“Do you like them?” Liandra smiled and moved her upper body skilfully, so her breasts would do a slight bounce in front of his eyes.

Reso didn't answer but his body language probably gave it away anyway.

“You know...” Liandra continued while wrapping her arms around his shoulders. “Me and the other girls in this town keep record of our sizes... and out of all the Elves who live here, I got the largest pair... That's unique to me.”

Reso closed his eyes to distance himself from the woman in front of her. No matter how well she smelled, she was his father’s mistress and a drug addict on top of that. There was literally no reason to react to any of her flirting.

But still, even though his reasoning was there, the way his mind responded to this woman was supernatural, as if his approach of him was supported by some form of magic that was carried by her scent.

“I...” he said slowly and pushed Liandra away by her waist. “I already have my company here.”

Kantem watched the conversation fascinated as Liandra slid off Reso’s lap, stood up again and turned to him.

“I'm sorry, Mr. Neotonic...I did my best.” she said, like a soldier who was reporting the obligatory failure of a mission that had been impossible from the beginning.

Kantem’s eyes narrowed, but he gave Reso an acknowledging nod: “You're resisting Liandra’s charm? Impressive, maybe there is actually more to you then I initially thought... Yet, it is probably easier when you have the power of love on your side.”

He gave Acarni a smile that was so fake Reso couldn't tell if it was real after all.

Reso carefully peeked over his shoulder and watched the tension slowly release from her body, which the scene he had with Liandra just now had obviously caused.

“So, since even my best wares cannot invoke curiosity in you, why don't we just continue with our game?” he asked.

Reso’s eyes narrowed and his eyes ran the body of the ageing Elfish woman up.

“She is not a product.” Reso responded. “You should not talk like that in front of your employees.”

“Yeah...” Kantem confirmed sarcastically. “’Employees’, whatever. Liandra dear, you don't need to look for a hook-up any more tonight... as soon as I am done here, I'll take care of you tonight.”

Liandra’s face went a little bit pale as this clearly wasn't a good message to her, but she still nodded with an obedience, that could only be replicated by a drug-addict whose supply was endangered.

Reso suddenly wasn't so sure any more if he really desired this woman as she seemed like just a pitiful person, with no personality but her addiction.

But more than pitying Liandra, he hated Kantem right now. He was in so many ways like his father; it wasn't surprising they were ‘close friends’. They shared their arrogance, their control fetish and their habit of viewing people as properties. Maybe it was the money or the power that caused people to become like that.

“I'm ready.” Reso said with a determined expression on his face. The cards where dealt and Reso raised his immediately after they landed in front of him. Ace of Diamonds and the Ace of Hearts. An amazing hand.

The cards where laid out. 4 of Spades, 5 of Spades and Jack of Diamonds.

Reso rose and for a shot while they actually had a small arms raise going on between them, until suddenly, and to Reso’s surprise, Kantem had to fold.

“Mr. Neotonic folded.” the dealer announced. “Mr. Croix wins this round.”

Slowly, he reached out to take some of the chips, placing them at his side. Kantem had to fold one or two times previously, but he never had actually engaged into a betting race with him and then lost.

For a while they kept on playing, making it a slow back and forth, with Kantem actually slowly losing some ground. He loved the feeling of actually beating Kantem now and then. It was addictive.

“You have potential, young Mr. Croix.”, he said with a grin on his thin lips. “But you need to learn how to play your cards right. Your father may be a horrible businessman and a mediocre diplomat, but he is a great politician.”

“So what?” Reso asked, as he raised the stacks, knowing Kantem couldn't beat his four-of-a-kind-six.

“He is not an entrepreneur like me.”; Kantem said. “He is a leech who sucks up money of people who worked for it. But a politician is someone who knows how to stay in a comfortable position. I really despise these kinds of people, but everyone has to be a bit of a politician in this world, dominated by states. You, young Mr. Croix bring yourself into uncomfortable positions, intentionally. That's reckless. That's headstrong. Truly, a privilege, wasted on the youth. It would have been much smarter though, you had just stayed with your father. It would've been much easier for you, to not accept this poker match.”

“I don't care what's easy.” Reso said with a serious glance on his face. “I want to find my own path. And it is with Acarni, not some American stranger I could not care less about.”

