The Casino Billionaire

Chapter 5

I sit next to Jason after the screams from Shawna's room finally end. My hands are shaking, my face stained with tears. That had to have been just as much torture as what those four men had done to her the night before. I feel Jason's hand in mine, his finger entwines with mine. All I can do is stare at them. "She is going to be alright. Tom is a good man He will do everything to make sure she comes out perfectly." His thumb caresses the back of my hand. The want for him to never stop touching me is strong. I pull my hand away anyway.

"You can say anything you like. What I believe is another thing on its own." My words come out a bit harsher than they were meant to.

"Jennifer, please, the things that happened to your friend were not ordered by me, I can promise you that." His voice is pleading.

"I may look young but, I surely am not dumb Mr. Joens." I stand and start pacing.

"How can I convince you that I speak the truth?" The frustration in his tone is thick.

"Tell me how a young man became such a mogul in the casino business without doing things like this. Tell me that you just got lucky. Tell me you just are a good businessman. Come on Mr. Joens, fill me in on how you got to be so rich and powerful by being nice." There is no way to hide the condescending tone I am throwing his way.

"I am a smart man. I went to college for business. I grew up in a failing city and realized that many of the factory workers bet on the football, basketball, baseball, horses, college, high school professional, hell, it didn't matter, they were betting on anything to make their lives more exciting. So, I went way into debt and bought the empty broken down Colosseum, renovated it, and turned it into a casino. They flooded into it day and night. I took some of the proceeds and put it back into the city making it a place people wanted to be again. The population grew. Families moved back in. The economy grew. The city was thriving again. I took this knowledge and looked for other cities having the same issues and repeated the same process. There were failures. Yes, some of the casinos I had to shut down due to the rise in prostitution and rise in drug dealing had brought into the once beautiful city. That was not my goal. That was not the purpose of my venture. This," He points to Shawna's room, "Is not what values I wanted to bring to the cities my casinos thrived in. I was raised with a sense of worth, morals, and values. To bring families together, not tear them apart. I want to drive through the neighborhoods and see white picket fences kids playing ball in the yards. Drive down the main street and have people walking happily to the small business's waving hello, smiling to strangers, not holing their wallets close afraid someone is about to rob them." The intensity of his declaration seems so sincere.

I sit back against the couch feeling defeated. Not exactly sure what to say now. He has beaten my argument. This unbelievably gorgeous man that touches me deep inside maybe telling me the truth. I want so badly to be pissed at him for what happened to Shawna but it is really difficult when he is so passionate about what his goals are for his casinos. After a few minutes of silence, he stops looking out the window and turns to me. A small smile crosses his lips when he sees he has left me speechless. The angry girl has been defeated. That burns my ass a bit. Just as I lean forward to wipe that smile from his face Shawna's door opens and Doctor Tom walks out. Standing quickly, Jason and I move quickly to meet him.

"How is she?" I speak first stepping in front of Jason.

"She is resting. I had to set six of her ribs and her right wrist seems to be fractured. I cannot tell for sure without an x-ray but, from what I can feel it is a great possibility. Her left ankle has a bad sprang and two broken toes on her right foot. There are many deep bruises and lacerations all over her body that will take some time to heal. I've given her a shot of a heavy pain killer that will keep her out for at least the next eight to twelve hours. Also, I've started an IV of fluids to keep her hydrated along with an antibiotic. If it is alright with you, I would like to come back in the morning to check on her and change out the fluids. Also to make sure she is using the facilities and trying to eat. I will also give her some more pain medication. She is going to be very sore for the next few days. Does she have a job?" He looks to me and I nod, "I will write out an official letter for her job letting them know that she will be off for at least the next two weeks. Surely you do not want them to know what happened so we can say she was in a car accident. If you would call her job and let them know meanwhile finding out their fax number so I can send the letter in to them that would be appreciated." Once again I nod to him completely in awe. This man is wonderful. He puts a hand out to Jason, "I will take my leave. See again, Jason. Miss Jennifer." He tips his head to me and I do the same to him and then he just walks out the door and is gone.

"Well, I guess I will be going also. Tom will be back in the morning. Will you be here?" Jason rubs the back of his neck seeming uncomfortable now that we are alone.

"Um, yeah, it is Saturday so I will be home. It's good. I can take care of her the first two really bad days." For some reason, I feel the same way. Like a teenager waiting for the boy, I like to ask me out. This is odd.

"I could come back in the morning. I would like to know how she is doing." He shyly looks away from me.

"Yeah, I'd like that. Then after Doc Tom leaves, I'd like to go back to your casino with you and beat the living s**t out of the four guys that did this to her. Is that a possibility?" Grining up at Jason evily. "What are you planning on doing about them?"

"I need to find out who it was first. Which I planned on doing after leaving here tonight. I am going back to the casino to have a meeting with the security staff. THink I am going to make them think it was all cool to get them to brag so that they will freely tell me all the things they have been doing. This way charges can be pressed against them all. They just confessed to rape, assault, battery and who knows what else on camera. I video everything that happens in my office." He smiles feeling proud of himself.

"Could you please not let them know this until I can confront the four that did this to her?" I just need to get this anger out on the right people.

"You know what Jennifer, I can do that for you. I will see you in the morning." He shoots me a wide dazzling smile and heads out my door.

I flop down on the couch, let out a long, exasperated sigh, and turn on the boob tube zoning out thinking of what I am going to say to those lowlife pieces of scum when I finally get the chance to come face to face with them tomorrow. They hurt the one thing in my life that has always had my back, now I've got hers and I need to make sure I do her right. Kicking back relaxing, the next thing I know the sun is shining through the big front window on my face making it hard to open my eyes. Time to shower and get ready. Jason and the Doc will be here soon and then it will be my time to really shine. A nasty grin crawls across my lips as I head for my room to start getting ready for this day.