❝ LADY LUCK! ❞ → MARVEL

- FOUR

FOUR

→ ❝ i'm winning! ❞

"Mister Stark," she greeted the man enthusiastically as she descended the final five steps of the golden staircase, her red shoes clicking on the marble steps and the sound ceasing as she stepped onto the lush carpet. She held her arms out wide, as if greeting an old friend. "Welcome!"

Tony gave her a one armed hug and kissed her cheek, "Miss Rowan, it's a pleasure."

"I'm sure it is," she smirked, turning her attention to the man beside Tony. He was even prettier up close, "Harper Rowan, lovely to meet you."

"Steve Rogers," he introduced himself, shaking her outstretched hand. Harper felt her heart beat faster at his strong grip, and hoped that her hands weren't clammy. He then turned to Liv, who Harper was sure would pass out at any second, and shook her hand as well.

"Olivia Chang," Liv spluttered, unsure of what to say. One of the main reasons that Harper chose Liv to be her assistant was her unchartered confidence, which only seemed to fizzle down to a wobbling state of nerves around men that she found extremely attractive. Harper often questioned Liv's choice in men, but – in this instance – she didn't give it a second thought.

To make sure Liv breathed in the next ten seconds and didn't pass out, Harper drew the men's attention back to herself, "Will you both be staying tonight?" she inquired, her fingers crossed behind her back.

Steve, shook his head, and Liv slumped slightly. "I was going to, but I just had an urgent call and it can't wait."

Harper pouted, and couldn't help think that he was somehow lying, "How unlucky," she extended her arm and called forwards the nearest waiter, "I can't even tempt you with one drink?"

Steve laughed quietly, shaking his head and pointing to his watch, "Duty calls, ma'am. But if you want me to stay that badly, I'm sure I can come another night."

"I'm sure you can," Harper smiled slyly, shrugging her shoulders. "Lucky me."

Steve Rogers bid his farewells and Liv waved him off with a dazed wave, as though her hand wasn't quite connected to the commands of her brain. Harper, deciding she didn't want to gamble quite yet, invited Tony up to the VIP Lounge. She knew it would be relatively empty of the boisterous group from before – they would have started to bet – leaving herself and the billionaire in peace until they decided otherwise.

While making her way up the staircase for their third time that night and maintaining a casual conversation about types of car, Harper subtly inspected Tony in more depth than she had initially. She noticed the faint glow from his chest that permeated through his shirt, the way he had his hands stuffed into his expensive trouser pockets, and that his eyes (aided by vintage, square glasses) were flitting around the casino, not in intrigue but as if he was gathering some sort of information. Shifting her attention to the glasses, she was almost certain she could see them casting a blue, electrical shadow onto the man's face; soft and barely there, but there enough for her to be suspicious.

"What are you drinking?" she asked casually as they got to the landing and continued to lead the way across the plush carpets. She hadn't walked barefoot on them in a while and made a mental note to do that with Liv sometime that week. "I can get someone to prepare it so it's ready when we get to the lounge."

"Just a lemonade is fine for now," Tony replied with a polite smile, "You must have some pretty good staff here?" he queried, but (once again) Harper couldn't help but think he wasn't just innocently interested. She was sure she heard him murmur a command to himself, as if he was talking to his own personal assistant. Harper shrugged it off with not much more thought. Besides, where would the assistant be? In his glasses?