20

Anton storms towards us.

‘You two are heads-up?’ Anton yells, his flushed complexion getting redder by the second. He stabs his finger towards Cabressa. ‘You did this – fixed the game – didn’t you? Tonight’s been a goddamn set-up right from the get-go.’

Carmella freezes. For a moment her eyes widen and I see fear on her face, then a moment later it’s gone, replaced with the neutral mask she’s had the whole game. The rest of the players inch closer to us. Johnny’s swaying, clinging on to Otis for support.

Cabressa calmly finishes counting his stacks, and then looks up at Anton. ‘And why would you think that?’

‘Because you brought her here.’ Anton points at me as he spits out his words. ‘You vouched for her. But she’s not a whale, is she? She’s a goddamn ringer.’

I know what Anton means, but I stay silent. A whale is a rich person who’s a weak poker player – someone the other players can easily beat.

‘You’re talking horseshit,’ says Cabressa. ‘She’s a distinctly average player who you’ve allowed to get the better of you, most likely because she’s showing a bit of cleavage.’

Anton cusses under his breath. Balls his fists.

Carmella stands up and moves over to Anton. She puts her hand on his arm. Her voice is a purr as she says, ‘Anton, honey, you need to stop making a scene, okay?’

‘No. No, it’s not okay.’ Anton shakes her off. Takes another step towards Cabressa. ‘You said you were bringing a whale.’

Over by the door I see the security guy, Thomas, put his hand on his gun.

I stay in my seat. I wish I had my Taser, but figure that if Anton gets all up in my face, I should be able to take him down with a hard one-two and a roundhouse to finish.

Carmella steps between Anton and Cabressa. ‘I don’t allow that kind of game play at my tables, you know that.’ The purr is gone, now Carmella’s voice is firm, and real business-like. ‘Everything in this game is fair and squared away. What you’re saying right now puts my reputation at risk; is that what you want, Anton? You want to ruin me and stop the games?’

Anton opens and closes his mouth a couple of times. Takes a step back. ‘No, I didn’t mean that. This isn’t about you, Carmella, it’s about—’

‘You need to think very carefully about what you’re saying.’ Carmella holds his gaze. Her voice is tough as steel. ‘If you’re at my table and you’re badmouthing my game, then believe me when I say that what you’re saying is absolutely about me, and that makes it personal. Trust me, you do not want to do that.’

Anton hangs his head like a naughty school kid. ‘I just … I didn’t mean it that way. I don’t want the game to stop.’

Carmella eyes him for a moment. ‘If that’s the case, are we good here?’

Anton glances towards Cabressa, then back to Carmella. Nods. ‘Sure.’

‘Well, that’s okay then,’ Carmella says. Picking up one of the remaining bottles of champagne in the ice buckets, she refreshes his glass. ‘I’d hate to lose you – you’re one of my most valued players.’

‘Of course not, I would hate that too.’ Anton drifts away towards the others. He looks bewildered, like he can’t quite grasp what just happened.

Respect to Carmella; she’s a real smooth operator.

Along the table, Cabressa looks untroubled by what’s just gone down, and I’m left wondering how, as such a distinctly average player, I’m going to manage to pull off a convincing win. Anton and the other guys are going to be watching us real close. Cabressa won’t be able to just throw me the game. It’s a problem, but that’s not the only thing I have to worry about.

As Carmella reshuffles the cards, Cabressa leans towards me. ‘I don’t know if you were told this before the game, but when we get to heads-up I like to make things more interesting. So, enough of these chips, let’s bet something more valuable than cash.’ Cabressa pats his jacket pockets until he feels something, then pulls out a set of keys. ‘I’ll bet you my new Rolls Royce. Custom made, two weeks old. Cost eight hundred thousand dollars.’

‘Jeez!’ says Johnny, swaying towards the table. ‘That’s one hell of a sweet ride.’

My mouth goes dry. I hadn’t expected Cabressa to put something big on the table, but now I see I should have anticipated this, it’s the only way for me to put the chess set in play without it seeming odd or like I’ve gotten special privileges.

‘You got anything like that you can bet, girly?’ says Anton.

The men gather closer around the table. All eyes are on me.

I look towards Carmella. ‘There’s something in my bag for this purpose; can Thomas go grab it?’

Carmella nods at Thomas and he disappears into the bedroom, returning a few minutes later with the wooden box that contains the chess pieces. He sets it down on the table in front of me and then returns to his post by the door.

‘This is a unique set of chess pieces,’ I say as I unfasten the lid of the box. ‘It was made for a famous match in Las Vegas back in the eighties, and is valued at one point three five million dollars. But, as one of the pawns is missing, I think it should be a close enough match for the Rolls Royce.’

Cabressa watches my fingers undoing the clasps. His focus is as intense as a turkey buzzard on a blue jay.

I fold back the lid, and remove one of the pieces – a queen – to show the players. ‘They really are one of a kind.’

Carmella looks at Cabressa. ‘Are they acceptable?’

He takes the queen from me. Holding her up to the light, he runs his index finger over her in a way that looks kind of sexual. He closes his eyes a moment and sighs deeply, then looks at Carmella. Nods. ‘They’re satisfactory.’

I say nothing even though it seems this is one mobster whose chess fascination takes things to a whole new level of fetish. I take the queen back from Cabressa, place her in the box and fold down the lid entirely so all the pieces can be seen. Cabressa stares into the box, seemingly fixated by the pieces. I’m glad. I figure maybe they’ll distract him enough to let me win the next hand.

The other players gather round. Carmella deals.

Then Cabressa slams his palms down onto the table, cussing loudly.

The chip stacks tumble. I flinch and look at Cabressa.

‘It’s not complete,’ Cabressa shouts, his voice shaking with fury. ‘One of the knights is missing.’