Substitute Wife for the Mafia King R18-Chapter 91: Thrill of the Game

“Excuse me, please make way for the lady,” Bradon said from close to me.

His authoritative tone caught the attention of the men around us immediately. There was a slight nervousness and tension in the air before the crowd parted to let me through.

“Thank you, gentlemen,” Bradon said before showing them what I would consider a very cold smile.

“Thank you...” I whispered.

With a firm nudge of Bradon’s hand against the small of my back, I took a few steps forward until I was standing right at the side of the large table.

“This is a roulette...” Bradon replied before going on to explain the rule of the game to me in a short and concise summary.

“Wow...” I murmured as I watched the dealer spin the wheel.

I felt like a child mesmerized by a new toy that I had just discovered. Even though I’ve seen a roulette wheel spinning before in some movies that I’ve watched, it just felt so different to see the real thing. I could feel the excitement of everyone gathered around the table heighten as the dealer spun the ball.

“Want to place a bet?” Bradon whispered close to my ear.

“How do I do that?” I asked.

“Simple. You choose a number and place this token there,” he replied.

As the wheel and the ball kept spinning, many people started casting their bets by placing their tokens on the number of their choice. I could feel everyone’s excitement rubbing off on me. I felt something hard being pressed into my hand. Looking down I realized that Bradon had placed a bronze color square token the rough size of a playing card into my hand. He smiled at me supportively and gave me the go ahead to place my bet.

I wondered for a moment if there was a trick to this or something that I didn’t know about or whether it was all just random anyways. What I knew for sure was that time was running out. I placed the token on a number that I thought might just be my lucky number for the day while praying that my beginner’s luck would help me out. The crowd around me began chanting the number that they had bet on, and I found myself joining them so easily as adrenaline pumped in my veins. I couldn’t stop staring at the movement of the ball as the wheel began to slow down.

“Oh, we have a really gutsy lady here among us today,” a man in the crowd teased me a little.

“Ah...haha...” I laughed weakly while not quite understanding what the man really meant.

Gutsy or not, I had just lost my first bet. I watched sadly as my token got swept away by the dealer along with the others. It felt like such an easy way for Bradon to make money.

“How does it feel to lose your first game?” Bradon asked mercilessly before smirking at me.

“Can you not rub it in...please?” I begged sarcastically before rolling my eyes at him.

“Want to try something else?” he asked.

I wondered if I would become totally addicted to gambling by the end of the day at the pace that I was going. Perhaps this kind of thrill ran in the blood, and I had inherited my liking for this from my father. The good girl in me told me that I had to stop; however, I had no idea when would be the next time that I would get a chance like this. On top of that, I had to admit that I was enjoying myself immensely and Dahlia wasn’t known for being a good girl anyways.

“Let’s go over there,” I pointed in the direction where numerous tables were arranged in rows.

“What is this? How does it work?” I asked as I stood not too far away from a table where people were engaged in a card game.

“This is poker...” he explained.

“I’ve heard of it but I’m not so sure how it works,” I mumbled as I leaned in closer to see what they were doing.

“Let’s look around,” he suggested.

“Why? Is this game too hard for me to play?” I asked as I pulled on his arm to prevent him from walking away from me.

“Do you have to get stubborn about every little thing?” he asked as he stared directly at me.

“I’m not...” I mumbled defensively.

I had to admit that I didn’t like the fact that he thought that a game of poker was beyond what I could handle. Sure enough, I had never played a game of poker before, and I wasn’t at all familiar with the rules, but I kept thinking that it couldn’t possibly be that hard.

“I’m not saying this for your benefit, but this isn’t a table for beginners. Even if you want to play here, you’ll just be a bother to the other customers,” he said before grinning.

By that time, I had noticed the way that Bradon had lowered his voice slightly and that the atmosphere around was tenser than before and a lot quieter. Apparently, poker is a game that requires concentration and that meant that the observers couldn’t be too loud, or they would disturb the players.

“Is there a table for beginners?” I asked curiously.

“Not here, unfortunately,” he said although he didn’t seem so regretful.

“Hmm...” I made a thoughtful sound as I continued observing the game unfolding at the table close to us.

“Why don’t you continue looking around? It doesn’t hurt for you to learn what options there are,” Bradon suggested before smiling at me.

“I have a better idea. Why don’t you play?” I suggested an alternative of my own.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, My Lady, but I’m not allowed to casually participate,” Bradon replied, half seriously and half playfully.

“There’s something that you’re not allowed to do?” I challenged him with widened eyes.

“There’s nothing that you can say or do to provoke me on this matter. I can’t and won’t be playing,” he refused completely.

“Oh, how boring...” I muttered with clear disappointment.

I honestly wanted to see him play poker even if it was just one game.

--To be continued...