<b>Chapter </b>49
Aria’s POV
This yacht was insane. Like, actually built for partying,
nsaw a full–sled tennis court. You could live on it fo
had everything you could possibly think of–bars, theaters, a pool, a casino, and levens two weeks straight and not get bored.
As soon as we got on board, Zane took me to meet his friends. A handsome guy who greeted Zane with a loudugh and a hug.
“Didn’t expect to see you outside Furope. Does your Alpha know you can off?”
“Why would care what he thinks?” Zane scoffed, then pulled me over. “Come meet my girl, Aria
“Oh,
so your p
girl,” the guy raised his brows at me, giving Zane a teasing <b>look</b>. “She must be something special if she got the Zane Elrod to
I felt a little awkward because…well, Zane and I weren’t really like that.
*Fuck off,” Zane shoved him yfully, chuckling, “Anyway, we’re nning to hang out on the boat for a few days. That cool?”
“Yeah, yeah, totally.” His friend suddenly pped his hands together, “Hey–we’re just about to start another round of Texas Hold’em. Why don’t you join us?”
“What? No way–1 don’t gamble,” I said, startled.
“Don’t worry, <b>you </b>can learn from the best. Your man here’s the king of gambling”
Before I <b>could </b>protest, he <b>dragged </b>us into the casino and practically forced me into a chair, I was halfway standing up again when Zane gently
pushed me back down, sitting beside me.
et,” he whispered in my ear, “we’re here to have fun.”
“Don’t forget,”
“Losing money isn’t my idea of fun,” I whispered back urgently “How much is one round, anyway<b>?</b>”
“Rx, nothing crazy. Just ten grand per bet.”
Ten <b>Thousand</b>. Dors?!
I nearly fell out of my <b>chair</b>.
That was straight up <b>insane</b>!
My dad used to be a total gambling addict. I remember him blowing our rent and my college fund at bar poker nights with fifty–dor minimums. So this? This could easily get me bankrupt.
“Listen Zane. There’s no way I’m ying this-
But Zane had already tapped the table for the dealer to deal <b>us </b>in. “Don’t worry, you’re not onna lose.”
Nervously, I looked at the cards I had gotten. It was trash. My heart raced, and I was just about to fold when Zane let out a tiny cough next to <ol><li>me. </li></ol>
I nced at him.
He winked and licked his eyes toward the chips,
Wait… was he telling me to raise
Thesitated, then somehow, I did exactly what he was hinting at
And just like that, he started guiding me through every round. Not just the first one–won the next few ton, Pretty soon, the chips in front of me were stacked into a mini mountain.
“Congrats,” the dealer said, pushing another pile my way.
My head <b>was </b>spinning
I had, like, nearly a million dors sitting in front of me.
<b>“</b>Damn, your girl’s just as good as you,” his friend gasped, utterly impressed.
“Beginner’s luck,” I muttered, heart pounding “Umm Zane? Maybe we should grab a drink?”
“Of course,
<b>babe</b><b>.</b><b>” </b>He stood up right away.
“What? You two don’t get to just win and walk out!”
Zane rolled his eyes. “That’s called being smart. Later, bro,”
He took my hand and we quickly left the casino.
As soon as we were out of the door, we nced at each other–and both burst outughing.
“Oh my god, I was seriously scared he’d realize we were cheating.” I <b>gasped</b>, clutching my chest. My heart was still racing
“And what’s he gonna do–cut your cheating hands off?” Zane joked. “Come on, we need to celebrate.”
He pulled me into the bar and ordered us two drinks.
“To freedom,” he said, clinking his <b>ss </b>with mine.
I took a sip. Fucking hell, that was strong.
<b>“</b>You’ve got a little money now,” Zane said, resting his chin on his hand and staring at me. “It’s not <b>a </b>lot, but enough for you to stand on your own. You could leave Grayson.”
I froze.
Shit. He was right.
I had a million bucks now.
<b>I </b>could literally just walk away, I could take Grandma with me, move to another city, and start over.
