Page 28 of He Is Ours (Lovers in Crossfire #2)

Chapter twenty-eight

Olivia

I

walk

into

The

Silver Serpent again, side by side with Oliver. This time, the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up, my pulse is racing, and I am on high alert.

I lean over to Oliver, "Let's go play some blackjack and see what we can hear from the customers and dealers. Maybe we will get some intel from the locals."

Oliver nods at me and starts walking towards the tables.

We found a table close to the bar with two open seats.

I sit down next to an older gentleman smoking a cigar.

He has slicked-back silver hair, a tailored black Dormeuil Vanquish II suit, a red tie, and ruby-encrusted cufflinks.

His cologne smells like Shumukh by Nabeel.

This might be the perfect man for me to be sitting by.

He is dripping in money and fancy clothes.

I am wearing an emerald green dress that falls to the floor and hugs every curve on my body just right, featuring a one-shoulder design and an overskirt with long sleeves.

Oliver is wearing a Brunello Cucinelli tuxedo with an emerald green tie to match my dress.

We've gotten several weird looks today because we match.

But we are twins, and we enjoy matching.

Everyone can suck a big fat cock if they don't like it.

My temper and attitude are at an all-time high, not only because of the pregnancy, but also the fact that I am going to see the face of the man who threatened MY Rachel.

This situation makes me anxious, because I can't do anything besides sit here. I know I have to think of the baby, but I still want to help, be useful, and protect what is mine, but I can't.

I make myself stop thinking so much and start listening to the conversations around me.

I pull out a couple of hundred-dollar bills from my black clutch bag and lay them on the table.

The dealer takes the cash and hands me chips that I slide close to me.

Oliver does the same to my left as the old man with slicked-back hair sits to my right, watching my every move. I give him my best flirty grin.

"Hi, I'm Olivia. What's your name?"

He starts to laugh, a deep rumble of a laugh. "Giovanni, sweet girl." His voice is deep, and he has a strong Italian accent.

I flinch at the nickname, but quickly school my features. I don't need anyone getting under my skin tonight. I feel Oliver pat my leg, and I turn to look at him. He nods to the dealer, who is intensely watching me.

"Is everyone ready?" The dealer asks, all of us nodding our heads in response.

He starts to shuffle the cards. I am assuming there are six decks to try to prevent counting cards. Little did they know, this game is my absolute favorite, and I can win no matter what.

The cards are dealt, and I look at mine. I got the queen of hearts and a jack of spades—perfect, a twenty. I then look up and start to read everyone's faces.

There is a blonde woman, wearing a red dress, sitting at the other end of the table, who lifts her eyebrows; I look at her cards, and she has a ten of spades and a seven of diamonds.

Not bad. The Hispanic-looking man in a grey suit, sitting next to her, tightens his lips.

I look down at his hand, a queen of diamonds and a six of spades.

I bet he's thinking that if he hits, he'll go over, but if he stays, he'll lose; that's a tough call to make.

The next two guys both have a forced neutral state; one has a nine of diamonds and a six of clubs.

The other has a ten of clubs and a four of hearts.

. That's not terrible, but they both will want to hit to have a fighting chance.

Then, I look at Giovanni; he is hard to read, his face completely blank.

I am more interested in what he is thinking than in what his hand is.

I watch him intensely; his cards add up to eighteen, so he is fine.

I look at Oliver, who raises his eyebrow, and I know he is curious to know what I think about everything.

I am the twin who is good at reading people; he got all the other smarts.

The dealer nods at us, moves his card to the little viewing mirror for him to see, and nods.

"Are you guys ready?" We nod again, and he turns to the lady in the red dress.

"Hit," She says with a smirk. He flips a two of diamonds. She chews on her bottom lip, thinking hard about her next move.

"I'm going to stay," she says, waving her hands horizontally over her cards, palm down.

The Hispanic man hits. He gets a four of spades. He let out a massive sigh of relief. He got lucky as fuck.

The next guy hits and gets a king of hearts; Bust, his face drops.

The man next to him also hits and gets a ten of spades; Bust.

Now it's Giovanni's turn. He swipes his hand over the cards, and he is standing.

The dealer shifts his gaze to me and smiles. It’s the first time I’ve really looked at him.

His smile is slimy, and it makes my stomach twist.

He looks like the kind of guy who lives in his mother’s basement and spends all day gaming. His red hair is slicked back, but not in a good way; it’s greasy, like it hasn’t seen shampoo in weeks. Something about this guy feels off. Way off.

Then it hits me.

HE IS A STARR brOTHER!

"What will it be, sweetheart?" He raises his eyebrow at me, and I finally see all the similarities to Andrew. My fist tightened under the table.

"Stand." That's all I can say through clenched teeth. He smiles that sickening smile at me again and goes to Oliver, who also stands.

The dealer rolls over his cards, and he has a nine of hearts and a queen of spades.

"Congratulations." He says as he passes out the chips to the winners. I grab my chips, put them in my clutch, and leave the table. I need to get a drink, and it sucks because all I want is a whiskey, and I can't even have that! Fuck pregnancy. This shit is such a pain in the ass.