, I would have paid even more than what he lost.
Justin thought we should move slow, ask her out on a few dates, before we dropped the bomb on her about being ours and wanting to share her. The two of us learned early on we liked sharing a woman, and that one day we wanted to make that situation permanent. This is Vegas, and I’m sure you could find plenty of women willing to do that, but we wanted the one. We knew that when we found her it would hit us. For that reason, we almost never had sex. We agreed that random hook-ups, even solo ones, were unnecessary, so we decided to wait. It had been years since either of us had touched a woman, but we weren’t bothered by it. We wanted a family, and while we knew how to wrap up, we wanted to be safe rather than sorry when it came to getting the wrong woman knocked up with our kid. We wanted our family, one we had chosen. And then Stella came along. It was like our cocks had come back to life, and sex was all we could think about. We wanted inside her, wanted her at our side, her womb filled with our kid, making a family.
We tried to be relaxed about asking her out. While we knew she was the one, we didn't want to scare her by being so intense all of a sudden. First, one of us would ask, then the other. We thought maybe she’d say yes to one of us. Obviously we would both go on the date when she showed up, but we just needed her to agree. We tried to do this like gentlemen, but no matter what we did she wouldn’t accept any of our offers. After four weeks of Frank coming into The Cortez, and us begging for a date, it stopped.
It took a couple of calls, but we found out he was still pulling the same crap, just at one of Don’s casinos on the south side. He pressed his luck, and since this meant we wouldn’t see Stella anymore, something needed to change. Just like everything in life, my brother and I didn't stop until we got what we wanted, and we weren't afraid to get our hands dirty to get it. Sometimes the luck came to us, and sometimes we need to make our own.
We dug around in Frank’s business after the first night we met Stella. We needed to know everything we could about her and about him. Justin and I wanted to have information in our pocket in case we needed leverage, and it was time we pulled that out.
Frank was apparently a very loving and devoted husband, but he had some skeletons of his own in his closet before the missus passed away. It seemed around the time Stella's mom was diagnosed with cancer, Frank took up the gambling and drinking, and it only got worse after she passed.
Not only was Frank up to his ears in debt all around town, but he’d taken a few out in Stella’s name too. From what we found, she didn’t have any knowledge of it, and that made it a thousand times worse. Not only was her dad days from a set of broken legs, but so was she. He’d taken out thousands in her name, and some at some really shady casinos. Meaning if he didn't pay up soon, as in yesterday, they’d come looking for her. Justin and I wouldn’t let that happen. Ever.
Frank had enough debt that he couldn’t win it back at any table in Vegas, but we could make him think he could. We called in a favor with Don, and planted a few key players. We knew we wanted Stella, and the way to do it was to make it so she had no choice. It was dirty, but it was the only way we could get her. We needed to have her, and we were prepared to do anything for it. We could keep her safe, take care of any debts in her name, and not only that, if people knew she was ours they wouldn't dare to even look her way.
We silently paid the debts in her name and made a deal with the loan sharks not to breathe a word to anyone. We left Frank with his own for two reasons. One, because f*ck
him for putting his daughter's life in danger. He made it clear by taking out those loans in her name that he didn’t give a shit about her. Two, in case Stella didn’t like how things went, we needed a safety net. Offering to pay off what was left of Frank’s debt was a big bargaining chip we needed in our back pocket. It may be a dirty way to hold on to her, but we never said we fought fair. Never would when it came to her.
Once that was squared away, we had the poker game arranged and Frank tipped off. He showed up that night with the deed to his land in hand. When setting this up, we ensured the land would stay clear for thirty days because we knew Frank would bet it, and we knew he’d lose it. This man was willing to sacrifice his daughter, her future, and their lives for a poker game. He didn’t deserve her, and we were going to make sure she belonged to us after that night.
Justin and I watched in the control room as Stella came in that night to pick up Frank. We saw the moment she realized the deed had been lost, and we saw how strong she was when she didn’t buckle at the news. Our girl was tough.
We watched silently as Samantha walked over to her and they had a talk. After it was over, I turned to Justin and we nodded to one another. It was done.
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