Character's not mine, they belong to Showcase and Lost Girl

Chapter 4

The elevator ride back up to the penthouse was quiet as the four ladies waited patiently for the short ride to end. Lauren was unusually quiet as she replayed the conversation she'd had with Sloan before dinner. Lauren wasn't the type of woman to put herself out there in a vulnerable position often and she was mentally kicking herself for even giving the taller brunette a chance to penetrate her mind.

"You okay?"

Tamsin looked at her with concern as she noticed the somber look on Lauren's face. The doctor gave her a tight smile and nodded. "Fine."

Tamsin wasn't buying it but then again she didn't want to push her friend so she nodded and stared ahead waiting for the elevator doors to open. The foursome headed back to the table where Charles was already seated and he smiled at them as he motioned to a lithe woman next to him. "I hope yall don't mind but my friend here wanted to give poker a go."

Bo gritted her teeth slightly at the newcomer as it really wasn't casino policy to allow an unknown into the game but she wasn't about to put one of their best clients on the spot by not letting their friend join in. Charles spent millions of dollars at the casino each year, both personally and in order to schmooze his clients, so she knew pissing him off wasn't an option. She smiled and took a step forward extending her hand to the petite woman. "Any friend of Charles is welcome here. My name is Bo Dennis, if there's anything you need during your stay here please don't hesitate to ask."

The dark haired woman looked at Bo cautiously for a second with a raised eyebrow before giving her a genuine smile. "Hi Bo, my name is Kenzi. Nice to meet you."

Bo nodded and motioned to the others. "I'd like you to meet Sloan, Lauren and Tamsin."

Kenzi nodded at them as she sat back down in her seat. "Nice to meet you ladies."

They all greeted her warmly and took their seats at the table. Charles signed for Kenzi to receive some funds and after the hundred thousand was deposited to her in chips the dealer resumed the game. It was quiet for the first few hands as everyone seemed to need to readjust back to being in the poker mindset.

"So, Kenzi…what is it you do?"

The young girl, presumably Eastern European, smiled at Tamsin with a raised eyebrow. "I'm in trade. Ten thousand."

She threw the chips into the pot and set her cards down gently placing her hands over them lazily in wait. Lauren glanced at Tamsin out of the corner of her eye for just a moment before looking down at her cards. King and ten of spades. Normally this was a hand Lauren would play around with and try to bluff out a big pot from an unsuspecting opponent but at the moment she wasn't feeling it so she sighed lightly as she threw her cards towards the middle of the table signaling her fold.

Next to her Tamsin nodded and picked up a few chips. "That's interesting, what kind of trade? And call."

Bo looked at Tamsin briefly before looking down at her own cards. She hesitated for a split second before folding as well but Sloan's quick call surprised her and she looked to her left with a raised eyebrow. There was a thickness to the air between Kenzi and Tamsin so she was surprised the normally controlled brunette sitting next to her would get tangled up in this.

"Too rich for me ladies…" Charles smiled as he folded as well and the dealer raked the chips towards the center of the table. After tapping his fist on the table twice he burned one card and dealt out three cards face up. Seven of clubs, jack of hearts and the ten of hearts now sat face up waiting for Kenzi to make the first move as she was immediately to the left of the dealer button.

"International trade. Twenty five."

A flick of her wrist had twenty five thousand in chips lying in front of her and she smiled at Tamsin playfully. Lauren raised her eyebrows at the healthy bet and waited along with the rest of the table to see what Tamsin would do. Kenzi was baiting Tamsin and Lauren could see by the look in her eye that the taller blonde was succumbing to it.

"Call."

There was a very slight hesitation to her decision but Tamsin brushed it off as she placed her chips in front of her. Tamsin was more of a gambler when it came to poker than Lauren was and she hardly ever backed down when challenged, especially when it was by someone she wanted to prove a point to. "So what is it you trade?"

Kenzi smiled as she raised an eyebrow. "You ask a lot of questions for someone you just met."

Tamsin smirked. "And you dodge a lot of questions for someone in a legitimate trade business."

Lauren's eyes darted back and forth between the pair but she didn't say anything as she looked up and noticed Sloan looking directly at her. The intensity of the dark eyes staring back at her caught Lauren off guard but she looked away quickly as she took a sip of her champagne not wanting to have some tumultuous silent conversation.

"Fold."

