Emma looked at the young man. He was handsome, probably a year or two older than her. She poured him a glass of whiskey and handed it over.
The young man didn't just take the glass. He brushed her hand as well. It was clumsy and hurried, almost endearing. She felt a little sorry for him. The men in this room were going to strip him of every dollar he'd won.
As if to demonstrate even more awkwardness, he held out his hand for a handshake. She returned it with a smile.
She tried to enter his mind, but met resistance. That had never happened before. Perhaps she could push through if she tried harder, but that would only alert him.
'Is he like me?' Emma wondered as she felt psychic pressure attempting to enter her own mind.
She pulled away without drawing attention to herself, then went over to inform Vinny.
"I can't read his mind," Emma whispered into his ear. Vinny's eyes widened slightly as he regarded Sebastian with renewed interest.
"May I ask your name, miss?" Sebastian asked.
She glanced at Vinny before answering.
"I'm Emma Frost," she introduced herself.
"Beautiful, isn't she?" Vinny cut in. "Go on, sit with him." He slapped Emma's ass and pushed her toward the other man.
Emma obeyed. The gaming table had a section for the dealer, while the rest was arranged for the players. Some of the seats were wide enough for two people, designed for occasions like this, when a woman accompanied a man.
The very fact that the casino treated that arrangement as a service it offered made her sad.
Sebastian's hand settled on her thigh, gripping it firmly, as though letting go would somehow cost him all his money. She shot him a warning look, but he only smiled.
"I wasn't expecting the invitation," he told Vinny. "But I certainly don't regret coming," he added, squeezing her thigh.
'Fucking idiot,' Emma thought.
She shifted her legs. His touch felt good. Too good for her liking. Far too good. She played her part and didn't pull away. Neither Vinny nor any of the others noticed anything, which was fortunate for both her and Sebastian.
"I like playing against good players."
"Then you shouldn't have invited me. I just got a little lucky," Sebastian replied modestly.
The men around the table gave condescending chuckles.
"Is that so? You caused quite a commotion out there," another man remarked.
"They'll forget about it in a few days."
"I doubt that," Vinny replied. "So, are you joining us? The minimum bet is ten thousand. Did you bring enough?"
"I hope so." Sebastian placed his chips on the table. A million dollars, if Emma had counted correctly.
Private rooms had their own assigned dealers, responsible for keeping the games running smoothly and making sure there was no cheating or intimidation.
Sebastian's first hand was a pair of aces. Emma signaled it to Vinny, who folded before the dealer revealed the fourth community card. Sebastian ended up winning that hand by a considerable margin against the other mobsters.
"Just luck," Sebastian said.
"Luck. Right. Luck," another man repeated. "What do you do for a living?"
"I sell guns," Sebastian said.
That caught everyone's attention. They were crime bosses, after all, and a reliable supply of weapons was something any of them would want. Vinny glanced at Emma as though telling her to get more information out of him.
"Do you own a company?" Emma asked, resting her hand on his, the one that was caressing her legs.
Perhaps that was a little forward of her. It encouraged Sebastian to move his hand higher, but to her surprise, he didn't take advantage of the opening. If anything, he seemed reluctant.
"Something like that," Sebastian said.
Emma wished she could get inside his head and examine every last detail. She didn't care about the information Vinny wanted. She just wanted to know what the hell was going on with his hands. Could that be part of his mutant ability?
"A small business?" one of the men sneered. "A little shop?"
"Yep, exactly that," Sebastian said, showing not the slightest embarrassment at the man's tone.
Everyone there was like a hungry shark. Vinny had told them what Sebastian had done, how he'd won millions of dollars. Each of them wanted a piece of that money. That didn't mean they were pleased to have him around.
Their egos were so inflated they could barely see past the ends of their noses. His business might be small, but Emma didn't think that was so bad. At least he was free.
If she could choose, she'd want an empire, not just a gun shop. For now, though, she was nothing more than a tool for Vinny.
"You bought a million dollars in chips when you came in," Vinny said.
Emma had told him she couldn't read Sebastian's mind, which meant the young man was probably a mutant. Vinny understood what that implied: abnormal abilities. Emma could read his thoughts like an open book.
"Business is good." Sebastian shrugged.
The dealer began dealing another hand.
The men started discussing their businesses. They didn't mind admitting that their dealings were dirty. The casino was the sort of place where someone could confess to murder and no one would interfere, unless the crime involved the establishment itself.
For the second hand, Sebastian didn't pick up his cards. Emma couldn't see them, so she couldn't tell Vinny what he was holding.
'Is this guy really going to play without looking at his cards?'
And that was exactly what he did. Not just for that hand, but for every hand that followed.
He simply studied the faces of everyone in the room, looking them in the eyes and watching their expressions. Then he raised or folded based on what he saw.
'No. This guy... he's reading their minds.' Emma realized it too late. By then, Sebastian had already won a considerable amount from the mobsters. This chapter was taken from novelping.com without permission.
His original million had grown to roughly four million.
The looks directed at him were no longer friendly. The condescension had vanished.
"You're cheating," Vinny finally said. He turned to the dealer. "Get out."
"Casino rules don't allow players to threaten—"
Vinny didn't care about the rules. He pulled a gun and pointed it at her. The young woman froze, staring down the barrel. Emma's hands tensed, and so did Sebastian's. He squeezed her fingers so hard that he would probably leave marks for days.
But he didn't seem worried about his own life. He was worried about the dealer's.
"Go," Sebastian said softly, keeping his eyes fixed on Vinny. The young woman hurried out. "That's a nice gun. Must be heavy, though, right? All that gold. Oh, is it fake? Or just gold-plated? I doubt you're strong enough to carry the real thing." Emma knew it was only a gold-plated pistol.
Vinny fired. The bullet grazed Sebastian's shoulder. Emma cried out in surprise, but Sebastian didn't flinch.
"You cheated!" Vinny shouted, rising from his seat.
"I didn't." Sebastian shrugged.
Emma reassessed him. He'd just been shot, and his reaction was practically nonexistent. No fear, no anger, only a cold stare as he continued caressing her thigh.
"You're a mutant, aren't you? I'll give you a choice. Work for me." Vinny was a greedy man. If Emma had helped him rise to the top of Nevada, Sebastian could help him conquer New York.
"And if I refuse?"
"Then I'll kill you."
"You can try," Sebastian said.
"You won't kill anyone in my casino." A new man entered the room. Emma looked at him. He was tall, with a regal bearing, short brown hair, and sideburns far too long for her taste. Mutton chops weren't exactly her idea of attractive.
He was powerful.
"Sebastian Shaw. I have business with you today, too," Vinny told him.
Emma was terrified. She took a brief look into Shaw's mind, just a glimpse, and discovered that he was a mutant. An incredibly powerful one.
And Vinny. Stupid, stupid Vinny. He thought he was a lion. A king who stood above both of them. But Emma could see the truth. He was nothing but a fool, a lamb walking straight into the jaws of beasts that could devour him in seconds.
'And I'm stuck with that idiot?' she thought, guiding Sebastian White's hand farther up her thighs. She needed to find a way out.
Emma could see into Shaw's mind, but not White's. That made her suspect that White was probably the most powerful person in the room.
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