A Chip and a Chair (Seven of Spades, #5)(4)

Levi looked up at him. “I am.”

Dominic raised an eyebrow.

“My beloved’s,” Levi said softly.

“So am I,” said Dominic, brushing his fingers along Levi’s cheekbone.

They kissed again, more urgently this time, twining around each other as if they couldn’t get close enough. In that moment, everything in Levi’s life was perfect, his happiness complete.

He pulled back just enough to speak against Dominic’s mouth. “Take me to our bedroom.”





“Uh-oh, Big Man on Campus alert,” Justine Aubrey said as Dominic entered the break room at McBride Investigations later that week.

The half-dozen people in the room exploded into whistles and catcalls. Waving them off, Dominic set his mug beneath the single-cup coffeemaker and dropped in a pod of dark roast. “All right, guys, take it down a notch.”

“Seriously, Dom,” said one of the firm’s receptionists. “Hammond & Cochran has been searching for Gary Booker for six months, and you found him in four days. How’d you do it?”

He gave her a sly wink that had her blushing down at her sandwich. “Trade secret.”

It wasn’t, really. But flushing out Booker-a missing witness in a multimillion-dollar class action lawsuit-had required an exhausting, complicated scheme involving a flower shop, a Persian rug, and a speedboat, and he was not getting into that before he’d even had lunch.

Aubrey bumped her shoulder against his arm. She’d supervised his first time in the field with McBride, and he had the sense that she took his success or failure personally. “You’ve been on a real hot streak lately. Cases are toppling like dominos.”

Yeah, it’s amazing what I can accomplish when I focus my time and energy on work instead of gambling.

“Just having a run of good luck, I guess,” he said.

His coffee had finished brewing when Kate McBride herself popped her head into the break room. “Heard you were in here, Russo,” she said in her hoarse smoker’s voice. “You ready for another case?”

He poured a generous helping of cream into his coffee. “Sure.”

“I’ll send the client your way at two. Big payout with this one, but it’s a sensitive case that needs to be handled delicately.”

“Understood.” Dominic dumped three packets of sugar into his mug, followed by some hazelnut syrup for good measure.

“You’re going to end up with diabetes,” said McBride.

He grinned and took a long, exaggerated sip.



Once alone in his office, Dominic stripped out of his jacket and loosened the knot in his tie. He reached for the sandwich he’d bought for lunch, only to clench his hands into fists when he noticed them shaking. He bowed his head and took several deep breaths.

His gambling cravings were usually triggered by feelings of worthlessness and guilt-something he was unpacking with the therapist Natasha had referred him to-but he also felt the urge when in a celebratory mood. Right now, he was flush with the adrenaline and triumph of having tricked Booker into revealing himself, elated by his colleagues’ admiration and his boss’s trust. All he wanted was to keep that high going in any way possible.

Lifting his head, he thought through the situation logically. He was safe at work. The software installed on his computer blocked all gambling-related websites, and he wouldn’t leave when he was expecting a client in an hour. Besides, he only had sixty dollars in his wallet. He’d destroyed his debit card and all his credit cards, along with his personal checks. The only way for him to access his bank account was through electronic transfer or by withdrawing cash in person, which threw another obstacle in his path to gambling.

It didn’t make it impossible, though. He was fine now, but what about when he left the office?

He glanced at the locked drawer in the bottom of his desk. Levi and Martine were expecting him for dinner tonight, during which they’d discuss the troubling research he’d hidden inside-research Levi had asked him to do because some of it wasn’t precisely legal. Dominic couldn’t miss that conversation, but he also didn’t want to jeopardize his recovery.

He tapped out a quick text to Levi. Going to be late for dinner. I need to go to a meeting after work.

Levi’s reply came less than a minute later. No problem. Call me if you need me.

Dominic smiled. It was always painful for him to admit to Levi when he was struggling, but that was his own hang-up. Levi never failed to offer immediate reassurance, and his support was consistently unwavering.

After ensuring that his sponsor, Judd, was planning to attend the Gamblers Anonymous meeting as well, Dominic was able to return his attention to where it belonged. He ate lunch while he wrapped up his report on the Booker case, and by the time his new client arrived, he was much steadier.

McBride had emailed him the basics, and a quick assessment of Miranda Cassidy confirmed his expectations. White, late thirties, attractive and well put-together with an old-money aura.

He showed her into a chair and offered her a drink before settling behind his desk. As he smoothed out his tie, he caught her giving him a strange look.

“I’m sorry, you seem so familiar,” she said. “Have we met?”

This was happening more and more often lately. “No, but you may have seen me on the news. I’m Detective Levi Abrams’s partner.”