Hi, everybody. A big thanks to Marcia for opening her blog to me. It’s nice to be here today, and I appreciate you all hanging out with me.

I’m here to share a short excerpt from my new novella, Gamble, the second installment of my Nightforce Security Series. In the following passage, we see part of one of the action scenes. Some people might consider this a spoiler, but I don’t show you how it all ends, so I don’t consider it as such. I really loved this scene because it shows our hero in his element, which is why I wanted to share it with you. (Note: The following passage contains violence and strong language.)

Noah ran, leaped. Collided with Jack in a bone-crushing tackle, driving him back into Deuce. The three crashed into a table, splintering it as they fell to the floor, both guys losing their guns in the melee.

Trixie screamed.

Noah rolled, pulling Jack over him, using him as a shield against Trey shooting. Surprisingly, no gunfire came. Instead, Noah traded punches with Jack, took a solid kick in the hip from Deuce.

Something shattered, and Deuce collapsed beside him under a shower of ceramic shards.

Trixie had smashed a lamp over his head, taking him out.

Jack lunged for a large sliver of pottery.

Noah groped for anything—a fragment of his own, a discarded gun. Hell, a broken table leg would do, or even a jagged splinter of wood.

Nothing but tiny fragments that cut his fingers.

Jack held the shard to Noah’s neck. “I’ve had about enough of you. How many times have I given you the opportunity to walk away? But you keep coming back. You’re like a bad penny.”

“That’s ‘turning up.’ Not ‘coming back.’”

“What?”

“Never mind.”

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t end you right now.”

Maybe E was right. Maybe these guys didn’t want to kill anyone. If he could keep him talking, stall just a little longer…

Jack poked him with the sliver.

Too close to his jugular for comfort. But Noah had an ace up his sleeve. Relieved, he grinned.

“What’s so f***ing funny?” Jack snarled.

“Humor’s all about timing.”

Ethan had entered the room and retrieved Deuce’s gun. He pressed it against the back of Jack’s head.

Blurb for Gamble:

Sometimes stakes are too high to gamble. Other times they’re too high not to.

Noah Crawford is a consummate bachelor—until a one-night stand piques his interest in something more. The only problem is, she wouldn’t give him her name, and he has no way to find her.

A week later, resigned to forgetting her, he accompanies his friends to a casino. Floor traffic promises to be light while everyone clusters at the sportsbook for the college basketball championship game. But Noah isn’t in the mood for frivolity and sets off on his own. No one is more surprised than he is when he bumps into his mystery woman.

He’s playing a far different game than cards when armed criminals take over the poker room. Noah is separated from his friends, and somehow the room has been cut off from security. Help isn’t coming. It’s up to him to keep everyone safe while he tries to thwart the gunmen.

Noah quickly realizes he’s trying to prevent more than a simple heist. And he doesn’t know who he can trust. The stakes have never been higher, and he’s all in. But one of the thieves might have an ace up his sleeve, and that could cost Noah everything.

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About Staci:

Staci Troilo writes because she has hundreds of stories in her head. She publishes because people told her she should share them. She’s a multi-genre author whose love for writing is only surpassed by her love for family and friends, and that relationship-centric focus is featured in her work.

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