They’d shied away from discussing Cobra or the future. Both of those topics had been way too grim and real. Later. Later was soon enough to come up with a potential revised truce.
“Who do we talk to here? What’s the protocol at a mob front?”
She cut the cards again, and noticed an older Indian man at the table next to theirs watching her hands. He had silver at his temples and deep lines on his face. He sat with another man. They wore big jackets that were at odds with the warm snap of weather and conveniently hid any outlines of a firearm.
But most importantly, they’d sat down and ordered from the waiter without looking at a menu.Regulars.
“Scooch away from me a little and let me do my thing,” she said, under her breath. “No one’s going to talk to me if you’re brooding right next to me, all big and handsome.”
Any other man might take offense at being told to get away, but Krish’s lips quirked and he moved over. He was getting better at not reacting to her calling him handsome, which was good.How many more chances are you going to get to tell him he’s handsome?
She’d find out soon enough, she guessed. She caught the older man’s eye and gave him a smile. She put every ounce of showmanship she had into feathering the cards into a fan. “You like cards?”
The man’s eyes warmed, and he turned his body toward her. The tables were close to the booths, and only a couple of feet separated them, enough for the waiters to walk past. “I was wondering if you were going to deal me in.”
“What’s your game?”
The man’s companion snorted and tipped his Kingfisher bottle to his lips. His shaved head gleamed under the light. He was younger than his friend, but his expression was harder. “My uncle’s addicted to blackjack.”
“We can do blackjack. What are your names?”
The first man touched his chest. “Vivek. This is Dhruv.”
“Chandra. Nice to meet you both.”
The men gave Krish a wary look, but he sat silent, arms crossed. That was fine. Let them think he was her protection. No need to introduce him and have to track more fake names.
She distracted them by spreading the cards face down on the table and mixing them together. “Any good dealer starts with a casino wash, to randomize the deck.” She gathered the cards together. “What’s the holy grail pair you’re looking for in blackjack again?”
“Ace and a face card,” Vivek said.
“And sometimes you get a bonus payout if the jack is black and you pair it with the ace of spades, yeah?” Sejal flipped over the top card on the deck.
Dhruv inhaled at the sight of the ace of spades, and scooted his chair toward her so he could see her better.
“We need that jack, but let’s keep this ace safe, we don’t want to lose it.” She put the ace under the empty box and went back to the rest of the deck, using a few loud fancy shuffles to misdirect fromwhat she was actually doing. She cut the deck and flipped half of it over, then shuffled it a few times, to show them the cards were all inside out and backs and fronts.
A few more strategic cuts, and Sejal fanned the deck out on the table. All of the cards were face down, except for the jack of clubs, winking up at them.
“Ooh,” Vivek breathed.
Sejal stripped it out and twirled it in her fingers. “This is good, but I like consistency. Let’s try for the jack of spades.” She swept her palm over the card fast, and rolled her eyes when it turned into the ace of spades. “Not quite what I was going for.”
“What’s the card under the box, then?” Dhruv demanded.
Sejal moved the box aside and turned over the jack of spades. “Look at that. I got twenty-one.”
Vivek laughed. “That was amazing.”
“That’s really cool.” The young waitress had stopped next to their booth to watch, pad in her hand. Sejal had barely noticed, she’d been too focused.
“Thank you.” She swept the cards up.
“Get the lady some free samosas for the show,” Dhruv told the waitress.
The girl chuckled. “I can see what I can do.”
“I’d rather have information.” Sejal’s tone was light, but she set the cards down. The time for playing was done.
