A WHISPER OF ETERNIT

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exchanged her quarters for dollars, which she offered to Dominic.
"Keep it," he said.

"I don't have any place to put it."

Grunting softly, he folded the bills in half and placed them in the right pocket of his trousers. "The right is yours, the left is mine."

Moving through the casino,Tracy couldn't help but notice the way women turned to look at Dominic. Not that she could blame them. He was easily the most handsome man in the place. Not only that, but he exuded an air of mystery and sensuality that was impossible for any female over thirteen to ignore.

Dominic stopped at one of the craps tables andTracy moved up beside him. She watched the game for a few minutes, completely baffled by what was going on. Dice and money seemed to change hands at an alarming rate and she had no idea how the players knew who was winning and who was losing. The man next to her had a row of one-hundred-dollar chips in front of him.

She wondered how the men who worked at the table remembered who had made which bets, and whose money to take and who to pay off.

She heard calls of "Eight the hard way" and "Any craps" and "Come on, seven" and "Twenty on big six" from the players and wondered what it all meant.

Tracylooked up at Dominic. "I'd ask you to explain it to me, but I don't think it would help."

Dominic pulled a roll of bills from the left-hand pocket of his trousers, peeled off five twenties, and handed them to her.

"That's your money," she said, noting which pocket he had reached into, "not mine."
"I have more money to lose than you do."

She couldn't argue with that.

"The easiest thing to do is play the field," he said. "It is one bet on one roll of the dice. If a shooter rolls a three, four, nine, ten, or eleven, you win. If they roll a two or a twelve, you win double. A five, six, seven, or eight means you lose."

"That sounds simple enough."

"You can also play any craps, which means if a shooter rolls a two, three, or a twelve, you win seven to one."

"Oh, I like that!"

Dominic grinned at her. "Or you can play any seven, which pays four to one, or ace-deuce, which means you win if a shooter rolls a three. The odds are fifteen to one."

"I get the feeling you've been here before."