“You're getting honest with me.”, Kantem responded with a mild expression on his face. He folded again. “That's good. I like honest conversations. But unfortunately I am running out of time.”

“What?” Reso grinned recklessly. “You're beginning to loose and suddenly you are out of time? I have almost won back what you took from me in the first game. Stopping now isn't exactly fair.”

Kantem sighed and gave his dealer a sign: “Alright... I shall do as you wish, Mr. Croix.”

The dealer handed out cards once again.

Without even looking into his cards, Kantem reached forwards and pushed all his chips into the middle: “All in...”

Reso raised his eyebrows: “Wait... you didn't even look at your cards.”

Kantem shrugged: “So what? You demanded me ending this round, so I am ending it.”

For a moment Reso just looked at the massive pile of money in front of them, and then he looked over his shoulder to Acarni. She looked back at his eyes, seeing the temptation in his eyes. Slowly, very, very slowly she shook her head.

“Don't do it”, her eyes told him. “It's a trap.”

Reso looked at the cards at his table again and lifted them up. Ace of Spades and 2 of Hearts. Then the community cards where dealt. Ace of Hearts, Ace of Diamonds and the 2 of Spades. Reso’s heart jumped. He had a full house. The chance of this was about 2.5% and the chance of getting something higher was in the realms of one in several million. No chance in hell Kantem could have something higher. He looked over his shoulder to Acarni again, who, again, seemed unsure about this. She wasn't as familiar with the game as Reso was, but from observing him, she had already figured, that he had a pretty damn high hand. A drop of sweat fell down from Reso’s forehead onto his chips as he slowly pushed them forwards in the middle of the table.

“All in.”, he said. This statement was kind of a lie, as he still had 75.000 Dollars in his backpack, but still, he was betting about 90.000 Dollars in this round alone.

The dealer went on to uncover the next cards. 10 of Diamonds came first and then Queen of Diamonds.

“I think I should let this evening end on a good note...” Kantem said. “Maybe I should give you some form of advice from my experience... but I prefer helping people to help themselves. So I will give you a book recommendation. Read ‘Atlas shrugged’. It's a good book to start thinking about economy and politics, if you are not used to reading scientific books.”

Reso smirked smugly and uncovered his cards: “I'll think about it, while I bath in your casinos chips.”

Kantem looked at the cards of Reso and picked his own up. A knowing grin spread over his pale face: “I think you'll have to wait for that, dear Reso.”

He placed his cards on the table and again, Reso’s yaw dropped in disbelief.

Jack of Diamonds and King of Diamonds. A Royal Flush. The chance for this was... well, below 0.001%.

Kantem kept his smug smile up and bent over to pull the chips on the table to his chest, like he was reclaiming his birthright, while Reso and Acarni both stared paralysed onto the table.

Reso understood. With an outraged expression appeared on his face he stood up and slammed his first onto the table that the chips jumped into the air.

“You fucking cheater.” he said, while the bodyguards on both sides prepared for a fight. Kantem stopped them by raising his hand, holding his guard dogs back.

“You can't prove anything.” Kantem responded. “And I will personally vouch for our dealer, as owner of this establishment. He is one of the most reliable workers I have.”

Reso began to tear up. Again, just like back home, he felt cheated and helpless and angry without a vent to direct it to, so his feelings broke way in the shape of tears.

A lot of people had turned around now, looking at the ongoing quarrel with a voyeuristic interest. Acarni had already realized that this was a hopeless situation and places her strong hand on Reso’s shoulder, to be able to pull him back if necessary. Kantem on the other hand saw an opportunity, like the manipulative genius that he was.

“You know what?” he said, slightly louder then really necessary. “I don't want this animosity to stay alive between us. Half of the money I have won this evening will go to a charitable cause of your choice. How does that sound?”

The white knuckles showing up below Reso’s skin clearly showed what he thought of this. But did he really have an option at this point?

Acarni pulled him back, gently and slowly, as if she tried to a avoid provoking a predator in front of her.

“Tell him you want him to donate the money to the ‘UN program for Elfish education and social development.’ she whispered into his ear. “Don't flip. Don't insult him. Let us just... retreat.”

Reso’s nails dug into the table until they broke, but he forced himself to repeat what Acarni had told him and allowed her to pull him away from the table, when he was done.

