Page 77 of Capuleto

We arrived at an elevator, and Mei turned a key that was attached to a bracelet on her wrist. A risky place to keep it, someone might be tempted to leave her handless.

"I prefer the stairs, small spaces make me claustrophobic," I commented. It wasn't true; I just wanted to see if there was a second access area.

She turned to offer me a sweet look. "I'm sorry, we don't have stairs to access downstairs, but I assure you the ride will be over in a blink."

"What if there’s a fire?" Nikita chimed in as the doors opened.

"There's never been one. Please."

Mei stretched out her hand, the four of us looked at each other tensely, knowing that as soon as the doors opened, we might be riddled with bullets.

"After you," I encouraged her. I wanted to see if she hesitated. She didn’t; she entered with total confidence.

We would have to trust her and use her as a human shield if things got ugly. I doubted Huang would care about losing her, no matter how pretty she was.

Reaching the lower floor took only a second. We all had our hands near our weapons, ready to draw quickly if needed. Fortunately, we didn’t have to.

Outside the elevator, there were a couple of men dressed in black with visible earpieces in their right ears. They didn’t even look at us. Their eyes were fixed on the only door at the end of the hallway.

The walls were lined in red, the moldings covered in gold leaf, and the background music was like that of any oriental restaurant; calm and traditional.

Mei did the honors and opened the double door for us.

Inside, there were a total of four tables and a roulette wheel. The poker tables could accommodate a maximum of five people, plus the dealer responsible for dealing the cards.

Three tables were occupied. The fourth was waiting for a couple of players. At the roulette, the game was already underway and the ball clattered on the surface, ready to change some fortunes.

At the back to the right, there was a small well-stocked side bar. A bartender was shaking the cocktail shaker while a waitress served drinks at the tables.

I didn't miss a kind of camouflaged door at the other end of the room. It was flanked by two men dressed the same as those from the elevator.

The black carpet that covered the floor sank under our footsteps. Chinese craft lamps hung from the ornate ceiling, providing the lighting needed by the players, who seemed very focused on their games.

Several cameras were hidden in small dragon heads fitted in the upper corners, stuck to the ceiling. There wasn’t a single blind spot; the room was a damn mousetrap and I still wasn't sure what role we were supposed to play.

"How many will be playing?"

Mei interrupted my thoughts as she led us towards the table.

"We would like to speak with Huang first, I have some things to discuss with him," I probed.

She rewarded me with another of her well-rehearsed smiles.

"Mr. Huang will meet with you at the table."

"We would prefer to talk to him before starting the game, if Mr. Huang doesn't mind."

I could have started shooting right there and forced his boss out of his hole, but with the exit possibilities hanging by a thread, I preferred to talk first and understand what was going on.

She paused. She must have been listening to her boss through the earpiece.

"One game and he will meet with you. Those two gentlemen have been waiting a while and it is not good to disturb the customers."

I had no choice but to accept, although inside I was boiling with anger over what had happened with my men.

"Alright, we'll play."

"Who will?"

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