Althena Book 2

50. Casino Day

I get a pulled pork sandwich and a rib.

The rib melts in my mouth. "Conner, forget the casino. I want him to move into my house."

Even the guy serving us laughs.

Clayton orders something. "I told you. This place is amazing."

Once we eat, we're much happier. The boys negotiate for them to be in the casino. Which isn't hard. They want to be.

I smile at them. "Will you give my employees a discount if they want to eat lunch or dinner at your restaurants?"

"I could give them 25% off."

The man nods. "I would do 50% off on the deal of the day."

Mike sits up. "Are you giving a discount, woman?"

"I sell $3 sandwiches, Mike. I can't afford to."

Conner cracks up laughing. "Be paying the customers to take your food."

"Exactly. And they have their own coffee maker. I'm not making it for them when it's already free. And no way in hell is alcohol going to be discounted for them. If they get caught drinking, they are fired."

Clayton loses it. "Offer them free alcohol then fire them if they touch it."

Mike rubs his eyes. "How much does that sandwich cost you to make?"

"I have no idea. I make the bread for it though."

"How much is the bread?"

"I don't know. How would I know how much a tablespoon of yeast cost? And that makes a few loaves."

He slams himself back and stares at the ceiling.

Drogon puts an eyebrow up. "Conner?"

"I sold what was in the coolers. The prices were marked."

Cyrus lays his head on the table.

Conner winks at me. "Just raise your prices by 10%, then offer a 10% discount to the employees. Employees like discounts. It makes them feel appreciated."

Monte turns slowly towards me. "We're going to come back to this conversation... Someday. Now, will you hire your own staff?"

"Yes."

"They need to be over 18. We can't have kids here."

"What the hell? Asshole." Clayton hits the table.

Mike adjusts himself so he's sitting right. "We'll make an exception for you, Clayton. But no other kids. 18 is mandatory. We're not negotiating it."

I raise my hand. "If we give free alcohol to the employees then we can drink for free. Nobody can fire the owner."

Mike stares at the ceiling again. "Someone else."

"That is true." Clayton smiles.

"I want to try the Queen of Diamonds drink."

"I think they're done, Mike." Monte gets another paper out of our pile. "Background checks will be run on the employees."

The owner of Smoke and Fire nods. "I usually run the background checks. I'll let you run them instead."

I eat some more of the apple. "How quickly can you open?"

"I can spread the word that we're hiring for this location now. It would take me a week or 2 to get staff."

"Same."

"How long for the building?"

Drogon checks his phone. "3 weeks is the estimate I'm staring at."

Monte steals a piece of my apple. "That's a good guess. The bathrooms are going in. The basement is done other than the tech stuff. Slots and tables are coming in 2 weeks. We're right on time for 3 weeks."

"We need to get the specs in for the shops. Can you give us a blueprint of your restaurant you have now? Or get a new one for us very quickly?"

"Can I see the area we'll be in?"

"Yea, I'll take you up there." They walk off with Cyrus.

I raise my hand. "What's an expensive boat that everyone wants and nobody can afford?"

"Any boat, babygirl." Drogon rubs my knee. "Boats aren't a necessity. They're a nice toy for those who can afford them."

"I'm going to figure out my first drawing."

"Ok."

I go to my office and check out boat dealers on my phone. Then I call the company because I can't figure anything out. Now, they're delivering me a boat with a brand-new truck that will pull it. They also sent a free set of sea-doo's because I spent 400k. Then I call another dealer and buy a red SUV that's brand new. That's enough cars. I check out electronics next. People want toys that are not a necessity. I grab a few nice laptops. A couple cameras. 4 gaming systems. Some expensive headphones. No idea why they're $1,200 each. Then I get side tracked. I get 2 full sets of spa items, a pair of Safiri sunglasses, 6 expensive men's watches, 2 rings, 3 purses, and a diamond necklace set.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

I throw my phone in the air. "NOTHING."

Drogon chuckles and kisses my head. "Baby, the boat is here. And stop buying stuff."

"I HAVE AN IDEA, DROGON."

"YOU NEED TO MAKE MONEY NOT SPEND IT."

I run up the steps and the boat is huge and amazing. "Here are the keys to the boat. The keys to the truck. Keys to the sea-doos. I need a signature here."

I sign and jump up and down. "Put it in the middle. Under the skylight. On the marble floor. Truck and boat in the middle. Car and sea-doos at the ends."

"What car?"

"It's not here yet." I take a picture with the truck and boat behind me. I post the picture with the caption. -Big things happening at the casino. 3 weeks until opening day. Are you ready?-

"Where would you like your items, ma'am?" The Safiri delivery driver is standing beside me.

I take his bags. "Thank you."

"My pleasure."

"What's that?" Monte puts his eyebrows up.

I put the sunglasses, rings, necklace set, watches, and purses on the table. "Prizes for my idea. I'm going to have someone walk around with a prize wheel. If people are playing the slots or on the tables. They can spin the wheel. They can win money or prizes."

"That's a good idea." He picks up a watch.

"You can have one. I don't think they are going to make it until prize day. Here comes Mike. He spotted them from way the hell over there."

Monte puts one on his arm. Mike and Drogon show up next. They listen to my ideas about the prizes then leave with a new watch too. Conner, Cyrus, and Clayton take the last 3. Then I order 6 more. The SUV gets delivered. I keep signing for stuff and it keeps coming.

Monte holds up his phone. "This what you want for the wheel?"

"Yes. That's perfect. Can you get 4 of them?"

"Sure." He pulls me over to the center. The sea-doos are up on a pedestal floor. "How are you picking the winner for them?"

"It's like a slot machine. $20 a pull. Either you're a winner or not."