It was crazy. I’d worked my ass off to make money, risked my life <b>and </b>reputation, and still I got <b>nothing</b>, yet in the span of one poker game, i earned more than I ever dreamed of. How ironic.
Yeah,” I murmured. “Yeah you’re probably right. I guess I could walk <b>away</b>.”
And Grayson probably wouldn’t even care.
16:28 Fri, 8 Aug 0
He’d made it clear that I meant nothing to him. It disappeared, he might get mad for a second, but he wouldn’te
“So what’s your choice?”
I swallowed hard. “But I don’t want to keep the money. I want you to have it.”
Zane raised a brow. “Me? Why? You don’t seriously think I need a million?”
“Of course not.”
“Then what is it? if this is just an excuse to stay with Grayson, it’s a prettyme one” he frowned
“No! That’s not it. I just… I know you really
ly wanted that partnership too. And like belh said, yourpany needed that expansion, know you were disappointed when it fell through. So just hope this money can make up for it somehow.”
I finished. And he just kept staring at me with no expression.
Shit. Did 1 just offend him? Make him feel insulted?
This was such a dumb idea.
The silence dragged on and I started squirming in my seat. “You know what? Forget it. A million’s nothingpared to the deal <b>you </b>lost. M figure something else out-
He suddenly grabbed my wrist.
“…You’re really something, Aria Collins,” he said in a low voice.
His green eyes were locked on mine, glowing with something strange and beautiful. It made my palm wet.
“Every woman I’ve ever met just wanted to take from me. You’re the first to give me
e something,” he murmured.
His gaze was so intense I had to look away.
I gave a short, nervousugh. “It’s nothing, really. It’s not like I earned that money anyway. Keeping it just felt weird.”
He chuckled. “But now I get why Grayson wants you so badly!
“I… I don’t know what you mean,” I whispered. I was just a normal small–town girl. Red Stone Pack probably had a million others like me.
He leaned in, and suddenly we were just inches apart. I could even see my own reflection in his pupils.
“You’re nothing like any woman around us. And now, I kind of want to keep you for myself too.”
His voice was husky. And I caught the
escent of him for the first time. It smelled like leather and whiskey.
He tilted his head<b>, </b>leaned in to kiss me-
Iflinched away. His lips brushed the corner of my mouth
*So it’s because of <b>Grayson</b>?” <b>he </b>murmured by my ear.
“No… not exactly… I don’t know,” I stammered. “You’re my client. Doing this with you just feels wrong”
He paused. Then burst outughing
10-28 ·FTI, & AUD 7-7
<b>“</b>God! All those people spreading rumors about you should see how straighced you really are
“<b>Just</b>–It’s not that you’re not attractive,” I blurted.
Heughed hardes, “That doesn’t actually make me feel better. But for the record, our deal’s off. I’m no longer your dient t
“You’re… probably right,” I mumbled.
“Se il try to kiss you again, would you still pull away?” he teased.
hat to say. <ol><li>y. So I stayed silent. </li></ol>
I didn’t know what to
Heughed again.
“Never mind. The moment’s passed.” <b>He </b>downed the rest of his drink, then stood up.
Relieved, I followed him up.
e said.
“But next time I try to kiss you, I hope you’re ready for it,” he s
“Come on, next party’s starting
Zane <b>was </b>amazing.
Being around him was fun and easy. I never had to worry about saying the wrong thing because he never got mad. Ever
We partied for three, maybe four days? I lost track. I’d ditched my phone, cut myself off from the outside world. Time blurred together.
Grayson had to know I was gone by now. But he probably didn’t even care. I’d crossed his sister and his family, blown a huge deal–he was probably d I vanished.
The only thing I was worried about was Grandma and May: I hadn’t visited the nursing home in over a week. They were probably worried sick
So on the sixth–maybe seventh–day, I went looking for Zane. I needed to borrow his phone to call May and let them know I was okay,
The staff said he was in the lounge with his friend.
I walked up to the door, and was just in time to hear someone inside yell-
“You’ll get us all killed<b>, </b><b>Zane </b>Elrod!!!TM
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