Page 19 of When He Plays

Not happening.

But he was in the middle of a game, and the stakes were rather high so Logan tightened his hold around her waist as he held her on his lap.

She then proceeded to squirm and try to get away from him.

Logan brought his mouth near her ear. “Don’t.” That was all he said. But there was an edge of steel in his voice that wasn’t normally there.

She stilled.

Pierre flipped over all his cards.

Nine of Hearts. Ten of Spades. Jack of Spades. Queen of Diamonds. King of Clubs.

Sebastian let out a whistle. “Someone was sitting on a Straight. Got to say, I did not think you had jack shit.”

“Neither did I.” From Carmichael.

A broad grin curved Pierre’s lips.

Freya didn’t change expression.

Harper just looked extra worried. That woman should not be at my game.

“That’s good,” Ares allowed. “But not good enough. Sorry, malakas.”

Logan felt Charlotte stiffen in his lap as Ares began to very slowly—and very dramatically because the Greek tended to be one dramatic sonofabitch—turn over his cards.

First card…Seven of Clubs.

Second card…Seven of Spades.

Third card…

Ares paused to grin.

Third card…Seven of Hearts.

“Hardly impressive,” Pierre grunted. “You’ve got three of a kind. From where I sit, I beat you, mon amie.”

Obviously, Pierre needed to work on his Greek. Because Ares had called him malakas which basically translated to dick. Or, you know…a dumbass who masturbated a lot. In response, Pierre was calling Ares…my friend.

Such a mistake.

In Logan’s opinion, Ares wasn’t a friend to anyone. He was, in fact, a very, very dangerous enemy to have.

And Logan fully intended to piss the man off that night.

You aren’t getting Charlotte. And you never, ever should have brought her into our bet. Ares had done that for one reason and one reason alone…To get under Logan’s skin. To search for a weakness. To see if Logan really cared about his new personal assistant.

And I had to take the bait. Because I do fucking have a weakness.

He’d known that having Charlotte at the private game would be problematic. He’d tried to keep her out. Then she’d come in and everything had gone to hell because he hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off her.

I wasn’t the only one.

If he and Charlotte got out of that room without him killing someone, it would be a miracle.

“You haven’t seen all my cards yet,” Ares announced. His lips twisted with satisfaction.