Chapter 118

The air in the VIP room seemed to freeze completely at that moment.

Jack's unyielding gaze was like an ice-cold blade, driving straight into Kirk's eyes.

The two men stood roughly seven feet apart, locked onto each other, neither willing to look away first.

Seconds ticked by. The tension hanging in the air was so thick it felt like it could ignite at any moment.

Then, just when everyone thought Kirk was about to explode — maybe even order his bodyguards to move in —

A low chuckle slipped from Kirk's throat.

It grew louder and louder, until it became full-on, uninhibited laughter.

The tension drained from Kirk's face all at once. He straightened up and even raised his hands in a slow, appreciative clap.

"Ha! Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!"

Still laughing, Kirk waved his hand dismissively. That menacing, murderous look vanished without a trace, as if the man who had been grinding his teeth with murder in his eyes just moments ago was someone else entirely.

"Mr. Carter, you're far too tense." The cold hostility on Kirk's face was gone, replaced by the slick, practiced charm of a seasoned businessman.

He smoothed the hem of his jacket, his tone as casual as if they'd just been chatting about the weather. "Everything I said just now was just a joke. Why did you take it so seriously?"

He spread his hands slightly and made an elegant, sweeping gesture of invitation, a knowing smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

"Mr. Carter, since you're so interested in our casino, we'd be more than happy to have you. No betting limits? That goes without saying. If it would please you, even if you wanted to win the whole casino, we wouldn't say a word against it."

Kirk narrowed his eyes slightly, a glint of cunning and danger flickering in his gaze. He said quietly:

"Then it's settled. Five days from now, after our casino finishes its internal review, I'll be right here in this VIP room — waiting for your good news."

Jack's eyes narrowed slightly at that. This Kirk was no simple man. In just a matter of moments, he'd pulled his emotions back under complete control.

"Fine."

Jack said flatly.

Then he put his arm around Sherry and walked out.

Kirk watched his retreating figure, and the warmth in his eyes vanished instantly.

"Someone get me everything on him. I want his full background."

"And another thing!"

Kirk turned and looked at Monica, Bruce, the waitstaff — especially Bruce.

"Everyone who was in this room today stays put. Nobody leaves until the casino finishes its investigation."

Kirk suspected there was a mole inside the casino working with Jack from the inside. Otherwise, there was no way anyone could have won that much money.

Not that the suspicion was unreasonable.

Because what had happened at the tables today was anything but normal.

................

Outside the casino.

The moment they stepped out, Sherry let out a long breath and pressed a hand lightly to her chest.

"Scared?" Jack's mouth curved slightly at the corner.

"You're the Chief Logistics Officer of Imperial City. Surely a scene like that didn't rattle you?"

At his teasing, Sherry shot him an exasperated look — though some color was already returning to her pale face.

"You're still in the mood to joke around?" Sherry stopped walking and turned to face him. Her beautiful eyes were full of helplessness and reproach. "When those dozens of guns were pointed at you just now, you didn't even flinch. But do you have any idea what it was like standing there watching? My heart was practically in my throat."

She reached out and poked him lightly in the chest with one slender finger. "And so what if I'm Chief Logistics Officer? I'm still human. I can still be afraid of dying, you know? The way you were going toe-to-toe with Kirk back there — you were like a madman dancing on the edge of a cliff."

"Weren't you afraid he'd just have us both killed?"

Watching Sherry's flustered expression, the warmth in Jack's eyes deepened.

He caught the finger she'd been poking at his chest and wrapped it gently in his hand, rubbing it softly. "Relax. As long as I'm here, nothing's going to happen to you."

The sudden gesture caught Sherry off guard. A flush crept into her cheeks.

She tried to pull her hand back, but Jack held on a little tighter. Left with no choice, she let him hold it — though her mouth was still going. "Don't try that with me... Were you actually that confident back there, or were you faking it? If Kirk had really snapped, what was your plan?"

Jack gave a quiet laugh and kept walking, pulling her along. "Don't worry. He was never going to kill us."

"You said it yourself — this casino is one of Karina's key money laundering operations. If he started killing people just because someone won big at his tables, who would ever set foot in this place again?"

"That would be the end of the casino, wouldn't it?"

"So I was certain. They weren't going to touch us."

Sherry still looked shaken. "But you pushed it so far — standing right in front of him and saying you'd win the whole casino. Isn't that basically declaring war?"

"That's exactly what it is."

Jack's expression slowly hardened.

"I'm sure Kirk has already locked down everyone in that casino who had any contact with me today."

"He'll tear through the security footage, the accounts. He'll interrogate the waitstaff and the dealers. And when he's run himself ragged and still can't find a single shred of evidence that I cheated — that's when it'll hit him."

Jack turned and looked at Sherry, his gaze burning with intensity. "That they can't beat me. Not by playing fair."

"And that's when he'll panic."

"As the man running this casino, he can't just sit back and watch me walk away with all their money. He can't afford to answer for that."

"So his first move will be to contact Karina. And to protect this money laundering operation, she'll have no choice but to meet with me."

It clicked for Sherry the moment he said it.

All of Jack's boldness today — it had one purpose and one purpose only.

On the surface, it looked like he was trying to win the casino.

But what he actually wanted was to draw Karina out.

"You did all of this just to get her to show herself?" Sherry asked.

"Exactly."

Jack nodded. "I'm certain she'll be at the table in five days. And when she is..." He paused. "I'll ask her myself."

"Why she had William killed."

He said it one word at a time, and as he did, his eyes went cold and dark.

Sherry stared at the man in front of her — familiar and yet suddenly a stranger — and felt something jolt hard in her chest.

It hit her all at once. This seemingly reckless gamble, the three billion dollars in chips, even that razor-edged standoff — it had all been bait.

His real target, from the very beginning, had never been the money. It was Karina — the woman pulling the strings from the shadows.

And this William he'd mentioned — he clearly meant everything to Jack.

"William — was he your..." Sherry hesitated, then asked.

"He was my foster father. Without him, I'd have been dead a long time ago." Jack said it plainly, without holding anything back.