to be in a hurry most of the time and others were obvious tourists gazing in wonder at the marvel of the city and the life it sustained. Rae looked to have been in awe of the place as well due to it being her first visit to any place outside of Trenton County. Of course by comparison every place, even the roadside motels they slept at had been better than her home in Trenton County. She held his hand as they continued their walk amid stares and smiles along the way. Duko had managed to grab a stack of cash from the yellow duffle bag left behind in the penthouse suite before heading out with Rae on his arm. She was the picture of beauty even while out and about amid the dim moonlight even if she had not thought so herself. She felt out of place here, but Duko didn't mind it, he was out of place most of his life and it didn't seem to be getting any better the more he aged.

Rae's smile had a tremendous effect on him as it brought a calming effect to the chaos his life had been up until he met her. As they continued their walk and she held his hand, Duke came to the conclusion that he always wanted to see her smile and would do whatever it took to make it happen. The air was slightly warm around them, but an occasional breeze kept everyone happy. He could smell the different perfumes from various women, the assortment of food items, the oil from he engines of cars as well as gasoline, of all the scents that surrounded them none had smelled as good as Rae had especially when she'd been in a pleasant mood.

She dragged him into a nearby clothing store where Duko could have sworn he heard an older woman they were passing to get through the heavy glass front doors make a comment about him "taking his daughter shopping being cute." He rolled his eyes although Rae didn't seem to care as she was fascinated by the sight of all the shops in their vicinity. One of the shops caught her eye and she pulled him inside. He followed amused at her enthusiasm if nothing else.

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Some Designer Clothing Store, Las Vegas Nevada......

The moment they entered the shop all eyes peered in their direction from all the people that happened to have been inside. Duko was well aware of his fierce reputation in Las Vegas, but he had not known why everyone was so attentive to Rae whom remained oblivious to the staring for a while as she moved about the shop excited both to be there and to buy something she always wanted, but could only dream of when looking through various old magazines when she'd been back in Trenton County.

Duko followed his new bride without a word as she approached a few of the stacks of clothings and a rack or two. Her face seemed to light up when she saw the assortment of selections and he found it interesting that she'd been as fascinated with clothes as any other woman or girl when given the opportunity to express herself.

She found herself drawn to a few of the outfits. And proceeded to collect what she liked before heading to the booth to try them on. Duke stood silent awaiting her return as the women in the shop seemed to take a keen interest in him.

He could hear their giggles and their intense stares were getting to be a chore before one of the women seemed to become bold enough to approach him. She wasn't a bad looking woman, but was somewhere in her mid to late forties in terms of age with auburn hair and dark eyes. She wore a yellow dress with yellow shoes with flower prints on them. She had a fair complexion and less wrinkles than most women her age possibly due to good genetics and a healthy diet. Under different circumstances Duko might have even entertained the idea of taking her to bed, but there were not circumstances that could be ignored.

"Hi there handsome." she said with a flicker of desire behind her dark gaze.

Duko stuck his hands into his pockets and met her eyes.

"Hi." he replied in his usual rich baritone drawl.

"What's a handsome man like you doing in a place like this all by your lonesome?" she asked.

Duko resisted the urge to roll his eyes given the amount of time an older woman had come to him with that or a similar pickup line. He only ever allowed it due to the fact that he wanted to get laid, but this time he'd been well taken care of in that department and the line wasn't required.

"Just shopping with my wife." he replied. "She saw a few outfits she liked and we stopped in."

The older woman seemed to be shocked by this and a bit jealous as the other women continued to stare at them from across the store.

"Y-Your wife?" she asked with a wrinkle in her nose almost as if the word had disgusted her somehow.

Duko smiled knowing how she must have felt having worked up the courage to approach him.

"Yes." he replied. "We were recently married in fact....she was so excited to see what the stores had to offer so we ended up here."

Rae came out of the dressing rooms at that moment handing him an arm full of the dresses and outfits she wished to purchase.

