Jean-Jacques Tibor - The loser_s wife

Her husband seemed to sense that he hadn't succeeded with his guise of naive innocence. His voice changed and he tried a different approach. "Laura, I know what you're thinking, about Vito I mean. We both know he'll want more from you. But, if you can just stall him until he gives me the contract to sign, until I get a copy of it, then it won't matter what he wants."

Laura looked at him. His voice was stronger and she was sure he was being honest with her.

"Don't you see, honey? We'll have the contract, and if he tries to break it in San Francisco I'll make such a stink about it, about him wanting you, that the publicity alone will take us where we want to go."

It seemed to make sense. Deke Vito wasn't that big, and if Johnny had a contract to headline at the biggest hotel in San Francisco and Vito tried to break it, her husband would easily be able to find another agent or manager to handle him.

She was fairly sure of herself. She thought she'd be able to hold Vito off long enough to get that signed contract. I ought to be able to, she thought, as much as that pig slobbers over me all the time. It might even be fun to turn him on and off like water faucet.

She took her husband's hand. "Don't worry, darling, I'll get that contract for you." She leaned over and kissed him.

"I've got to get to work. I'll see you when I get home." It was Johnny's one night off at the cabaret.

She grabbed her coat and as she closed the door behind her she was already thinking of ways to ensnare the gambler who held the key to their future.

It was almost five in the afternoon before she saw Vito. She'd been going over and over different plans since she'd come to work and had finally decided to play it fairly straight, hoping that the man's desire for her was great enough to keep him satisfied with promises of the future.

It was the slowest time of the day in the casino; the night players hadn't come in yet and even most of the die-hards from the night before had gone back to their motels.

Vito had looked her way only once and she had been able to sense the curiosity in him, but there had been no chance to talk to him privately.

Now, as she stood in a far corner of the almost deserted cocktail lounge she saw him coming toward her.

He smiled in his inimitable way and called out to her. "Hi, baby, whattya doin' hidden way back here?"

"Hi Deke. It's so slow that I thought I'd take a short breather." She tried to keep her voice as steady as possible.

"I understand you and Johnny had quite a time last night."

"Yeah, quite a time. Johnny was a little unlucky – one of those nights." He stared at her. "Did he tell you about it?"

"Yes, he told me."

"Yeah, but did he tell you everything, baby?"

"Oh, you mean all the money he lost?"

"That too. Did he tell you about borrowing any money?"

He took the stool next to her and as always somehow managed to get his leg pressed too tightly against hers. But this time she didn't pull away from him. She just let his thigh rest where it was.

"He said he'd gotten quite a bit of money from you, Deke."

"It all depends how you look at it, kid. To me five grand ain't nothing to Johnny, who knows." He lit a cigarette and tried to make it look natural as he dropped his hand to her thigh.

"Yeah, to Johnny five G's might be a lot of money."

"It is an awful lot of money, Deke…"

"Has he got it for me today, baby?" he interrupted. But Deke Vito had been in the money racket long enough to know the singer had been bluffing the night before when he'd said he'd have it today, and when the kid's wife hadn't jerked her leg away from his hand like she always did, he had a pretty good idea how Johnny Dutton planned to pay it back.

Laura started to give him some story about her family sending the money in a few days but, looking at Vito, she knew he'd never fall for it.

"No, he doesn't." She dropped her hand to his, lowering her eyelashes. "Deke, isn't there some way you can give Johnny a little more time until the contract comes through!"

"The contract? So, your boy told you about that too, huh?"

He ran his hand beneath her short skirt, toying with the edge of her stocking. "Yeah, that sure is a sweet contract. Big Time for your boy. Yeah, real big time." He lightly traced his fingers down the inside of her thigh. Already, the nattily dressed gambler had her confused. She knew he was going too far and too fast, but she didn't know what to do.

"I told you, baby, I'd take good care of ol' Johnny if you were nice to me." He accentuated his words with a sudden pinch right at the edge of her panties.

"Ow! Deke, you're hurting me." She tried to move away a little. It really had hurt. But his hand closed over her thigh right against the rise of her pubic mound and held her still.

"Sorry, Laura, I'd never want to hurt you. You know that, baby. I'd like to make you feel real good all over. Real good!"

He looked at her shrewdly and decided that maybe he was going a little too fast. He was completely confident that she'd be his to play with before long, but he didn't want to scare her. He moved his hand farther down her leg and cupped her knee in his palm.

"You know, baby, that's one hell of a contract I got for Johnny. If he handles it right it'll make him real big overnight."

"Oh Deke, that's wonderful. I don't know how I'll ever be able…" she stopped. She didn't want to say that.

"I think I know, baby. And I also know a way you can get that contract for your boy. Why don't you just meet me up in Mr. Mornay's suite at eight when you get off. Then we'll talk over a few ways you can make things a little easier for Johnny Dutton."

He ran his hand quickly back up between her legs to touch the soft silk crotch band of her panties before he got up and walked jauntily away.

Laura sat there for several minutes more trying to erase the stain of Deke Vito from her mind, then she was called away to deliver some drinks to some blackjack players.

For the next couple of hours she was too busy to have any time to think of what novas awaiting her in the casino owner's suite on the top floor. It wasn't until the girl who relieved her tapped her on the shoulder and told her she was off that she had a chance to contemplate some course of action.

She knew Deke Vito wasn't the type to waste any time but she couldn't bear the thought of going completely through with what he had in mind.

She was still trying to think of some way to stall him when she felt a huge hand on her shoulder.

It was Black Jack. No one knew his last name, or even if he had one. The giant Negro was Mr. Mornay's bodyguard and the biggest man Laura had ever seen.

He was at least seven feet tall, always dressed in shining black mohair suits with a white tie, and he never seemed to say a word. It was rumored that he couldn't even speak because no one had ever heard him. He just nodded deferentially to Vito's or Mornay's commands and lumbered off to obey.

Laura had been in the lobby once when a drunk and irate customer had taken a swing at the casino owner. Black Jack had appeared out of seemingly nowhere, grabbed the man's fist in mid-air and crushed it with his own hand until the man screamed and fainted. Then the huge black man had picked him up like a toy and carried him outside to stuff him upside down in the sports car the valet had brought around.

She turned to look up at him and then followed as he silently led her to the elevator.

He pushed a button on a side wall separated from the buttons that indicated the various floors of the casino and the elevator was completely quiet as it rose to the penthouse.

There was only one set of great double doors and the Negro waited patiently for Deke Vito to answer the buzzer. It didn't take him long.