*tn: please forgive the liberties i took with this chapter; i’m unfamiliar with gambling. as always, thank you for reading!
Chapter 15: Las Vegas
Las Vegas, gambling capital of the world. Millions of colorful lights cast neon shadows on the stream of people in the casinos, and the air was rampant with a cacophony of voices. The city that never slept pulsed with the excitement, disappointment, and impulsivity that dominated its gamblers.
Li Xin was standing in front of a game of roulette, watching the little white ball fall into the pocket adjacent to the one she had bet on. She huffed and kicked the machine in consternation. It had been an entire day, and she hadn"t won once. In the beginning, she"d been unwilling to believe that she couldn"t win even one game, but now, looking at the measly $50,000 she had left from the million she began with, she felt like sulking.
"Can"t you go play another machine? You"re not sick of roulette after all those hours?" The question came from a laughing voice behind her.
"I"m not done yet," Li Xin ground out from between clenched teeth. She took all her chips out and prepared to go all in.
Suddenly, a hand reached over from behind her and grabbed the chips from her. She whipped her head around to see that her a.s.sailant beaming at her. Jun Qi. The rascal that she had left just merely two days prior was looking at her with an infuriating grin.
Jun Qi laughed at her raised eyebrows. "Are you planning on killing it? Or taking it apart?"
Li Xin swept her eyes from his simple jeans to the stark white T-shirt he was wearing. His entire presence was un.o.btrusive, laid-back, and seemingly harmless, so she let out a huff of laughter. "I"m considering it," she said, nodding.
Jun Qi started cackling. He took her hand and pulled her away. As they walked, he joked, "Don"t. They can sacrifice a machine for sure, but I don"t want you to disappear into jail or anything. Come on, just go try your hand at something else."
His easygoing enthusiasm made the corners of Li Xin"s mouth lift just barely into a smile. "I don"t believe this was a coincidence," she said with her eyebrows raised, letting him pull her along.
Jun Qi turned towards her and started shaking his head, his face twisting into an exaggerated heartbroken expression. "Can"t you just pretend it was?" He asked. "Serendipity, you know. It"s so romantic, and proves that we"re meant to be."
She laughed at his disappointment. "I don"t believe in fate," she answered.
He nodded. "I don"t either," he said, looking at her. "So that"s why I do everything in my power to fight for what I want."
After a pause, he gave Li Xin a warm, determined smile, and added, "You, I will never give up. No matter where you run, I"ll catch you."
Li Xin"s lips quirked up slightly. "And then what? Sleep with me and move on?"
Jun Qi rubbed his chin, contemplating her words thoughtfully. "We"d have to do the sleeping first to know. What position do you prefer?"
His words startled her into silence. To be honest, that was a perfectly logical question coming from a person who only thought with his p.e.n.i.s like him, but she still couldn"t believe he said it so casually. Li Xin blushed. She had definitely underestimated his sleaziness. He was clearly an expert in his ways, really. Not to mention he was well-connected, considering he was able to figure out where she was.
Li Xin decided to ignore him. Since he was already here and she couldn"t get rid of him, she could deal. With that thought in mind, she followed him to the next roulette table.
~~~
Li Xin left the group two days ago without a word for two reasons. One, she needed to get her race car back to New York. And two, she had provoked the Blue Clan solely on the Qi Clan"s behalf, but she wasn"t about to deal with the consequences of that, and she was sure the others weren"t either. Had she stayed with them, it was inevitable that trouble would come looking for them.
While she certainly never considered any of them her friends, they considered her a friend. Li Xin was not a person without ethics; she had no intention of burdening them with trouble. Thus, leaving had been a sure decision on her part.
Las Vegas was the Qi Clan"s point of establishment and where their headquarters were located. No one would dare touch her in the Qi Clan"s home territory, so henceforth, this was currently the safest place for her to be. No matter how smart Blue Clan"s people got, they wouldn"t openly attack their enemy"s base camp. Deciding to lay low under Qi Clan"s wing for a couple days was an easy decision for Li Xin to make. Not to mention, she could make some extra cash.
Or so she thought. Considering how empty her pockets were currently, she couldn"t help feeling slightly humiliated. Stealing was her thing — she excelled at it and she was the best. Gambling, on the other hand… she evidently sucked at, considering she managed to lose a million dollars over a simple game of roulette.
Li Xin was suddenly aware of stares of both envy and pity all around her, and picked up her speed to catch up with Jun Qi. It hadn"t occurred to her until now to be embarra.s.sed.
"What do you know how to play?" Jun Qi swept his eyes over the various games on the casino floor. When he turned around, Li Xin was looking at her feet.
"Well, I can learn," she said, smirking.
Jun Qi snorted with laughter and shook his head in amazement. "So you don"t know how to play any of them, yet you decided to anyway? Are you excessively rich and bored or something?"
Li Xin"s eyes crinkled in mirth. "Is that not allowed?"
"Yeah, yeah, you do you. Come on, I"ll teach you." Jun Qi scoured the floor until he found one of the simpler games, then dragged her over to the table. "This one is simple: No matter what you gamble, it"s single-stakes, big or small. Pretty self-explanatory," he explained while pushing her into the seat he managed to s.n.a.t.c.h.
Big or small, easy enough, Li Xin thought. Five is big, and the other side is small. Her eyes lit up.
What a piece of cake and easy to understand.
She reached over and grabbed a stack of bargaining chips from Jun Qi"s hand, threw them onto the table, and said, "Fifty thousand. Betting big."
The other gamblers, who had just been about to place their bets, turned to stare at her in unison. Occupants of surrounding tables also turned to look.
Li Xin furrowed her brows. What, did she do something wrong?
Next to her, Jun Qi shook his head and forced a smile. This table was supposed to be for smaller stakes, but Li Xin"s move suddenly brought the pool up $50,000 USD. How could that still be considered "small"? The entire table wasn"t even worth that much. Her excessive bet had turned everyone"s attention on them.
"What is everyone looking at? Never seen such a huge bet? Hurry up and place your bets," Jun Qi said. There was a smile on his face, but his voice was cold.
Li Xin raised her eyebrows. "Huge"? Her bet was considered huge? And there she was thinking it was small — after all, she"d just lost a million dollars.
"Small."
And there went her $50,000. Li Xin didn"t react, save for a shrug of her shoulders. She was out of chips… she needed to go buy more.
Jun Qi ignored the rest of the players, who were currently elatedly dividing up their winnings. He was too busy observing the thirsty gleam that had appeared in Li Xin"s eyes. Without a second thought, he grabbed her and dragged both of them far away from the table.
It was his fault. He shouldn"t have brought her to such a small stakes table knowing that she was rich and had a tendency to spend extravagantly. Thanks to that, now all the other gamblers had their attention set on them — he had made a serious blunder.