Chapter 2 Man From The Past

• Elena’s POV
• The dumbest decision I’ve ever made? Letting my brother talk me into playing poker with an underboss. I only played poker for fun or to take money from my brother nothing serious.
• Vincenzo and I were at a popular casino in Berlin. Why? Fun.
• This was the fifth time I slid a $100 bill into the slot machine and tapped spin.
• “Seven… cherry… seven.”
• I tapped again. “Cherry… coin… coin.”
• I tapped again, my concentration glued to the machine until my brother smacked the back of my head.
• “Ouch!” I yelped, rubbing the spot.
• “I leave you for one minute and you do this? You know this is rigged, right?” His brown eyes narrowed at me.
• “Well, I’m just passing time. It’s not like I want to win or anything.”
• Lie. The idea of hitting the jackpot thrilled me. I’d already planned how to blow the $20k first, that new Vietnamese wig, then maybe VIP tickets to a Sabrina Carpenter concert.
• “What if I told you there’s a table upstairs where we could walk away with real money tonight?” he murmured in my ear.
• I finally looked at him like he was a clown which, to be fair, he is.
• “Remember what happened last time?”
• He chuckled, leaning back. “Vaguely.”
• “You told me it was easy money, and I ended up running around half-naked to cause a distraction so you could steal that lady’s diamond necklace.”
• “That was strategy,” he groaned.
• “It was stupid.”
• “Okay, fine, but we still got paid,” he laughed.
• “Barely. And that was before the part where you—” I jabbed a finger at him “—fell off your chair trying to signal me.”
• He grinned wider at the memory.
• “I was committed to my role.”
• “You were an idiot,” I said, but I was smiling.
• He pulled a small black case from his pocket and flipped it open. Inside was a pair of faintly tinted, transparent contact lenses.
• I eyed them suspiciously. “You see fine. My eyes see fine. What’s this?”
• “You see fine, but you don’t see this.” He tapped the case dramatically. “Mark-reading contacts. The card markings are invisible unless you wear these. Custom work. No more relying on my signals.”
• He stepped closer, his shoulders lifting with pride.
• “And where did you get them? If these burn my eyes, I swear to God, I’m telling Father you blew up his Lamborghini Huracán,” I warned, my tone deadly serious.
• “Goodness, it was one time and it was a mistake. These won’t hurt your eyes. I tried them myself.” He rolled his eyes, unfazed by my threats.
• I could have turned him down, but the excitement already in my veins made my mouth answer before my brain could stop it.
• “Fine… God help me,” I muttered.
• “God’s busy.” He shoved the contact case into my hand. “Put them in. You’re my ace tonight.”
• The room upstairs was heavy with the smell of cigars, alcohol, and something sharp like sulphur. The tension was thick, the kind that made it feel like two lovers were standing naked before one another… but it was just a poker game.
• The dealer stood to the side, watching with a calm, sharp gaze. Off to one side, on a long leather couch, a man lounged like a king, women draped over him, feeding him grapes and alcohol.
• Back at the table, my brother and I faced two men.
• One had long black hair tied into a messy bun, his jaw rough with stubble, his nose straight and proud. A thin, pale scar running from the corner of his mouth to just under his haw. A tattoo crept from the side of his neck down under his shirt. The crisp white button-down did nothing to hide the sculpted muscle beneath. He was massive the kind of man who looked like God took his sweet time on him, maybe even made Zeus jealous. Magnificent. But there was something about him maybe his eyes, his gaze or even the smirk that grazed his lips once in a while that made me want to cower and shrink into the size of an and. Or maybe it’s the way his eyes roamed my neck down to my chest that made me want to shiver every-time. Whatever it is screamed walking danger like he was the kind of man to slice me in two without leaving his seat or even moving an inch.
• The other was leaner but still muscular, with chestnut hair and black eyes. A neat goatee framed his face. He looked like a younger, slightly less breathtaking version of the first still hot, just… not as hot. Brothers, clearly. They hadn’t spoken since the game began, but every now and then, they shared a glance.
• The contacts in my eyes flashed under the table light, picking up the invisible ink we’d marked on the backs of the deck earlier. To everyone else, the cards were blank. To me, they were pure gold. I adjusted in my seat, the poker chips biting into my palm.
• The dealer flicked cards out one by one. Three of hearts. Ace of spades. I was holding a king.
• I tapped my index finger against the table, twice, slow like the beat of my favorite song. Vincenzo blinked twice in acknowledgment.
• Then the flop came. I saw it before it hit the table. Greek God’s brother played it wrong, but that was to my advantage.
• “Raise,” I said, sliding my chips forward, letting them clink.
• Greek God’s lips curled into a grin. He matched my bet without blinking. Perfect. He thought I was the fish but he was the fat, juicy worm, and I was ready to swallow him whole.
• The shift in my brother’s posture and Greek God’s folding told me exactly what he held.
• “All in,” I breathed.
• He didn’t hesitate. Chips scraped forward in a flood, the dealer sweeping them into a massive mound. My brother and his brother had already folded, leaving just us.
• Greek God flipped his cards over with a lazy flick a straight Ace.
• The kind of hand that crushes almost anything.
• Almost.
• My heart gave one sharp, traitorous thud.
• If I hadn’t already seen his cards through the lens, I might’ve folded right then and there.
• He leaned back, that slow, dangerous smile spreading like he already owned the chips, the table hell even the air we were breathing.
• I let my fingers hover over my cards, as if I was debating, as if I might surrender. His eyes stayed locked on mine, steady and confident, and that was the thing men like him didn’t expect to lose to girls like me.
• I turned them over one at a time.
• First card: King of hearts.
• A muscle ticked in his jaw.
• Second card: Jack of hearts.
• Flush.
• My flush beat his straight, and just like that, the air changed.
• His smile didn’t reach his eyes anymore.
• The dealer slid the mountain of chips toward me, the sound of them stacking sweeter than any jackpot I’d ever imagined.
• The Greek God’s jaw tightened, his smile strained and empty.
• “Lady Luck smiles on you,” he said.
• I tucked my winnings into a bag. “She and I have an understanding.”
• Vincenzo and I walked away without looking back. The best cons aren’t the ones where you win big they’re the ones where the losers still think it was luck.
• Now, that loser and his brother were in my house… to marry me?