Page 7 of Silent Schemes

I stare back until he looks at his shoes.

“Buy-in’s two thousand,” Sienna says, her voice so sultry it makes me want to pull her esophagus from her throat and taste it.

The pit boss brings chips.

I pay in cash, stacking the chips in neat columns.

She raises an eyebrow, impressed or pretending to be.

We play.

I don’t count cards.

I don’t need to.

I win the first two hands without looking at the totals.

On the third, I throw it, just to see if she’ll take advantage.

She does, and the smile she gives me is the first real thing she’s shown all night.

After ten hands, we’re even.

The crowd is watching us now.

The table is a stage, and we’re the only ones who know it’s all theater.

“New in town?” she asks, shuffling the cards.

“No,” I say.

She laughs, low and bitter. “Didn’t think so.”

On her next win, she reaches for her purse and drops her lipstick. It rolls across the felt and lands at my side. I pick it up, feel its weight, and immediately know there’s a blade inside. Nice balance.

I hand it back. “Dangerous things, these little tubes.”

She takes it, unscrews the cap, and shows me the edge—just for a second. “Only if you open them the wrong way.”

I lean in, close enough to catch her scent, jasmine, rose, and some type of musk that makes me heady. “I never do anything the wrong way.”

Our eyes meet. Green and brown, both unblinking.

I see the moment she recognizes me.

Not just my face.

What I am.

She’s not afraid, but she is suddenly interested.

“I know who you are,” she whispers, barely loud enough for anyone but me.

“That’s the point,” I say.

She laughs again.

Real this time.