Blades and Bullets

23. Poker Face

I walk in to Val high-fiving the other and cheering, "Suck it bitches!"

"So not fair! You cheated!" Ace whines.

"And how does one cheat at bowing Ace?" Mace croons, he only huffs.

"Uh. . . what did I miss?" I say cautiously.

"There you are!" Val walks up to me. "What took you so long?" Her head tilts in curiosity, and most likely concern.

"Oh, it was nothing just a little period pain," I fumble out the first excuse that came to mind.

"Are you ok? I have some paracetamol in my bag?" Mace offers, she seems to be the more responsible out of our group.

"It's fine, I took some earlier," I wave off her comment.

I look up to the screen to see they had finished the game, I guess I took longer than I thought.

"Onyx? Are you good?" Ace questions.

"Sorry! I'm fine, I just noticed you had already finished the game," I point to the screen above.

"Yeah," Ace sighs.

"What's wrong?"

"He's being a sore loser because I beat him!" Val cheers.

"It was only by one point!" He defends himself.

"We get it you two! Sheesh I swear these two are a bad mix," Mace chuckles.

"Oh yeah, what's up with that? I thought you didn't get along." I gesture to Ace, "I mean you said she was 'Fiesty'," I wave my hand at Val. "And you punched him in the arm!"

"Well I guess my little fiesty has grown on me," Ace shrugs and slings an arm around Val leaning against her.

Val is quick to shove his arm off of her and he falls to the floor with a loud thud.

"What the fuck!" He grumbles, rubbing his shoulder. I chuckle at the sight, these three are really starting to feel like a family to me, I smile.

"Oh before we go! Do you gamble by any chance?" Ace smirks.

"Yeah sometimes, why?" I ask.

"Because guess where we're going?" Oh no. "That's right! Where going to the casino!" Ace cheers.

******
I opted for a red silk skin tight dress, it fell just above mid thigh and hugged my curves nicely. I figured we should've gone home to change before heading out.. I mean there is a dress code in these places.

I wave my hand at Val.

Although I have gambled before it was never something I did often, only once or twice a year maybe. So I am still quite unfamiliar with poker, opting for other options such as roulette.

Clearly Ace has done something right because the forty or so old man he was versing slammed his cards on the table and stormed off, as he was leaving Ace began scooping up his chips and organising them into piles.

"So, how much did you win this round?" I question, this is the fifth match I've watched him play and he's won all of them. Winning anywhere from 2k to even 100k these CEOs have no limit.

"Not that much this time," he sighs "dude was a cheapskate, only wanted to bet 50k." My jaw drops.

"Cheapskate? Are you serious? 50k seems like a lot of money to spend on a card game to me."

"It's not just a card game," he sighs as he rolls his eyes, mumbling something to himself. "It's a way of pride, if you would," he waves his hands in front of him. "A way for rich men to try to prove they are better than the rest when they really aren't. Honestly it's just a whole game of ego for them. But for me, it's a source of adrenaline, seeing their faces when they get beat by a person not even a third of their age, I-it's— empowering!"

"Oh, I never thought of it like that. I kind of understand what your saying, I feel the same about killing people, you know, the adrenaline. It calms me, helps me take out my emotions." To that he just nods pocketing his chips into a duffle bag which is now pretty full.

"This is getting a little heavy, maybe it's time to cash out and head home for the night."

"Sounds good," I swirl my glass of wine that hangs loosely in my palm, taking one last sip I place the glass back on a server's tray and we head to the counter.

******

Tonight ended up being a big win, not only for Ace but for the girls as well. After I had chosen to stay and watch Ace, the girls had left us and headed to the black Jack.

Ace's winnings ended up totalling to 200k, it seems Val and I were the only ones that thought that was a good night but according to Mace that was a slow night for Ace, I had scoffed at that.

Mace and Val went home with a good 50k each, and Val, a number from the dealer.

After throwing my purse at the door of my closet I slump in bed, damn that was a long ass night.

Not bothering to change into my pyjamas, I chuck off my dress and wash off my makeup before climbing into bed in my underwear.

Although it wasn't just the cold of wearing no clothes that kept me up that night. I couldn't even close my eyes, no matter how tired I had been it played on my mind.

Why did he do that?

Was he just trying to murder me, using the same tactic as yesterday?

Why was he at the bowling alley at the first place?

What game is he playing?

But then I started to self reflect.

Why didn't I take the chance?

Why didn't I just kill him then and there?

So what if he had stopped me from getting my knife, I didn't need one to kill him. I've had some very creative methods over the last year.

"Ugh," I groan as I roll on my side, only to see a dusting of orange peaking through my curtains. Welp, looks like I'm only getting on hour of sleep tonight. . . not that any other night is different.

Normally my insomnia and nightmares are triggered by memories of the dark, the pain, the blood. It was kind of, good. To have thoughts of something else keeping me up at night, even if it was thoughts of the man I despise.