But, God, this offer…
Even a cardinal would be tempted to take it.
She added lemonade from the open can to her bourbon and met his stare. “Which is why I would never tell. It would be entirely between you and me. I wouldn’t tell anyone, and really, you don’t need my assurances on that because this is a bet I can’t win, so in reality, it’s all conjecture, which means there is nothing to stop you accepting the bet other than fear I might actually win.” Her beautiful eyes gleamed. “Come on, Mr Vicario. You’re a man who likes to live dangerously. Take the bet.”
A groan rose up his throat.
Her eyes not leaving his face, she had a sip of her drink. Even the way she put the glass to her plump lips was an open challenge, and as he took a large drink of his own, his thoughts began to clear, and he realised he could play this to his own advantage, because in one regard Francesca was entirely correct – she couldn’t beat him at this game.
“Okay,” he said slowly, “I will accept your bet, Miss Marino, but before we make the deal, I am going to raise the stakes.”
Her smile was knowing.
“The deal is that when you lose, you agree to spend the rest of your time here as a compliant house guest. You do not flirt with me in any way, you do not challenge anything I say, you do not go out of your way to annoy me, and if you do annoy me, you stop as soon as I inform you of it, and under no circumstances do you speak of sex again.”
The line in her forehead appeared, lips pouting and wriggling as she considered this. “Okay, if you’re raising the stakes, then that means I have to match, and so to match it I add thefollowing to my own stake – if I win, you give me the whole night. I want to learn everything about sex, and you’re the one who’s going to teach me.”
He finally allowed himself to smile. “No, Miss Marino, I’m not going to be teaching you anything but the value of silence because this is a bet you know you cannot win.” He extended his hand across the table. “I accept your deal and the stakes.”
Her pretty little hand stretched forward and wrapped around his. The electricity that shot through him zinged into every cell of his body.
Chapter Nine
They’d been playingfor half an hour. After two more dummy hands, which Gino had easily won, he’d decreed she was now ready for their tournament and divided all the chips in the carousel equally between them.
Right from the start, Francesca had known he was playing to win. His play was aggressive, from tripling the stake before any of the table cards had been laid to his relentless use of going all-in, forcing her to fold. His pile of chips was now well over twice the size of hers, but she was unfazed.
“Minimum stake is now sixteen chips,” he informed her as he scooped his latest pile of winnings.
She shrugged. He’d laid out the rules before they started, so there was no point in bitching. Every four hands, the minimum bet increased. Her decreasing pile would now diminish even more rapidly.
Or so he no doubt thought. And maybe those thoughts were right, but Francesca was a quick learner, and was coming to recognise his offensive play as a deliberate intimidation she’d allowed herself to fall for. There was no way he was being continuously dealt better hands than herself, but his aggressionmeant she folded without ever seeing what cards he had. If she was losing, it was because she was letting herself be intimidated.
It was her turn to make the first bet. Between her two cards and the three table cards, she was sitting on an Ace high, which was rubbish, but stuff it – time to match his tactics. Bold as brass, she pushed twenty chips forward, the first time she’d made her opening move with more than the minimum bet.
His eyebrow rose, but he matched her and turned the fourth table card. She was still on an Ace high, but she looked long and hard between her cards and the table cards, and pushed forward another twenty. He matched it and raised it another twenty. She didn’t hesitate to match it. When the final table card was played, she grinned and took a drink of her bourbon and lemonade. “All-in.”
He looked at the cards in his hand and then looked at her through narrowed eyes. “Take it.”
She grinned. “Thank you!” Her massive bluff made her diminished pile look a little healthier.
Not wanting to push her luck too quickly, she folded early in the next hand, but then, in the following hand, picked up two sevens. On the table were two aces and a three. Gino bet aggressively, putting forty chips forward. Instead of folding as she always did, she not only matched him but raised him.
His eyes narrowed again. He matched her raise. She turned the next table card. A seven. This gave her three sevens. Only if Gino had an ace in his hand could he beat her.
This time he bet sixty chips. Her heart now pounding, she matched it, but her nerve failed her in raising it further.
She turned the final card. A six.
He didn’t hesitate. “All-in.”
She stared hard at him, thinking even harder. He needed an ace in his hand to beat her. That was all. If she went all-in and lost, then it was game over. She would lose the bet.
But if she didn’t go for it, he would likely wipe her out soon after.
He raised an eyebrow, daring her to take him on.You can’t beat me, that raised eyebrow said.
She raised her own eyebrow back at him.Oh really? Well, I beat you in getting you to play this tournament in the first place…
