Wrong Flirt, Right Trouble: His Uncle Pulls Me Close

”It’s just a photo. What does that prove? If I were to walk over and hug Mr. Hawthorne right now, would that prove there’s something between us?”

Ivy Sherwood never believed in taking a photo at face value. She trusted Quentin Blackwood.

”Hah. You’re an interesting one, Miss Sherwood, trusting Quentin Blackwood so completely. But let me give you a piece of advice: don’t put too much faith in him. He’s not a good man.”

’Quentin Blackwood sure is lucky to have someone trust him so completely.’

”I don’t need anyone to tell me if he’s a good person. And I won’t do as you say, Mr. Hawthorne.”

Originally, he’d only wanted to see what kind of person Ivy Sherwood was. In his partnership with Joy Sheridan, he knew Joy wanted Ivy dead. But Elijah Hawthorne had always believed a person’s fate should be in their own hands—a matter of seeing how hard they would fight for their own life. Or, failing that, it was up to heaven, a matter of luck.

”Don’t be so quick to refuse, Miss Sherwood. You should give my offer some serious thought. You could be with me instead. I can give you far, far more than Quentin Blackwood ever could.”

Elijah Hawthorne dangled more bait. ”You can name your terms. I’ll agree to all of them. Money, houses, cars, shares... or if you want the Blackwood Family to disappear forever, I can grant you that wish.”

”I appreciate the offer, Mr. Hawthorne, but I’m not interested.”

”If that’s your final answer, then I suppose we have nothing more to discuss.” Elijah Hawthorne set down his wine glass and leaned back in his seat.

”You may leave, Miss Sherwood. As for your friend... we still have things to discuss.” His voice was utterly merciless.

’Nina Scott finally understood. This man was clearly one of Quentin Blackwood’s mortal enemies, and he was taking advantage of Quentin’s absence to target them.’

Nina Scott laughed. ”And here I thought you were supposed to be a gentleman. How come you didn’t dare to make a move when Quentin Blackwood was around? You wait until he’s gone. What a coward!”

Elijah Hawthorne’s eyes narrowed. ”Miss Sherwood, you’ve seen your friend’s attitude for yourself. Even if I wanted to let her go, my men wouldn’t allow it.”

”Show yourself out, Miss Sherwood.” Elijah Hawthorne’s face had turned to ice.

’Ivy Sherwood knew Elijah Hawthorne was after her. And since Nina was her best friend, there was no way she would leave her behind.’

’If anything happened to Nina, she’d never be able to live with herself. She had to get Nina Scott out of there safely.’

Ivy’s gaze fell on the items on the coffee table. She dug her nails into her palm, forcing herself to stay calm.

”Is there no other way to resolve this, Mr. Hawthorne?”

Elijah Hawthorne replied, ”I’ve said my piece. You’re the one who refused, Miss Sherwood.”

”Mr. Hawthorne, how about we make a deal?”

”What kind of deal?” Elijah Hawthorne lifted his gaze to her. It was rare for someone to dare propose a deal with him.

Ivy looked at the cards on the table. ”You enjoy gambling, don’t you, Mr. Hawthorne? Let’s play a game. If I win, you let my friend go.”

A wide smile finally spread across Elijah Hawthorne’s face. ”You’re quite confident, Miss Sherwood. And if you lose?”

”If I lose, then I’ll take that stab myself.” Ivy’s expression was completely unwavering.

She had an undeniable presence about her. Elijah Hawthorne rarely admired anyone, but Ivy Sherwood’s nerve... ’he had to admit, it was impressive.’

”Fine. I never had the chance to give you a proper welcoming gift when we first met. So how about this: we’ll play three rounds. You only need to win one for me to let your friend go. Consider it my gift to you.”

”Ivy!” Nina was extremely worried.

’She could already tell this man was dangerous. And he was so confident... it seemed like a guaranteed loss.’

’She didn’t want to see Ivy get hurt. She had started this trouble, so why should Ivy be the one to take the fall?’

”Ivy, let me do it! I’ll play him. If I lose, let him stab me!”

”Nina.” Ivy pulled her close and whispered in her ear, ”Don’t worry. Even if I lose, I’ll figure out a way to get us out safely. The priority now is for one of us to leave. We can’t both get trapped here.”

”But how can I just stand by and watch you get hurt? There’s no way he’ll let us off that easily.”

Ivy said, ”Relax. Worst case scenario, we still have Mr. Blackwood, right? If he stabs me, Mr. Blackwood would never let him get away with it. He wouldn’t dare take that risk.”

’Ivy was only mentioning Quentin Blackwood to put Nina’s mind at ease.’

’She had made the bet. If she lost, she had to be prepared to face the consequences herself.’

Only after Ivy said this did Nina relax a little. ”You’re right. There’s still your Mr. Blackwood.”

”What are you two whispering about? Are you done yet?”

”Go wait for me outside. If you’re in here, I’ll worry about you, and it will affect my game.” Ivy wanted Nina to leave first. She didn’t want her friend to see what might happen next.

”Alright. I’ll wait for you outside. You have to come out safe, okay?”

Ivy nodded, forcing a smile. In reality, she had no confidence at all.

’When it came to cards, one look at Elijah Hawthorne told you he was an expert. Ivy rarely played, so her wins and losses were entirely up to luck. She had no idea if Lady Luck would be on her side today.’

’Winning one out of three... surely the odds were in her favor, right?’

After Nina left, Ivy walked over and sat down across from Elijah Hawthorne.

Though her palms were slick with sweat, Ivy’s expression remained perfectly composed.

”So, Mr. Hawthorne, what are the rules of the game?”

”I’m amenable to anything. It’s up to you how we play.”

”I get to choose the game?” Ivy asked, uncertain.

”You may.” Elijah Hawthorne didn’t mind letting her choose. He loved to watch a cornered animal fight back.

’At the very least, Ivy’s courage was commendable and deserved a reward.’

”Then let’s play for high card,” Ivy declared, choosing the game without hesitation.

The game of High Card was incredibly simple. Each player got three cards, and whoever had the highest hand won.

’It was a game of pure luck. Ivy didn’t trust her own skill; she knew she couldn’t possibly beat Elijah Hawthorne at any game that required strategy or card counting.’

’It was better to keep things simple. If her luck was truly awful, then she would just have to accept her fate.’

Her choice of game actually stunned him for a moment. ’This game is so childish, like something a kid would play.’

He, Elijah Hawthorne, had been to every casino and played every card game imaginable. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to call him the God of Gamblers.

’And now, here he was, about to play something that didn’t even qualify as a beginner’s game.’

He’d assumed she had a specific game she excelled at, hence her demand to choose the rules.

”You said it yourself, Mr. Hawthorne. The choice of game was mine. Are you backing out now?”

”Are you implying I can’t handle it?”

Ivy said, ”That’s not what I meant. Shall we begin?”

One of his men came forward to shuffle the deck, but Ivy placed her hand over the cards, stopping him. ”I’m sure your men are highly skilled, Mr. Hawthorne. But if you trust me, how about you let me shuffle?”

’In truth, Ivy was afraid Elijah would cheat. She would only feel safe if she shuffled the cards herself.’

Elijah Hawthorne studied her. ’Could it be? Did she have a few tricks up her sleeve? Was she planning to use the shuffle as an opportunity to switch the cards?’