In the All Town Casino in the center of the city.
The sounds of cards whirring in the hands of the dealers, bells, and whistles of the various slot machines, joined with the murmur of the crowds, the racketing noise of levers being pulled sounded within the casino.
Among the crowd, two players rested their elbows on the rough-brushed green felt on the [1]craps table. They watched the soft tumble of the dice.
The man on the right was a middle-aged and heavier man, with his hairline receding rapidly toward an ever-growing patch of sparse hair at the back. A lean man, twenty years younger sat beside him on the left.
Both of the players passed in some chips, and a bet went around the table. The dealer laid out three cards in the middle, face-up in a line, and the betting went around the table once more.
"Show your cards," The dealer said after a few minutes.
It was then the man on the left had won, while the other's face blackened.
"This is bullshit!" He pointed a thick finger toward the other man, his chubby cheeks wobbling with the jarring action. "Greedy, stinkin' bastard! You cheated, I know you did! For every bet, you got every round right!"
The young man looked at the bald man as if he were insane. He snorted.
"Sure, I cheated. Listen here, don't blame me because your luck is so shitty."
"Hah! My luck is shitty only because you cheated! I bet you're working with someone else here!"
"Gentlemen, please calm down, you're distracting the other customers." The dealer tried to calm the men down, though his voice didn't hide his irritation with the two.
The bald man quickly caught onto this, and almost immediately, his anger thickened.
"This is outrageous! Get me the manager, right now! If not, don't expect to get out of this without a lawsuit!" His voice was shrill at this point, catching the attention of everyone within the casino.
By now, everyone was already irritated by the bald man's unnecessary ruckus. From what they could see, he had lost and was taking his anger out on the dealer and young man.
It was at this moment numerous men's gazes shifted from the bald man and onto another figure. A woman to be more exact. The clicking of her heels added rhythm to the soft classical music that played onward without pause. Her eyes scanned the room sharply in search of someone when her eyes met the bald man and the young man's gaze. She smiled, a smile so beautiful, it was like the stars themselves rested behind the soft cushion of her lips.
"Is there something wrong gentlemen?" Robin Tsosie approached the men with a polite, unreadable smile.
It took a while for the bald man to find his voice again. "W-Who are you?"
"I'm the manager. Now, what's the problem?"
"He cheated!" The bald man pointed to the young man beside him.
"Hmm?" Robin's eyes turned to the young man, whose eyes quickly refocused on her after roaming her entire body. The edge of Robin's lips pulled into a deeper smile.
"Tell me, did you cheat?" She lowered her voice, almost seductively.
Narrowing his eyes, the young man smiled smugly. "No, it's just someone who can't handle losing pushing the blame onto someone else."
"You...!" The bald man's face flushed with anger.
Not bothering to hide her pleased smile, Robin stepped toward the young man and leaned forward. He could smell the fine scent of whiskey, and a musky perfume on her. He swallowed.
Suddenly, Robin leaned in toward his ear.
"I will only warn you once. Either you leave empty-handed, or with the money you stole, and a broken hand. If you take even a cent, believe me, I'll know."
The young man froze at the sound of her soft but chilling voice. Before he could respond, Robin had pulled away with a cold smile.
"You're free to go now, sir."
With a pale expression, he lowered his head and quickly left the casino. The bald man watched in confusion before realizing the manager had let him go away freely.
"Hey! You let him go? What the hell kind of business is this? Letting cheaters—" The man swallowed his complaints when he met Robin's icy stare.
"I gave him a fair warning and I ensure you that there won't be any more problems." Robin crossed her arms, her chin lifted high.
The bald man was at a loss for words. "W-What about the rest of my earnings?"
Robin raised an eyebrow. "What earnings? You bet wrong, so what is it you have to win?"
Embarrassed by the woman's words, the bald man's face flushed. He cursed under his breath and lowered his head before collecting the money he had earned. Robin watched him leave with an indifferent expression before turning to the dealer.
"Problem's over. Get back to work."
The dealer hid a smile and nodded his head. "Yes, ma'am."
Turning around, Robin had just been about to return to overseeing the operation of the casino when she saw a certain figure sitting in the lounge. Robin stopped to stare for a moment, thinking she was seeing things when sure enough, she wasn't.
She knew exactly who that person in the lounge was.
Walking toward the person with a pair of striking cold eyes, Robin stopped. Lifting her eyes from her cup of water to the beautiful woman standing next to her, Mimi's eyes glinted mischievously.
