Paige followed Xena’s gaze to the stage.
There, a pole dancer was seductively twirling around the pole. Dressed provocatively, her dance moves were sultry. The catcalls and wolf-whistles surrounded Xena as the men egged Paige on.
With an icy smirk, Paige shifted her gaze back to Xena, "Dancing? How about we spice things up with something more thrilling?"
Xena sneered at Paige, "Oh? And what could you possibly bring to the table?"
Raised in a rural area, Paige hadn't been in Northwind long before she found herself behind bars. Partying and playing games wasn't her scene; at least, that's what anyone would believe.
Xena's resolve hardened in an instant; she was determined to crush Paige.
Casually glancing over at a nearby booth, Paige locked eyes with Xena, her gaze full of challenge, "Do you dare?"
At the opposite booth, two men played a high-stakes game of five-finger fillet.
It was a game requiring both guts and skill, lacking either could end with your hand becoming a pincushion.
When Xena's eyes followed Paige's direction, her heart skipped a beat. She was about to lash out at Paige, but Paige beat her to the punch.
"You scared? Can't handle it? Then why did you even ask me here?"
Xena couldn't back down, not in front of her cohort.
"Scared? Not my style," Xena snapped back, accepting the challenge.
All Paige needed was that commitment. She borrowed a sharp Swiss Army knife from a neighboring table, withdrew it from its sheath, and goaded Xena further. "If Miss Sackler can't face a loss, it's not too late to back out."
Xena refused to show weakness, "Drop it! The game's not even started. No one knows who'll come out on top."
Twirling the Swiss Army knife with an air of nonchalance, Paige spoke indifferently, "Everyone seems so eager to see who'll win. Let's raise the stakes to make it more interesting. If I lose, I'll climb up and dance on that pole. Deal?"
It was Xena's idea to make Paige dance, but in a flash, Paige had turned the tables, using the dance as a wager.
The crowd whistled teasingly, fuelling Xena's audacity.
"Deal!" Xena agreed without hesitation.
Only then did Paige transfer her steely gaze from the blade to Xena. "And if you lose?"
"If I lose," Xena retorted, "I'll take you to see your mother."
That's exactly what Paige was waiting for.
She tossed the Swiss Army knife to Xena, spread the fingers of her left hand and slapped them down on the table. "Four gaps, five passes, hitting a finger means loss, too slow is a loss. Let's see what you've got."
Xena gripped the knife, eyes fixated on the gaps between Paige's fingers as she started piercing the spaces one by one.
Her motions were careful, slow, but time was ticking and she needed to pick up the pace right away.
As she made her final round, Xena's speed increased.
The last stab swooped down, the blade grazing Paige's skin, just enough to let a few crimson beads of blood trickle out.
Yet Paige seemed unfazed, showing no sign of pain. Instead, she swiftly grabbed Xena's wrist.
With a surprisingly strong grip, Xena struggled to maintain hold of the knife.
The knife slipped from Xena's grasp and Paige caught it with a steady right hand.
In one fluid movement, Paige yanked Xena's arm, pinning it onto the table.
A violent aura emanated from Paige, the neon lights glinting off the knife's edge, cloaking it with a bloodthirsty chill.
Xena instinctively clenched her fist, fearful that Paige, a simpleton unversed in the pleasures of life, might jab her on purpose.
But in the next instant, Paige squeezed Xena's hand. Without understanding how, Xena found her fingers forced open and obediently smacked flat on the tabletop.
While clutching Xena's wrist with her left hand, Paige twirled the knife in her right, the blade dancing through the air before she firmly gripped the handle and plunged it down precisely.
There was no hesitation in her strikes. The knife moved as if chopping vegetables, accurately stabbing through the gaps of Xena's fingers without grazing her skin.
So fast were Paige's movements, they were hardly discernible to the eye.
She completed five rounds back and forth in under a minute.
After she was done, Paige casually spun the knife in her hand, never once looking as it slid perfectly into its sheath.
Sweat beaded on Xena's forehead, her embarrassment visible to all.
Everyone was left staring, dumbfounded by Paige's demonstration. No one present could handle the knife with such finesse.
It was a clear loss for Xena. She wanted to say more, but Elijah Trump, who was by her side, held her back.
Only then did Xena realize the irony. She had invited Paige to this game intending to humiliate her, to avenge the ill deeds at her grandma’s birthday party.
Instead, Paige didn't just avoid shame; she had come out on top with a dazzling victory.
At that moment, she knew she’d been too impulsive, playing right into Paige's hands.
While Xena clenched her teeth, contemplating exploiting her mother's leverage over Paige once more, a waiter led Louis through the crowd to their table.
Upon Louis's arrival, the room stood, offering him the seat of honor. Yet, Louis's gaze found Paige.
Louis said, "Paige, why are you here?"
Paige glanced at Louis with a nonchalant air, "Mr. Carnegie, you wanna join the game?"
She was already tired of both Xena's and Louis's manipulations. The only reason she remained was to uncover where her mother was hidden!
At Paige's words, Louis immediately turned to Xena, "What are you playing at?"
If Louis's previous pursuits of Paige hinted at a deeper interest, his pointed question now was a clear sign of taking her side.
Seeing this, a fire was lit in Xena's heart, "Louis, are you questioning me for this ex-con?"
Louis's expression darkened at the phrase 'ex-con,' which struck him as a particularly offensive slur.
His tone grew more severe, "She's your sister!"
It dawned on Xena that Louis was overtly protective of Paige, and she snarled with indignation, "Louis, are you protecting her? Don't tell me you actually consider her your fiancée?"
Louis remained silent. Paige had broken off her engagement with him so abruptly that he hadn't even had the chance to seriously discuss the matter with her.
As Xena saw Louis seemingly accept her claims, her tone grew frantic.
She scoffed mockingly, "Louise, you’re probably not aware, right? She got married, just yesterday! She tied the knot with another man, nothing to do with you anymore. And here you are, still treating her like your fiancée, how ironic! If you don’t believe it, just ask her yourself!"