AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Everyone knows except her.
“The new girl’s. It appears her building already has two mortgages against it. It’s maxed out and in arrears.”
Her words settle into the pit of my stomach.
My little Willow is deep into something.
When I saw her walk through the doors of our club tonight, I knew something must be horribly wrong for her. She would never come in here—to us. She’s too good for this place. We both knew it and we let her go years ago.
We.
Glancing across the eight seats at the table I make eye contact with Shane, my business partner and my best friend since fifth grade. He does a double take as his eyes lock with mine, and he straightens a little in his seat.
I know Shane well enough to tell my expression has piqued his curiosity, and I shake my head, secretly telling him nothing is wrong.
I’ll fill him in later.
Turning my head, I lower my voice and Ginger turns her ear for my response.
“Let it ride. I’ll handle it. We’ll cover her debt.” I speak low so only she can hear me. Then shifting my stare from Shane, I grab Ginger’s attention and continue with a small smile pasted on my face. I speak quietly while settling my gaze on Hazel. “No one finds out about this.”
Ginger nods once, and stands with an accommodating smile plastered on her face. She knows when to keep our secrets. She’s one of only a small handful of the girls we allow into our backroom poker game on Friday nights. She’s a single mom and the widow of one of our country’s fallen soldiers and we’ve never had any issues with her.
The people we entertain back here are our top level clients and the winnings we play for on nights like tonight can set a person up for a long time if you are in a lower income bracket.
Which reminds me.
Glancing back to Willow, I watch my pretty little fish out of water. She’s holding her own but it’s clear she doesn’t know what she’s doing, and it’s throwing off the more seasoned players seated around the table with us tonight.
These are guys who are accustomed to watching frozen statues for the smallest tell, a sign of a good hand, or a bust.
Willow is the opposite of calm and composed.
She doesn’t know enough to be guarded and she’s a hot mess. The anxious vibes she’s giving off is too much to read and the men around me have been making mistakes since the game started. Her actions have become so confusing that Tony—seated to my right—stopped watching her altogether twenty minutes ago.
My guess is she’s been riding on pure luck since her first hand.
The pot in the middle of the table is growing. A few of the guys are out of the game now and just watching the night unfold.
Speaking of fold, another client just threw in the figurative towel.
Good.
That leaves Shane, Tony, myself, and our Willow.
The game will most likely wrap up on this next hand. I sense Tony is anxious to be done.
As the cards are dealt, Willow’s eyes light up and her shoulders relax a fraction, probably in relief.
Since I am a betting man, I’d say she’s got something good in her hand.
Tony stays silent and Shane steals a glance at me, then looks back to his hand.
I’ve got a pair of fours. Shit.
The dealer goes around the table and each player switches out their cards.
Shane raises a finger, asking for one card. It’s not lost on me that the motion he makes is subtle so he doesn’t draw any attention to the fact that he has four good cards already.
