The Badass Mafia Boss Queen

Castello was standing over the electric cooker, vehemently stirring foodstuff in a large frying pan while engaging in a seemingly interesting gist with Maxine, who was dutifully cutting vegetables.

Hollis led me to the dining table beside the kitchen counter where scented candles and a table set for four waited for us.

“Wait,” I said, adjusting onto the seat Hollis pulled out for me. “Where were all of you, before now? I didn’t see any of you when I entered the living room earlier.” I queried.

“In one of the rooms downstairs,” Hollis replied, taking his seat at the head of the table.

“Where’s Alessia?”

“In her quarters. I’m at your service if you need anything.” He gave me a wink. Yes, he did. I saw it.

Maxine and Castello soon approached the dining table with big bowls of fajitas, noodles, vegetables, plenty of meat and cupcakes! I smiled when I saw it and I had no doubt Hollis noticed my happiness as well.

The meal was wholesome. It felt like Maxine and Castello were two brothers having a meal with their oldest brother and his lovely wife. And the lovely wife is me.

After eating and clearing the dining space, we decided to play poker. I wasn’t good at the game, so I was soon out of chips after a few hands.

But my husband was still in the game, so that means I am still playing, if you look at it from the ‘two becomes one’ aspect of marriage. As expected, Hollis was sitting behind a fortress of chips and Maxine was barely hanging on.

Castello was out and he kept his mouth busy and mood elevated with plantain chips from one of the containers in kitchen cupboards. He offered me some, but I didn’t think I still had any sort of space in my stomach. So I didn’t take it.

“Is it always like this?” I whispered to Castello’s hearing.

“Are you asking if your husband always wins?”

I nodded. He squinted at Hollis’s direction. “He wins, but we all know he cheats.”

I looked over at Hollis, who probably overheard us. But he kept quiet and remained focused on his cards.

“I don’t see him cheating,” I said to Castello.

“I never expected you not to take your husband’s side.”

That made me laugh out loud. Hollis turned in our direction, probably amused at the sound of my boisterous laugh.

“Oh no, Castello is seriously cracking me up. Do not mind us, just focus on your game and win it for us.” I told him amid laughter.

“I’ll do just that.” He replied and did as I asked. He focused on the poker game.

When I turned back at Castello, he was giggling. “You both look so cute together, you do know that, don’t you?”

“Oh please.” I cut him off but was unable to hide the blush that spread across my cheeks. “So how come you think Hollis is cheating?”

“He counts cards and he reads people.” Castello stopped and searched my face. I believe he found what he was looking for because my face was full of doubt.

“You can’t believe that he knows what people are thinking about just by looking at them.”

“He doesn’t brag about that to you?” I shook my head.

“What do you guys talk about then?” He whispered.

I drew closer to him and whispered right back. “Stuff that married people talk about.”

He smiled and shrugged. “That’s not surprising.”

I turned to Hollis and asked, “Is that true? Can you really tell what people are thinking, just by looking at them?”

“Not exactly.” He answered, carefully, sparing me that beautiful once-over.

I melted, not physically, but I felt some liquid below, down there. “Castel likes to invent words.” He added

Maxine pushed the rest of his chips in and mumbled, “All in.”

Hollis immediately called. They overturned their cards on the table and waited for the dealer’s card to unfold. Hollis’s first three cards gave him an edge already. But Maxine waited for the next two, hoping that a sort of miracle would save him from the inevitable.

“Told you,” Castello murmured, in between the deposition of large heaps of chips in his mouth.

I smiled and turned back to Hollis. “Which part of what Castello said is invented?” I asked him.

“I don’t know what people are thinking.” He clarified, looking at Maxine with that expression that says, ‘Okay, you can give up now, Buddy.’

He then sighed and turned briefly toward me. “All I can tell is if someone is happy, sad, mad, nervous, guilty, or bluffing to scare others or to buy time.”

“Let’s see what you got man.” Maxine urged.

“I’m of the opinion that you pack up the cards Max. Hollis has won already, you know this.” Castello suggested, sipping from a glass of very cold water.

Maxine turned to me, “what do you say, U. U?” He asked me.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“I say you finish what you started.” I gave him my honest thoughts.

“You heard the Queen, let’s see what you got,” Maxine told Hollis.

“That Queen is my wife. Her loyalty lies with me, you know.”

“And my sister-in-law, you should know that too.” He clapped back.

Hollis smiled, and so did I. “So, are some people easier to read than others?” I asked, still picking up the topic from where we stopped.

Hollis shrugged, “Everybody has their own unique trait that gives them away.” He replied. “Although I’m still forced to say yes to your question, some people are like an open book, way easier to read than others.”

“Okay…” I kind of agreed with him that some people are like open books. “So do you count cards too? If you do, that’s cheating.” I added, even before he offered an answer.

“I think poker is more about knowing your opponents than counting cards.” He said, contracting his eyes toward an unaffected Maxine again. “I do count the odds in my head, but it’s not a sure thing.” He smirked at Maxine. “For instance, I know that Maxine has lost all his chips, and he has almost no chance of winning this hand.”

“Let’s have it.” Maxine laughed. “I like my ass handed over to me.” He said.

I watched Hollis, my husband, do that little smile that always warmed my heart. Then he turned over his fourth card, a nine of diamonds. He winked at me before turning over his last card, a Queen. Maxine chuckled and shook his head to the sides in defeat.