RFC-Mini Arc 4: Night Life-19 (Patreon)

A look that crumples into a scowl as we reveal our hands.

Over the next several minutes, the table empties. The woman only played one more hand before walking off with her boy, giving the table a finger wave. One player gracefully bows out, exchanging their small amount of tokens for gold and escaping with relief. The other two gamble to the last coin, leaving the table with clenched fists and bitter faces.

The rude man is the last to leave. He decided to try going all in to recoup his losses. He acted well enough to fool my target but it’s useless before my senses. His mask crumples when I show my hand, lips twisting in a fierce scowl as he jumps to his feet. “You!”

His eyes become fierce as I lay my hand on the tokens. I look up at him, meeting his gaze without worry. For a moment, I think he might try his luck.

“Sir, if you no longer wish to play, please step back from the table.”

The man looks at the dealer, whose tone is respectful but unyielding. Then he turns back to me. “This isn’t over.”

“I’m happy to play with you again anytime.” Easy money.

He huffs and walks off. I feel bad for any woman that has to spend the night with him and his fun mood. “And then there were two,” I say to my target.

With my last win, our two piles of tokens are quite similar. I raise my brows. “Now would be a good time to leave if you want to walk away with anything.” That is the largest amount of gold she’s had so far. Going away with anything less would feel like a loss as she would remember having more. “It’ll be too late to regret when the cards are dealt.”

I feel a grip on my shoulder. Alana, who’s been quiet the whole time, is looking at the table with wide eyes. “Maybe you should take your own advice? That’s 300 gold in front of you.”

I reach up and pat her hand. Silly, I’m not leaving until I take everything.

“You’re good, I’ll admit,” she says, smiling for the first time. “How come I’ve never seen you around here?”

“It’s my first night. Lou.”

“Wren.”

Wren nods her head to the dealer, who shuffles the cards. “I hope there’s no hard feelings, Lou. It’s rare to find a good partner.”

“I’ll accompany you anytime you like. As long as you’re ready to lose.”

“Hah! I’m not in the habit of losing.”

We grin at each other as the cards are dealt. I don’t hold back at all, taking hand after hand. Her expression turns ugly as her tokens slowly decline. I wonder what’s going through her mind as I consistently exploit her bad hands and dodge her good ones.

“…you wouldn’t cheat me would you, Lou?” Wren finally asks, running a frustrated hand through her dark hair. She isn’t the only one suspicious, the dealer shooting me a questioning look but stopping short of an accusation.

“Depends. Do you think it’s cheating if I can read you like an open book? Raise forty.”

She scowls, throwing down her hand. A hand that’s better than mine. Hah, I was planning on letting her win to soften her up for my next big play but now she’s doing my work for me. “I did warn you.”

“You did, but I didn’t expect such prodigious luck.”

“You don’t think I can read you?”

Her droll look is her only answer. I chuckle. “That’s fine. You’ll believe me when I’ve taken everything.”

I proceed to do just that. Her frustration shifts to despair. She’s one step from simply passing me her tokens but she doesn’t quit, putting up a token effort. She looks as pleased as a stray cat stuck in a storm, though she struggles to hide it. Alana is on the opposite of the spectrum. She’s not the type to fawn over my sudden windfall but her grip on my shoulder is tight enough to hurt anyone else.

“Well-played, Lou.” Wren stands. “I hope you won’t deny me the chance to win my money back.” Her scorching gaze all but promises there will be a rematch.

“Of course. I hope this isn’t a substantial sum for you.” The faintest twitch of her lips tells me it is. “Tsk, tsk. Didn’t I say I can read you like a book?” I flip a token, grinning as her eyes focus on it with obvious greed. “I feel a little bad bullying you like this. I’d be willing to give it back.”

“…for what?” Wren asks carefully, eyes full of doubt.

“All you have to do is ask nicely.” I do my best to imitate my wife’s most seductive whisper as I slide over a pile of tokens representing 150 gold.

“I should have guessed, you seem like the type.” She raises both her hands. “Do you see a wristband? I’m not part of the merchandise.”

“Does that preclude me from wanting you?” I ask. I add another ten gold to the pile, feeling a trill of excitement at the way her heartbeat spikes. Oh, this must be how Kierra feels when she sees me squirm. That elf has really ruined me. The way her eyelashes flutter as I place another ten tokens on the pile stirs a heat between my legs. How much will it take to break her? What kind of face will she make? Or will she push back and escape?

“Most people would find this despicable,” Wren says with a scowl. She pointedly looks at my shoulder. I don’t follow her gaze. I can imagine the expression Alana is making and I’ll lose momentum dealing with that. Instead, I push another ten on the stack.

“You still haven’t walked away.” I add another ten. We’re halfway to the number of her largest pot. “That tells me you’re interested. To actually be contemplating it, aren’t you the terrible one?” I punctuate my statement by slapping down another ten gold. “I don’t hate immoral girls. Or dishonest ones. Tell me, is this money important?”

“Who cares about such a paltry amount of money?”

“Really?” She flinches as I stack another ten gold. “I don’t think this is a paltry sum at all. There’s a lot of things you could do with this amount of gold. I certainly was thrilled to have won it. Were you just as anguished to lose it?” Another ten brings the total to an even 200.

“What’s it going to be, Wren?” I ask, stacking another ten. “How far are you going to test me? I’m interested in you, but there are a lot of beautiful women in the room. I like stubborn girls too. Unfortunately, I don’t have all night.” I do want to see her break but I don’t have forever to dedicate to it. “How far are you going to push me? How far will you play this game? You can only bait me for so long before I…slip…away.”

I’ve already made up my mind to cut my losses at 350. Her powers to read people are the real thing because at 320, her hand lands atop my own. Her face is flushed and her lips are pressed into a frown. “Fine,” she nearly growls.