CHAPTER 9
1117 Words
ZACH POV
Mabel grabbed my hand and dragged me into an isolated hallway. The moment we were out of sight, she spun around to face me, her cheeks flushed with anger.
“What were you thinking, betting against Nike?” she hissed. “He baited you, and you walked right into it.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence. It’s nice to know my fake girlfriend believes in her ex’s abilities more than mine.”
She sighed, rubbing both hands over her face before letting them fall to her sides.
“Look, I know you wouldn’t know this because you’ve never been part of these games, but Nike is an extraordinary poker player.” She paused. “The best in all of Surban City. He challenged you because he wants to humiliate you. I think he’s trying to assert his dominance.”
She looked at me seriously.
“I suggest you go back in there and cancel the game.”
I raised a brow.
“Cowardice isn’t really my thing.”
She glared.
“Why are you doing this? And what’s your deal with the necklace?” she asked, studying me. “Are you stalking me?”
“What?”
For a split second, I nearly let my surprise show.
“You’ve been on my socials, haven’t you?” she continued before I could answer. “Glad to know I’m not the only one keeping tabs on the other. Though, I have to say, your social media account might as well belong to a dead man.”
I shrugged.
“I like to keep things simple.”
She folded her arms.
“So why the necklace?”
“Doesn’t it bother you?” I asked. “Despite being married to your stepsister, he still wears the necklace you gave him on your anniversary.”
It wasn’t the best excuse for why I wanted it, but thankfully, she bought it.
Her shoulder sagged as she let out a quiet sigh.
“It was the only thing I had left from my mother. She gave it to me the night before she disappeared.”
Without thinking, I reached up and cupped her cheek. “I’ll get it back for you.”
Her eyes widened.
She had the most beautiful green eyes I’d ever seen, framed by long lashes, with freckles dusting her nose and cheeks. There was an innocence about her that was both delicate… and irritating.
I pulled my hand away the second I realized what I was doing.
A flicker of disappointment crossed her face before she quickly masked it.
Good.
There was no reason for either of us to get attached.
“Let’s go,” I said, turning away.
By the time we returned, Mabel’s family had already gathered around the poker table.
Nike sat comfortably in his chair with that irritating smirk plastered across his face while Layla stood beside him, one hand resting on his shoulder.
“I thought you’d chicken out,” Nike said.
I slid into the chair opposite him.
“No.” I smiled. “I couldn’t miss the chance to prove your poker face is just as shitty as your personality.”
Nike only smiled widened. “We’ll see.”
A deck of cards was placed between us.
“So we’re clear,” Nike said. “If you win, you get the necklace… and one honest answer from me.”
He touched the silver chain around his neck.
“If I win, I get your watch… and one honest answer from you.”
“Agreed.”
The dealer shuffled the cards before dealing the first hand.
The room gradually fell silent.
Nike won the first hand.
Then the second.
Then another.
By the fifth hand, I had already lost a respectable stack of chips.
Layla smiled to herself.
“This is disappointing,” she said. “I expected Alpha Zach to put up more of a fight.”
“So did I,” someone muttered.
Behind me, I could practically feel Mabel’s anxiety growing with every hand I lost.
She wasn’t wrong.
Nike was good.
Very good.
He barely looked at his own cards instead he watched me.
Unfortunately for him…I was doing the same.
Another hand.
Another loss.
Nike leaned back with a satisfied smile.
“You can still back out.”
I chuckled. “Getting cocky already?”
“I don’t need to be cocky.” He gestured toward the mountain of chips in front of him. “You’re the one running out of chips.”
“True.” I picked up my next hand without the slightest change in expression. “But games aren’t won halfway through.”
Nike hesitated for the first time, it was so brief that I would have missed it if I had blinked.
His fingers tapped the edge of the table twice before he pushed his chips forward.
There it is.
I’d been waiting for that.
The game continued.
Hand by hand, I started winning them back.
The smiles around the table slowly disappeared.
Layla’s folded arms loosened.
Mabel hadn’t taken her eyes off me once.
Nike relaxed posture stiffened, the confidence he’d carried all morning was beginning to crack.
The final hand was dealt.
No one spoke.
The room was so quiet the soft slide of the cards across the table sounded deafening.
Nike raised the bet.
I matched it.
He raised it again.
I matched him again.
Neither of us looked away.
Finally…
We revealed our hands.
The dealer examined the cards before silently pushing the pile of chips toward me.
Silence.
Layla’s smile vanished.
Nike stared at the table for a long moment before exhaling through his nose.
A small, humorless laugh escaped him. “You lost those earlier hands on purpose.”
I smirked.“I believe that necklace belongs to me.”
His jaw tensed then, with obvious reluctance, he unclasped the silver chain from around his neck and placed it on the table.
I picked it up, turning it over once in my hand before slipping it into my pocket. “It looks better off you anyway.”
“What’s your question?” He asked trying and failing to control the humiliation he was feeling.
“I’ll save it for when I actually need it.”
Before Nike could respond, a deep voice echoed through the dining room.
“An impressive victory.” A voice called from behind us. He strolled in so casually with his cane.
“Pleasure to see you Alpha Zach,” he said with his hands stretching out.
It was no pleasure of mine at all, the sight of him was enough to bring back years of rage to the surface
- Writer
