Page 118 of Double or Nothing

Alice is changing too. She’s bright-eyed, sharper-tongued and less interested in keeping the right poses. She’s letting herself go. Dropping the Parker name without realising it.

All in all, these two are becoming dangerous. Dangerous to themselves, and dangerous to each other.

I like dangerous.

I like them dangerous.

I just really don’t like how much I like it.

“You’re staring,” Alice says to me. “You have laser beams for eyes, you know that?”

“Of course I know that. I stare professionally. It’s my line of work.”

“At cards?”

“At people.”

She picks up her cocktail, pulls me in with a smile.

“What do you see, then? When you look at us?”

I laugh. “A horny pussy and a guy with blue balls.”

“Stop it, Jack, I mean it.”

“So do I.”

She tilts her head to the side.

“Jack. Come on. Share your people-watching wisdom with us, and tell us what you really see.”

More danger. It’s her pushing it now.

I look at Bryce. Then at her. Then back at the table, where a man with a huge gold signet ring is trying to bluff his way through a disastrous hand. Pathetic. He should have quit ages ago.

He’s boring. They’re not. So I go for the truth of it, aiming right for the guts.

“I see two people pretending they’re not sitting on a bomb destined to explode.”

Bryce’s expression closes down. His shoulders stiffen.

Alice brushes her knees with her fingers, smoothing her dress down like it needed smoothing.

There it is.

That something underneath. Something not mine to know. Something heavy and ugly and tied up in the Lord of All Parker’s empire, no doubt. Daddy’s handprints are all over it, even if I don’t know the details yet.

I could dig.

Part of me wants to. Badly. Part of me wants to carry on and win this three-way Cluedo game. The other part wants to bail from the casino and focus on cock, ass and spread pussy lips instead. That’s the safe option.

I’m surprised when Alice takes a long swig of her cocktail, eyes on me.

“Then maybe we should stop pretending, at least for tonight. All three of us. The bomb can wait for another day. This is about fun, right?” She shrugs like it means nothing. “We all want to have some fun.”

Oh, Soul Girl.

Beautiful move. Nice and brave there.