Chapter 3

I walked back to the entrance, my face a blank mask.

They were acting like nothing had happened.

I played along, linking my arm with Orion’s. “Time to go home?”

Home. The penthouse he used to sleep with me. I guess that’s what it was.

Sienna was still there, wearing that smug smile. “Perfect timing. There’s a game tonight, and Orion said you’re invited. I was worried a little princess like you couldn't handle it.”

Orion wrapped his arm around my waist, gave me a quick, possessive kiss, and led me to the car.

We arrived at his underground den, a place reserved for his inner circle.

In the dim light, men were crowded around several poker tables.

Stacks of chips worth a small fortune sat in front of each player.

“Tonight’s buy-in is ten million,” Orion whispered in my ear. “Want to play?”

I nodded.

For five years, I wasn’t just his art expert. I was his right hand.

A photographic memory, a mind for psychological games, a knack for numbers—I thrived in places like this.

We sat down. Our opponents were a few older men in expensive suits, all key players from other families.

“The beauty is playing?” one of the bald men asked, eyeing me.

“Of course.” Orion pushed a stack of chips in front of me. “My woman never disappoints.”

The first hand was dealt.

I calmly watched everyone, their tells, their bets, calculating the odds.

The bald man always touched his nose when he was bluffing.

The skinny guy to my left sat up straighter when he had a good hand.

The fat guy across from me would start breathing faster.

I won the first hand. Then the second. Then the third.

Orion sat behind me, his hand resting on my shoulder, his eyes filled with pride and possession.

“See?” he said to the others. “That’s my woman. An angel with brains and beauty.”

I felt nothing.

My woman.

To him, I was just another beautiful thing he owned.

As I leaned forward to collect my chips, my gaze dropped under the table. I froze.

Sienna’s foot.

She was sitting next to Orion. I hadn't even noticed.

She was wearing black, strappy heels, and her foot was tracing circles on the inside of Orion’s thigh. Right through the expensive fabric of his suit.

I could see the bulge growing under the table.

And Orion? He held his cards without a tremor, his expression unchanged.

My heart pounded, blood rushing to my head.

“Evangeline?” Orion noticed I’d gone stiff.

“I’m fine,” I forced myself to sit up straight. “Let’s keep playing.”

But my hands were shaking.

I started making mistakes. My advantage slipped away. My chips dwindled.

“What’s wrong?” Orion whispered. “Don’t you feel well?”

“I’m fine.”

For the final hand, Sienna suddenly spoke up. “I want in.”

She sat across from me, a smirk on her red lips.

“Of course,” the other men welcomed her.

The pot was fifty million dollars.

Sienna was a surprisingly good player. She was aggressive, pushing everyone into a corner.

In the end, she won.

“Congratulations, Miss Rossi,” the men applauded.

“Thank you.” Sienna stood up and walked over to Orion. “But it’s not the money I want.”

She paused, her eyes locking with mine in a clear challenge.

“I want… the new shipping route to South America.”

My heart stopped.

I had spent countless sleepless nights designing that route. It bypassed every customs checkpoint. It was worth hundreds of millions.

“Orion, you promised me,” Sienna cooed. “If I won, I’d get what I wanted.”

Orion lazily flicked the ash from his cigarette and glanced at me.

“If you like it, it’s yours.”

Those six words hit me like a bolt of lightning.

I shot to my feet, my chair scraping loudly against the floor.

“Evangeline?” Everyone turned to look at me.

I didn’t answer. I just turned and ran from the smoke-filled room.

I heard Orion’s footsteps behind me.

“Evangeline, wait!”

He caught me in the hallway, pinning me against the cold wall.

“Jealous?” he asked, a hint of pleasure in his voice. “My girl, you’re the only one for me. I’ll make it up to you when we get home.”

The only one?

Then why was he marrying someone else without even telling me?

The words were on the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed them.

It was already past midnight. Nine days left until I was gone.

After he dropped me off at the penthouse, he said he had some family business to handle and left.

I didn’t know if he was going to see Sienna. If he was going to press her against a wall and answer the invitation she’d given him under the poker table.

A sharp pain shot through my chest, but I said nothing.

Just as he was about to leave, a bodyguard rushed over with a velvet box.

“Boss, it’s here.”

Orion took the box, opened it, and nodded in satisfaction.

I glanced over, my heart skipping a beat.

It was a massive diamond. The Regent Diamond, rumored to have once been part of the British Crown Jewels.

I had dreamed of that diamond. I had told him about it countless times.

Was this his way of making it up to me?

A flicker of hope ignited in me. I instinctively reached for it.

But in the next second, Orion snapped the box shut, a flash of annoyance in his eyes.

The message was clear. The diamond, like his future, had nothing to do with me.