AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You can offer yourself into the pot.”
I stifled a laugh. This long in the business, I should’ve shown surprise, but honestly, this was the least of what I’d been propositioned.
I’d heard about Neri’s predilections, his weakness for young, blond women. He liked them so much, it usually didn’t take more than $50,000 to get an unsuspecting woman to say yes. All cash. The balm to all our humanly woes.
“You’re kidding,” I said.
Neri tapped his cigar. “Do I strike you as a man who jokes?”
“You’d like me to whore myself out.”
“If you want to say it that way, then fine. But if it means you stay in the game, that is your choice.” He leaned forward, cigar tilted between two fingers. “I can see it in you.”
The men around us weren’t about to argue against Neri’s wishes. What Neri said, he meant, and anyone contradicting him usually lost at least a nail bed.
“Play with all you’ve got,” Neri said with a smile. His teeth flashed white.
“I believe I have.” I gestured to the pot, now empty. “And I went into the red.”
“So, then.” Neri flicked ash into the ashtray. “Go into the black. The unknown.”
My lips parted. Neri was closer to the truth than he could’ve imagined. I loved this room, these cards, themoney.I wanted it all, and to stay in the game, I had to risk it all. At least, everything that remained.
Mumbles came from the tables around us, the clatter of drinks hitting trays numbing my ears as Neri’s proposition snaked its way over my moral compass. My chair was jostled by someone walking by. A muffled apology by a familiar voice followed, but I ignored it.
“Only for one night,” I said through the ringing in my ears. Then, to further add concrete to my words, I said, “I’ll put myself into the pot.”