The women seemed shocked by her age and even more shocked that she seemed capable of landing a man of Duko's caliber even when they couldn't. Rae paid them no mind as Duke allowed his wife to have the thousand dollars he'd stashed in his pocket for the occasion. She happily took it and went up to the cashier pleased to make her purchases while the older ladies watched in awe of her and evious at the same time.

"Apparently, he likes them young." said one of the women to the others.

"High school age more the like." replied another woman seemingly embittered by the whole experience.

"Well, this is Las Vegas." remarked another woman standing beside them. "Some people have all the luck."

With that they dispersed and went back to their mutual shopping while Rae bagged her outfits and Duke mostly shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. He saw the look on her face when she purchased what she wanted and it had been enough for him.

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Open Sidewalk, Las Vegas, Nevada.......

His mind had been on the way the older women believed they could approach him just because they assumed he was alone. He'd been wearing his wedding band as had Rae, but that didn't seem to catch anyone's eye and alert them to the fact that they were not available to be approached.

As Duko and Rae left the store in search of something to eat for the evening, Rae was approached by a younger man wearing jeans and a white t-shirt with black sneakers on his feet. He had the look of a boy of school age and it only served to annoy Duko as he knew what the boy's attempt at conversation with Rae had been for.

"She's taken." he growled narrowing his dark blue eyes at the teen.

The boy seemed startled as he looked over at the older intimidating man and then back at Rae.

"He's my husband." she explained with a smile to soften the blow of rejection. "But I'm sure the next girl would be interested in you."

The teen nodded and took his leave of them without much of a word. He was clearly both embarrassed and terrified as he crossed the street.

Duke shoved his hands into his pockets as he and Rae made their journey toward a restaurant only to be accosted by would be gangsters whom had made it their business to harass potential customers who may have wanted to frequent the establishment.

They were merely street punks, but that didn't make them any less of a threat in Duko's eyes. Especially if they even thought about getting anywhere near Rae.

"Look what we have here." said the apparent leader.

He was a portly bloke with thinning brown hair on top of his oversized head with big ears. He wore a tracksuit, which was brown in color and smelled of old grease and sun tan lotion.

His lackies for the evening consisted of a tall blond with weary blue eyes and a pale complexion wearing a black t-shirt and dress slacks and a short brown haired man with a similar tracksuit was the portly man, but white in color. His hair was curly and looked to be soaked via sweat due to being out all night.

Duko guessed that they'd been up to no good picking off clueless tourists and unlucky travelers that came across their alley.

Unfortunately for them, Duko wasn't a tourist and nor was he unlucky.

"Hand over the goods and no one has to get hurt." said the portly thug.

Duko smirked as a low growl rumbled in the back of his throat.

"I'm in an uncharacteristically generous mood tonight fellas, so I'll let you off with fare warning." he said attempting to quell the beast that was no doubt looking for a challenge in these late hours of the day. "I am not a run of the mill mark and if you so much as point those water guns in my wife's direction, I will not hesitate to sever your head from your collectively soft and squishy little bodies."

Rae took note of the flickering redness behind Duke's eyes and immediately placed a hand on his chest which caused him to turn his attention to her.

"They're just desperate Duke, I'm sure you can reason with them and they won't be any further trouble." she said stepping between her husband and the thugs.

She recalled how Duke had slaughtered the men that attacked her on the day they met and although it was vague, the men were dead within seconds and she could hardly make heads or tails of them when it was all said and done. She knew her husband could be downright dangerous when he needed to be, especially where she'd been concerned.

"Do you hear this chick?" remarked the portly thug looking back at his associates.

Without a word, Duke moved passed Rae using speed unheard of at human levels and grasped the portly thug via his throat and lifted him high into the air as his feet dangled and he began to lose consciousness.

