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Not that any of that mattered to him. He had pocket rockets, and he was ready to ride them to the moon or crash down somewhere in the sea.

Tess had the dealer button, and Anna had folded before the flop. As the decision to swim in crimson water and find out if it was food coloring or blood pulled Tess’s mouth to one side, he redirected his attention toward Victoria. She’d already raised following the flop, and now she would need to ante up further if she wanted to stay in.

He’d have said it wasn’t personal, but… it was alittlepersonal. As their eyes connected, Victoria’s small smile showed her approval of his actions.

“I’ll call,” Tess said, dumping chips into the pot.

“So will I,” Victoria said.

The second four, this one of Hearts, that appeared on the turn didn’t alter Liam’s plan in the slightest. All the while, he maintained eye contact with Victoria. She broke it only briefly, glancing at her cards, then the four community cards, and then at her stack of chips.

“Check,” she said.

“Raise, one thousand,” he fired off barely a millisecond after she tapped the table.

Tess sighed loudly and folded.

“Back to you,” he told Victoria.

“I’m aware,” the stunning professor said. She tapped her nails next to her chips, mulling over her decision. “I’ll check.”

Liam let his peripherals track Avril’s movements. She burned one more card, pursed her lips, and dropped an Ace of Diamonds alongside the other four community cards. His blood zoomed through his veins nearly as quickly as it had when he’d gazed at all the beautiful women in their stunning dresses. He saw a shining gate before him, and his name hung in golden lettering above it.

“Check,” Victoria said.

“All-in.”

“Call.”

She echoed the act of shoving chips into the center of the table barely a few seconds after him. But while he thrust everything he had into the pot, she only invested most of the lead she’d accrued during the first portion of the round, all for the chance to slam the door shut on him. Fourth place, for him? It’d be a coup, indeed, and one he knew he’d hear about for an eternity, even from people other than Avril.

“Wow,” Anna said breathlessly, staring at the empty spot in front of him more than the pile of chips, which waited to learn who would look after them after the hand was decided.

Grinning ear to ear, Avril practically bounced in her seat. “Come on, Victoria. Do this one thing for me. Pleaseee.”

“You are so grossly biased,” he growled.

The emerald-eyed beauty didn’t so much as bat an eye. “Can’t help it. I’m here for the drama, and you getting last in one of these rounds would make my year before it’s even started.”

“So, then, does this full houseruinyour whole next year before it’s even started?” he asked as he flipped over his pocket aces.

“It certainly ruins mine,” Victoria said, mouth flat as she turned over a six and a four—her own full house, but not as opulent as the one he’d made from three aces and two fours.

As Victoria’s mouth flattened, Tess clicked her teeth together in frustration, Anna sighed, and Avril groaned. All at the same time.

Chapter Thirty-Four

The Knightly Twist

After Victoria tried but ultimately failed to brand him with fourth place, he never came close to the revolting placing again. As if he’d reached the low point of the swinging pendulum, there was nowhere for him to go but up. He stormed ahead, taking no prisoners, swapping from the poorest player to the richest in no time at all. He was as unstoppable as a hurricane for the rest of the round.

Victoria’s stack never recovered from her valiant effort to unseat him. Unfortunately for her, she ended up in the placing she’d hoped to pin on him. Anna took third, Tess took second, and he positioned himself for a chance to win three in a row. He knew how infuriating it must have been for the rest of the table.It must have felt as though their one chance to beat him had slipped through their grasp by the scantest amount of luck.

And they would be right. That was poker. Its nature could be a capricious and infuriating thing.

“I am disgusted,” Avril said as he defeated Tess and secured his second first-place finish. “Utterly disgusted.”

“There probably won’t be another hand like that,” he said, looking at Victoria. “If we were in a televised game, it’d be shown a dozen times in the highlights.”