What he’s saying reminds me of my reaction to Fiona earlier. But then, anybody would react if they’d run into an ex who betrayed them.
“Did you feel it with your wife?” Josh asks.
Ares merely looks at his cards.
I look at my hand, then take a puff of my cigar. Josh glares at his, but I don’t buy the act. He does it all the time to confuse us and extract any advantage he can.
I’ve got two aces. Nice.
“By the way, what were you so smug about this afternoon?” Josh asks me suddenly.
“Me? Smug?”
“You looked like a cat after a successful hunt,” he says.
Huh?
“There was some kind of commotion,” Ares clarifies.
“Oh, that? An uninvited guest interrupted my day, and my assistant did her best to keep her out, but…” I shrug, then deal the three community cards.
The four of clubs. The seven of hearts. The two of clubs.Ugh. Ares tosses a hundred-dollar chip into the pile. I call. So does Josh.
“Who on earth managed to get past Amélie?” Ares says, his eyes on his hand.
The taut frown betrays him—he never frowns during a game. He’s thinking about something else, which is interesting. He’s just as competitive as any of us. Money isn’t the object—a hundred bucks a chip is nothing when we’re all worth over two billion each. But winning? Now, that’s everything.
I stare at my hand. Not the best, but too early to fold. “Fiona Oberman,” I say, trying for casual.
Ares cocks an eyebrow. “Fiona? Doesn’t she know you hate her?”
“Yeah, but when I was young and dumb, I made a promise to do her one favor. She finally came to collect.”
“Wow. But still… She couldn’t find anybody else to turn to for help?” Josh says.
“What did she want? Not representation, right?” Ares asks. “She would never trust you that much.”
I snort.Whose fault is that?Trust and Fiona do not go together.
But I meant it when I told her she’d turned her back on the only person who would’ve always stood by her. When she rescued Gardy, she earned my loyalty. Then later she earned my affection by acting sweet and lovely, hiding her rotten core with what must have been practiced ease. If she had kept on acting—or even broken up with me before hopping into bed with Jude Morven—I would’ve stood by her.
But sticking a knife in my back? That was the end of us.
I tap my chin, trying to calculate the probability of winning. Josh’scurious gaze bores into my face. He doesn’t have to speak for me to know what he’s wondering.
“She wanted to borrow money,” I say.
“Did you tell her that if she can’t pay you back, you’ll want a pound of her flesh?” Josh asks. He knows me too well to believe the meeting was amicable. Not only that, he witnessed my anger and disbelief firsthand back when she cheated on me.
“Of course,” I say, not wanting to get into specifics, “especially when she begged so prettily.”When she fell on her knees. When she tried to unbutton her shirt.I mocked her, but the more I think about it, the more irritated I become. Just what the hell happened to the girl who charmed me with her gentle soul and steely determination? How could I have misjudged somebody so badly? I learned my lesson after Mom’s kidnapping. I quit trusting empty words and gestures. I only believe what I can see with my own eyes.
But it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s been years. I’m wiser and more experienced, and no amount of pity-acting by Fiona Oberman is going to fool me again.
Another card dealt. The king of hearts.
Shit.
Ares raises. What does he have? Josh and I call, not giving up yet.
