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He strokes hair from my eyes “You knohat you can do for me now?”

“What?”

“Helpto beat ”

I laugh at his change of mood “I bet I can”

“So you think you want to play me?”

“Oh, yeah I want to play you” And we aren’t talking about Ping-Pong

“Gas me toward the tables, and, indeed, I think: Game on

Part Twelve

The truth will set you free…

Daether during the next week The charity fund-raising poker tournae success We close the day with a two-hundred-thousand-dollar take home, and neither of us can wait to tell Dehlia Damion calls her and invites her to dinner, then we head to his rooe out of our work clothes

I head to the fridge of his full kitchen and grab a soda “Can I ask you so?”

He leans on the bar across fro?”

“I know this event raised a lot of h to support the shelter It’s a huge facility, and Dehlia has a staff”

“I told you,” he says shortly “I took care of it” He turns and walks away, and I blink after him, shell-shocked at his sharpness

I set the soda down and follow hi hi his hands on the wall, chin tucked to his chest, and I go to him