Together they left the section and ultimately, the entire casino, rushing back onto the streets. Reso was about to explode, but Acarni did not allow him just yet, dragging him down the fancy square in the centre of the town and into a darker alley. There he let go off the arm which she had used to keep him under control, letting him loose to kick some garbage cans to calm him.

Acarni was already used to this behaviour of him. He probably knew better how to deal with his outbursts of rage, than his parents of anyone else on this planet did. After all, his parents had never taught him self-control, which was a bad combination along with his unwavering faith in fairness and justice.

“FUCK!” Reso screamed, in rage, as he kicked down a garbage can and punched a wall to calm himself. “This idiotic, self-absorbed, shady, ape-assed prick! Fuck!”

“The money went to charity anyway. Don't dwell on it.”; Acarni tried to calm him with kindness.

“It’s not about the money or the charity!” Reso called. “It’s about the act of cheating! How dare he use his employee to steal our money!”

“We still got plenty.” Acarni said with a smile. She could see Reso had sufficiently cooled down, so she could walk over to him and pull him into a firm hug. “Don't dwell on it. People like him just exist. Perhaps it even was meant as a lesson for you to not trust people...”

“Oh so you're taking his side?” Reso responded, clearly offended.

“No...” Acarni sighed. “What he did was an absolute asshole-move. But maybe we can actually both learn from our mistake.”

For a moment the two lovers just stood in that dark alley, away from curious eyes and enjoyed the silence after hours of noise.

“How much money do we have left now?” Acarni finally asked and peeked over Reso’s shoulder onto his backpack. She released him from her embrace, so Reso could kneel down and count the chips inside of his backpack.

“About...70,000... No, 75,400 Dollars.” he said after a bit of counting.

Acarni whistled impressed: “So the evening was a success after all.”

“More or less.” Reso said and kicked the garbage can once again. “We could've had more than 100,000 Dollars now, if now for this cheating asshat.”

Acarni sighed and smiled: “Hey, we still can give it to charity. It's more then enough.”

A loud bus drove past the entrance of their alley, as Reso rolled his eyes as a response. For this reason, they did not hear the steps suddenly coming closer at a rapid pace. The person approached Acarni from behind and she would only realize what was going on when she was already past her. Long, blonde hair was the only brightly visible thing about the thief, who was otherwise completely dressed in black attire, as she reached for the backpack full of chips on the ground.

Acarni left out a scream of warning as she realized what was going on and Reso instantly acted on it and stepped into the girl’s way.

The reaction of the thief was extraordinarily fast, as she simply took a jump to the side at full speed, pushed herself off the wall with her legs and ran on. Reso would've almost missed her, but in the very last second got a grip on the strap. Reso, not ready for the impact, was sent flying onto his back and that girl, despite being a Woodelf and therefore considerably smaller and slimmer then both Reso and Acarni somehow maintained its balance and stood upright. Reso meanwhile saw bright stars blinking in front of his eyes, when the back of his head was sent straight to the ground. Still, his action was at least a partial success, as the content of the backpack was sent raining all over the alley and Acarni had enough time to help him. She reached out for the girl and got a firm grip on her wrist, from which there was no chance of escaping... or was there?

The thief was almost half a meter smaller then her opponent, but suddenly grabbed a hold onto Acarni’s arm and used the young bodyguard’s strength against her, by pulling herself up to an impressive jump-kick against her waist.

Acarni’s yelled like a beaten dog and let go her prey, stumbling back. For a moment, the two opponents stood facing each other, predicting the others movements from a safe distance. Acarni scanned the girl for weapons and surprised noticed a bulge in her pants. She was carrying a gun but had not pulled it already?

After this basic check, her look went up her body and noticed her uncanny similarity to a woman they had already previously met this evening. Purple eyes, blonde hair, beautiful face and an amazing shape? There was no doubt who this girl belonged to, even though she looked physically fitter and a lot younger then the prostitute which had tried to seduce Reso just an hour ago.

“Now if this isn't a coincidence...” Acarni hissed, holding her left side. “You are the daughter of that Liandra-woman aren't you?”

“What do you care?” the girl asked as a response, holding her defensive fighting stance.

Acarni had hoped this would get some reaction out of the other girl, create an opening, which she could abuse to attack the girl and overwhelm her with her superior strength, but nothing like that showed up. Whoever this girl was, she was well disciplined and clearly not high on some drugs, like most of the other workers in this town where.