Around noon in Atlantic City, Andrew picked up the phone to call Napa, California. He was old enough not to check in and such...but he did want to hear how his grandfather was doing.

"Hello?"

Andrew straightened. "Jose? It's Andrew."

"Hello! How are you?"

"Fine, thanks."

"Where are you?" Jose asked, laughing.

"Atlantic City."

"It's good to hear from you," Jose spoke up. "So how is everything?"

"Hectic. A lot is happening out here..."

"I see. Just a minute...I'll get your grandfather."

Andrew waited patiently.

"D*mm*t, boy, where have you been?" a voice bellowed, causing Andrew to jump and hold the phone at a distance.

"I've been busy," Andrew said flatly.

"It only takes two minutes to call me. I figured you might have made some gangster lose money...and you were lying dead in a ditch somewhere..."

"I try," Andrew laughed.

"Jose says you're in Atlantic City. With all those hotels burning?"

"You heard about that?" Andrew asked, surprise laced in his voice.

"Of course I did. So...are you sure you're okay out there?" Edward asked hesitantly.

They both knew what he was really asking.

"I'm fine. I haven't...well...trust me, I'm okay out here."

"If you say so..."

"By the way..." Andrew cleared his throat. "I met someone."

Silence.

"Grandpa?"

"I heard you the first time, Drew." That had been his grandfather's nickname for him. Funny Meliza called him that earlier. The thought made him smile. "So...none of those low-class scantily clad women who were always coming by to the ranch, I hope...Very different than the publicists I found for you."

"She's got class, Grandpa," Andrew responded, rolling his eyes.

"So...tell me more? How old is she? What's her name? When you planning to bring her here?"

"Easy, Grandpa. It's only been two weeks, she isn't in a mood to hurry things along. She's twenty-two and her name is Meliza Rinaldo. Does the name sound familiar?"

"Rinaldo? I swear there’s a casino in Vegas called that…"

"Yeah. She's the daughter of the owner."

"Hmph. Did you purposely set out to get her, or..."

"Thanks a lot, old man. You think your one and only grandson is gold digging."

"Are you?"

"No!"

"Okay...so tell me more..."

"Two weeks is a short time these days, Grandpa," Andrew pointed out.

"Drew, when I met your grandmother, I courted her for three days...we got married four days later. Never once did either of us complain the twenty-nine years we were together!" Edward argued.

"Things are different now, Grandpa," his grandson said.

"Different bullcrap. You know why it's so different now?" Edward vented. "Because you men just wanna get in women's panties! They know this! That's why the women are always careful...walking on edge...they don't want you men pouncing on them. Back in my day, the men knew what chivalry meant. Giving her flowers, candy, treating her to a nice dinner..."

"Everyone has their own approach, I have mine," Andrew responded.

"Well, apparently your approach isn't working since you should be out courting, not talking to your grandfather!"

Ouch...Andrew sighed. "She's an independent woman, Grandpa. I don't think she wants to be in a relationship right now..."

"She never protested when you went to court her, right?"

"Will you stop using that word?" Andrew asked. It sounded so old-fashioned. "And no...she doesn't protest. We’re taking things slow."

"You sure you didn’t jam your tongue down her throat too fast? Maybe that’s why she wants things slow."

Andrew rolled his eyes. This was pointless. His grandfather was going to continue his rant on how to treat women properly if he didn't hang up soon. "It was a mutual decision. Listen, I have to go. There's a gambling tournament in an hour."

"Good luck to ya, Drew!"

"I'm going to need it," Andrew muttered as he placed the phone back in its cradle.

Tina greeted Andrew with a smile. He had just entered The Atlantic's casino. "Hey."

He smiled back. "Hi, there. Think you're ready?"

Tina nodded. "Definitely."

He looked around before settling his eyes on her again. "Where's Meliza?"

"I don't think she's here yet. She told me to go ahead." She smiled knowingly at the disappointment that filtered in his eyes. "Just give her some time, Andrew. A woman like her is very proud of being self-reliant...Meliza may not admit it, but I think she doesn't have much faith in herself when it comes to relationships. She thinks she picks the bad ones, so she tries to avoid them at all costs. It saves her the trouble and drama."

"Thanks," he responded, squeezing her shoulder affectionately. "I'm going to wait in the lobby for her."

Tina was proud of herself. She had spent the last four hours in the most exciting games of poker she could imagine. And she had won first place! She was waiting for her name to be called so she could receive the trophy and prize money. She hadn't seen Meliza once for the past few hours. Hope she's doing okay...she wondered.

Her women's intuition went into overdrive. Something was very, very wrong...

"Fire!" someone screeched.

A chain of small explosions went off, causing the ground to shake and flames to erupt around them.