[Jake's POV]
"I'll open for five hundred thousand," Leung said, pushing his chips forward with a cautious, measured movement. His voice was steady but his wrist betrayed him. It hovered half a second too long over the pot before letting go.
Volkov folded, grumbling about the cold deck in Russian. He threw his cards down hard enough to make the felt jump. Thorne studied Leung for a moment, his pale eyes flicking between Leung's stack and his face, before tossing his cards away.
The action moved to me.
I looked at my pocket Aces, then at Evelyn. She was waiting, her posture perfectly still. Her lips were pressed together. Nose breathing. Strong hand.
"Two million," I said, sliding the heavy ceramic plaques into the center of the table.
The sound they made was different from everyone else's chips. Mine landed like a verdict.
