Page 152 of House of Cards

“Zoey!”

But I’m already running, dragging my pants up, hopping on one leg as I almost lose my balance, ripping the keycard out of my pocket where I shoved it the moment I got that bathroom door closed.

No fucking way I’m hanging around until he makes good on his promise. Smith doesn’t have a moral code. He could decide he’d like to see my insides next, and there’d be nothing stopping him. No guilt. No remorse. And his mafia friends would probably jerk off over the photos he’d take of my defiled corpse.

Wow, I’m angry.

Or scared.

Probably both.

The clock on the hotel room’s wall taunts me as I pass.

10:54 PM.

An hour to save Ricky.

An hour to get to the diner and convince Elonzo to exchange a handful of casino chips for my brother’s life.

I’d laugh, but I don’t have time to lose my shit right now.

I swipe the keycard over the panel by the door, grab the handle, turn.

The hallway outside teeters as I rush out and almost lose my balance again. He left my legs weak, my core aching, my clit pulsing. But I’ve never heard of someone being fucked into an early grave, and I refuse to be the first on record.

As I reach the elevator, II should have tried finding the stairs instead. But that might have risked me ending up in a blind hallway, Smith at my back, caging me in.

Somehow, this feels better. Safer.

Even when Smith rushes out of the hotel room with balled fists, teeth flashing in a grimace when he turns and spots me.

He’s all the way at the end of the hall. The doors are already closing.

I’m safe.

He starts sprinting.

Jesus, he’s fast.

I retreat until my back slams into the elevator’s bronzed wall, heart clanging in my chest.

“No, no, no, no!” The words become more frantic the closer he comes.

He’s not going to make it.

Scratch that,I’mnot going to make it.

“No!” I yell, when the blade of his hand slices into the narrow opening, just before the doors close.

They should have kept closing. Should have splintered his fingers and left him crippled for life. But fortune’s never been on my side, especially in this fucking casino.

The Devil’s Luck has it out for me.

Smith

The elevator doors roll open.

I step inside and wait for them to close.