WIN THE GAME

by Allison, Ketley

  “I didn’t do all of that, work on connections for years, just to run when things got tough.”

  “Tough? This is James Bond type shit—”

  “We’ve never gotten—”

  “And I’m talking about the modern version, not the sixties oh, let me just have my martini before I pull out my pocket pistol, pew pew pew—”

  “Kai, listen to me—”

  “We are dealing with automatic weapons—”

  “You’re a trained FBI agent for chrissakes—”

  “I want to find him, too.”

  Kai and I both paused, mouths open, pointer fingers outstretched, and turned to Theo’s voice.

  “It’s why I left you,” Theo continued. “Why my family turned against me. To confront my brother and force him to pay for what he’s done.”

  “See?” Kai said, throwing up his hands. “If Trace’s own flesh and blood can’t locate him after all these years, what chances have we got?”

  “I know where he is,” Theo said.

  “Fucking dammit.” Kai plopped into the corner chair.

  Slowly, carefully, I faced Theo. “You’re lying.”

  “Believe what you want.” Theo crossed the room, coming so close that the electric static of him hit the small hairs of my arm. “But you can play for answers instead. Your choice. I’ll be on deck.”

  Silence descended after Theo exited.

  “That is totally like him,” Kai said, waving at the shut door. “Call me all mysteriously on the phone, come in here, be all dark and brooding, throw a bunch of juicy secrets at you then depart ominously.” Kai rested his chin in his hand. “I did not miss that guy.”

  I did.

  “I’m going to play him,” I said, then turned the knob.

  “Fine.” Kai sighed. “This ability I have to supervise you like a father is incredibly taxing.”

  “Don’t give up on me,” I said before leaving, and caught the softening of his expression before I stepped out.

  Carefully, I navigated the narrow, dark wood hallway, using my hands for balance against the walls as the boat gently lolled. Specks of dizziness kept appearing in my vision, after-effects of whatever drug Theo had used to knock me out. It wouldn’t be enough to derail me in cards, of that I was sure. My mind felt clear—or, as crystal as it could be, considering the heartbreak of my life had just appeared out of nowhere—but I wouldn’t let that get in the way, either. My ability to cut out the white noise while playing was remarkable, a talent Kai often harped on because I used it on him when he was in the throes of a lecture.

  Facing off with Theo would be a true test. Not only would I be playing against my ex, I’d also be seated across from a champion. There existed players much better at cards than me. Theo was one of them. After all, he was the one who held his hand out from the underground in a reluctant beckoning to descend, and I clasped it willingly. Just like Kai had said…

  A coating of allure…

  I wouldn’t let temptation wrap me in its satin bondage again. I caught my reflection in one of the nautical themed mirrors, white as bleached bone, before ascending the small staircase.

  “This time,” I said to my hardened, marble eyes, “I’m the one with the ace.”

  9 Welcome Back

  Theo stood at the bow, just in front of the first mast that held a giant, white, billowing sail, his hands resting on the railing.

  The captain was behind me as I appeared from below deck, and he paid attention long enough to offer a flat smile before getting back to navigation.

  No need to mention that his original client just popped out in front of him. Theo probably paid him triple my offer, therefore I was nothing but plankton to him now.

  The stars were so bright as to be pinholes in a huge, black velvet blanket, offering a peek to the world on the other side. Living in the city, it was easy to forget what a true night sky looked like, a gorgeous, glittering, all-encompassing distraction.

  “Sax,” I said upon approach, and he lifted, highlighting his profile.

  People weren’t supposed to be beautiful in the dark. Forms were only outlines, blurs of shadow, indistinct. Yet I saw every detail of Theo. The crevices below his cheekbones, the slash of his jawline. How his bold blue eyes shaded when his emotions consumed him. The straight carving of his nose, the stubble against the pads of my fingers. The dip of his lower lip when I slid my finger down, opening his mouth, waiting for the fire of him to meet mine.

  I remembered him completely.