Sloan threw her cards into the center of the table similar to Lauren and the pair sitting directly across one another were now the only two left in the pot. The dealer tapped the table again and burned a card before revealing the next card, the jack of diamonds. Without missing a beat Kenzi glanced down and pushed a large stack of chips towards the middle. "Fifty seven thousand."

Tamsin smirked slightly as she looked at Kenzi with disbelief. "If I call that bet do I get to find out what it is you really do?"

Kenzi's lip curled up in a teasing manner. "I don't gamble with information Tamsin. You of all people should know that."

This comment sent the blonde reeling a bit and Tamsin hesitated for a second before raising an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

Kenzi smiled. "I'm sure you'll figure it out."

The dealer looked at Tamsin with a bored expression. "Bet is fifty seven thousand miss."

Tamsin glared at him before looking down at her stacks. She had about sixty five thousand in front of her so if she made this call and lost she would essentially have nothing left. Glancing down at her cards she seemed to shrug to herself and smiled as she pushed her chips towards the middle. "Call."

The dealer looked at both women with the same bored look on his face as he tapped the table twice again and burned a card before turning over the final card, the queen of hearts. Tamsin looked at Kenzi with a cold stare and waited to see what the girl would do. Kenzi looked at Tamsin and shrugged nonchalantly.

"Check."

This puzzled Tamsin as Kenzi had been betting out all hand. She glanced down at her cards once again just to be sure she knew what she had before picking up her remaining chips. "All in."

Kenzi laughed and wasted no time in calling the bet. She seemed to gloat slightly as she picked up her cards and flipped them over to Tamsin's surprise. "It has a nice ring to it don't you think?"

The royal flush is the epitome of all poker hands and Tamsin couldn't believe the four jacks she'd made weren't good enough to win this hand. In frustration she threw her cards towards the middle of the table and glared at the smaller woman. "That was a ballsy bet there."

Kenzi shrugged as she raked in the chips, which included all of Tamsin's money. "Big risk big reward right?"

Tamsin chuckled as she nodded and stared at Kenzi in disbelief. She had no idea who this woman was, let alone how the hell she got so lucky and if this was how it was going to be Tamsin knew she was in for a long night. She sighed as she leaned back and took a big sip of her whiskey before signaling to the suite supervisor to refill her stack. At this point it was pride not money that was the issue and Tamsin was determined to get her retribution. Lauren chuckled slightly and looked over at her friend with concern. "Shall we take a break?"
Tamsin just shook her head. "I'm fine."

The short answer told Lauren that Tamsin was anything but fine but she also had gambled enough with her to know sometimes she just needed to let Tamsin be. The woman was an adult with a never ending supply of money and a super competitive nature so Lauren knew she didn't need to worry about Tamsin's state of mind. Lauren knew her fellow blonde was just mad about being beaten and needed another opportunity to save a little face by taking Kenzi down a peg or two.

"So Lauren, what do you do?"

Kenzi was looking at her with the same patient smile and for some reason Lauren wanted to wipe if off her smug face. The doctor smiled politely and sat back comfortably in her chair. "I'm a surgeon."

Kenzi looked impressed as she smiled. "That's fascinating. Ever operate on anyone famous?"

Lauren did her best not to roll her eyes as this seemed to be a question she got every once in a while. "Sometimes."

Kenzi chuckled lightly. "Ever kill someone?"

Lauren's head snapped up at this question as she heard the slight gasp from the rest of the table. It was quite a brash question to ask and Lauren smirked as she figured Kenzi was just trying to get under her skin. "I have actually."

Kenzi's eyebrow went up. "Good. I wouldn't want a surgeon who never had a casualty. It means either they're perfect at their job, which no one is or it means they aren't really doing the surgery."

Lauren chuckled. "Are you in need of medical care?"

Kenzi snorted. "Are you offering your services?"

Sloan watched this interaction with some interest and she felt something rise at the suggestive tone of Kenzi's last statement. To break up the solitary conversation between the pair she reached down and blindly grabbed chips. "Raise."

All eyes were on her as the dealer counted out the stack she'd grabbed. "Ninety two thousand."

Charles raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything as he folded and Kenzi glanced down at her cards briefly before folding as well. Lauren finally picked up her cards and looked up at Sloan calmly as she reached for a stack of her own chips. "Call."

