A squat, sweaty man folded, crossing his arms and glaring at Jules from beneath big bushy brows. She continued to glance at the other players. No hair tuck or earring twist from Celeste. Jules could hear the clatter of chips at other tables, the hiss of ice as glasses were set down. Her success was swift.

She played on. Winning more pots. Accumulating more chips. She was hitting the cards. There was a crowd building around their table now. Alice and Nina had moved to get a better position and on a rare occasion when Jules looked up, her attention briefly stolen from the game, she saw Nina and Alice were staring at her, beaming. Looking confused, but proud. She allowed herself a small, tight smile back.

‘You only started with €50!’ Nina whispered in a break and Jules didn’t correct her. When her friends were busy playing roulette earlier, she’d slipped off and drawn a €35,000 cash advance from the new credit card she’d taken out last week, exchanging the cash for chips. Most of the €1,000 chips remained in the square gold handbag resting on her lap. She didn’t know how she could get them in play without her friends noticing. Would she need to wait until they got bored and went off to the bar? That could take hours.

‘Keep this up and you could quit the fund,’ Nina quipped.

‘Tarv said Oskia can get pretty busy.’ She slid a €1,000 chip over to Nina and winked. ‘Get the drinks in, yeah?’

Nina tsked and pushed the chip away with her hand. ‘I’m not spending that on a night out. You should save it.’

Jules pushed it back towards her. ‘Honestly, Neen, I want to. How often do we get to have a night out together? Let’s do it properly. We’ll get a booth.’

‘It’s €1,000,’ Nina said.

‘But I just won it. It’s like… free money,’ Jules said, although she hated saying it. She’d earned this money through skill and hard work. ‘Seriously. Let’s have some fun. I’ll finish this hand and come join you. Why not? When in Paris…’ she wheedled.

‘If you’re sure,’ Alice said. She was quite drunk already and buoyed by her own win, forgetting her earlier reservations.

‘Sure I’m sure,’ Jules said, and she shooed them away good-naturedly. ‘Go get some sparklers,’ she smirked.

*

Once they had safely gone, she unclipped her bag. She checked her phone; her accumulators were coming in. Another £5,000 up. She removed the rest of her chips: €28,000. With her winnings at the table, she had €52,000 in chips in total, but that included the cash advance she’d withdrawn. Celeste watched her appraisingly, nodding her approval. ‘You play,’ she said, in a tone that suggested You play properly, like me.

Jules signalled to the dealer and kept her breathing steady as she lifted her new hand. She kept her face as neutral as possible. Her two cards were playable. An ace and a nine, suited: both hearts. Not the worst she’d had at this table, but not the best either. Luckily, nobody else knew that. The sensible thing, with the stakes they’d been playing, would be to call, but she had the crowd – and the table – in her palm. That counted for something. So rather than call, she raised, pushing in €10,000, upping the stakes. She resisted closing her eyes. Instead, she followed the game around the table, daring the other players to call her. Half the table folded, fearful of Jules’s form and swagger, and she was confident her game plan was a success until it came to Celeste. She whispered to her casino contact, signed something, and raised Jules’s hand: €20,000. Was she calling her bluff? Jules wondered. Without showing any hesitation, she called the extra €10,000. She had €20,000 on the table now and she fought to keep her breath calm and steady.