"You will show some respect to my wife." growled Duko enraged but barely keeping himself together for Rae's sake. "This little farce is over you will return to your homes and be glad that you have your worthless lives....if I ever see you again, you won't get a second chance to go home."

The portly thug motioned for his associates to do something. The shorter one in the white track suit pulled a gun and attempted to shoot Duke whom had taken the bullet in his shoulder and swiftly broke the gun when he crushed it with his free hand. Rae screamed when the gun went off and ducked behind her husband as per his silent instruction. She had not been at all concerned about herself in that moment, but she'd been more concerned for Duke whom seemed amused at best by the whole ordeal.

The massive powerful right hand of Duke Lovell gripped the large sweat slick fleshy folds of the portly man's neck tighter causing him to slowly choke to death as his heavy body dangled above the ground and his slick skin began to turn blue in color. Duko held him for his men to see further amused by the soundless staring as his recently acquired bullet wound began to heal beneath his bloodied attire and he smirked at the scent of fear that began to come off the would be "tough guys" in waves.

"Now, I believe the lady asked you to go home." he said a growl deep in his throat as his eyes flashed a bit of malice for the first time since the encounter. He had not taken the threat all that serious but they were grating on his nerves just the same.

The Portly thug motioned for his "men" to high tail it back to their chosen residence and it seemed good enough for Duko whom had dropped him onto the ground and watched with more amusement as they scrambled out of his range like something from the comedic trio The Three Stooges.

Rae sighed in relief that the altercation despite being unpleasant had not come to unnecessary bloodshed. She knew Duke was a trained fighter and had been special forces when he served and it wasn't going to go over well for the inexperienced thugs trying to make a name for themselves to become distinguished among the more seedy elements of Las Vegas

She didn't feel very much like eating after all of that and simply wished to return to their room and order something from the casino. She wasn't at all surprised to learn that there were fools here in Vegas that were even worse than the fools she left back home.

"Can we go back now?" she said sounding a bit weary. "I'm kind of exhausted."

Duke sighed knowing this had been the result of those fools.

"I have a stop to make on the way." he said. "If you don't mind."

Rae wondered what he'd been up to and simply nodded as she once more took his hand. He noted her concern about his arm and smiled before leading her toward the direction of a pricy jeweler's shop.

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The Jewelry Store, Las Vegas, Nevada...

Rae was quite shocked when she and Duko arrived at the jewelry store and even more so impressed by all the glass and the diamonds that were in cases were black velvet outlined their stands. She had never even seen a diamond up close let a lone a real expensive diamond ring. She wasn't much for jewelry before hand, but these rings were something special. Duke seemed amused that she'd been so pleased as they approached the nearby counter. The clerk looked at them for a few moments as if trying to decide if they were worth his time. He'd been the stereotypical type, stuffed shirt, snobbish tendencies, and a keen eye for wealth despite his low opinion of many of those that entered his shop.

Duko could care less about the weak little man's suspicion as he made sure to lean against the glass while viewing the rings before pointing the thin man in the direction of what he wanted when they arrived. Moving rather briskly, he set to work and amused Duke with his smug manner as he went about explaining the rings and so forth. The imposing man had not cared in the least about the size nor the intricate details, he simply liked the design of a silver wolf's head that carried the diamond in it's tight clenching jaws and the little teeth marks that lined the jewel were amusing.

He paid the weak little man in full and caught him off guard as he took the wolf's ring and placed it on the finger of an astonished Rae. She had not understood why he wanted to visit the shop so badly but seeing the ring he brought her made it all make sense.

"Duke." she said looking at it as tears came to her eyes.

"Thought you might like to have an engagement ring, I know we didn't do everything conventional all but I felt it was worth it." he replied.

She wrapped her arms around him and they shared a brief kiss in front of the now speechless thin man whom had been busy counting the money before they headed back out the store and toward The Silverwire Casino.

This time, Duko felt better about being out and about as everyone instantly saw the expensive engagement ring on Rae's finger and didn't attempt to approached either of them.