章 20: Chapter 20

Suddenly, a hand reached over from behind her and grabbed the chips from her. She whipped her head around to see that her assailant beaming at her. Shu Kori. The rascal that she had left just merely two days prior was looking at her with an infuriating grin.

Shu Kori laughed at her raised eyebrows. "Are you planning on killing it? Or taking it apart?"

Lily swept her eyes from his simple jeans to the stark white T-shirt he was wearing. His entire presence was unobtrusive, laid-back, and seemingly harmless, so she let out a huff of laughter. "I'm considering it," she said, nodding.

Shu Kori started cackling. He took her hand and pulled her away. As they walked, he joked, "Don't. They can sacrifice a machine for sure, but I don't want you to disappear into jail or anything. Come on, just go try your hand at something else."

His easygoing enthusiasm made the corners of Lily's mouth lift just barely into a smile. "I don't believe this was a coincidence," she said with her eyebrows raised, letting him pull her along.

Shu Kori turned towards her and started shaking his head, his face twisting into an exaggerated heartbroken expression. "Can't you just pretend it was?" He asked. "Serendipity, you know. It's so romantic, and proves that we're meant to be."

She laughed at his disappointment. "I don't believe in fate," she answered.

He nodded. "I don't either," he said, looking at her. "So that's why I do everything in my power to fight for what I want."

After a pause, he gave Lily a warm, determined smile, and added, "You, I will never give up. No matter where you run, I'll catch you."

Lily's lips quirked up slightly. "And then what? Sleep with me and move on?"

Shu Kori rubbed his chin, contemplating her words thoughtfully. "We'd have to do the sleeping first to know. What position do you prefer?"

His words startled her into silence. To be honest, that was a perfectly logical question coming from a person who only thought with his penis like him, but she still couldn't believe he said it so casually. Lily blushed. She had definitely underestimated his sleaziness. He was clearly an expert in his ways, really. Not to mention he was well-connected, considering he was able to figure out where she was.

Lily decided to ignore him. Since he was already here and she couldn't get rid of him, she could deal. With that thought in mind, she followed him to the next roulette table.

~~~

Lily left the group two days ago without a word for two reasons. One, she needed to get her race car back to New York. And two, she had provoked the Blue Clan solely on the Di Clan's behalf, but she wasn't about to deal with the consequences of that, and she was sure the others weren't either. Had she stayed with them, it was inevitable that trouble would come looking for them.

While she certainly never considered any of them her friends, they considered her a friend. Lily was not a person without ethics; she had no intention of burdening them with trouble. Thus, leaving had been a sure decision on her part.

Las Vegas was the Di Clan's point of establishment and where their headquarters were located. No one would dare touch her in the Di Clan's home territory, so henceforth, this was currently the safest place for her to be. No matter how smart Blue Clan's people got, they wouldn't openly attack their enemy's base camp. Deciding to lay low under Di Clan's wing for a couple days was an easy decision for Lily to make. Not to mention, she could make some extra cash.

Or so she thought. Considering how empty her pockets were currently, she couldn't help feeling slightly humiliated. Stealing was her thing — she excelled at it and she was the best. Gambling, on the other hand… she evidently sucked at, considering she managed to lose a million dollars over a simple game of roulette.

Lily was suddenly aware of stares of both envy and pity all around her, and picked up her speed to catch up with Shu Kori. It hadn't occurred to her until now to be embarrassed.

"What do you know how to play?" Shu Kori swept his eyes over the various games on the casino floor. When he turned around, Lily was looking at her feet.

"Well, I can learn," she said, smirking.

Shu Kori snorted with laughter and shook his head in amazement. "So you don't know how to play any of them, yet you decided to anyway? Are you excessively rich and bored or something?"

Lily's eyes crinkled in mirth. "Is that not allowed?"

"Yeah, yeah, you do you. Come on, I'll teach you." Shu Kori scoured the floor until he found one of the simpler games, then dragged her over to the table. "This one is simple: No matter what you gamble, it's single-stakes, big or small. Pretty self-explanatory," he explained while pushing her into the seat he managed to snatch.

Big or small, easy enough, Lily thought. Five is big, and the other side is small. Her eyes lit up.

What a piece of cake and easy to understand.

She reached over and grabbed a stack of bargaining chips from Shu Kori's hand, threw them onto the table, and said, "Fifty thousand. Betting big."

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