Page 68 of Underground Prince

But, oh hell, I loved it.

Until he rocked back on his heels and strode out of the kitchen.

I followed him after a few fumbled thoughts, but only to get back to work. I wasn’t this girl who ran after men who rejected her. It hurt and ached in a way I’d never noticed before, a free fall in my gut and a swaying seasickness all at once, but there was no way I’d give him further satisfaction by demanding why—

“Fine.”

I imagined that word. I made up the whole scene in my head where he paused at the exit and agreed to see me in a romantic atmosphere before he disappeared behind a door.

“What’s fine?” Craig meandered up beside me, munching on a handful of potato chips.

“You heard that?” I asked.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Holy shit,” I whispered.

“What?”

“Never mind,” I said to Craig, smiling like a maniac. “I have drinks to pour.”

“But it’s break.” Craig pointed to the table, where all the men were getting up, stretching and shooting the shit with each other. All except Kai.

Kai was staring at me with a shuttered expression, giving me a look he usually reserved for game-time. And he was heading over.

“Saturday,” Kai said once he reached me. “Two p.m. at the corner of Baxter and White. Meet me there and we’ll start the lessons.”

“I—okay,” I said to him, but Kai kept walking, down the hallway and out of my sight.

Those were the last words he directed at me for the rest of the evening.

16

A MONSTER'S HAND

One day, two trains, four blocks and two dumplings later, I was loitering on a street corner and getting in everyone’s way as they pivoted and hopped around me. The weather was brisk but not uncomfortable, except for the wind shoving my linen scarf in my face every time I circled around to try and catch sight of Kai.

My phone vibrated in my purse.

Kai: Restaurant on northwest corner. Go in.

I zipped my leather jacket up tighter, spinning to the north and dragging my scarf out of my vision, and noticing the restaurant he was referring to. It was under a red awning with LED lights in the windows flashing with the words DIM SUM. Considering it was the only restaurant I could see on this street other than an incongruous whiskey tavern among all the bail bondsmen, this had to be the place. And lo and behold, I’d been standing in front of it the entire time.

“I think I have a reservation?” I said to the hostess once I’d pushed my way in under a tinkling bell.

Would Kai make a reservation? Would he be teaching me the basics while we ate dim sum? I wasn’t altogether opposed to it.

“You are Scarlet?” the woman asked, her face composed into a pleasant emptiness.

I nodded, and she motioned for me to follow her. I glanced back at the hostess table, noticing she didn’t grab any of the menus stacked on the shelf.

She was dressed a black traditional Chinese dress with a golden dragon sewn across her back, so she was easy to follow among all the colorful patrons who were sitting down in the overly heated main dining area, some talking low while others gestured wildly, passionately engaged in conversation with their parties. The noise ebbed and flowed and was rather comforting as we took a complicated route through the squished-in tables toward the back, where a doorway adorned with a heavily beaded curtain awaited.

The hostess pulled back a piece of the curtain, leaning in to talk to someone. I heard my name being said and I moved closer, almost pressing into the hostess as I made to get out of the way of a passing waiter with a handful of plates.

She popped her head back out, nearly nailing mine. “Go ahead.”

Kai possibly got us a table in one of the private rooms so we could speak freely, though talking to me about the basics of poker didn’t seem like such an illegal activity that it needed a back room. I went through the curtain anyway, intrigued by it even if I didn’t understand it.

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