Chapter 25: Something Of A Vested Interest

The Penthouse Suite, The Silverwire Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada....

Upon their return to their suite, Rae seemed to have enjoyed herself, but she was quiet the whole time they walked through the main lobby and climbed into the elevator that led to their suite. Duko sensed that there was something on her mind so he did the courteous thing and broke the silence between them to lead to a conversation himself. Rae was busy pushing the silver button on the pad that indicated the number of the floor they were going to travel to and he had been more or less trying to find the words to explain a few things about their current predicament and the benefits there of.

"You got something to say then say it." he said gruffly shoving his hands into his pockets.

Rae sighed before turning her attention back to Duke.

"How do you know this Dan person?" she asked with a serious expression on her face. "He doesn't seem the type not to be involved in something shady."

"Old history, and a long story, suffice if to say, He owes me quite a few favors because I helped him build this place." replied Duko leaning against one of the walls as the elevator continued to climb.

Rae seemed to be impressed that her husband was at least partially responsible for helping to build such a large and fascinating casino.

"And the money?" she asked unsure if she should press any further. "Where did you get it?"

"It's something of an advance from having done most of the heavy lifting to get this place off the ground." replied Duko watching her closely for any signs of distress. "Nothing for you to worry about in terms of legality....I considered it a gift from the source."

Rae seemed alright with the explanation, then again there was little she could do about it if she wasn't. She'd seen her fair share of shady back in Trenton County. Whatever brought in cash Ed Earl was always trying to get a piece of the action. While she didn't have much choice about whether or not to approve of Duke participating in illicit activities, they were in need of a nest egg and traveling had been fun for a while, but she knew eventually they would need to actually find a place to live.

She decided to trust him as she had ever since they met. They were in this together after all, he'd been her new husband.

Duko stripped out of his clothes tossing them casually around the penthouse suite and made his way to the mini fridge where he poured himself a drink and looked over at the yellow duffle bag where he'd left it. Nothing was touched and everything seemed to have been in order aside from the fact that he left it open.

Rae caught a glimpse of the money, but kept her shock to herself. Duke drank down the contents of his glass and walked over toward their shared bed. He was pleased that the trip had gone so well as he had not anticipated getting gainful employment so soon after his arrival, but it appeared that Dan was quite desperate.

Moving across the elegant luxury suite, Rae ventured toward the bed feeling the creeping exhaustion that came with the day she'd been having thus far catch up to her. She took a moment to lie back amid the tussled sheets beside her husband whom had been lying on his back with his hands folded behind his head and his eyes closed. He tended to sleep naked when he'd been comfortable and it amused her that the only reason he elected to sleep in his boxer shorts was due to his attempts not to bed her during their stay in the roadside motels.

Duke began snoring as he often had when he'd been pushed to the brink of exhaustion and ignored it until he couldn't any longer. Rae shook her head as she observed him. If she were honest, she'd have admitted he'd been the sexiest man she'd ever seen and no where in her wildest fantasies had she ever imagined a husband more perfect than Duke Lovell when given to youthful machinations.

She was almost sorry that her former classmates and towns folk couldn't see how happy she'd been with her new lover and how much he'd been devoted to her in return. Lying back on the pillows herself, Rae came to the conclusion that she was too in need of rest at least before she called for room service.

There was no doubt in her mind that Duke would be hungry once he awakened and she wanted to be prepared. She didn't have much experience with cooking in her own right, but she could dial a number and order with the best of them. She knew straight away the stay in the penthouse was a temporary one and sooner or later Duko was going to need her to at least know how to feed him once they got a home of their own.

Peaceful surroundings took some getting use to after the life she lived but she seemed to adjust to it just fine as she closed her eyes and curled up under her new husband. The silver wolf's head diamond ring was still visible on her finger as she drifted off into a contented slumber.

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Later.....

Duko awoke early in the morning having slept longer than he anticipated with Rae curled up in his arms. He softly kissed her on the lips and then her cheek as he rolled out of bed and made his way toward the bathroom. Rae remained asleep much as she usually had whenever they had a long night. Duko climbed into the shower standing beneath the steady stream of warm water as it rushed down his head and back soaking him from head to toe. He knew Costa was going to shit bricks if he didn't get back on his assignment and take out The High Roller before he cleaned out the casino for The Caballero Family.

He knew this target wouldn't be quite so easy to locate, but there was the obvious route of tracing the path from casino to casino or tailing the bastard altogether. It was fortunate for Costa that he was one of the best trackers during his service in Iraq located many a missing person and fugitive in his time before his unfortunate dismissal from combat.

Following his shower, Duko exited the bathroom and got dressed pulling on a pair of denim jeans and a black t-shirt along with his heavy black boots. He put on his dark sunglasses and exited the room leaving Rae to rest up before his return.

His focus had now been on The High Roller and where he could be located in a short amount of time before the other targets came into play.