Tamsin snickered beside her and folded as did Bo who was looking back and forth between Tamsin, Lauren and Sloan with interest. The dealer raked the chips towards the middle before going through the motion of dealing out the flop. Two nine's and an ace sat on the board as Lauren looked down at her cards and back up at Sloan with a cold look in her eye. "Check."

Sloan looked down at her own cards again and reached for a stack of money. "Fifty thousand."

Lauren didn't even flinch as she reached for chips and threw them into the pot. "Call. I assure you that you won't buy this pot Sloan."

The brunette looked at her and smiled. "Not for sale doctor?"

Lauren's face never changed from its current serious look. "Never."

The dealer sighed as he burned a card and turned over the two of diamonds. He motioned to Lauren to make her move and she glanced down at her chips before looking at Sloan with the serious look still in her eye. "Check."

Sloan's hand twitched to reach for chips but her brain knew better. By Lauren looking at her chips she gave away the fact that she wanted to bet but for some reason she hesitated. If she were an amateur player Sloan would have known this was due to her not having a good hand but in this case Sloan knew better. If Lauren had wanted to bet out it was because she had a hand but she was waiting for Sloan to do so instead. 'Tricky tricky Dy. Lewis,' thought Sloan as a smirk graced her lips. After a few seconds she looked up at Lauren calmly.

"Check."

The dealer burned a card and turned over the river card, the three of clubs, and again motioned for Lauren to proceed. This time the blonde didn't hesitate as she reached for a stack of chips and set them down in front of her. "I'm not cheap either Sloan. So the decision is yours. Fold and be content with what you have or gamble and see if it pays off."

The double meaning of the words was not lost on the tall brunette and she searched Lauren's eyes for some sign of what the blonde wanted her to do. Given the weight of the situation Sloan should probably have paid more attention to the real meaning of Lauren's words but she was having a hard time focusing. Part of her was curious from a poker perspective as to what Lauren was holding and part of her did not want this tourist to push her around in her own house nonetheless. She held Lauren's unwavering gaze for a few more seconds before huffing slightly as she reached for chips. "I never settle."

Lauren's lip finally curled into a smirk as Sloan put her own stacks in the middle. "I was hoping you'd say that."

Lauren turned over her cards and revealed a pair of aces in her hand giving her a full house, aces full of nines. Normally an almost unbeatable hand but when Sloan smiled and reached for her cards Lauren knew she was beat. "But I never gamble either doctor. You should have figured that out by now."

Flipping her cards over the pair of nine's that Sloan was holding made Lauren's stomach knot up and combined with her last statement made Lauren want to get out of there right away. Gambling for the sake of gambling was something Lauren never did and after her little display with Sloan she really felt embarrassed. Picking up her drink she took a big sip before glancing over at Sloan as she clenched her jaw. "Good hand."

Lauren stared at her evenly before nodding and standing up. "Well, I guess I have nothing left to loose for today. Thank you for the fun and I'll see you all later."

Tamsin looked up at her with slight concern. "You want me to take you back?"

Lauren smiled and shook her head. "It's fine, you enjoy. Call me tomorrow?"

Tamsin nodded. "Okay, I may stop by for drinks later."

Lauren just smiled as she nodded at the group and left the suite quietly. Kenzi watched with interest as both Sloan and Tamsin seemed to discretely watch her leave and she wondered what that was all about. She understood enough about the group to realize that Sloan and Bo were together so she looked at Tamsin with a faux innocent smile. "Trouble in paradise?"

Tamsin looked back at her with confusion. "What?"

Kenzi nodded to where Lauren had exited the room. "Your girlfriend…"

Tamsin scoffed and Sloan rolled her eyes as Bo laughed heartily. "That is not Tamsin's girlfriend."

Kenzi looked on in amusement as she nodded. "Oh, my mistake."

Tamsin didn't say anything as she looked from Kenzi to Sloan quietly. Bo looked at Tamsin then over to Sloan and pursed her lips as she looked at her cards and folded quickly. She stood up suddenly and went to retrieve another bottle of champagne from the bar area leaving the other three ladies and Charles at the table. Sloan and Tamsin stared one another down which fascinated the newest member of the group. Kenzi's lips curled up in interest as she quickly realized Lauren seemed to be the focus of everyone's attention. She would use this information to her advantage and when the time was right, she would make her move.