Page 53 of Unruly Obsession
“It’s not my thing.” I look down at the poker chips and cards in front of us. Most of the chips are piled in front of Dmitri. Doesn’t seem like much of a challenge, since everyone else at the table is off their fucking faces and more fascinated with the women’s tits on display.
“Hey, handsome,” one of them purrs, walking up behind me, her nails grazing across my shoulder. “You seem tense,” she says as she grabs either side of my neck as if to start massaging.
I place my hand on hers. “I recommend you don’t touch me. I’ll only say it once.” I give her hand a forceful enough squeeze to make my point, but not hard enough to hurt.
She’s quick to recoil, and I have the sudden urge to shower all over again because of her presumptuous touch.
Lily’s blue eyes flash in my mind, and I readjust my suit, uncomfortable. I don’t know why I think of her when another woman touches me. All I know is I hate the smell of this woman because it isn’t the sweet floral scent to which I’ve become accustomed.
Dmitri chuckles, and I don’t like how he looks at me, as if knowing something I don’t. “Should we play another hand?”
“Yes, let’s!” Vince slams his palms on the table excitedly. He shoves his hands in his pockets and then looks up at me with a smile. “Fuck, I don’t have any more cash on me.”
I raise an eyebrow but dip into my inside pocket. Money is only a tool; if it creates favor in a situation like tonight, then so be it. I throw some on the table, and Vince's eyes widen as the dealer offers us chips. This is by no means a professional game. Those who enjoy gambling know to go to the Balmere club, which Luca owns, for that purpose.
Vince sits beside me, grabbing one of the women, who squeals as he places her on his lap. He licks his lips excitedly, and the difference between the man I met at the Taylors’ house and the one sitting here now is like day and night. I wonder what Lily would think if she saw her brother in this state. I don’t usually care for what others do in their spare time, but I imagine this is very different from the respectful man she’s built him up to be.
“Vince was telling me he’s only in town for another week,” Dmitri begins as our cards are dealt. Two cards are placed infront of me, and I take a peek—Queen of Hearts and Queen of Spades.
Not a bad start.
I’m not usually a gambling man, but I’ve played my fair share of poker.
“Oh, helping your father with business here?” I ask, pretending to deliberate on whether to check or fold. I call.
“Yeah, something like that,” Vince says, still licking his lips and raising with a quarter of his chips. Interesting. If this is how he plays, I can see how Dmitri bled him dry already.
“Yeah, well, if you weren’t fucking it up, you’d be back in London already,” one of the other men says.
“I’m not fucking it up,” Vince says defensively, and his gaze sheepishly moves between Dmitri and me as he shrugs. “My old man and I have different views on how things should be run. That’s all. Every business has highs and lows. Surely, you’ve experienced it as well.”
“As if my dad would ever let me run his business,” one of the others scoffs. “As long as he keeps putting money into my account, I’ll stay out of his hair and be on my best behavior. Well, at least I won’t be caught. I fold.”
Vince’s knee starts bouncing, even when he tries to distract himself with the woman on his other one.
“It’s never easy when a deal goes wrong,” I say sympathetically, and Vince looks at me like I'm a beacon of hope.
“Yeah. Like, shit happens all the time. It’s a shame my father’s so hung up on Lily dating Riley because I actually like you, Lorenzo. You’re not a bad guy,” he says, watching as the next three cards are turned over. Another queen sits amongst them.
Ironically, he’s wrong about both. The idea that I’m not a bad guy is laughable, because on the wrong night or if I'm in a badmood, I can be the worst. And Lily certainly is not going on a date with that Riley dickhead.
“I certainly don’t intend on handing Lily over to any man, whether your father approves of it or not. Why is he so hell-bent on the idea that I’m not the right guy?” I question carefully, making it sound like it's coming from a place of insecurity, when the true question is why her father is suddenly so insistent on her marrying.
Vince shrugs as he raises two-thirds of his remaining chips with a cocky grin.
Dmitri doesn’t say anything as he folds, silently watching us.
“Fuck it, I fold,” the guy sitting across from me says. “I need to take a piss anyway.”
“Fold,” the next man says as he grins and shoves his face into the tits of the woman on his lap. Like the others, she’s wearing a rabbit mask, and she giggles beneath the mask. “I could drown in these all day,” he says, his voice muffled.
Vince is staring with a shit-eating grin as he only half answers me. “My father’s old school. You know, gaining reputation and favor through family connections. Even when it bites him in the ass, and he wants me to clean up after his mess. He never fucking changes,” he says, distracted by the woman on his knee as he squeezes the inside of her thigh, his gaze raking over her body appreciatively.
“Is that why you’re stressed? Has a deal recently gone sour?” I ask, feigning sympathy and concern. I need something more tangible. It’s obvious he despises his father, and for good reason. His dad's a dick, but this offers me nothing to go on.
The dealer flips the next card. Queen.
I don’t raise, sensing that Vince is a cocky hotshot who will most likely go all-in. I don’t care about the outcome of this game. The only thing that interests me is the next answer Vince offers me.
