The next two days passed by with the Marino siblings explain things to me: Luka taught me how to use a gun, Sofia taught me how to perfect my poker strategy, and Marcus taught me how to use a knife effectively. Laura forced me to go shopping with her to find a dress to wear to the casino, even though she has more than enough dresses.
"I need something slutty!" She whined.
"You already have so many clothes!" I reasoned.
"Yeah...but they aren't slutty enough," was her logic, resulting in me waiting at stores with her for about five hours.
The day of the poker event rolled around, and everyone was in a frenzy. Laura pushed me into her room at the Marino Manor and told me to get ready here. I was instructed to wear a pantsuit instead of a dress to "fit" the type of woman people would picture Laura to be with. Basically, I had to fit into the stereotype that is Laura's girlfriend. I had to do this because if a random girl were to go to the casino and play poker with Hideo, people would suspect I was an informant, which I am.
I got dressed in a peach pantsuit with a black inner shirt; which I paired with black heels and a clutch. Laura, on the other hand, wore the most revealing outfit she could find. She wore a white dress that wasn't even a dress; two strips of cloth were used to cover just the essentials. The neckline went down till her stomach, exposing her cleavage. The dress significantly revealed her hips, meaning if she moves ever so slightly, she will show the world everything under the dress. The back ran a bit low, exposing a small tattoo on her back.
η οικογένεια είναι το παν.
"What does your tattoo mean?" I asked.
"Oh, which one?" She asked.
"The one on your back."
"It means family is everything. This was the last thing my mother said to me before..." She stopped, "nothing never mind."
Family is everything.
"Before what Laura?" I pushed.
"I don't wanna talk about it," she mumbled.
"It's okay you can tell me," I consoled.
"I don't want to."
"Okay," I agreed, backing off before she gets mad.
"You have other tattoos?" I asked.
"Yeah I do, I just cover them up with foundation," she replied.
"Why? I bet they look good," I smiled.
She looked up at me with her big grey eyes and smiled softly, before curling her hair. Laura grabbed her clutch and ran out of the room, leaving a massive mess on the countertop. I groaned, trying to tidy up a bit before leaving. We got into the car, driving off to meet our doom: Hideo Takahashi.
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"What are you doing here?" An oily haired man hissed through gritted teeth. In the background, chatter was heard, along with the sounds of drunk laugher and slurring.
"Geno! How are you?" Laura beamed, "how's your wife?"
His black eyes widened, darkening in fear and anger, "leave."
"Now now," Laura purred, "you owe me, right?"
Geno's aura grew darker, "no."
Laura smirked, "well, I hope you kissed your wife goodbye today."
Panic rose in me; she's bluffing, right? Right?! I could feel the shift in Geno's demeanour as Laura got out her phone, dialling a number.
"Julian, is she in your line of fire?" She paused, "tell me, Geno, you owe me, right?"
I saw his adam's apple bobbled before extending his arm, guiding us into the casino. Laura patted his face harshly, before strutting into the casino, receiving stares from the people outside. Soft music played in the background; being drowned by the sounds of slot machines going off, by cheers and swears, by the sounds of conversations and claps.
"There," Laura signalled towards the left with head. I followed her eyes to notice a man in a black suit, laughing loudly, drink in hand and a woman in his lap. My eyes trailed over the man's face; his black monolid eyes sparkled in the overhead lights, his caramel skin glowing, his black hair slicked back, his beard trimmed down perfectly. This man was the definition of heavenly. I turned away, looking around, noticing Laura at the token counter. I followed her, slipping my hand in hers.
"How much are you placing?" The woman behind the counter asked.
"Seventy thousand," Laura replied, letting go of my hand and handing the woman her credit card. Is that a black card? 'Laurel Zika' glistening in silver on the card as the woman gave Laura her card back along with many tokens or chips.
"We should gamble a bit before we actually try to go to Takahashi's table," Laura suggested, which is precisely what we did. I placed quarters into slot machines, making small talk with the person next to me, as Laura kept her distance from Hideo. Does he know who she is? What would he do if he finds out we are working with Luka? I pushed the thought out of my head as I placed the last quarter in the machine. I sighed, getting up, wanting to play actual poker.
"Hey," Laura whispered from behind me, making me jump, "I got us a table."
She pointed at a table a little to the right of Hideo's table. I followed Laura to the table, going to sit, but I felt her pull my arm, "sit on my lap, you know, to make the whole act more believable."
"What?!" I squeaked, "No! You sit on mine!"
"Me? Why me?" She hissed.
"Look at what you're wearing! Look at what I am wearing!" I replied.
Laura looked down at my clothes before looking at hers; she huffed, "fine, don't enjoy yourself too much."
I grinned, greeting everyone at the table, placing a few chips on the table. Laura squeaked, throwing herself on me, acting excessively drunk.
"Hi, baby," she slurred.
I laughed, "had too much to drink?"
She nodded, placing herself on my lap, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, beaming at the older man next to us. The dealer dealt the cards in front of us; I picked mine up, placing them face down, turning to Laura, who was fiddling with my hair. She looked up at me, smiling before placing a small kiss on the corner of my mouth. I tensed, looking at her with wide eyes.
She giggled, pointing to the corner of my mouth, "you got a little something-something there." She wiped it off with her thumb as I shot her a glare. This woman...Laura adjusted her position on my lap, making my hands shoot up to her thighs, Thank the Lord, I am not a guy. I grabbed her neck, whispering in her ear, "Tread lightly, baby girl, or you'll regret it."
Her mischievous eyes glittered as she squirmed on my lap, not stopping. I ran my tongue on along my lower lip, slowly bouncing my left leg. I felt Laura tense up, trying to get off, but I grabbed her exposed hips, running a finger over the exposed skin, "and where do you think you're going?" She bit her lower lip, clenching my shoulder as I played the game. The whole time I focused on the heartbeat I felt under her dress. Not surprising, after I began bouncing my leg, Laura has been quiet.
"Fuck!" The older man cursed as I threw down my cards, showing off a royale flush. Laura jumped up, cheering, ordering shots on her. She got away. I leaned forwards, pulling all the chips towards me. I drained the shots in front of me, slipping my hand around Laura's waist as she talked to a stranger about stock prices. The man in front of her went on and on about how the stock market is crashing, and they needed to fix the economy. I noticed an empty seat at Hideo's table.
"Empty seat at his table," I whispered into her ear. She said goodbye to the man who was unwilling to stop talking before making our way to Hideo's table.
"Got room for one more?" I asked.
"Of course," the handsome man in front of me said, voice smooth like honey, without looking up. I sat down, looking at Laura, who shook her head pointing at the place shes standing. I could practically hear her say no, I am staying right here, not there where you'll make me go insane.
Hideo raised his eyes looking at me, smiling, "and you are?"
"Aari-" I started, only to be cut off by Laura screaming.
"Ahhh! There you are! I was looking all over for you!"
I looked at her with wide eyes, filled with confusion. She sat on my lap once again, pecking my cheek, whispering in my ear, "everyone knows your name now because you work for Luka, remember."
"Laurel?" The deep voice spoke.
She grimaced, before putting on a fake smile and turning around, "Takahashi! I didn't see you there."
He waved off the girls behind him, sitting up, "I haven't seen you since that night."
Laura clenched her fist under the table, "yeah, can you start the game?"
Hideo sat back, sipping his drink, "you look good, by the way, Aarina De Niro."