Page 58 of Big Boss
Finally the day slides into night, but Erica doesn’t reappear. Maybe her way of fixing it is to disappear again. Maybe she intends to slide into anonymity and leave me to figure my way to the other side of this mess on my own.
I’m surprised when the doorbell rings. Weirder still is that my poker friends have arrived with Erica in tow, along with a handful of the bigger name donors from last night’s event.
Wow. Wish I had showered while she was gone so I didn’t look like microwaved failure right now. I rub the stubble on my face.
“To what do I owe this surprise, Miss Ridley?”
Sebastian snaps his fingers in the air between us. “Nope. Your girl told us you needed an emergency poker game, so we found a few extra players.”
My eyes slide from familiar face to unfamiliar guests. Finally I shrug. “Okay, but does anybody want a cup of tea?”
Erica gets the game set up around the massive coffee table in my living room, and the donor guests are practically bouncing with excitement to be here. I look them over uneasily.
“Hey, you guys know we don’t play for money, right?” I pin each of them with my gaze. “My friends and I only play for—”
One of them holds up a hand. “She told us. We know what we’re here for.”
Well, that makes one of us, I guess. But as long as I’m not expected to pull out an entire roll of twenties or whatever, this should be okay.
Besides, I trust Erica. She wouldn’t have done this without a good reason.
Despite the extra guests, I’m still the first one out of the poker game. One more loss to pile onto the deep feelings of failure that I’ve been wrestling with all day long.
I sigh and lean back. Next to me, Sebastian jabs me with his elbow. “You better pay attention. I think this may be one of the best days of your life if you don’t miss what happens next.”
And I watch in disbelief as Erica Ridley runs the entire table out of their chips in just four short hands.
Erica, who I amalmostcertain has never played poker even one single time in her life.
Erica, who is looking at me like she’s about to burst with joy.
“Guess what I want from you big bunch of losers?” She points at the room full of us with her sharp little index finger.
I look at my friends’ faces, but nobody seems tense in the least. It’s almost like this whole thing is a set up.
I stare at Erica closely, waiting for some tell of hers showing she’s feeling anxious. But this version of Erica is a savage.
“I want each and every one of you to publicly announce your company’s support for First Steps, and then match your corporate donation with a personal one, all in exchange for getting your name engraved in the entryway of the building.”
The room breaks into applause. Heck, even Sebastian is smiling, and not in that creepy soulless way he usually does. If this is him happy, it’s honestly kind of terrifying.
“Gladly,” says Sebastian Davenport III, and drops a check in the middle of the pile of chips in front of Erica.
One by one, the men stand, smiling, and fork over enough money to run my pet project for the next two years.
The room empties of moguls one by one, leaving me and a cup of chamomile tea and one very satisfied looking former assistant.
“You’re welcome,” she says.
“How though? How did you get those men to buy into this scheme and how on earth did you run the table?”
Erica smiles as she cleans up the little messes the guests left behind. “Well, I remember you telling me what a big deal it supposedly is to even be invited to these poker parties, and I figured the men who came would be willing to pay for that particular distinction alone.”
Impressive, actually. “Okay, so that’s half the equation. But what if you’d lost? What if Brendan Knowlton had won and made us all get tattoos of his stupid corporate logo? He wants all his board members to get one.”
She snorts. “You know you can’t believe half of what you hear, Tate. Besides, Aunt Opal taught me how to stack the deck for any number of players so I could win any hand of poker I ever played against you.”
“You cheated? You literally stacked the deck in your favor?” I’m sure I sound unhinged, but this is Erica. She has an absolutely steadfast moral compass, and I’ve never seen her do anything tricky or even a little bit dishonest.
