Zoe And The Beast

Chapter 9 | Gambling My Heart Away | Part 2

The second those words fell out of his lips, I regret my decision to go on this date with him.

"Gambling?" I repeated, my eyes anxiously waning over his confident face. "Isn't that illegal for us?"

He winked, taking a sharp turn into an alleyway. "That's the point. How old are you, anyway?"

"Sixteen."

"Yeah, you don't have to worry. I've been coming here since I was fifteen."

"F-f-fifteen?" Fear crept up my back as the highway suddenly became a road, and as the road slowly became an alley. "Is this place safe?"

"I'm here all the time," he said, sliding the car into a parking slot. "Two years of coming to a distant makeshift casino's got to mean something. Don't worry, it'll be fun."

Opening the car door, I stepped out and glanced around. It was dark outside, almost making this place invisible. There was one streetlight, flickering in the air. Nothing looked safe here, nothing looked stable.

"W-w-where are we?"

A door shut on the other side, quiet. Vince stepped forward towards a small door in the distance. Grinning at me, he waved me over. "Come on."

Not wanting to be left alone, I scurried after him, my eyes wandering everywhere. I could barely see anything - that's how dark it had gotten. Just following Vince's waiting silhouette was what kept me running. Within moments, he led me inside the door, which happened to be a door of a random house, and took me down the stairs.

"All right, Zoe." Vince held out his hand to help me step down the last few steps. Grasping my fingers gently in his palm, he led me down to another door. "Get ready for the night of your life."

I took a deep breath. The night of my life? At a casino? What was I even doing here?

With that, Vince opened another door, beholding a well-lit room filled with money, cards, and dozens of people.

Slipping his arm around my waist, Vince pulled me in and walked through the doors, straight towards a woman with several plastic coins and a money dispenser.

He put his arm around my waist.

I am literally pressed up against him at this moment.

I could scream.

He tossed in some cash towards the lady, nodding at her when she quirked her eyebrow. "My date and I will go as one."

His date.

She took back the money and stuck it in the machine, satisfaction written across her face. "Well, look at this, Mascars. You brought in a girl today. This is new."

Vince shook his head, a hidden smile curved in his lips. "Just give me the chips."

"Don't get too scared." The woman winked at me. "Vince is quite the player."

Chills ran up my spine as I understood the double meaning behind her words. Even the casino lady knew the Vince was a player.

After collecting all the chips in a little pouch, Vince pulled me in even closer and headed through another doorway, before appearing in front of an enormous room filled with crazy men gambling, temperate women bringing in coins, and beautiful dealers sliding out cards.