Losev is unaffected. He sets his drink down with a sigh. “I don’t suppose you’ll give him a message for me?”
The mountain doesn’t respond.
“You should go,” I tell Losev.
He narrows his dark eyes on me. “I’m not leaving you alone.”
“I can fend for myself,” I object.
But he puts his hand on my lower back and pushes lightly. “It will only take a minute.”
We follow the mountain across the room together, and I can feel jealous eyes on me from all sides. That, in itself, is not unusual. What is unusual is that it’s not because of who I am, but who I’m with. I hate to admit that Novak was right—here, I’m nobody. That’s what needs to change.
He pulls aside a curtain to reveal a private room. Here, the stage is empty, but there’s a large table surrounded by men in suits.
“Fold,” says one man, and I see another lean back and smile in his chair as a pile of chips is pushed in his direction.
They’re playing poker. The casino is a few floors above us, which must mean this is an underground game.
A tall, dark-haired man no older than us stands and holds a hand out to Losev. “Losev, good to see you. When they said you were here, I had to see for myself. You don’t always grace my table anymore.”
The man seems lighthearted, but Losev doesn’t smile, though he does shake the man’s hand.
“And who is this?” The man turns to me.
Losev ushers me forward. “Evangeline, meet Mr.—”
“Dominic,” the man interrupts. “Please, call me Dom.” He dismisses me easily as he turns back to Losev. “Join us for a hand.” Even though it sounds like an invitation, it feels more like a demand.
“Not tonight,” Losev says.
There’s tension in the room that I don’t understand. “Just one hand. You won’t lose much.”
“Not tonight, Dom,” Losev repeats.
The men start in on him, teasing him. I remember thinking last night that Losev would make a terrible poker player with the way he wears his emotions on his face. Luckily, I don’t have the same problem. While they’re bickering, I move to the empty chair at the table and sit.
“I’ll play.”
Everyone turns to look at me. Losev’s eyes practically burn holes through my head, but Dom and some of the other men look amused.
“What’s the game?” I ask.
Losev puts a hand on my shoulder. “Evangeline, don’t.”
“Texas Hold’em,” someone answers, but I keep my eyes on Dom as he seems to be the ringleader of this circus.
Dom looks from me to Losev. “Will you be backing her buy-in?”
“This is not—” Losev starts, but I interrupt.
“How much?” I ask.
He drags his eyes back to me. “One hundred thousand.”
The number is staggering, but I keep my features even. “I’m good for it.”
I don’t know if he believes me or if he just wants to get under Losev’s skin, but Dom nods at the dealer. “Deal her in.”
We ante up our blinds as the dealer shuffles and deals the cards, giving two hole cards to everyone. The room goes silent as we survey our cards, and I’m vaguely aware of Losev pouring himself a glass of whiskey from the cart by the wall. It isn’t a bad hand to start—pocket tens—and I watch everyone. We place our bets, then the dealer shows the flop—a Jack. One of the men folds, and the rest of us bet. The turn reveals another ten. Dom’s jaw twitches. Another man taps his fingers on the green baize table. Another man folds. The river card is another Jack, leaving me with a Full House. I’m careful to stay very still as the men around me all fold.
When it gets to Dom, though, he eyes me across the table. “You play like a man,” he says.
I smile slyly and lean forward, my elbows on the table. “Even better,” I say. “I play like a woman.”
He leans back and strokes his chin. He’s handsome, there’s no denying it, but there’s something I don’t like in his eyes. “Women are devious, lying creatures who want what men have.” He raises the bet.
I call and flip my cards. “Don’t be ridiculous,” I say, watching him flip his cards to reveal that he has nothing except the pair of Jacks on the table. “I have much more ambition than that.”
♦ ♦ ♦
The men are still stunned silent by my win when Losev drags me from the room and through the strip club, his grip unyielding on my upper arm. At the elevator, he jabs the “up” button.
“What about the rest of the tour?” I ask with a small giggle, the adrenaline of my win making me giddy. There’s nothing I like more than showing a man who’s boss, especially a man like Dom, who clearly underestimated me.
“The tour is over,” Losev says, pushing me ahead of him onto the elevator. He’s clearly furious, though I can’t for the life of me understand why. “You couldn’t have let him fucking win?”
“They were teasing you,” I say as he presses the button to take us to the lobby. “You should be thanking me.”
“Thanking you?” The elevator doors slide shut. “Do you have any idea who that was?”
“Who it was? Why does that matter?”
“Why does it—” He stops short and rubs a hand over his handsome, chiseled face. “You claim to want to be a part of this world with no idea what that really means,” he snarls. “In this world, your name and your money are the only things that matter. You have money, but your name means absolutely nothing. Do you know what his name is?”
“What?” I ask, forcing myself to stand upright even under the weight of his angry gaze.
“Dominic Royal,” he says.
My heart stutters in my chest. “As in the Royal Underground?”
“As in the Royal Underground,” he confirms, naming Oakwood City’s largest and most powerful organized crime family. “And now you’ve piqued his interest.”
The elevator doors open on the large, gilded lobby. Losev pulls me out and around the corner into some kind of private hallway. There’s a girl talking quietly on her cell phone, but seeing us, she hangs up and slips out, leaving us alone.
“What does that mean, I’ve piqued his interest?” I ask.
“I don’t know.” He shakes his head, looking uncertain for the first time since I met him. “I’ll talk to him.”
Part of me wants to let him handle it, but the indignant part of me resents him for trying to rescue me. I’ve never been a damsel in distress. “I can speak for myself,” I say.
He wheels on me, fire in his eyes as he uses his body to drive me against the wall. His hands come down on either side of my head, trapping me. He’s so close that I can feel the heat radiating off of his body. My own body flares in response, my center throbbing at his nearness.
“Your mouth has done enough for tonight. Unless it can do something other than talk, which I very much doubt.”
Maybe I’ve had too much to drink, or maybe I’m still high from my win, but I suddenly want to show him what else my mouth can do. Losev’s desire for me is no secret, but he doesn’t want me for my money. He doesn’t want to take away my business. He desires me as a man desires a woman. And a part of me—mostly the part between my legs—wants to give myself over to him. I really hate that he can affect me like that, but it’s also been a really long time since anyone has been able to.