"How many tickets do you have to sell to make money on that?"

"0. They were free because I spent nearly half a million on the boat and truck."

"Good deal then. Is the red car the same way?"

"It's a pull for it. Maybe $50?" I shrug my shoulders. "I spent 60k on it."

"You would have to get 1,200 pulls before it makes money. It's always a risk, but you should get that. We'll set the chance of winning at .01%. Once it hits 1,200 pulls, we'll increase it."

"Perfect."

"Woman, did you announce the opening in 3 weeks?"

"Kind of."

Mike rubs his hair back.

"I like your watch." I smile sweetly.

He chuckles. "You're lucky you're sexy."

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" Conner is staring at a wheel taller than he is.

"Damn, that was fast." Monte stares. "I got 1 big one and 4 little ones. IT'S A PRIZE WHEEL. YOU SPIN IT."

He reaches up and spins it. "WHAT DO I WIN?"

"YOU ARE A f*****g IDIOT."

"WHY?"

"WE HAVE TO LABEL IT WITH PRIZES."

"OH s**t. I GET IT NOW."

We walk over to it. "This is actually amazing." Cyrus spins it. "And perfect right here. We can do door prizes for opening weekend. Win a caramel apple, popcorn of your choice, dinner at the buffet, a drink from the bar. Small things. You put the gift card or coupon right on the prize wheel."

"I can do that with the little wheels too." I hug him. "Put the laptop as a big prize, the rest of them will be a drink or $5 or something. It'll make the prizes last longer."

Mike smiles. "Now you got it."

Monte pulls me over to the boat. "This can't be pull to win. It cost too much. The risk for you to lose money would be high."

"I'm going to sell tickets for it. $100 a ticket. I want people to be able to buy them now. Online. Or Friday and Saturday when we open. We'll draw the winner opening weekend. Guaranteed winner opening weekend."

"I like it. Edwardo can buy some tickets too."

"I thought about it, but what the f**k do we do if he wins?"

"I'll set up a program, then we'll prerecord the winner's ticket getting picked. We'll make sure he doesn't win."

"That would work."

"I'll get a draw system going. You'll be selling tickets by tonight."

"Sweet." I order more prizes.

Cyrus puts his arm around me. "You're going to put a tablet, purse, and bath set on the same wheel?"

"The tablet is $150, the bath set is $300, the purse is $26,000."

Mike cracks up laughing behind us. "How many of those purses did you buy?"

"1. I have two more purses, but they're not the same."

"How much was the expensive purse?"

"32k."

"That's really expensive, baby."

"Mike, your watch was 164k." They look at their wrists.

Monte comes running with his laptop. "I got it. Sales are already live. $100 a ticket."

"How many tickets does she have to sell to break even?" Mike takes the laptop.

"The total was 468k I think."

"So, 4,680. That's why I wanted it to go live now. She can advertise it on Evo. Get people buying them. Guaranteed winner opening weekend."

"Yes, this needs to go live now. That is a lot of tickets to sell. Woman, I'll record you. We'll link to where people can buy the tickets. You need to show off the truck and boat. Tell them it's $100 a ticket. Let's fix your hair and you can give them a tour."

"Did my casino post get any likes?"

"A few million and counting. They are interested in the truck and boat. Getting excited already." He kisses my cheek.

I get fancy in the bathroom then put a diamond necklace set on. Now I'm ready to be recorded. I step out and someone whistles at me.

"Are you going to be able to get in the boat without showing your ass, woman?"

"Probably not, Mike. Record something else when I'm climbing."

Clayton runs over and gets into the boat.

I get in the driver's seat of the truck and Mike holds the camera up.

"Hi, everybody. I was told the truck was causing some excitement online, so I need to announce it. I am holding a drawing for it. Tickets are $100 each. The winner will get the truck and boat. I forgot the receipt somewhere, but it's around $460,000 to buy them both, and they can be yours for only $100. There will be a link included to the site where you buy your ticket. But for now, this truck. It's big. It even has a full-sized back seat. Honestly, I know nothing about trucks or boats. I'm sure the boys will put the important stuff online. You can peak in here while I get in the boat. It's very nice and, of course, brand new."

Drogon laughs and helps me down. "The tickets are on sale now. We will draw the winner Sunday of opening weekend. Also, we cannot sell to minors." He pops the hood while I'm trying to get on the boat.

Conner comes over and pushes my ass up.

"Thank you, sir."

"My pleasure, woman. Any time."

Mike gets done with Drogon and hops up on the boat.

"This is the inside of the boat. It is an 8-person speedboat. Plenty of space for you and some friends or family to hang out on the water. I promise Clayton doesn't come with the boat."

Clayton laughs and lays over the bench seat in the back. "Perfect spot for getting some sun."

I sit beside him and open a built-in cooler. "You could keep some beverages here. That's a look at the inside of the boat. I have 1 more thing to say though. I wanted to give everyone another prize sneak peek. This is a diamond jewelry set from Safiri. It comes with a necklace, bracelet, and ring." I pose so they can see the whole set. "It is one of the prizes that will be at the casino opening weekend. If you want a chance to win this, you'll have to come in. I love this set. It is beautiful. I hope you like the boat, truck, and your sneak peek at a jewelry prize. I'll be back soon with more updates."

"I'M THROWING YOU OVERBOARD."

I scream and laugh as Clayton grabs onto me.

Drogon nods. He's standing right beside us. "You might have to in those shoes. I don't know how she's getting down. I'll show you the motor of the boat quickly." Mike follows him and Conner catches me when I jump.

"Did I do well?"

"That was perfect, babygirl."

An hour later, we go to the boat and eat steaks on the water. We shoot at the target for a while before we head home. It was the best day.