  “Your decision?” he asked once I stood beside him. The metal rail was freezing, inching its ice into my fingers the instant I took hold of it.

  I looked out instead of at him, soothed by the city sparkle spread like scattered glitter along the horizon. “Game on.”

  He pushed off and motioned something undecipherable to the captain. He said to me, “As soon as we hit land.”

  “Fine by me,” I said.

  The boat sliced through the rolling waves. The night started out calm, but the wind was picking up, giving white peaks to the ripples, appearing as skeleton hands clawing up from the depths.

  Shivering, I spun away from the view. Theo stripped off his blazer and draped it over my shoulders.

  Every rational fiber I possessed demanded I rip off the coat and throw it at his chest, but it was still warm from his body. My icicle fingers latched onto it, pulling it tighter, before my brain could slap some sense into my skull.

  And it smelled like him. The intense vintage scent of earthy oak. On Theo’s body, he could make it timeless. I resisted burying my nose deep in the lapel and staying there.

  When he reached out a hand, I stiffened.

  “I need to…” Theo gestured to his jacket. “My phone.”

  He pulled one side away from my décolletage with care. My eyes wouldn’t leave his as he reached in, his knuckles scraping across the thin skin just above my breasts, sending electricity to my nipples, already piqued from the cold.

  I kept my stare and frozen expression, despite the urge to tremble, masking that his touch had such a bold effect.

  Theo’s attention moved to my lips, spotting the tremor before I could control it. In response, his mouth parted, but I forced mine shut and hardened my gaze. I hoped it shined like the sharp edges of diamonds.

  He found his cell and pulled it out. Did he linger, just slightly? I thought so.

  Theo tapped on the display before putting it to his ear. With the hum of the boat and the slap of the waves against the hull, I couldn’t understand the muttering, but he kept my attention, the way his jaw moved and how he shoved his free hand into his slacks pocket. His white button-down stretched across his pecs and showcased that yes, indeed, while Theo had been gone he’d still found the time to work out.

  His gaze slid to the right and I blinked, pretended something was in my eye.

  A sharp sound to my left drew my attention. We’d reached the docks, land being deceptively closer than it appeared on the horizon. A crew waited to catch the ropes thrown by the captain’s staff, who suddenly appeared from the cracks and crannies of this vessel.

  Theo offered his hand, but I shook my head. I couldn’t keep sensing him like this, and besides, I was barefoot and could navigate over the decks and docks just fine.

  I hoped Kai had the foresight to grab my Louboutins on his way off this ship.

  The men anchoring the boat paid little attention to us as we stepped onto the dock and kept striding. I hid my sea-legs pretty well as I kept up with Theo, the cartilage in my knees squishing like jelly.

  Theo paused, and I nearly bobbled into his back. At his half-turn, I peered over his shoulder and noticed, in the midst of ships, yachts, sailboats, and speedboats lined on each side of the pier, was a table.

  A felt one.

  It wasn’t my expectation that we’d show down in the ballroom of a grand hotel or the game room of a millionaire’s mansion, but I also didn’t consider that we’d be flipping cards outdoors on a dock.
/>   Theo had already made his way to one of the chairs, which he pulled out.

  “Um.”

  “You bet yourself in last night’s game,” Theo said. The dock had become eerily silent, save for the gentle bobbing of boats, and his voice carried easily. “If that’s not deciding to be all in, then I don’t know what is. So, going against me shouldn’t make you hesitate.”

  My right eye twitched. “I pause only because we don’t have a dealer.”

  “Head’s Up doesn’t need one.”

  “In this game? With you? Yeah, we do.”

  “Guess that’s where I come in,” Kai said behind me, two gorgeous black shoes hooked in his hand. Excellent.

  “Fine,” Theo said. “We’ll get another chair.”

  Kai waved that off. There was no time to linger. I took my seat, Kai standing between us. He’d found the deck of cards, cracked open the cellophane, and we were on.

