This chapter borrowed a few lines from the series, but as usual, I own nothing
I got news for you baby, you're looking at the man
I got skin in the game
I got a household name
I got news for you baby, you're looking at the man
5:00 pm
Charlie and Monroe walked to a small village just on the outskirts of New Vegas.
"So, what, are you just going to ask this Duncan person for men from his war clan?" Charlie asked as they walked. Monroe ignored her as they continued to walk.
"Just let me do the talking - ok, Charlie?" Bass replied as they stopped in front of a tent, much like the ones in New Vegas.
Charlie followed Bass inside the tent where a man was playing a guitar and there were various card games being played at tables set up around in the interior.
Bass walked up to a table where seven people were involved in a high stakes card game.
"Hello, Duncan," Bass said lightly.
Charlie's eyebrows raised when she noted the attractive brunette turn around in her chair.
"Sebastian-" Duncan said, eyeing Bass and Charlie.
"That's Duncan?...and she knows who you really are?" Charlie couldn't help herself from asking aloud.
"There's not a lot I don't know, kid," Duncan retorted, a hint of amusement evident in her tone. She fixed her attention back on Bass, "You're plucking them awful young these days."
Bass ignored her statement. "I was hoping we could have a few moments to talk"
"...and why would I do that?" Duncan asked.
"...for old times' sake?" Bass smiled at Duncan.
Charlie looked from Bass to Duncan, realizing the connection - of course, these two had a history.
"Don't even try to get cute with me...not after how you left things...you have five minutes," Duncan said, standing from the table and walking out of the tent with Bass on her heels.
"Wait for me outside," Bass said over his shoulder to Charlie.
Charlie nodded and walked outside to wait.
5:15 pm
Bass came out of another tent adjacent to where they had found Duncan.
"Did you get the men we needed?" Charlie asked.
"Well, she agreed to sell us some of her men," Bass replied.
"Ok...well we don't exactly have a ton of diamonds, so how much?" Charlie asked.
"She will give us men for thirty diamonds a head."
"What?!" Charlie stopped in her tracks.
Bass stopped abruptly, looking around. "You wanna keep your voice down?"
"So, I have like twenty diamonds- that's not even enough for one man," Charlie said.
"I have some diamonds stashed back in my trailer - but still not enough to get us more than two or three men," Bass replied.
"So, what are we going to do, then?" Charlie asked.
"Give me a minute," Bass retorted, thinking.
Charlie rolled her eyes. "I guess your charm wasn't so convincing since she wouldn't reduce the price."
Bass fixed her with a look, "Duncan and I have a bit of a complicated history, so the fact she gave me five minutes was probably more than I deserved."
Charlie smirked, "Wow, what a ladies man."
Bass snapped to look at her.
"Seriously, I am beginning to wonder if there is any woman left in New Vegas who you haven't screwed," Charlie said brazenly.
"Jealousy doesn't suit you, Charlotte," Bass half smirked as she walked ahead of him, rolling her eyes yet again.
5:45 pm
Bass and Charlie were back at his trailer planning their next move.
"So, you want to rip off Gould? What are we, crooks now?" Charlie asked as Bass was standing in his trailer, stuffing clothes into an old duffel bag.
"I don't think of it so much as 'ripping him off' as I think of him giving me appropriate compensation...he has been cheating me out of diamonds for months," Bass replied.
"How will this go down exactly? I mean, without us getting caught?" Charlie asked.
"I am fighting tonight, but not until 11- we can run surveillance on Gould's guys at the Black Jack tables first-we can scope out what they use to collect the diamonds at the gambling tables, and how often they change them out. I am guessing they do a collection at least twice a night but I am sure there is a standard routine...we just have to learn what time they make the pick-ups," Bass said.
10:15 pm
Bass and Charlie were watching discreetly from their seats at the bar. They had been there for at least four hours, having drinks, and watching the gambling tables. So far, there had been a diamond payment collection at 7:00 pm and again at 9:00 pm. The same man had done the collection both times, and Bass had subtly followed him to the back of the tent where there was a makeshift office set up with a safe. The key to their plan would be to head off the guy before he could deposit the diamonds in the safe, all without anyone catching them or attracting attention inside the casino tent. Bass made his way back to the bar.
"We'll work out the details, but I think we should be good to go for tomorrow night," Bass said as he sat back down at the bar next to Charlie. Charlie only nodded in response.
Charlie was drinking a bit faster (and much more) than she normally did and was really starting to feel the alcohol, although she didn't want it to be too evident. She was trying to keep up with Bass, who had only laughed when he realized what she was doing. They would be lucky if he didn't have to carry her out of here by the end of the night.
Bass had been pretending to flirt with her throughout the evening, merely as a cover for keeping other men or women from approaching them so they could run surveillance and discuss without interruption. (Bass and Charlie had separately garnered plenty of attention from the opposite sex). The more that Charlie drank she was starting to wonder if she was misinterpreting Bass' actions and words. Bass continued to get friendlier as time passed and he seemed to been actually flirting with her. He didn't seem to be blatantly drunk, but he tolerated and maintained so well, it was virtually impossible to see how much he may be affected by the amount of alcohol he had consumed.
She couldn't really fully define his behavior, it was more of a vibe she thought that she was picking up on- a vibe that seemed to have shifted over the past couple of days...currently, it was the way that he made her feel when he looked at her, even when no one else was around to keep up their cover...he would fix her with a gaze like he was undressing her with his eyes. Miles had witnessed similar looks between her and Jason and had called it 'eye-f***s' - he had also asked to never be subjected to their "eye foreplay" again.
Monroe put a hand on her knee, taking another swig of his whiskey as one of Gould's men passed them. He seemed to let his hand linger for a few seconds longer, even after the man had already gone by them, running his hand further up her thigh before removing it altogether. Charlie just took another sip from her drink, not making any sudden move or comment.
He was a tough one to figure out, and it was then that Charlie realized her life experiences up to this point did not prepare her for someone like Bass Monroe.
Charlie chose not to think more on it and finally chalked up Monroe's behavior to the alcohol - either Bass was drunk or her own drunkenness had caused her perception to become really skewed.
11:00pm
Charlie stood off to the site in the packed tent and began to hear cheers and the roar of the crowd around her. She stepped around a group of bystanders to see Monroe walking into the tent for his fight. He was certainly quite a crowd-pleaser around this place...
The fight started and Bass went two rounds with his opponent. It almost looked Bass was trying to drag it out for some reason, at least from Charlie's perspective. After the first two rounds, Bass made pretty quick work of taking his opponent down. Charlie couldn't help but admire his skill- he made it look effortless. His muscular back and shoulders glistened with sweat and his toned abs were on display as he delivered a roundhouse punch to his opponent, sending him straight to the ground.
The referee raised Bass' hand, announcing him the victor of his fortieth consecutive fight since coming to New Vegas.
Gould came up behind Bass, slapping him on the shoulder, looking very pleased, and pulling him closer to say something that others could not hear. It made Charlie wonder if Gould wasn't placing bets on how many rounds Bass would go or how long the fight would last and that Bass was obliging so Gould would win the bets...she wouldn't put it past either of them at this point.
Charlie noticed she was once again admiring his physique, standing there in the middle of the tent, shirtless and glistening with sweat.
What is wrong with me?!, Charlie thought to herself, realizing that she was beginning to see Monroe more as a man, than the monster she had made him out to be in her mind...and a very attractive man, at that.
Pairing that with the adrenaline of seeing him in action and the fact that he had shown his protective nature over her- this is just a hormonal response combined with alcohol, she thought to herself. He could be anyone...
...Yeah, keep telling yourself that.