“Eating curry in our pajamas and watching k-dramas and Avenger movies?” Gift asked.
Park laughed. “Yes, but now with more sex. And we can cuddle on the couch instead of sitting awkwardly on opposite ends.”
“That sounds nice,” Gift said wistfully.
“It does,” Park agreed.
“Is anybody actually losing in the game?” Payton asked from his spot on his bed.
Everyone shook their heads but nobody looked up from their phones. They had all congregated in Payton’s and Gift’s room after class to spend the afternoon pretending they were underage teens playing at illegal gambling. It seemed the key to finally figuring out what happened to poor Madison.
“I’m actually sitting on five figures in my virtual account right now,” Lennon said. He was lying on the floor with Persephone resting her head on one thigh and Mos using the other.
Over the last few days, everyone had settled into each other’s space, blending together nicely. None of them were necessarily friends, but there was a comfortable companionship that had never been there before. People who really never spoke before now sought each other out in class and in the dining hall. It was interesting to see even the psychopaths achieving a level of comfort with people other than their handlers…or Gift.
Diego nodded. “Me too.”
Diego was currently sitting on the floor as well, his socked feet propped up on the end of Drake’s mattress, his head on a pillow pilfered from Gift’s bed.
“That’s weird, right?” Gift asked absently, staring at his hand. “I don’t even know how to play poker but, somehow, I haven’t lost a single game. That’s weird, right?”
There were sounds of agreement from around the space.
“Has anyone tried to deliberately lose?” Payton asked.
“No, but I can try,” Dove volunteered from her usual spot beside Morgan. “Though I really don’t see the point.”
Persephone flicked her gaze to the purple-haired girl. “Has anyone tried to cash out their winnings?”
“I did,” Remi said. “It referred me to some terms and conditions page that says I can only cash out once I’ve played the minimum allotted hours. But it lets me use my winnings to keep betting.”
“Almost like it wants you to bet more so you can lose more,” Morgan muttered.
“So, maybe that’s why someone killed this chic—Madison,” Drake corrected when Payton gave him a sharp look. “She got involved in some underage betting scandal and threatened to tell the cops.”
Drake sat with his back against the headboard of his bed, Remi sitting between his spread thighs, his back to Drake’s chest. There was nothing overtly sexual about it except that Gift had been in that same position last night…with Park. While he jerked Gift off. Then taken his virginity. He flushed at the thought, then realized Payton was watching him. The other boy snorted like he could read Gift’s mind.
Luca shook his head. “But why? She was clearly being paid to push this game. So far none of us are losing anything. If someone was going to kill her, wouldn’t it be over money?”
“Not necessarily,” Jay said. “If Madison knew she was pushing something illegal and got greedy, maybe they killed her for it. Or maybe she threatened to tell someone about this underground game and they offed her to keep it quiet.”
“Wasn’t the girl rich? Would she need to blackmail criminals? Besides, is illegal gambling worth killing over?” Mos asked. “Seems like a petty crime, no? Especially here in Vegas.”
“If there’s one thing I know,” Luca said, “it’s that the house always wins. Which means, at some point, all of us are going to start losing…by a lot. And when that happens, whoever is on the other side of this game is going to make a lot of money off us.”
“What happens if we just stop payment on the funds?” Remi asked. “Like, how can they force us to pay an illegal debt?”
Drake patted his head. “Oh, my dear, sweet summer child.”
Remi smacked his hand away, turning to glare up at him. “I’m serious. Even though the teens playing the game all seem local, are we saying there’s, like, someone going around breaking their legs and enforcing the repayments? Wouldn’t some parent have gone to the cops if their kid got the shit beat out of them or was being threatened? Especially someone like Madison. Her parents are rich.”
Mos snorted. “You really are naive. It’s adorable. Do you know who runs gambling in Vegas? The mob. Do you know who doesn’t give a fuck how much money you have? The mob. If anything, they’ll only go after you harder. They’ll get their money one way or another and they’ll threaten others to do it.”
Dove gasped dramatically as if she were in a movie. “Maybe that’s why Madison’s parents stopped cooperating with the police,” she cried. “Maybe the mob was, like, threatening them.”
“Okay, that kind of makes sense, I guess,” Morgan said. “But again, why even target teens in the first place? There have to be more than enough adults gambling away their life savings to mob-run casinos. Why not just stick with them?”
Luca snorted. “Maybe they’re innovators? Trying a new angle? Maybe their other mob friends have already cornered the market on the legal stuff.”
