Page 14 of The Billionaire's Accidental Legacy

“I call,” she said.

“Then put your cards on the table.”

And when she did, a gasp went through the room.

She had done it.

She was dizzy. She could hardly breathe. She had won and the triumph of it was intoxicating beyond reason.

She had won.

She had won the game.

She had won his estate. His title. She wasn’t even sure such a thing was possible. She was a woman.

And this was not the eighteen hundreds.

But it didn’t matter.

And he was not... He was not disappointed.

She could see it.

Yes, he was affecting a laissez-faire sort of attitude. The posture of the kind of man who didn’t care whether he won or lost anything.

But he didn’t care. He had lost by design. And he had lost this very particular prize by design.

Against her will, she found herself intrigued by him.

Even as she was trying to grapple with the fact that she had just won millions of dollars. And an estate.

She had a home.

After all these years, Jessie Hargreave had a home.

And they really could be finished. Even if Maren didn’t win her game.

“Congratulations, Miss...”

“Lockwood,” she said. “Jessica Lockwood.”

She found it best to keep the first name as close as possible to her actual name.

Anyway, the world was littered with Jessicas.

But her last name was one of her many aliases.

“Thank you,” she said to the dealer.

“Your winnings will be wired to the bank account information that you provided earlier. As to the rest of the...unconventional bet. That will be up to you and the duke.”

He grinned at her, slow and lazy.

She needed to find her sister.

“Have the other games concluded?”

The man checked his watch. “No. There is a particularly fierce game going on in the East Wing. It does not look as if it will conclude anytime soon.”

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