“It might be another rise!”
“If it is, that’ll make four straight rises on this same cutting machine—legendary!”
The chatter swelled, and Damian Vaughn couldn’t help feeling proud. Their admiration boosted his confidence even more.
He swept his gaze toward Ethan Blake, who seemed about to leave. “Ethan!” he called out quickly. “You’ve had three rises today—your luck’s unbelievable. Why don’t you cut this half-gamble stone for me?”
Gamblers believed in luck, and Ethan’s luck was blazing hot. Damian figured a little of that might rub off.
Ethan shook his head. “I have a bad feeling about your stone. It’s going to collapse. You’d better cut it yourself.”
“What did you say?” Damian’s confident smile froze.
Damn it—before he’d even started, this punk was cursing his stone? In the jade ga
