Collaboration with @silmarilz1701
Svetlana knew how to play the game. She'd been caught in the political drama of Stalin's inner circle since birth. The only child of one of Stalin's closest friends, she grew up in the limelight, scrutinized by frie...
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"Jesus," Harry muttered. He threw his cards down onto the wooden table in the Officers' Club. "How the hell are you so good?"
Sveta couldn't help but laugh. She gathered the chips and dollars they'd tossed in the center of the table, pulling them towards her. The chips clinked together, reminding her of the hefty sum she'd just won. Ron sat to her right. The cigarette he'd been nursing now rested between two fingers a few inches to the side. He glared.
"I'm a good liar," she told him. "Now. Are we playing again?"
Ron scoffed. "One of these games, your luck is going to run out. Give Welsh the cards and ante up."
She did so. As Harry started shuffling, she tossed a couple American dollars into the center of the table again. Then she took a drink. The beer helped her calm the jittering excitement tingling her body. She couldn't suppress her grin. She'd won almost three hundred dollars. The men at her table were just too easy to read.
Everyone had tells. She'd watched them in their games for weeks before she'd started joining them, memorized their tics. Harry tended to keep his cards close to the table at the beginning of games, and she'd noticed he only pulled them in closer to his chest when he bluffed. Ron left his on the table too, but kept his hands over them. Whenever he bluffed, he tended to pull his hands back. Too easy.
"Is this an open game?"
They all look over to Lipton as he moved through the half-empty Officers' club. With a drink in his right hand, he hovered near Sveta. She gestured to the table. "If you've got money, Lipton, we've got space."
"Uh oh," Harry said. "She's getting cocky."
Ron just scoffed. "Svetlana was born cocky."
Lipton just broke into a smile. He moved around the table as Harry scooted closer to her. After placing his beer on the table, he pulled up a chair. "I've heard you're particularly dangerous at this game, Captain."
"Is that so, Lieutenant?" Sveta smirked. She tapped the table twice with her hand. "Deal, Harry."
"Damn, Samsonova. Settle down," he teased. But Harry wasted no more time. With a flick of his wrist he began to hand out the cards. "Five card draw, nothing wild. Ante up, boys."
"And lady," Ron added.
Sveta just rolled her eyes. "I already did. Are you trying to hustle me?"
"If I wanted your money there are other ways of taking it," he assured her. "All I'd have to do is say I found a good source of vodka.
Sveta shook her head. Taking a drink, she watched Harry place the fourth card in front of her. Her hands itched to grab them. But she waited until the last card.
Ace high, with a pair of sixes, a king, and a queen. Sveta did her best to control the jitters. Instead, she let her gaze wander to Lipton across the table. He met her eyes. Sveta forced herself to smile. She'd only seen Lipton play a few times. He was the real threat.
