Page 26 of Game of Love
Armand then turned to the men who had started to look sick. One of them looked pale, the one next to him actually looked green. My hands started shaking and I held back tears.
The first guy at the left end of the table, who seemed to be the strongest, went first. He selected a card from the stack in the center and he was wrong. He selected another from the stack to the left. Wrong again. Stack to the right, wrong again. he continued searching. There were no red queens. It was all jacks and kings, Not even a black queen. It was clear Pa meant for him to go row by row, and as I watched the guy I started to think none of his stacks contained any red queens, let alone three.
The guy who looked green had been doing the same but stopped midway, stood up and just dropped to the ground. The guy who looked pale followed suit.
Tears ran down my cheeks and now I knew there was more reasoning to why I’d never been allowed to come here.
This was business.
God in heaven, this was business. A part of it.
The darkness.
The strong guy collapsed on the floor in a heap joining the others and the guy I hadn’t been paying attention to started shaking and screaming.
He screamed so loud it pierced through me. Armand ended him with a bullet to the head. Blood splattered everywhere and Armand just laughed.
Bile rose in my throat and my voice faded away.
Pa released me and stood looking on at the four dead men lying on the ground.
“I guess they didn’t make the cut,” Pa declared with a wicked chuckle. “It’s a lesson for the guys on the next round. If you want in, this is it. My test. I need the strongest. Who’s next?”
I didn’t think anybody would get up. It was clear this was some death game and Pa had obviously made an example out of the first four men.
I expected silence but shock flew through me when a blond man stood up from the back and walked forward. It took me two seconds to recognize him.
Mr. Gorgeous from the club!
What was he doing here?
I wasn’t sure if I should be annoyed, because he must have known who I was last night.
It was just as I’d said. This was Vegas, you only tended to see people a second time if it was intentional. No one knew I’d be here tonight, but the only thing that connected us was Pa.
Through my tear-stained gaze I watched him, and my heart stilled in my chest when he walked straight past the table, straight past Pa and Armand, and came up to me.
He stopped just in front of me and those eyes held me in place. They made me forget my prior thoughts of last night and meeting him.
There was something gentle in the stare that captured me and soothed me away from the horror that was taking place. He surprised me further by pulling a Kleenex from his back pocket and handing it to me.
I took it even though I was still looking at him, still looking at the brightness of the hue of his eyes. He moved away before I could utter my thanks and walked up to the man who carried the drinks.
A shudder swept through me when he grabbed a cup and knocked it back like a shot of vodka. He did it effortlessly, knowing it was poison. Then he took his place at the table, lowering to sit in the chair nearest Armand while two of Pa’s guys started clearing away the bodies of the fallen men.
Both Pa and Armand looked him over with curiosity, as did everyone else.
Who was this guy?
Why in the hell did he seem so fearless?
I thought Pa might ask for more people but it was obvious that no one else would be stepping forward tonight and if they did have plans to, they were clearly checking things out first before they put themselves in the danger of death like the first guys had.
Armand took a stack of cards and did the same set up he’d done before.
Three rows of cards laid out on the table before Mr. Gorgeous.
“Go on, find the three red queens,” Armand told him.
