Romance in Vegas - Showgirl! (3 page)

Time flew by, while Marie showed her the back
stage area which was deserted now as the women practiced.

Each dancer had her own mirrored area,
complete with make-up and a magnifying mirror. As well, in a
separate room, each had a costume area with La Duca heels,
headdresses, evening dresses and skimpier attire for the shows.

There was a granite shower and a bathroom
area with gold fixtures, as well as a curtained small area which
led to the stage.

Marie explained the schedule. Nine o'clock in
the morning, stretching for half hour. After that, straight
rehearsal then lunch. One to three or four o'clock another
rehearsal. Five to six, dress rehearsal. Shows were at nine and
eleven o'clock in the evening.

"Tomorrow is Friday," she said, "so the show
will be a big one, well attended. And Saturday is sold out, so the
place will be packed."

Dani could pick two days off, considering the
other women's schedules. She chose Sunday and Monday as those were
theater 'dark' days with no performances. Almost all the women had
those two days off.

But at the end of their tour, a dapper young
man came in the main room. He wore a grey pin-striped suit, grey
patterned tie and black vest. His black shoes were highly polished.
And, Marie began shamelessly flirting with him.

"Vito," she said softly, smoothing his suit
jacket, "it's so nice to see you again. It's been way too
long."

The man reminded Dani of Al Scaletti a bit,
except he looked older and lacked the power and riveting gaze.
Although, now he was checking her out quite carefully, his eyes
taking in all of her. "Just came to see the new one," he said,
nodding at Dani.

"How do you do?" she muttered.

Marie smiled broadly at him. "Vito, let's get
together soon for drinks."

"Sure," he said expansively gesturing, "let's
go right now."

"Is it okay--" Dani began.

"Of course," Marie answered quickly with a
down hand gesture to her, "Vito is Mr. Scaletti's cousin. He's the
GM, General Manager of the casino."

"Oh," Dani replied, unsure if she should be
impressed or not. She felt a little helpless but decided Marie must
know what she was doing.

They ended up at The Fandango Bar on the
first floor of the casino. Dani found out his full name was Vito
Baroni and he was connected.

"Don't you just love Mob boys?" Marie
whispered excitedly, as Vito shook someone's hand along the
way.

"Mob?" Dani said weakly. "Sure, why not?"

But, as they sat sipping their drinks, he
asked basically the same questions Al Scaletti had asked her the
night before and she gave the same untrue answers. Might as well be
consistent, she thought.

She decided to turn the tables then. "Mr.
Baroni, where are you from? And how did you come to Las Vegas?"
Resting her chin on her hand, she listened to his story which was
long and convoluted.

"And what is your biggest challenge as Casino
Manager?" This brought forth another saga, and she wondered how she
could end it politely.

Lefty, who sat with Teeny at a back table in
the Fandango, called his boss. "Ey, Vito's movin' in. And she looks
interested." Curses sounded loudly in his ear and the phone went
dead in his hand. He closed the phone and looked at Teeny.

"Fireworks," the big man said
sardonically.

Two minutes later, Al Scaletti strode quickly
into the bar, straightening his tie and smoothing his black
suit.

Vito, deep into his story now, didn't see him
come in.

However, Marie and Dani did and they both
pushed back from the table.

"Well," Marie said lamely, "we'd better go
now."

Scaletti strolled up to the table and Vito
fell silent. Nodding at Dani, Al said, "And how did your first day
go, Miss Troubix?"

Dani stood up along with Marie. "It was just
wonderful Mr. Scaletti. I have a great teacher and hopefully I'll
be on stage this week."

He nodded, ignoring Vito completely. Then he
said, "I understand you have some ballet in your background."

She held herself back from gasping. "How did
you--" her voice trailed off. She vaguely remembered ballet lessons
somewhere, at some time. He had investigated her. Either that or he
was guessing. But, somehow, he didn't seem like a guessing man. She
wasn't sure if she was angry or just irritated about the
investigation. Then, he hadn't fired her yet, so she assumed she
was safe for the time being. She raised her chin at his bland
expression. "Yes, I do have ballet. I'm sure it will help."

