Page 37 of Gambit
“Keep your nose clean, Ms Hughes.” It’s not quite a warning, not quite advice.
“I’ll try my best.”
He snickers, taking me aback slightly, but I turn away and catch Oliver’s eye; there’s a question there, one I answer with a subtle tilt of my head: I’m safe. For now.
But even as I rejoin the guys, I can’t shake off the nagging sense of unfinished business. Peters is a snake without fangs now, but even a toothless snake can wriggle into places you least expect. I’ll have to watch my step, keep my friends close and my enemies within shooting range.
“Peters is down but not out, and we can’t afford to let our guard down,” I muse.
I scan the faces of Raphael, Tarquin, James, and Oliver, each one of them a vital part of this intricate web we’ve woven.
“Challenges don’t stand a chance against us,” Oliver says with a smirk that only he can pull off in the middle of chaos, his confidence infectious.
“That’s right,” I reply with a half-smile.
The taste of victory is like the finest whiskey, smooth and burning all the way down. It’s in the air, fills my lungs, and courses through my veins. I know we’re untouchable. We’re the rulers of our own fate, and I’ll be damned if anyone tries to take that away from us.
“Time to show this university that we’re not just playing for keeps. We are the keepers of this castle.” I look around at the network of trust and power we’ve built and feel the pulse of excitement for the game ahead.
20
ELIZA
As the latemorning sun warms my back, my relief and renewed vigour to kill it this year, academically as well as mafia-ly, is coursing through my soul. Things finally seem to be steadying out, although I will never admit that out loud and jinx the shit out of myself. I kick the townhouse door shut with my boot and drop a stack of textbooks on the coffee table in the living room. The sound of heavy books hitting wood cuts through the quiet of the room like a gunshot, grabbing everyone’s attention. James, sprawled on the couch, his blond hair a tousled mess, lifts his head. Oliver, leaning back on the big armchair with his arms crossed over his chest, raises an eyebrow. Raphael pauses mid-sip from his coffee mug, the steam curling up into his sharp jawline. Tarquin, always the last to break focus, finally looks up from his phone.
“Okay, listen up,” I start, pacing before them like a caged tigress. “We’ve got a lot to sort out—our courses, our mafia business, everything. Look at you four lounging around like you have nothing better to do.”
“We don’t,” Oliver points out.
“Ugh!” I snap, but with no malice, just frustration. “You do. Don’t you want to pass first class with honours?”
“Nope, that’s just you. We are here for the mafia stuff,” Tarquin states.
“Oh, please. Don’t give me that. You’re all too smart for that. You’re being lazy.”
“We are waiting for the next grenade to be launched,” Raphael says steadily before taking another sip.
“If we have played our cards right, there won’t be one,” I argue. “Look, I know things aren’t a given in this world, but we have a moment. Let’s capture it—all of us.”
James stretches, cracking his neck with a sigh. “Fine.”
“You, I’m surprised at,” I round on him. “That quiet intelligence doesn’t deserve to be lying around here unused.”
“No one said I was sitting around here on my ass,” he says, but then narrows his eyes as I gesture at him doing exactly that. “I’m working in the background.”
“Same,” Oliver says, jumping on the bandwagon.
“Not good enough. Back to lectures, all of you. Make your parents proud of your brains as well as your brawn.”
“Jeez, who made you the den mother?” Tarquin grouses.
“Someone needs to do it. First, we get our assignments in line; deadlines don’t wait for anyone, not even us.” I point at the pile of books, a silent order that they know I mean business.
“Right,” Oliver says, less than enthusiastically. “University by day, mafia by night.”
“Exactly,” I confirm, and there’s a glint of respect in Raphael’s eyes as he nods, acknowledging the plan.
We all know the score, the stakes, and the risk. Still, there’s no other option but to succeed—for pride, for survival, and for each other.
