One by one, everyone put their chips in. I tossed chips totaling one thousand into the pile. Fred then dealt us our hands.
“No. She’s my girlfriend.” I shot him a glare as I lifted my cards. Seven of diamonds and two of spades.
Fuck. These cards were bad. I stretched my neck to see the three cards in front of Fred. I was going to lose real fucking quick.
I folded the first round, watching as Ben Willis, a boat handler for one of the studios, took the pot. We went again. This time I got the three of hearts and the eight of diamonds.
“You look like you’re starting to sweat over there, Shaw,” Fred mocked as he flipped over his three cards. I checked, and the game continued—with me losing.
“I’m a little rusty,” I admitted. “It’s not often I have free time to sit and relax with people like yourselves.”
“Yes, you are a busy guy, aren’t you?” he muttered, his lip curling in the beginnings of a snarl.
“You’re working on the newestSimon Says, aren’t you?” Christian asked.
I glanced over at the blond-haired, blue-eyed man. I remembered him. We were often up for similar roles, but I always managed to land them over him. Seeing as he’d landed a gig on the news, he must have given up on stardom. He was playing nice now, but I knew just how much of a bitter ass he was.
“Six Six Six,” I responded. “They’re paying me very well for it.”
“Good. That means you can stay here all night,” Fred quipped, and the table laughed. “Although if you run out of cash, we can make arrangements for other forms of payment.”
The circle quieted as they looked at me. I chewed the inside of my cheek in annoyance. Word had spread about me, it seemed.
I shrugged and knocked the cherry off my cigar into an ashtray. “That’s when the real fun starts, doesn’t it? You’d been playing for a while before I got here—is this money just to humor me?”
A standoff was happening between Fred and me. I stared at him across the table, waiting for him to expose the real thing they gambled with. Everyone knew what these games were. Fred Castle didn’t play for money. He played for information.
“Fair enough. You want to bet something else? What do you have? Any suggestions for what Sebastian Shaw could offer the table?” Fred sat back, putting his hands behind his head.
“What about a recommendation?” Christian leaned in. “I know you’re friends with Susan McAlester. She’s starting auditions for her next shark movie. Can you get me an audition?”
I shrugged. That was easy. “Sure, next game.”
I lost the second round of poker, and the real game began with the third. I wagered a call to my friend, and everyone else made similar bets, along with a few who just offered money. I lost for the third time. But then, as the familiarity of the game came back to me, I had a stroke of good luck. I’d also stopped drinking after my first glass, while the others kept pounding their alcohol and offering each other various unmarked pills. Everyone was having a damn good time—except Fred and me.
He was only drinking when I was.
“This is getting kind of boring, don’t you think?” Fred asked after a solid half hour of me winning.
I glanced at my watch. It’d been about two hours since we got here. I’d glanced over at Evie a time or two. She was relaxing and looked all right, with her lemon drop martini.
“How so? I could go all night.”
“I’m sure you could. You’ve collected quite a few things tonight, haven’t you, Shaw? Three months with a dietician, a custom costume from Brundle, how much money?”
“I haven’t counted.” I lifted my drink, and he did the same. I set it down without drinking, and so did he.
“Tell me why you’re really here.”
The table grew quiet. All eyes were on me, then Fred, then me.
“Do you really want me to tell the table?” I raised an eyebrow.
“We’re all friends here.” Fred grinned. “If you want something, just ask.”
I cocked my head to the side. Did I dare? It was what I’d come for in the first place. However, just saying it aloud could get me killed. I glanced back at Evie.
I had to try. For her.
