Back to this idiot, after his tirade about the end of the world, he started yapping off about a new casino being finished. How he got some “grand tour,” since he worked in the media industry, and how amazing it was. Blah, blah, blah. I thought it was really classy of him to brag about a new casino while he was in another one, but whatever. I looked at my cards, an ace and five of diamonds. A hard set, but the ace could bring me luck. I put in the buy-in next to my ante. The dealer nodded and set down the flop, a two and three of diamonds and a king of spades. Well, that king did me no good. That was just going to make people think they had something when they didn’t. I threw in my bet, making it high enough that the weaker players would fold, but low enough that I could get those who thought they were smarter than me.
“So come to find out he is inviting some very influential people to the grand opening. He even got Lillian Darkstar to accept the invitation, and she doesn’t go to anything unless it’s worthwhile!” He threw in his bet, but now I was interested in what his squeaky excited voice had to say.
My chips clanked down on the table as I matched his bet, wanting to keep him talking as the turn came out. It was an ace of hearts.
The guy next to him huffed in disbelief. “And who the hell is this Darkstar person?”
The annoying guy’s mouth dropped, and he slowly turned towards him as he threw in his bet, more interested in schooling this man. “You don’t know!? She’s the owner of one of the biggest media management companies in the nation. All of her clients have gone from nobodies to big name actors, singers, musicians, and comedians. Word on the street is that she just signed on Delaney Showstroff.”
I threw in my calling bet and the last card came out, a four of diamonds, which made a straight flush for me on the river. Perfect. I set down a large bet, hoping to reel in this idiot. Also, I thought that contract had been the angle Fame was working. I’d glanced at the contract on his desk about a Delaney client from his human-run firm. We all had human-centric jobs. It just seemed easier to hide from prying eyes that way, but I knew Fame, and he had some demon and dark witch contacts. I think Con had a client or two who were demonic, and some of War’s fighters had demonic managers, so we were not blind to the supernatural world.
The annoying one went from gushing to informational to wistful in seconds. “She is also the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen.”
When the guy next to him scoffed, he pulled out his phone, scrolled until he found a picture, and turned the phone to show him.
“See! Tell me that you don’t find her so fucking sexy that you wouldn’t give your left nut to go out with her?”
“Do you call, sir?” the dealer asked the yapper.
The yapper looked at the bet, then looked at me, like he was trying to figure me out. So I gave him a bit of advice, hoping that it made me look like the nice guy and not the guy who was going to take him for all his money.
“If she’s that hot, she can only be trouble,” I mumbled as I looked at my cards.
I was surprised when the skeptical man muttered under his breath, “With a face and body like that, it might be worth the trouble.”
The annoying one was still looking at me, so I made a move to get him to think I wasn't a threat. “Show me.”
I was prepared not to see much. I had met some of the most stunning and beautiful women in the world playing poker. The gorgeous model types always hung around, waiting for the winners to leave the table, then slunk in, trying to lure them into marriage, so they could take half the money.
He picked up his phone and turned it towards me. For a moment, my heart raced and my breath quickened. I didn’t know what my face said, because I felt like I blacked out, but as soon as he pulled his phone away, he smiled and called. I was still dazed by the ethereal beauty he’d just showed me that I didn’t hear the dealer ask us to show our cards.
It took idiot number one snapping his fingers at me to get me out of the lustful fog my brain was in and play my damn hand.
I shook my head, looked down at the table to see what everyone else had. The idiot had two kings and two twos. Two of a kind. Next up was the skeptical guy, and he showed a pair of aces. It came to me. I flipped my cards and leaned back as the skeptical one nodded.
The annoying one’s face fell as he mumbled, “Shit,” under his breath. Being quiet for once. The dealer announced me the winner, and I started to collect my chips.
“Wait,” the annoying one whined. “At least give me a chance to win my money back.”
I smirked at him. “Not a chance, but I’ll see you at that casino opening.”
He looked me up and down, his eyes shining with disbelief. “Who are you?”
The question was slightly on the offensive side, but I chose to let it go.
The man next to him laughed. “So you know a bunch about that woman, but you don’t know the legendary poker player, D? You just got taken by a pro.”
The annoying one’s mouth dropped, and that was my cue to leave. I turned around, chips in hand, and went to cash out.
With my pockets flush with cash and my mood lightened by the win, I couldn’t help but think about that woman. The one who made my mouth go dry and my heart beat rapidly for the first time in a long time.
I put on my sunglasses and kept my head down as I walked to my car, the clicking of my loafers against the concrete parking garage being the sound I used to focus on. Not wanting to encourage any of the spirits to think that I could see or hear them. But today I had something different on my mind. Someone different.
I now regretted not looking at that damn file Fame had made for all of us. I knew he’d taken the pictures out of Con’s and War’s, but I bet he hadn’t done that for mine. He knew I was much more level headed than those two. Con and War were all feelings and emotions, no matter how much they claimed not to be. Fame and I are more of the thinkers, the strategists. But the more I remembered those kissable plush lips, that long soft hair, and those wild dark eyes, I was wondering how Fame really did.
We weren’t blind, just practical, but sometimes even practicality failed. That was where I came in, because death never failed. It was like my superpower. That and being able to see a few seconds into the future of anyone I focused on.
Thinking about all of this was a moot point if Fame had completed the job. My hand came up and rubbed my chest as a sneaky voice in the back of my head started to whisper its hopes that he hadn’t.
