Page 21 of Ace of Hearts

I ponder this for a while, not knowing what to say.

When I went to the Venetian in Macau, I already knew Levi would be there.

It was all part of my father’s plan. Catching Levi cheating was a lucky break: a perfect excuse to start a conversation.

And when I left him hanging, knowing only my name, I knew he’d come looking for me.

Tito figured he’d be interested in me romantically.

“Levi can neither resist a challenge nor ignore a mystery when it’s right in front of him,” he said.

I thought Levi would just flirt with me, nothing more. For a few weeks, we’d act out a version of Pretty Woman —with him in the Richard Gere role, me as Julia Roberts’s heart-of-gold hooker Vivian Ward. For some reason, I have that power over men. After that, I’d follow him to Las Vegas.

But I wasn’t expecting him to ask me for help. I accepted, of course, since I was already going to follow him here. My father had described him as cold, antisocial, calculating, and arrogant. He’s wrong.

Levi is . . . endearing.

“ I wasn’t expecting this,” I admit, running my finger around the rim of my glass.

“He’s very intelligent. Clever too. He has eyes and ears on everything.

He’s always thinking, even in situations where you have to react fast. He’s much more considerate than everyone says.

He smiles a lot when he’s with Thomas. He protects him too.

He’s honorable, fair, polite, charming .

.. the complete opposite of a criminal.

That’s what makes it so hard to hate him. ”

“And he doesn’t suspect anything?”

I shake my head confidently. “I’m almost sure he’s done some background research on me, but he won’t have been able to learn much. His friend’s keeping a close eye on me, though.”

“Why?”

“He thinks I’m a gold digger.”

Tito sniggers to himself and sips his wine.

He’s never wanted my mother and me to be in the public eye.

We’ve always been kept in the shadows. I was even given my mother’s last name, as though he’s been embarrassed by me ever since I was born.

Every year, I ask him to take me to Vegas with him, but he always flatly refuses to take me anywhere near a casino.

He says gambling is my weakness, and that he didn’t bring me up like that.

I begged him this year, promising him I was cured. He accepted on the condition I do him one favor: I never guessed it would be to spy on Levi Ivanovich.

The guy who stole my father from me.

He never stood a chance against me. I hated him before we even met, simply because my father has spent the last six years pursuing a vendetta against him—and comparing me to him. Everything has been “Levi this” and “Levi that.”

“So,” he says, leaning toward me. “Tell me all.”

I give him my first report. I tell him about our training sessions, about Thomas and his suspicions, about Levi’s attempts to pretend he’s losing interest in poker.

“Clever,” he comments. “I’ll admit, I nearly fell for it.”

“He’s very convincing.”

“So the noises keeping me awake at night ...”

My cheeks turn warm. I’d completely forgotten about that. “That was just a ruse. We sleep in separate rooms.”

He looks pensive. “Rose ... That little shit is up to something. He’s got a plan; I know it. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t look so confident.”

“I’ve just told you what his plan is. He wants to make you think ...”

“No. That’s not enough. You’re just a distraction, another layer of whatever it is he’s plotting. He’s got something else in mind that he hasn’t told you about. I’ve done everything I can to find out what it is. I’ve even had him followed! But I’ve had no luck. It’s getting irritating.”

I know I shouldn’t, but I feel a great sense of satisfaction flow through me as I see the light of fear in his eyes. Tito Ferragni scared stiff—that’s a first! I may hate Levi (and his father) for having stolen my childhood, but I must say ... I admire him too. Just a little.

I don’t know what Levi is cooking up, and I don’t really care. He’s nobody to me. A pawn on a chessboard, a means to an end. All I want is to settle my debts and get away from my father for good. To get away from poker. Away from my weaknesses.

My father thinks we’re a team, but he has it all wrong. I’ve never been on his side. I work solo. I have my own plan: betray Levi first, then my father. I’ll make Tito win, because that’s what he’s set his mind on; then I’ll steal his winnings and run away with them.

My mother will come with me, of course. There’s no way I’m going without her. I’m sick of rich, arrogant men who think of nothing but poker, revenge, and power. Their little games don’t interest me. They’re pathetic.

“What if we beat him at his own game?” my father says.

“Meaning what?”

“Make him fall in love.” He sits up straighter in his chair, his tone implying an order rather than a suggestion. “Get him to trust you, confide in you. Levi is strong, but he must have an Achilles’ heel.”

I shake my head. “I’ve already tried. I flirt with him all the time, but he brushes me off—and believe me, it’s terrible for my ego. He has zero interest in me.”

“He’s just making sure you’re interested; that’s all,” Tito assures me, rolling his eyes. “You’re a pretty woman; you’ll manage. And it’s not as though it’s the first time you’ve done this.”

Oh, so I’m a woman now, am I? Since when?

I glare at him, teeth clenched. But what he says is true.

This isn’t the first time he’s sent me off to seduce someone, this man who’s normally too reluctant to face the fact that I’m no longer a child.

I’ve never gone as far as sleeping with any of them, but still, it doesn’t feel all that different from being prostituted.

It makes me sick. But I still do it. Because I’m a fool who’s scared to do anything he won’t like.

I get up to go. I don’t want this to last any longer than it needs to. “Actually, one of your associates recognized me—Robert.”

My father groans and promises he’ll take care of it. It’s not a big deal, but I’m sure Levi noticed my reaction when we bumped into one another leaving the restaurant.

I’m about to leave when he calls me back.

“Rose.”

“Mm?”

“Is that really all you have to report?” His arms are crossed over his stocky chest “There’s nothing else I should know?”

I think back to this evening, to the storm and my discovery of Levi’s secret. I should tell Tito about that. It would be a huge advantage, for all sorts of reasons.

And yet my heart is begging me not to.

In the end, I decide I can’t be absolutely sure what I know. And although I used to do anything I could to please him, I can’t even stand to see my father smile anymore. There’s no way I’m giving him this gift.

I’ll keep it to myself a little while longer. Who knows what I’ll do with it? For once, I’ll use my knowledge to my own advantage. Mine and nobody else’s.

I shrug and draw on all my meager stock of talent as an actress.

“No,” I tell him innocently. “Not a thing.”