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“You both look gorgeous.” She hugs us each and beams at Ivy. “No one rocks pregnancy like you, girl.”
“That’s true,” I agree, sipping my wine. “She’s owning the gown and the glow.”
Ivy is a vision of elegance. Her gown’s cap-sleeve bodice sparkles with cream embroidery and a shiny rosy-taupe sash, cinched beneath her breasts, above a matching flowy skirt.
Rena sweeps my hair behind my shoulder. “She is, but since my brothers aren’t allowed to breathe in Ivy’s direction and she’s currently about to drop that baby, be on high alert, Celeste. You’re killing it in that dress tonight.”
“Lettie always stops traffic and causes riots. But you’re dressed to kill too, Rena. Is this number just for us?” Ivy waggles her brows.
Rena is quite the seductress tonight, flaunting a dusty-mauve corset that swings out in a very short baby-doll dress, paired with a lace bolero and thigh-high black boots.
“Fashion needs no audience,” Rena quips, gripping her skirt to flare it out in a curtsy. “C’mon. Let’s go play.”
She tows us along to the game room, and she wasn’t wrong. Her brothers’ prowling ogles descend upon me, but it isn’t their gaping that grabs my attention. Like always, my eyes swing to Liam, who’s got that probing gawk in action again. It makes my insides squirm, like I’m standing before him naked. My greatest insecurities, hurts, and fears bared to him.
Not possible. It’s my imagination.
But he is different tonight, and I hate the way that’s sparking something inside me. A spark I have no business igniting when it can only result in ashes.
I’m probably reading him all wrong anyway.
“Let the games begin, ladies,” Cash declares, standing behind a blackjack table. “What’s your game, Celeste? Blackjack? Poker?”
“I’m not much of a gambler,” I announce, strutting toward him. Always keep them guessing. “You pick.”
“Deferring to the house. Have a seat.” He flashes that menacing smile. “Blackjack it is.”
Play their game.
“Okay,” I singsong, sliding into the high seat as Liam, Maddox, and Gage join me. “We’ll have to either bet pretzels like I did when I was a kid, or I’ll owe you.” I set my wineglass aside and hold up my clutch. “Tiny purse, and I was told there’d be no need for money this evening.”
Liam proffers a rolled wad of hundreds. “I’ll buy her in.”
“No need.” Cash dismisses that offer with a flippant wave. “I have a better idea.”
Jax barks a laugh from a poker table where he sits with the rest of the group, holding an unlit match out in front of his face. “What could go wrong there?” he gibes, and the match spontaneously bursts into flames.
“Impressive,” I commend him, but turn back to Cash. “Try me.”
He nods, tossing a glittery black half-mask onto the table. “Per your anonymity agreement with Ryker.”
A rip-roaring laugh spills out of me, comprised equal parts temptation and terror. “I’m intrigued.”
That earns me a delighted twinkle from the dealer. He sets the mask on the side of the table and swigs his cocktail. “No buy-in. If you win, you owe nothing for playing. The house will cover it. But if the dealer wins, you spend the rest of the night at Magie Noire with me.”
Magie Noire is a membership-only sex club; yearly fees are fifty grand. Neither Ivy nor Rena have been there, but they’ve filled me in enough.
“Fuck. No,” Liam growls at the same time Maddox chimes, “I want in on that action.”
The room erupts in a chaotic debate, orders and outrage swirling around me. Ty’s out of his chair, Gage is foaming at the mouth, Ryker is reprimanding Cash, but my eyes seek out Wells and Ivy. She whispers in his ear, and he winks at me. They both know how much I need this one night, freedom before I take one for the Carver team.
Turning back to Cash, I kink my lips in pensive consideration. “How about this? If I lose, we play another game of my choice. If it ends in a tie from there, we’ll play one more game, spectators’ pick. Best out of three. If I lose the best out of three, I’ll go to Magie Noire with you.” I pause for effect, slanting my head to the onyx-haired gentleman at the table. “And Maddox.”
“And me.” Jax raises his hand. “That’s how we roll.”
“Fine, Magic Jax. And you,” I allow.
His pierced lips flourish into a boyish grin.
