Page 51 of Ace of Hearts

Levi

July

Las Vegas, USA

I stay absolutely still, my eyes glued to the final card. I don’t feel anything. People around me are exploding into cheers, but I’m frozen to my seat.

I’ve just won twelve million dollars.

I’m a millionaire ... and the poker world champion.

“You did it!” Li Mei shrieks, throwing her arms around my neck. “Levi, you did it!”

I can still hardly believe it. I get up slowly and put my arms around her, my hands trembling a little.

I’ve imagined this moment a thousand times.

I always thought I’d feel a wave of relief .

.. and pride ... Or at least a sense of satisfaction at the thought of having kept the promise I made to myself six years ago.

I don’t feel any of that.

I’m just ... sad. Empty. I think of my father, and all I want to do is cry. Does this moment of victory make it all worthwhile? I’m not so sure now that it’s here.

I extend my hand toward Tito, knowing full well he won’t shake it. I smile cruelly as he scowls at me in front of the cameras; he’s doing a very good job of making a fool of himself, with no help from me.

“You knew,” he growls.

I know what he’s talking about. Yes, I knew he’d have the croupier changed. Yes, I knew he’d cheat. Despite it all, I managed to beat him. I hope he feels like a piece of shit right now.

“You can say goodbye to Rose,” he hisses, “because you won’t be seeing her again after this.”

I burst out laughing. Even Li Mei raises an eyebrow and smiles. Does he still think he has some kind of control over her? It’s hilarious.

“With all due respect, dear father-in-law, I don’t see how you’ll be able to stop me from seeing your daughter. Not from where you’re heading.”

He doesn’t grasp my meaning, but I don’t care. He’ll understand soon enough. As I expected, Rose is waiting for me outside the room, with Thomas and Lucky. I give them a smile intended to convey both pride and calm, as if I knew all along how it would end.

Rose runs over and bounds into my arms with a cry of joy. She nearly bowls me over, but I hold on to her as she wraps her legs around my waist.

“How was I?” I ask, sensing the cameras all around me.

“Totally sexy,” she breathes, and kisses me. I return her kiss willingly, taking it as my reward.

“Your fiancé’s loaded now, you know.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Of course he is. I know how to pick a winner.”

Rose pays absolutely no attention to her father, even though he’s standing nearby. I put her down but keep hold of her hand, and the others in our group come over to congratulate me. All of a sudden, the reality of the situation hits home.

I won. I actually won. Me, a handicapped dolt , as my father used to put it so beautifully. I’ll be able to use this money to give my mother the peace and happiness she deserves. As for Tito, it shouldn’t be long before he’s made to pay for his sins.

Right on time, revenge joins the party, sealing my victory. A worried-looking man rushes up to Tito. He says something urgent to him in Italian. I don’t need to understand the language to know what the message is.

I look at Thomas, who nods silently in reply. Rose sees this and looks over at Tito with a frown. I know she hears what they’re saying, because she gradually turns pale.

Tito’s expression also darkens, and he turns abruptly to me, his eyes wide.

“What have you done, you little shit?”

I keep one hand nonchalantly in my pocket, assuming an expression of innocence incarnate.

“Who, me?”

I don’t have time to say more. He explodes and leaps toward me, grabbing my shirt collar. The force of his movement throws me back against the wall. I don’t fight back, aware of the cameras swooping in.

“Smile—you’re on camera,” I whisper, so that only he can hear.

“This is my whole life you’ve just fucked up!” he bellows, a vein in his forehead throbbing dangerously. “My career! My legacy! You dirty ...”

I can’t believe my ears. He has the nerve to say that to me? He was the one who ruined my life! All I did was expose his crimes. He should have been smarter; that’s all.

Someone comes over to pull him away, but before they succeed, I hiss one last thing through clenched teeth.

“In that case, we’re even. Rot in hell, asshole.”

I give him a wink and a wolfish smile. Rose watches us in silence, her arms folded. Her father curses to himself, running one hand through his hair in frustration, and takes her by the wrist.

He says something to her in Italian, but she pulls her hand away and completely ignores him.

Seeing him alone, the journalists immediately pounce.

They’ve been waiting for six hours now—six hours beyond the moment the New York Times published an article about what it refers to as the “Ferragni Scandal.”

I guess they have a few questions to put to him.

“I have no idea what’s going on,” says Lucky.

“Check out the New York Times social media feeds,” Thomas advises him.

The journalists are trying to get something out of Tito, but he’s denying all the allegations and shouting about defamation. Eventually, he shoots a murderous look at me and disappears.

At my side, Rose is still silent. She already knows what’s happening. Li Mei reads Lucky’s phone over his shoulder.

“‘Tito Ferragni, founder of the Italian streaming platform Speakup, is accused of evidence tampering, interfering with witnesses, and money laundering.’ Shit. Is this true?”

She turns to me, shocked. I nod. They read the rest—but I already know everything that’s in the article. The bribes and money laundering were already common knowledge. The evidence tampering, on the other hand ...

Seven years ago, an employee of Tito’s named Muzio died in an accident at work.

He was about to get out of a lift when the car broke away and fell down the chute, apparently because there was air in the cylinders.

Speakup was clearly at fault because Tito hadn’t had the company perform regular safety inspections.

This hasn’t been generally known until now. Tito obviously did everything he could to keep the affair quiet, to the point of tampering with evidence and bribing witnesses. It was simply a stroke of good luck that led me to finally uncover this secret, after years of digging.

