"Play all eighteen rounds. By the time I'm done with them, they won't be able to scrounge a warm meal for the rest of their miserable lives!"
Great-Grandfather Abbott was nothing if not ruthless.
I rubbed my thumb across the jade ring, and my heartbeat steadied.
What was done was done. But the future? The future was going to go my way.
"You think I can't handle losing?"
"Whoever walks out that door first tonight is a goddamn coward!"
I slammed my wallet on the table. "My contract payment just cleared. A hundred grand, sitting right here. You've got the guts? Let's raise the stakes. Ten thousand a hand!"
The second those words left my mouth, all three pairs of eyes lit up like slot machines.
They'd always been itching to get their hands on my money. The only thing that ever stopped them was that I'd been too tight-fisted to give them the opening.
I had money now, and these three weren't about to let a payday slip through their fingers.
"Sure thing, Thaddeus! Since you're so eager to give your cash away, don't mind if we help ourselves!" Caspar shot a look at the other two.
From that moment on, the atmosphere at the table shifted.