The Billionaire's Gamble

Chapter 2: The Luck of the Draw

Sunday, May 6th, 8:37 PM

The Caribbean Queen set off from the port in Miami and sailed across the Great Bahama Bank as night started to fall. Mako stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom of his suite, glancing at himself to ensure that his attire looked perfect.

He elected to change out of his white suit and dressed himself in his cream suit. While barely contrasting in any form or fashion, Mako knew the difference. He preferred the soft color to help mellow his mood. The music pulsing from the lower floors had begun to penetrate through the walls of his room, and he subconsciously tapped his foot to the beat.

With a good feeling in his bones, Mako grabbed his phone and wallet from the bathroom counter, flushed his suit collar, and gave himself a half-grin in the mirror before heading toward the door to his suite. His dress shoes clicked against the thinly carpeted floor, and he rounded the corner where the elevators sat.

After riding the lift down to the main deck, Mako stepped out into the carefree atmosphere. Hundreds of people had flocked to the gambling tables on the first night, and he reveled in their ecstatic moods with each winning hand.

The chip counter stuck out in his view from the left. He walked over and stood at the counter, reaching into his pants pocket for the medallion given to him when he purchased his reservation on the cruise.

With a clink, the decorated token shined underneath the overhead light. Mako slid it to the opening in the barrier of the booth.

"Welcome, Mr. Ruvic," the clerk said to him while turning around to the stockroom.

After a moment, the man returned with a large metal briefcase and set it on the counter. Mako took hold of each side and moved it closer to him, taking note of the case's weight. He unlatched the notches next to the handle and lifted the top half open.

"Twenty million as requested, sir," the clerk said.

"My father is a sir," Mako said while his eyes passed over the rows of clean, crisp poker chips. "My grandfather was a sir."

Mako looked up and gave the clerk a faint grin.

"I am not."

Resealing the case, Mako took it by the handle, turned toward the casino floor, and surveyed the various tables in his sight. After a moment, he found an open seat and walked over. The dealer opened a hand toward the chair on the right.

Mako pulled one million dollars' worth of chips from the case he had been given by the clerk and set them on the green fabric of the table at his position. Cards had always been a favored hobby of his but never on this scale, where the smallest bet rose higher than the average household income.

The dealer passed him his first two cards. He covered them with his hands and bent the corners toward him. A black ace of clubs and a five of hearts smiled back at him. Mako called the blind along with three others at the table, and the flop followed. After seeing the five of spades turn up after the jack of hearts and two of clubs, he tried his best to keep still and maintain his collected composure.

"Bet, fifty thousand," the dealer said as one of the patrons slid a few chips forward.

"Fold," the next man said.

"Call," a middle-aged woman said immediately after.

Mako thought for a moment, hovering his hand over his chip pile.

"Call," he said after a moment, plucking the necessary amount and pushing it to the pot.

Over the course of the hand, Mako had managed to push his primary opponent into betting until only he and the first man remained. The cards laid out by the dealer had given him a full house with fives and twos, the best possible hand on the table. After studying the other man's nervous face, Mako raised him once more.

The man called, and they both flipped over their cards. Mako smiled as he had won with ease.

The disappointed look on player one's face sent a tiny sense of guilt into Mako's heart. Hurting people, no matter the situation, unsettled him. As the dealer handed out the next set of cards over, Mako grabbed a couple of his chips.

"Here," he said, tossing them to the man he had just beaten. "I'll buy your hand this round."

Mako's grin widened as the man's defeated expression shifted to one of gratitude.

The game continued, as did Mako's winning streak. Hand after hand, he slowly increased his chip count, and several players bought in just for him to beat. With nearly seven million more than he started the night with, the spotlight centered over him.

A small crowd gathered around his table, sharing moments of adrenaline-fueled victory and bitter defeat.

His mind properly immersed in the fun, Mako felt relaxed for the first time in months. He waved for a drink to loosen him up and enjoyed every second of his time as the big hitter at the table.

However, just as the next set of cards hit his fingers from the dealer's toss, his focus shifted away from the game entirely. The woman he had seen from the balcony of his suite made a sudden appearance, grappling his eyes like a magnet. Her elegant red dress prominently revealed her curves, but not so much as to demean her class. Mako's curiosity from the afternoon rose.

He watched her take a seat at the bar on the far end of the casino floor, and the urge to stand from his place at the table, throwing away millions of dollars, rose in his thoughts.

The woman glanced at him for a moment and gave a subtle wink. Mako's face flushed. He grabbed his drink from the poker table and held it in the air toward her as covertly as he could manage. Her smile grew as a result; his flirtatious gesture had worked.

Poker had become the least of his worries in that moment with his thoughts centered around the woman. He stood from the game, withdrawing while keeping a keen eye on the woman at the bar.

However, just as Mako thought his night had changed course, a well-dressed man approached him bearing the symbol of the cruiseliner.

"Pardon me, Mr. Ruvic," a man said from behind him.

Mako looked up to one of the floor managers whose attention he had gained from the poker game.

"It is my pleasure to inform you that you have been invited to the captain's table for the remainder of the evening if you so choose."

Glancing over to where the manager held an open hand, he scanned over the half a dozen men and women seated at a prestigious table. High rollers like himself, they must have been invited as well. He longed to continue his distant relations with the woman at the bar. However, refusing such an invitation would seem highly unprofessional.

Mako weighed his options for a moment. After realizing that a seat at the captain's table would grant him a better view of the woman at the bar and bring him a few steps closer to her, his mind and heart agreed with one another.

"Very well," he said, giving a subtle smirk to the woman who kept him in her peripheral vision. "I suppose I can play a few hands."