This article is all the Italian police will need to begin an investigation.

He won’t have time to hide all the evidence before he gets home.

Tito’s in a real fix, and so is his business.

He’ll be sentenced to several years in prison; the exact number will depend on how well he’s able to defend himself in court in Italy.

Plus the police are already looking for the guy who tried to run me and Lucky over.

“Whoa, that gives me goose bumps,” Lucky murmurs.

I look worriedly at Rose, who still hasn’t moved.

I’m afraid she’ll resent me. Despite all he’s done, Tito’s still her father, and a scandal like this is bound to have repercussions for her family.

I even thought about not going through with it, but in the end, I realized the risk to them was low: Tito has always been smart enough to keep his wife and daughter out of the media spotlight, so nobody knows who they are.

I’m also rich enough now to look after them both if need be.

Tito should be the only one made to suffer from his new situation. Especially because Rose and her mother have loved and supported him all these years without ever receiving anything in return.

“Hey . . .”

I move to put my hand on her arm, but she pulls away.

“I need to get some air.”

I let her go.

Rose is nowhere to be seen for the rest of the day.

After a few interviews and photographs, I sit down alone next to the pool to enjoy the peace and the sunshine. I hoped Rose might join me, but there’s no sign of her.

Li Mei offers to look for her, but I tell her to leave Rose in peace. She needs time, and I understand that.

“So, is it really over?” Lucky asks as the four of us gather in the suite for dinner.

Thomas has opened a bottle of champagne to toast the occasion. After years of planning and preparing, we’re finally rich and free.

“It’s really over,” I assure him with a smile. I still find that hard to believe, but I guess that’s normal. It’s going to take me a while to adjust. Now that I’m no longer single-mindedly pursuing that goal, what am I going to do with my life?

“Shit ... we’re all millionaires? Seriously?”

“I’m not all that surprised,” Li Mei comments. “My name means silver . Being rich has been in my DNA all along.”

“What are you all going to do with the money?” asks Thomas.

I told them I’d share the twelve million between the four of us, and I intend to keep my promise. I also promised Rose a share if I won, back when we were in Macau. I hope she’ll accept it. There’s a very good chance I wouldn’t have succeeded without her help.

“Pay for my studies, to start off with, and my little sister Jasmine’s too,” says Lucky without hesitating. “Then buy a huge house for my parents.”

“Will I seem terribly shallow if I say shoes ?” Li Mei grimaces.

“No more so than usual.”

“Cool. What about you, Thomas?”

My friend shrugs pensively. Nobody knows anything about his family or his past, not even me.

“I haven’t decided yet.”

Nobody asks me what I’m going to do; they already know.

We eat and drink until we can’t eat or drink any more. Lucky has to go back to Los Angeles tomorrow; he’s been away from his family way too long. Li Mei doesn’t take her eyes off him all evening, and they’re the first to disappear into their bedroom.

“It appears I’m going to need earplugs again tonight,” Thomas sighs. “Don’t you guys ever give it a rest?”

“Envious?” I tease him, with a lascivious smile.

“No,” he lies.

I’m about to ask him what’s stopping him from finding someone himself when I hear the beep of the suite door opening. Thomas downs the rest of his beer and wishes me good night before disappearing. I stay on the sofa, my legs stretched out and my cheeks hot.

Rose appears, a plastic bag in her hand. She looks devastated, but she manages a sad smile.

“I brought Chinese, but I see you’ve already eaten ... I should’ve guessed.”

I can tell by her face that she’s been drinking. I hold out my arm, inviting her to come over. She drops the bag and comes to sit on my knee.

“Do you hate me for it?”

She shakes her head immediately. “No. You did the right thing. He deserved it. It just ... hurts. I feel guilty, I guess. I hope my mother will be OK.”

“Of course she’ll be OK. I’ll make sure none of this touches her, or you, Rose. I promise.”

She nods, playing with my fingers. She brings one to her mouth and gives it a little kiss, then does the same with the others. A shiver runs all through me.

There’s something weighing on us both, and although we don’t mention it, we both know what it is. Lucky’s leaving tomorrow, and it won’t be long before Li Mei and Thomas do the same. As for me, I ... need to go and be with my mother. And Rose needs to be with hers.

We can’t stay here indefinitely. Sooner or later, we’ll have to say goodbye.

“You played brilliantly today. I was impressed,” she says.

“Wow. That means a lot. Thank you.”

“How do you feel? Now that you’ve got your revenge ... relieved? Calm?”

“Not really. It’s stupid, isn’t it? I ... I think you were right. Revenge doesn’t really work that way. I’m glad Tito’s paying for his crimes, of course, but when I think about my past, I still feel the same pain. And part of me regrets spending ten years of my life obsessed with him.”

She rests her head on my shoulder, and I know she understands exactly what I mean.

“That’s true. But don’t forget that ten years is only a smaller piece of a whole lifetime.

Now you can look to the future: you’ll have your mother by your side, and no worries.

As for the other things ... the trauma, the guilt .

.. you can work on them. Luckily, your beautiful and brilliant girlfriend studied psychology. ”

“Model, painter, and psychologist? I’ve hit the jackpot.”

“Well ... everyone’s got their talents. I’m a multitasker; you’re a millionaire. We’re a good match.”

I burst out laughing and lean in to nibble her neck. She kisses me, tenderly at first, then passionately. I hoist her onto my shoulder and carry her into our bedroom, where we make love until she collapses on top of me and then falls asleep like an angel.