Al watched intently as a range of emotions
crossed her face. And his gaze wandered to her silky long-sleeved
white blouse which showed lace bra cups faintly, and her
figure-hugging blue pants.

"I'm sure there is much more you can tell
her," he hinted to Marie.

"Yes, sir," she replied and the two left.

He turned to Vito who still sat with a sullen
look on his face. "And you have work to do, Vito. We were missing
several hundred on the drop last night. Someone is skimming and I
want to know who. Research it with security, audit and the cage.
Get back with me."

"Right." He left for the main cage with the
same brooding look on his face.

Al looked up to see Teeny and Lefty sitting
in back. Walking up, he said, "What was that all about?"

Lefty snorted. "Vito saw her today and claims
it's love at first sight."

"Well," Al replied slowly, "he needs to set
his sights somewhere else."

Chapter 3

They procured Dani's badge, after a picture
taking session at the security department, and they decided to have
dinner.

Dani learned to swipe her badge at the buffet
entrance, and again loaded her plate with ham, au gratin potatoes,
salad, green beans and a dessert brownie. She was absolutely
famished.

They searched for seats in the packed
employee dining area, and Marie said, "Over here."

As they sat, Dani recognized Kim as the
black-haired dancer she'd met earlier, but the other three at the
table were dressed in guard uniforms, complete with guns. Most of
them were smoking cigarettes.

Matt, a tall, black, bald-headed guard said,
"Hey, nice to meet you, Dani. What's shaking?"

Marie countered, while she looked at the next
table towards Lorali, "Only her behind," she whispered loudly.

He laughed at that. "Meyow. That one's been
shaking for a while now. It's pretty loose and carefree from what
I've heard."

Jason, a young, dark-haired guard, grinned.
"So, Dani," he said as he chewed his ham, "Where you from?"

Marie watched Dani's eyes roll upwards.
"Guys," she said, "no third degree, okay?" She patted Dani's arm.
"She's had enough for one day."

"Hey," he said then, "you hear someone's
skimming?"

Marie looked shocked as she picked at her
salad. "No way. That hasn't happened in years."

"Yeah, way," said Candy, a female guard with
short clipped blonde hair. "Scaletti's all in a snit about it. He's
working overtime."

All of them groaned, and Dani watched Marie
curiously now. "What does that mean?" she asked after she ate all
her ham and started on her potatoes.

"Well," Kim said from across the table,
flicking her long hair back, "that means he'll show up anywhere at
any time. He'll roust the guards and the pull and security. Not to
mention audit and cage supervisors."

"What's the pull?" Dani asked.

Jason said, "It's where they pull the boxes
from the machines. The cash boxes I mean. They begin about four in
the morning." He grinned at her, in a friendly way, and Dani smiled
back.

"You ever work a casino before?" Candy asked
her.

"No," Dani replied. She wanted to say it was
only her second job but that would have pegged her as a youngster
so she just let it be.

"So who do you think it is?" Marie asked
Matt.

"Gotta be an inside job," he replied.
"Sometimes the pull goes so fast, we have a hard time keeping up.
They jam fast on the pull team and meanwhile we're dealing with
customers who think we're changing their luck and God knows what
else. It sucks," he ended dourly.

Dani had moved on to her brownie now and
couldn't suppress a sigh of enjoyment. It was delicious.

"Oh-oh," Kim said, "here comes trouble."

Lorali walked by with her tray. "Darlin,'"
she said to Dani, "you better watch those desserts or you won't
pass muster in the morning."

She smirked and walked on.

"What does that mean?" Dani asked Marie.

But Jason answered, saying, "Where Scaletti
inspects the dancers." He grinned. "Can't remember why, but we were
doing something in the stage area one day and he was checking out
all the women for fat."

Marie smiled. "People don't pay to see
blubber on the stage, Jason. Besides, Al does it in a nice
way."

Dani put her fork down, afraid to eat
anything else.

"Don't worry, sweetie," Candy said, "you've
got plenty of room to expand. Finish that damn brownie."

