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Subtly shifting from one foot to the other, Ace prayed the players would hurry the game along. The sooner they secured an invitation onto the Demopoulos compound, the sooner they could find the scroll and get the hell out of there.
Leaders of the Greek crime ring were ruthless. They didn’t hesitate to kill people who got in their way, including some of their own—possibly evidenced by the assassination of the previous kingpin who’d been gunned down in the streets of Athens.
Given the fact Demopoulos had taken over as the head of the organization, Ace would bet the man had something to do with his boss’s demise.
If only they knew who had Eli, they might have a chance of rescuing him without the scroll.
As it was, the only chance of luring the kidnappers out into the open with Eli was to dangle the carrot and show them the copper scroll.
The plan was complicated, with too many moving parts and the possibility of glitches along the way.
The scenarios roiled around in Ace’s head.
What if Jasmine didn’t win the poker game? She was down on her chips. One hand could wipe her out. Granted, other players’ winning hands were also helping to deplete Christos’s stack of poker chips.
Ace watched Jasmine’s face from his position. She gave little clues about her cards along the way, and he suspected she did it on purpose. When it came time to go in for the win, she’d have to school her expressions to give away absolutely nothing. Or she could send him mixed singles, bluff her way through and score big.
Another possibility could happen if the dealer didn’t set her up to win. She’d be on her own to make things happen the way she needed them to happen.
Again, too many places for things to go wrong.
The plan was too complex. Sneaking onto the compound without securing an invitation might have proved easier. What was a little concertina wire to a couple of special operation types?
The dealer dealt a new hand. Each player held two cards, and he laid three cards on the table.
Jasmine stared down at the cards in her hand and then at those on the table. Her eyes flared slightly, and the corners of her lips twitched.
For a brief second, Jasmine’s gaze met his.
Ace read in her face that this was the hand that would start Christos down the road to being beholden to her.
Ace tensed.
Christos pushed half his stack of chips into the pot.
Jon folded.
Jasmine raised Christos’s bet.
Klaus and Angelo folded.
Nikolai met Jasmine’s bet.
Christos pushed more chips into the pot.
Jasmine glanced between Christos and Nikolai. Then she met Christos’s bet.
Nikolai met Christos’s bet.
The dealer laid out the next card.
Christos added more chips to the pot, leaving very little left in his stack.
Jasmine met his bet.
Nikolai stared at his two cards and those on the table and then met the bet.
The dealer laid the last card on the table.