  Everyone else had either disappeared or taken refuge on a boat. It seemed to be only the three of us. Theo’s brows were lowered, casting black crescents across his cheeks and hiding his thoughts. One hand was casually splayed on the table, waiting for his two cards.

  You’re back in his game room, Letty.

  I set my shoulders, envisioning this as just another round of kicking ass and teaching lessons, and not a moment where I sat across from the man who changed my entire world as soon as I laid eyes on him two years ago.

  “So we’re clear,” I said as Kai shuffled, doing his fancy tricks that neither Theo or I would appreciate, “If I win, I don’t go anywhere. We find Trace and bring him to justice together.”

  Theo gave a slight nod. “And if you lose, you let Kai take you home, safe, and away from this.”

  Away from me, he meant.

  I’d never see Theo again if he won. I doubt he ever wanted to reappear in my life until I’d forced his hand, and now here he was, a Triton calling to me. Enticing me to tumble back into what I’d so sorely missed and disappear into the ocean together. Forever.

  At times, it seemed impossible I was looking at him. In other moments, all I wanted to do was shoot him. Theo represented all that remained sad, broken, unfixable.

  Yet, I did not want to go home.

  “Okay, put in your blinds,” Kai said. “Who would like to begin the totally pointless process of using chips?”

  “To the left of the dealer,” I said, leaning back in my chair and crossing my legs.

  Theo acknowledged his start with a brow arc.

  With deft flicks, Kai passed us our two cards. I flipped up only the corners of my hand. A King and a Jack of hearts. How appropriate. Casually, I glanced at Theo in an effort to gain any clues to his, but this was more out of habit than believing I could spot a tell. Theo had none.

  But then again, neither did I.

  “I’ll raise,” Theo said with the inflection of ordering another bourbon on the rocks.

  I paid attention to the column of chips he pushed to the center. $2,000, when the little blind was $500. Theo was being cautious.

  “Call,” I said. I could be cautious, too.

  Kai laid down the flop. A Jack, a nine, and a five, of mixed suits. “Check,” Theo said. “$3,000,” I announced, pushing chips in the middle and trying to remain as expressionless as possible. Theo called without a word.

  Kai laid down a fourth card—the turn. Another five.

  I tapped my index finger on my cards, still face-down. I had a mediocre hand, yet I could wait for the fifth card, see if I could catch it on the river, but it was a risk. Normally, in a poker room, I’d fold and wait for the next round. However, Theo was putting my goals on the line with this game. Wagered my sole purpose in life, now that it had so sorely changed since I’d—

  Something brushed against my ankle.

  My cheek spasmed at the contact. Studying Theo, I decided it couldn’t be him, due to the sheer fact that he was doing everything he could to get away from me. Nor could it be Kai, since he was standing at the edge of the table.

  A dock rat, perhaps? Did those exist?

  It happened again. A light caress that sent the chiffon of my gown brushing against my bare calf, blooming goosebumps over my skin like the blossoming petals of a rose.

  “Check.” Theo interrupted my inner monologue.

  Rodents should not be adept at sexual come-ons. I glanced down.

  Nothing, except for the black lacquer of Theo’s shoe.

  “Scarlet?” Kai prompted.

  I straightened while sending a threatening throat-clearing in Theo’s direction. For appearance’s sake, I studied the corners of my cards again. Fine, whatever. I pushed in $2,000. We’d each been given $15,000 in chips, so the first hand would not choose my fate.

  “Call,” Theo responded.

  Kai dealt the river, a three of spades. Meaningless.

  “Do you fold?” Theo asked.

  We had no chips, nothing to bet but ourselves. I flashed back to Neri’s game, but intended manipulation wouldn’t work here, not with Theo. I could pretend to be a damsel all I wanted, even throw in a lower lip tremble. He’d tip me off this dock and ask for the real Scarlet.

  “No,” I responded. Simply.

  “I missed you.”

  I responded to Theo without missing a beat, “No, you didn’t.”

