Mafia Betrayal

Chapter Forty Eight

Luca

My dad had always told me that life was like a game of poker. It was all about strategy, never showing your hand too soon. Always winning, and acting like you'd fucking been there before when you did. Being able to lie without batting an eye. If I had ever learned anything useful from him, that was it.

I stared at the guy in front of me, trying to decide whether or not he was bluffing. I had a full house, but by the way he was betting, he could have me beat. I'd been winning all night, but as soon as this motherfucker sat down, my luck took a turn the other way.

Marco, Angelo, and Carlo hovered behind me, having already pulled out of the poker game themselves. I was the only one left and had $82,000 dollars sitting on the table. Charlotte would have my head if she knew how much I was risking, but I was prideful about my poker skills and this guy was pissing me off. There was no way I could walk away from this without going all in.

My cigar was down to nearly a nub and I promised myself after this hand I'd be done, win or lose. There were still a few stops on our bachelor tour and I didn't plan on leaving empty-handed.

Marco was killer at reading people and I knew the second he nudged my right shoulder that he thought the guy was bluffing. I did too. So instead of doing the safe thing and calling, I raised the bet and slid every last chip I had into the center of the table.

Angelo cringed, but I was already in too deep. An evil grin formed on the guy's face across from me as he slowly laid his cards down. I sucked in a sharp breath. He had a good hand, but not good enough.

"Full house." I said flatly, laying out my hand too.

"Damn it!" The other guy said, throwing his cards across the room. "Let's go again." He hissed.

"Sorry guys, I'm out." I grinned, cashing my chips in and standing up. I was ready to get out of this shit hole.

The guy across from me stood up, not liking that answer. He charged toward me and grabbed my collar. "You take all my money and don't even give me a chance to win it back?"

Angelo was quick to throw him off and onto the table, causing it to collapse. The guy reeled in pain while both Marco and Carlo lifted him up and held him by his arms.

I composed myself a bit before landing my fist on the corner of his jaw, nearly knocking his head off. Blood sputtered in all directions. "You better be careful who the fuck you're messing with."

"You need to leave." The manager of the poker game rushed towards us, pointing at the other guy. I knew Rafael well. We'd frequented his games when we were in town and I knew he wouldn't take and chances to make us take our business elsewhere. Getting this new guy out of here was his top priority. "Luca is a regular and I won't have you treating him that way."

The man's face soured and then twisted into an evil grin. "Luca? As in Luca Catalano?"

I glared at him, not answering. He'd obviously heard of me, but who was he?

"You must be thinking of someone else." Carlo growled, shoving the man towards the door.

The man chuckled, looking back at me. "Yeah, I guess I must." The look on his face said he knew Carlo was lying. Who the fuck was he? Why didn't I recognize him? "Here on business?"

"Vacation." I said flatly, keeping my glare steady. "With my family."

"Interesting." I didn't like the look on this bastard's face, and I didn't like being in the dark about who he was. "I'm sure I'll be seeing you around then."

He disappeared out the door, slamming it loudly behind him.

"What the fuck was that?" Angelo asked.