And they all laughed.

Dani didn't make it back to her suite until
almost eight that night. Marie, after dinner, took her on a tour of
the whole, huge casino, into the cage, the count room, offices,
security and the various restaurants and bars.

She was exhausted, but realized she loved the
immaculate suite, with a mint on the pillow and the covers on the
bed already turned down for her. And, as she threw her wallet onto
the kitchen nook table, she wondered if she could find her way
around the casino the next day.

After a bath, lavender scented, feeling a
hundred percent better, she sat on the couch in a white robe and
thought of Al Scaletti. She could always find the soft spot in a
person. His eyes were the key to him, she thought ruefully. They
could be warm one minute, then steely hard the next. She sniffed,
thinking that was one way to read him. To stay at the casino, she'd
need to not only read him but please him as well.

Laying her head back, she closed her eyes and
pictured him in her mind. Casually dressed, yet elegant the first
time she saw him. Manly, yet gentleman-like. Big, strong shoulders,
smooth chest, and much taller than she.

Suddenly a knock on the door shook her out of
her reverie.

"Yes?" she said, with her ear to the
door.

"It's Nat Davis," she heard a voice say.

How odd, she thought. The dance
instructor.

Then opening it, "Hi Mr. Davis--" her words
cut off as she realized Al Scaletti was with Nat.

They strolled in the room, Nat with a frown
and Scaletti looking quite at home.

"And Mr. Scaletti. Won't you sit down?" she
said politely, clutching her robe tighter around her waist. "Can I
get you a drink?" she asked. Awkward, she thought, very awkward
with two men in the suite now. And, although she knew them, she
didn't really know them or entirely trust them either for that
matter.

"Vodka please," Scaletti said, as he took off
his suit jacket and loosened his tie, "straight up."

"No thanks for me," Nat said, his brows
furrowing.

The two sat on the couch and she took her
time making the vodka drink. Whatever could they want at this hour?
She wondered.

Handing Scaletti his drink, she thought he
looked tired, as he rubbed his eyes. But she also saw a slight
smile on his lips.

She stood in front of the two, unsure of
whether to sit or stand.

"The reason we're here," Nat said, "is to
give you a bit of coaching before you interact with the other
girls."

Pulling her robe sash tighter, she watched
him warily. "What type of coaching?"

Scaletti sighed and sat back against the seat
cushions, appraising her carefully. "She's doing it again," he said
to Nat, as if she were not in the room.

She looked from one to the other
questioningly.

Nat explained, "Al thinks you're a bit stiff
and uncomfortable with your body image."

Flushing now with embarrassment, she replied,
"I'm not sure what you mean."

Al laughed softly, as he watched her pull the
robe sash tighter for the third time. "If you act like that
tomorrow, they'll eat you alive. Go get on a bra and panties, like
you were trying to impress a boyfriend or something. Sexy. Then
come back out here with heels on. Three inch high will do."

He and Nat went on discussing one of the
girls, then, ignoring her completely.

Hesitating for a few seconds, she went into
the bedroom wondering if she should close the door. Probably not,
she thought, if they were going to see her body anyway.

Slowly, she opened her robe and dropped it on
the chaise. Rifling through her new lingerie, she found a modest
white set, with the higher panties and full support bra. The only
heels she could find were black. Damn, she thought, they didn't
match.

But she went out to the living room wearing
them.

Al sprawled on the couch, deep in
conversation with Nat.

Uncomfortable and still feeling awkward, she
leaned against the kitchenette table. Eventually, she had to clear
her throat to get their attention.

Nat watched her appraisingly, while she saw a
flash of something glinting in Scaletti's eyes before he smiled.
"That won't suffice," he said firmly, "do you have anything in
black?"

She thought of the beautiful low-cut lacy
black bra and panties which sat in her drawer right now. She'd
bought them today on a whim. "No," she replied quickly, "I
don't."

Al smiled at her tightly before he got up.
"Let me take a look." She heard him opening and closing
drawers.

He brought the black set back to her from the
bedroom. "Here," he said, thrusting them to her, "try these."