Chapter 34 Jack
Jack
This girl. I shake my head as the same question runs through my mind for the thousandth time in one night. What the hell is she thinking?
Four hands? There’s over three hundred thousand dollars on the table, and she offers to win or lose it in four hands? My nostrils flare in frustration as I take a closer look.
The dealer, Chance, starts handing out cards to both Burlone then Ace. With a grin, Burlone tosses in his ante, and Ace does the same.
Chance moves the game along quickly as he places three cards face-up on the table.
That same confident smirk is plastered on Burlone’s face.
He’s not even trying to hide the fact that his hand is good.
Ace, on the other hand, looks nervous. She’s trying to hide it, but I can see it in her gaze, shifting from her hand, back to the community cards, then back again.
It’s Burlone’s turn to lead the bets, and he does so by throwing nearly half his stack into the center.
He’s either an arrogant prick who expects Ace to fold, or he’s reading the situation the same way I am.
Ace doesn’t have anything, and instead of dragging it out, he’s forcing her to the next hand.
Anxiously, Ace tucks her hair behind her ear then matches his bet before calling it, which means it stops Burlone from adding any more money to the pot before Chance can show another card.
Chance places another one onto the center of the table.
There are now two aces, a king, and a jack laying face up.
Watching Burlone’s reaction, I can only assume he’s holding a queen and ten in his hand, giving him a straight, because his face is nearly splitting in two from his reaction to the community cards.
Pushing the rest of his chips into the center pot, he boldly announces, “Your move, Ms. Johnson.”
Again, Ace fidgets in her seat before brushing her hair with her hands and tucking a few of the strands behind her ear. It’s the same motion she did at the beginning of the game when she bluffed hard and lost.
She’s either an absolute idiot who doesn’t know who she’s playing against, or she’s an utter genius. I can’t decide which one is more accurate when it comes to the enigma of a girl I met all those nights ago.
Pushing the rest of the chips to the center of the table, she mutters, “Call. Obviously.”
Chance turns the last card onto the table, completing the river before asking Burlone to show his hand.
Triumphantly, he turns over a pair of kings. “Three of a kind. King high. Sorry, Ms. Johnson. You put up a good fight, but I guess my undefeated title will have to remain intact for now.”
Lifting his hands into the air, Chance stops Burlone from collecting the chips from the center pile.
“Ms. Johnson?”
Ace pins Burlone with her stare. It’s filled with so much animosity that I’m surprised Burlone isn’t burnt to a crisp where he sits.
As if in slow motion, she tosses a single card onto the pile of chips.
An ace, which brings her to two pairs. Ace high.
But it’s not enough to beat Burlone’s three of a kind.
As Burlone’s grin widens, she finishes him off with another flick of her wrist. The entire room goes silent as if we’re all holding our collective breath at once. Tossing a second ace onto the stack, she lowers her chin and watches in satisfaction as Burlone’s grin slides off his face.
“Full house, Mr. Allegretti. But you put up a good fight.” His jaw clenches as she continues, “I have to ask though, does defeating you come with a plaque or anything? Or maybe I can hire someone to make one. Ya know, since you were undefeated and all.”
Hot. Fucking. Damn.
I’ve never seen anything more attractive in my life as she slowly drags the stack of chips toward her, her gaze never leaving Burlone’s as fumes practically shoot from his ears.
I know what he’s thinking because the rest of the crowd is thinking the exact same thing.
She just played him like a fucking fiddle in front of everyone, and he’ll never be able to recover from the embarrassment.
He just got his ass handed to him by a nobody because he underestimated her.
A girl who hasn’t played a single hand of professional poker before tonight just swept the tournament and dethroned the cocky sonofabitch who put it together in the first place.
Hot. Damn.