Billion Dollar Love

Chapter 1

Clyde

“Let us make this night wonderful. Start placing your bets on your respective tables!”

The cheerful voice of the male emcee surrounds the whole casino hall as I’m enjoying my time here in the exit area. I’m playing around with the woman I just met at the pool last night. Skimming the whole place, I can see a lot of people close to my age enjoying their time as well.

It’s been an hour since the party started, but I received no greetings at all. Well, I can’t blame them since I’m hiding from them to spend time with this woman whose name I can’t remember.

“Please enjoy your drinks! It’s all in the house, courtesy of our one and only Clyde Keller, who’s celebrating his 25th birthday tonight!” the emcee says while eyeing the guests.

I can hear people cheering, not because of my birthday, but because of the complimentary drinks that are now being served on their tables.

“Speaking of Clyde, is he here yet?” I see the emcee moving his head, looking for me. Two girls from the back wave their hands to tell him that they haven’t seen me. “Oh, the celebrant might be arriving fashionably late! Let’s wait for him to get here.”

He then sits on the chair beside him, still searching for me. I look at the woman in front of me, only seeing her head because she’s busy kissing me on my neck and leaving marks that will surely be visible later when I decide to greet all the guests.

I put my hands on her waist and bend a bit to look at her face. She’s now looking at me with lust in her eyes, and I just brush it off. I move forward and kiss her hungrily.

I can feel her nails scratching my back as I bit her lower lip, making her moan.

Realizing that this might go deeper, I stop kissing her and move my hands away from her waist. She gives me a confused look, and I put on my signature smile whenever I finish flirting around with women.

“That’s a good one, Cara,” I drunkenly say. I remember I drank a lot of wine earlier.

“How many times do I have to remind you? It’s Vanessa. This is already the third time,” she complains, crossing her hands on her chest.

I laugh and tidy myself up, then look at her once again. “This will be the last time. Excuse me, I have hundreds of people waiting for me to greet them.”

I’m about to leave her alone when she suddenly grabs my arm. “See you next time?”

I gently take her hand off my arm and tap it. “Enjoy the party and have fun,” I reply and head to the crowd.

All of the guests recognize me and quickly clap their hands as I walk to the center. The emcee hurries to stand up and grabs the microphone once again.

“Let us all welcome, Clyde Keller!” he announces, and the claps become louder and clearer in my ears.

I shake off my white coat and brush my right hand in my hair. I greet everyone I know and shake hands with them.

“Mr. Clyde!” I hear two voices shout in unison behind me. I look at them and eventually smile as I see them running toward me.

“Twins...” The croupiers bow at me, and I quickly wave my hand to tell them to drop the formalities. “I told you, don’t treat me like I’m someone you are not familiar with.”

“Okay, Clyde,” they answer in unison again. I laugh at how cute they are.

“Let us assist you to your table,” Dana says, the twin who’s more of a softie.

I raise my eyebrows. “It’s alright. I can manage.”

Daphne, the older of the two, comes close to my ears. “We won’t make it look like you need help.” She then moves away and gives me a slight smile.

I nod at them, and they walk in front of me like they are my chaperone. Looking around, I already see some of the guests holding their hair out of frustration while placing their bets and taking out their respective cards.

Thinking about it, it’s been a while since I last used my gambling trick. A playful smirk forms on my face as I think of a wonderful plan to win against the people here.

“What is it, birthday boy?” Dana whispers back in my ear.

 I tap the twins’ backs and whisper to them, “Hey, I will give you a generous tip if you deal me with good cards.”

They look at each other and nod. “Your wish is our command, Clyde,” Daphne replies and grins at me.

“Deal,” Dana adds.

Dana and Daphne Autumn or the Autumn twins have perfect sleight of hands, so I’m sure nobody will be able to catch on to what’s happening.

They giggle and quickly make their way to their spots. I see a familiar person at the nearby table. I approach him, and he stands to offer his hand to me.

I stare at his hand and proceed to sit down, not minding him. He quickly puts his hand back down and frowns.

“Dalias, if you want to play with me, come sit down and show me your awful skills,” I tease him and greet the other guests at the same table.

Dalias, the man who’s always getting on my nerves whenever we play in this casino, sits down and gapes at me. “I shouldn’t have decided to play nice with you, thinking it’s your birthday.”

I scoff. “No one asked you to play nice. Show me what you got.”

He rolls his eyes. “I’ll win against you.”

I smirk at him, and Dana starts to place cards on the table.

Of course, I won.

“No one can outdo me, especially on my birthday,” I state and give him a smile that will frustrate him for the rest of his life.