The Detective and Her Bachelor

Chapter 18

"Wait... so in a game of lying... we can't like... lie?" Prism asked sounding as irritated as I felt, which was a whole layer of annoying. The fact that I agreed with Prism on anything was a clear sign that the world was ending. 

Jade continued to smile, but it held the hints of irritation. He had answered the same question three times already, even if each time it was asked, the question held a different set of words. No one seemed to understand the point of crippling the game by banning lying. "Only if you are caught," Jade reminded everyone. "And if you throw in your money with someone else, the person you give your money to gets all of the rewards and consequences that you would have gotten."

"But..." May our resident yogi— which was still a job title that probably had nothing to do with yogurt— said, her quiet voice filling the silence, her serine voice sounding almost oracle like in its Luna Lovegood quality. "To win in a bluff you must lie, but in doing so you lose because you have to reveal your cards. Only by folding, and giving up can you get out of bluffing if you have already lied. So to win this game... you either have to have the best cards, or not lie at all... Which would lead you to lose the most amount of money, which is the second way you can lose tonight." 

"Did anyone else find that utterly confusing?" Emily Grace asked, picking up a poker chip and spinning it across the green felt table like a top. 

"She's saying that the only way to stay safe is to have the best cards. Everyone else will be at risk of losing," I explained, hating that half of the strategy had vanished from my grasp. "What does the winner get?"

Jade raised a brow. "Pardon?"

"We've heard what the losers get. But what does the person who wins the most amount of money get?" I clarified. "What is the incentive to do well?" I couldn't quite keep the irritation from my voice. 

At that moment, Ace walked into the room, looking immaculate in a midnight black tux that had been tailored to fit him like a glove. His greenish-blue eyes a bright contrast to his styled black hair and suit. 

The air was sucked out of the room, every woman suddenly forgetting about their complaints. Forgetting to be irritated. I fought an irritated smile. Of course... how could I forget. Ace is the prize.

Jade moved away from the table giving Ace a place to sit, directly across from me. Ace took a moment to give each woman a smile, and in return, they seemed to melt like a puddle under his gaze. I would have considered it disgusting if I hadn't nearly fallen for the same trap when he looked at me. I yanked my eyes away, refusing to fall into the pull, instead turning back to Jade. "The winner?" I asked again. 

Jade shook his head, amused, patting Ace on the shoulder. "Look out for this one Ace. She's competitive," Jade said in response. 

I looked between the two men, trying to keep myself calm. The dramatic pauses between being given information were getting old. But Ace didn't join in on Jade's joke. Instead, he gestured to the chips across the table, a small pile in front of each of us. Then he shot me a challenging smile. "The winner gets all of these chips turned into real cash." 

I raised a brow, waiting for the punchline to a joke. I had counted as soon as I sat down. There were easily ten thousand dollars on the table. At a quick second glance, it could be as much as twenty thousand. 

OH. MY. GOSH. Forget this stupid assignment... I'll just take the money and run. 

I'd already been tempted to bluff and win, even if I was caught in my lie. I refused to play mediocre or purposefully loose. This new stupid excuse of a game required me to become someone I wasn't. But if I won all that money... My brain spun with possibilities.