  He put his elbows on the table. “You can’t know that.”

  “But I do,” I said, glancing up from my cards. “Considering the last thing I remember is seeing your back leaving my hospital room in the dead of night.”

  The tip of his shoe hit my leg again, and I sucked in a breath, because it stayed there, touching me. Even though leather separated us, the thick make of the shoe preventing Theo from feeling anything at the proximity, the contact conducted an electric shock. Theo’s eyelids lowered.

  “Perhaps I should give you two a moment … or another five,” Kai said from above. “Are you two ready to ride the river?” Kai flipped over the last card.

  “Check,” Theo uttered, once again leaving the decision to me.

  “Check.” I wasn’t going to push my luck.

  “Show your cards.”

  “Show me yours first.”

  I flipped them over with a jerk of my thumb.

  Without breaking eye contact, Theo turned his. A ten and a Jack.

  I won, but that meant nothing. “Your playing was piss-poor,” I said.

  “You won the hand, and you’re unhappy?”

  “Considering the Sax I remember from before, you went easy on me.”

  “You’re now that much closer to getting what you want.”

  “Screw you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  I shoved my cards at him, toppling the small piles of chips in the center. “I do not appreciate the graciousness.”

  “Clearly.”

  “I’m gonna go,” Kai said, backing up. “For a while. That ship still available?”

  Theo angled his head at me.

  “Go ahead,” I conceded to Kai, though my stare stayed on Theo. “But if you could bring back a few drinks, I’d appreciate it.”

  “I am not your—”

  “Please,” I said, cutting Kai off. I needed the assurance that he’d be back within minutes. “Vodka. With a twist, on the rocks.”

  Kai mumbled something, but as he passed behind Theo, he asked, “And you, sire? What would your palette appreciate on this gorgeous night?”

  “Bourbon. Rocks,” I said.

  The skin under Theo’s eyes formed little upside-down crescents. Almost a smile.

  “You’re interrupting the game with this pointless distraction,” I said to Theo once Kai departed.

  The tip of Theo’s shoe grazed up my shin. I shot my leg back, away from him.

  “Stop,” I whispered.

  “That’s the problem,” he said, coming closer. “I can’t.”

  “You’ve been able to for the past—”

  “Don’t you get it, Scarlet?” His eyes flashed. �
��Resisting you is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Being away from you, that made it better, but not easier. And having you in front of me now? It’s a cruel kind of torture.”

  “To have me this close?” I challenged. “This is no cake-walk for me, either, but at least I have enough self-control not to caress you under tables and bring back memories better left at the bottom of the—”

  He flew over the table, cupped my jaw, and seared me with his mouth.

  Hands raised, eyes wide open, I let my lips warm under his, until eventually, inevitably, my fingers dug into his hair and my eyelids shuttered.

  Theo wasn’t kind, but I didn’t want him to be. His lips were hard, his tongue demanding I let him in, but I could join in on the sword-fight, too.

  Teeth nicked, blood was drawn, and a growl sounded low, deep in his throat. The sound had those rose petals traveling to my nether regions pretty damned fast.

  In an instant, cold smacked into my face. I steadied myself against the table, since somehow I’d come to stand, while Theo paced away, wiping his mouth.

  “Fuck, Scarlet,” he said.

  “Fuck you,” I snapped back. But licked at my lips.

  “You need to go. We can’t do this.”

  “You mean, you can’t,” I said, covering the tremble in my voice by crossing my arms. “I was doing just fine in this game.”

  He turned, meeting my eyes. “Being with me hurt you. Staying with me, that will surely kill you.”

  “I’m in charge of my fate, not you,” I said. “And my motivations are vastly different than from what you remember, so let me decide what’s going to end my life and what won’t.”

  “This is your last warning.”

  My arms dropped to my sides. “Are you so worried that I’ll win?”

  His jaw clenched in the way that carves out the cheekbone and sharpens the jaw. Sexy conflict.