Page 74 of Underground Prince

“Truce,” I said, laughing. “And cheers.”

“I’ll salute to Sax’s sexiness, because I understand the allure,” he said, clinking his glass with mine. “The tempting bad-boy danger that he has, although I wish he had more words in his vocabulary. There’s only so much brooding can do for a dude.” He pursed his lips as a thought came to him. “You think he broods in bed?”

I almost choked on my beer.

“No seriously, can you imagine that frowny face on top of you?”

Now I was choking, coughing and laughing.

“It’s a valid question. You should think about that.” He leaned back with his beer. “I might allow it, though. On a one-time-only basis.”

“You…” I wiped my mouth with my napkin, staring at him.

“Please. You’re trying to tell me you haven’t figured out I’m gay?”

“No—I mean, of course I wasn’t sure. I don’t like to act on assumptions…”

Kai responded with a genuine chuckle. “Don’t ever get flustered with me. There’s no shame over here.”

“No embarrassment over here, either.” I paused to allow time to chew and swallow the rest of my noodles before saying, “I like you, Kai.”

“I like you too, Scarlet.”

“So, are you actually going to teach me poker, or are you just going to continue to shove me into dungeons and see how I fare with dragons?”

“I did consider a cage with lions, or cobra summoning.”

“Ha.”

“A little burlesque dancing…”

“Double ha.”

“Yes, of course I’ll teach you. You ready?”

I stiffened. “Right now?”

“Hell yeah. Now, I’m gonna start at the beginning, take you through what happened downstairs…”

Kai and I stayed long into the evening as he broke down the basics for me. We set up a twice-weekly meeting for the next few weeks where he’d teach me privately, in preparation for a game that he would set up personally and with an actual date and location that I could expect and not be tossed into.

“You sure Sax doesn’t know?” he asked me as we split the check.

“Positive.” I threw down a few bills. “He’d try to talk me out of it, probably maneuver me into the grungiest, dingiest game he could find to prove that I’m not a part of his iniquitous empire.”

I was surprised to feel Kai’s hand resting on mine. “He might have a point. There’s this thing about you, this insatiability, and it’s not about the money. He sees it, and he may be trying to stop you because he comes from it.”

“You know a lot about him?” I asked, my voice tremulous with a kind of hope—a realization that I might get to know more about Sax than I expected.

“I’ve heard enough,” Kai said. “His family is rough. Money laundering, drug trafficking, illegal weaponry…” I remained silent, eager for him to say more. “There’s rumors of human trafficking, too. This is serious stuff, Scarlet. He’s not playing around.”

“I know that,” I said, strangely insulted.

“Listen, I wouldn’t encourage any kind of shit with him if I thought he was like them—his family,” he said, then amended, “He is, in a way. But there are morals there, a sort of weakness when it comes to the depraved strength of his dad and his brother. He’s…”

“Complicated,” I finished for him.

“Yes.” After a long study of his water glass, Kai said, “But because of that weakness, he’s set up to be the fall guy for the protection of his family’s legacy. So please, do me a favor if you do choose to pursue him.”

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