Page 31 of Between Secrets and Obsession
Two of the guys I’m playing against are older, more experienced, and I can tell they play games of this caliber regularly. One of them is completely unreadable. The other chews on the inside of his mouth when he has a good hand, and I’m positive he doesn’t realize he’s doing it.
The dealer passes out the cards, and I fold before betting, but the other two have a showdown. Cheek chewer goes all in, and Mr. Robot calls him, which was a horrible mistake because Cheeky lays down a full house. Even after losing so much money, the guy is completely emotionless. Then it’s just the two of us left, and I can feel my blood pumping in my neck.
I don’t have nearly as much money as my opponent, but I have enough to make a comeback if I pick and choose when to bet. But when it gets down to two players, we’re forced to.
This round, I put in the big blind, and Cheeky matches it. The dealer flips over the first three cards, and I have two pairs, sevens and threes. It’s not the best hand, but it’s certainly not the worst, and I could still get a full house. I’m not exactly oozing confidence at the moment, but I don’t see his tell, so I bet ten thousand. He calls me, and the dealer turns another card. I’m still holding steady with my two pair but notice I need a diamond to possibly have a flush. There are so many possibilities, but I bet the minimum, knowing I’ve put a lot of money into this round. Cheeky goes all in, forcing me into a showdown.
I nearly hold my breath as we show our cards, and he only has a pair of eights, but I don’t get excited yet. The final community card is dealt, and it’s an eight of spades, giving him three of a kind.
I lost. I lost half a million dollars.
The blood drains from my face, and I feel like I’m going to be fucking sick. The guy shakes my hand and tells me it was a good game, and then we’re all escorted out of the room. It’s so anticlimactic for what just happened the past seven hours. I’m in shock, upset, and angry with myself for going all in. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I call JJ.
“Dude, finally,” he says eagerly. “So, where do I need to meet you to pick up my money?”
I’m silent for a moment, not sure how to articulate what happened. “JJ.”
It’s all I can say, and he immediately knows the outcome. “No.”
“I’m so sorry,” I tell him. “I’ll pay back my half.”
I can tell he’s on the move, and his voice gets softer but more direct. “That’s not good enough.”
“What do you mean? That wasn’t the deal,” I say, panicking as I get on the elevator. “The seventy-five I won yesterday, it’s yours. I just need to get it.”
“See, that’s where we have an issue. The money wasn’t mine.”
I make it to my room and shut the door, locking it behind me. “What the fuck?”
“I need to replace it as soon as possible before someone notices it’s gone.”
I think back to how Victoria called him her idiot brother, and God was she right. He really is a fucking idiot.
“You’re telling me you took a large sum of money from someone and hoped they didn’t notice? This was a big fucking mistake.”
“Yeah, it was,” he tells me sternly. “I thought you were better than that. People have been killed for less.”
I hold back the urge to laugh, but nothing about this is funny. “You steal from the mob or something?”
“Actually, my dadisthe boss,” he admits.
What the hell?
“And we’re in big fuckin’ trouble, and when I saywe, I meanyou. I have my half of the money to give back, but you’re on the line for one-fifty, Liam. Minus what you won yesterday, that’s still seventy-five thousand you’ll need to get me as soon as possible. My father doesn’t mess around when it comes to people who owe him money.”
I can’t fucking breathe and am livid that I got myself into this stupid mess and trusted him. How the hell can he be a part of the mob, and I had no idea? Thinking back now, it kinda makes sense given the way he was able to get into elite tourneys andhad that much cash on hand. I was fuckin’ stupid for not seeing it sooner.
“Why would you gamble that kind of money?” Jesus fuck. This is insane. “I thought it was yours, but either way, I don’t have that kind of cash.”
“You have to play and win more games, that’s the bottom line. You’ve got until the end of the week,” he warns.
“I can’t get it that fast,” I shout, overly frustrated at the turn of events.
“Well, you better find it. My dad will be back in Vegas soon, and it’ll be unfortunate if I have to give him your name.” He ends the call, and I’m left speechless.
This motherfucker blindsided me, then threatened my life.
What was supposed to be a fun vacation has officially become my worst nightmare.
