I opened my mouth, but nothing came out, because the answer was... nothing. Before this, I hadn’t been allowed the luxury of showing fear unless it served a purpose. Zavier hadn’t liked it when I showed weakness, not unless it entertained him, not unless it was something he could control, shape, and use.
I had been afraid every day back in the gambling den. Afraid of what he might do if I displeased him. Afraid of the way his attention could shift without warning, of the way he could hand me off like I was nothing more than something he owned, which, in his eyes and a fucking detailed contract, I was.
The memory rose uninvited, the way his voice would change, the way he would watch me like fear was something to be cultivated,something to be drawn out and consumed, and my stomach twisted at the thought.
“Um,” I said, forcing my voice into something lighter, not wanting to invite questions as my mind drifted somewhere dark. “Distractions help.”
“Like what?”
“Well, home improvement had been helping,” I said with a nervous laugh, though Octavius didn’t look even a little amused, “but that ship has clearly sailed for the night.” I tapped a finger against my chin, grasping for the first thing that came to mind. “Poker,” I answered, and there was truth in that. Even though I was running from a gambling hellhole, it was the people I hated, not the game.
I was actually pretty damn good at poker, mostly Texas Hold’em. I had spent years in Zavier’s gambling den, whether it was serving his clients, sitting at his side like some decorative prize, or simply existing there as entertainment. And somewhere in all of that, I had learned the game. Not just the rules, but the rhythm of it, the way people thought they were in control when really, they weren’t. Poker was strategy, sure, but luck always had the final say, and that was what made it feel fair in a way nothing else ever had.
Unless you were playing against someone like Zavier of course. Unless the stakes weren’t money, but people’s choices and freedom.
I pushed the thought away before it could settle too deep because I needed a distraction, and right now, poker was it.
“Are you any good?” I asked, hoping he was at least decent enough to actually play, but not so good he’d completely destroy me.
“I’ve never played,” he said.
“You’re kidding!” I burst out, maybe a little too loud before I dialed it back. “You’ve never played poker?” I leaned forward slightly, like I must have misheard him over the storm. I could have sworn poker was a big deal in Japan. Even if you couldn’t win money legally, there were always prizes instead, an incentive Zavier used plenty of times.
“No,” he said dryly, like he didn’t understand why I was shocked.
“And you don’t know the rules?” I asked slowly, already realizing this was my chance to shine at something he didn’t know.
“Not at all.”
Slowly, a smile spread across my face. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “Why does it sound like it’s going to be anything but?”
“You’ll be fine,” I said, already moving and clearing off the small table that had somehow survived the structural chaos of the rest of the house. “I’ll teach you.”
“That sounds even worse.”
“It’s easy.” I insisted. “You’ll pick it up quickly, I promise.”
He said nothing, which I chose to interpret as agreement.
I dug through one of the drawers until I found a slightly worn deck of cards, the edges soft from use but still intact enough to function, and shuffled them with a familiarity that calmed me more than I expected.
“Okay,” I said, dealing two cards to each of us. “We’re going to play Texas Hold’em. It’s the simplest version, and honestly, the most fun.”
“Definesimple.”
“You get two cards,” I said, tapping his. “Those are yours. No one else sees them. Then we build five shared cards in the middle, and you make the best five-card hand you can using any combination of yours and those.”
He glanced at his cards, then back at me. “And the objective?”
“Win, duh,” I said simply. “Best hand takes the round.”
“Define best.”
I grinned. “Okay, so highest is a royal flush, which you’ll probably never get, so don’t worry about it. Then straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pairs, one pair, high card.”
He was quiet for a moment before letting out an audible sigh. “I thought you said this was simple.”