"You handled that quite well." Mimi complimented.
"How did you get in here?" Robin ignored her words and stared at her with crossed arms and unfriendly eyes.
"You're not the only one with tricks up her sleeves." Mimi giggled softly, referring to her breaking into Tobias's company unnoticed.
Thinking Tobias must have informed her of that incident, Robin sneered. "This is not a playground. I best advise you to leave now. I'd rather not embarrass Tobias's precious girlfriend."
In short, dragging her out with kicking and screaming.
Thinking her words would scare or at the very least intimidate Mimi, Robin was quickly disappointed to see not a single change in her expression. Instead, the girl's smiles only grew.
"How boring. I thought someone your age would be kinder to the youth."
When her eyes turned to look at the stunned expression on Robin Tsosie's face, she smiled coldly. Mimi then lifted her head as if she remembered something.
"Ah, but I didn't come here to just sit and chat. Rather, I would like to settle something with you."
Raising her eyebrows curiously, Robin's eyes narrowed. "Which is?"
"I would very much like it if you stayed away from my boyfriend. While I'm not one to care for the pesky flies around him, I can't help but interfere when one of them has gotten a little too close for comfort." Mimi replied with a smile.
"Are you worried that he might fall for me?" Robin smirked confidently.
Because Mimi's smiles grew, Robin's face darkened as she saw the girl stifling a laugh – as if her words were nothing but a joke to her. Clearing her throat, Mimi took one last sip of her water and stood up.
Robin was a tall woman. Not just that, but her figure was enchanting to every man and woman. On normal occasions, Mimi would have admired the sexy woman. But now, she was a pest in her eyes.
When Mimi lifted her head to look into the beautiful woman's eyes, Mimi's expression only grew more and more sinister.
"Let's make a deal. You and I play a game and whoever wins, gets to make a request the other has to agree to. No second tries." Mimi smiled playfully.
A little surprised by her request, Robin looked down at the girl before her and fell silent. While Mimi's face was indeed attractive, everything else about her was lacking in Robin's book. She was short, flat-chested, had no talent, and was too young. Basically, not someone she deemed worthy to stand beside Tobias Itou.
Thinking she could finally remove such a person from Tobias's life, Robin couldn't stop the smile on her face.
"Fine. But let's play in the back." After all, Mimi was too young to be in a casino. If anyone saw her, Robin knew they could get into trouble.
Mimi understood her thoughts and nodded her head. The two walked out of the view of the customers and walked toward the back of the casino and up a flight of stairs. On the second floor, in a VIP section, a group of men and women were huddled by a table. When they noticed the two women approaching, their eyes lit up.
"Hey, hey, Robin! Who's the little girl you have with you?" A young man by the name of Carl looked at the neatly dressed Mimi.
"She's Tobias's new girlfriend…" Robin said with a slightly bitter tone at the end.
At that moment, everyone within the room stopped what they were doing and looked up to stare at the girl beside Robin. Carl's eyes scanned Mimi's pretty face then down to her chest. It was only then he glanced away and back to Robin - eyes clearly not on her face.
Ignoring their shocked and inspecting gazes, Mimi's eyes shifted to the alcohol and obvious powder in the center of the table. She hid a sneer. The All Town Casino was considered one of the best casinos within the city. Now Mimi knew why.
It was a place where celebrities or just rich people could come and indulge in illegal drugs. Despite this, Mimi didn't care in the slightest. She didn't come to look at people get high and drunk, she came here to eliminate a pesky bug.
Mimi continued that calm, patient tone that was neither soft nor loud, "When do we play? I would like to finish our bet before midnight."
Who knew if Tobias might pay her a surprise visit.
While everyone was surprised by her calm voice, Robin's lips twitched. "Clear the table and get me some cards."
"What are you doing?" Another man asked with a frown. He obviously didn't want to clear his precious drugs and booze off the table.
"We're going to play a game," Robin chuckled.
Very quickly, everyone caught on to the meaning behind Robin's words. They looked between her and Mimi before they began clearing the table. Everyone knew how much Robin admired Tobias, to suddenly have the chance to wipe the floor of his current girlfriend, they couldn't wait for the entertainment.
After they cleared the table and set up some cards, the two women walked to the table. Tucking her skirt underneath her, Mimi calmly placed her hands on her lap – her elegant demeanor completely different from the loud music and scent of cigarettes.
"Now then," Mimi's smile turned gentler, causing an unknown chill to run down everyone's spines. "Let's play, shall we?"