she would rather deal with family House

"I'd like to stay here and take care of them, or at least one of them." She replied, gesturing toward the door.

"You mean Nele and Sophie?" He inquired.

"No. I mean Sophie and Penny. Those two are evil, you witnessed how she reacted when you pretended you didn't know who she was, and Penny is even worse." She said.

"Mhh, ...., what do you have in mind?" He asked her with a smile.

"Well, I don't know. You're the man with the incredible skills, after all." She replied mischievously.

"Well, that's true. But why should I bother with them now? We have time." He replied, even though he was convinced they deserved it.

"Oh, come on, master. pleaaasee." She begged him with big googly eyes and a little pouty mouth.

He sighed and led her back to the office.

"You don't leave me alone anyway. So, you want us to finish this quickly." He told her when they arrived at the office.

"It's still your decision, but yes." She answered meekly, having both hands on her collar, her head slightly lowered while still looking at him.

He penetrated her thoughts again and found that she was willing to do anything to get Phillip and his family out of the way, besides, she hoped to soften him up with that attitude.

He had to smile, and when she saw that, her eyes widened a bit more.

"So you've always served me well, and you'll continue to serve me well, I'm certain. Let's lure Phillip out, then. After all, with the two of them, we have the perfect decoys. What do you think about a poker game, like with Doris?" He finally answers. When Velvet heard that, she literally began to beam, and a quick glance into her mind showed him what leaps of joy she was doing.

She nodded and grinned from ear to ear.

"Let's go then." He said, and walked with her back into the public area. He led her to the bar and had a drink with her there first. Meanwhile, he got the location of the two, from his security staff. He got the info that Sophie and Penny were at poker table 8, along with Lara.

He wandered from table to table with Velvet, playing a round here and there, and finally arrived at the three. Of course, he was immediately approached again by the mayor.

"I guess I have to apologize for the police chief's behavior, and I assure them that Ms. House had nothing to do with it." She tried to muddy the waters a bit.

He didn't know how to react at first, but decided to take the defensive option.

"Then I guess I'll have to apologize to Mrs. House. How do you think I can make it up to her?" He replied, immediately stopping time to use the app.

"What if, Sophie, House suggested a private poker game as an apology."

"What if, in every poker game, I get to set the stakes and the rules and everyone thinks that's fair."

"What if, themselves, Lara Price, Sophie and Penny House agree with my suggestions".

Before releasing the time, he took all the cash from the three women.

"What do you think about a private game between friends?" Suggested Sophie

"That sounds fair, do you want to do it here in the house or do you have another place in mind."

"We're happy to do it here in the house, but, as I said, in private." She replies.

"Well then, why don't you come with me, and we'll play upstairs in my office." He took her up on the offer.

He led them all together into his office, where the poker table was still ready from the action with Doris.

Velvet started to prepare the table and asked the three if they wanted something to drink.

"I think we should play with real stakes. Buy-in is 1,000 cash." Suggested Carl.

"Okay, that sounds reasonable." Replied Sophie, reaching into her pocket to pull out the money. The others looked in their purses as well. All three were startled to find that she was out of cash.

"This, ...., this can't be you!" Murmured Sophie. "Can I buy my way in with a card?"

"I'm not a fan of that. It makes it too easy to lose track of how much you've invested in the game. But I'm happy to buy something from them." replied Carl mischievously.

She looked at him thoughtfully, and in her thoughts he could see that she knew very well what he meant by that, but was still undecided.

"So a round of strip poker, they are one to me! However why not!" she replied, looking at the other two who nodded.

"Alright, but then we'll have adjusted rules! We start by playing for clothes, if someone has none left I'm allowed to buy body parts, which are then mine! If, I lost everything, the same applies, then I can offer them body parts. If Velvet and I lose everything or all three of them lose everything, the game is over!" He explained the new rules.

The three looked at him a little puzzled, but agreed. Inwardly, he celebrated the app once again.

"Very well, what do you offer me for the buy-in? And I'll determine what I'm willing to pay for it." He inquired.

Since all three were rather scantily clad, they couldn't really offer him much.

"So what would they give me for my shoes?" Lara asked him, stretching out her left leg. She has strong, slender legs and if he had been standing, he probably could have easily seen under her red dress.

"For both of them together, 200s. That's not enough for the buy-in." He replied dryly.

"They're worth a lot more than that, though." She justified herself.

"Supply and demand, and I'm not willing to pay more for the shoes, even if they look good on them." He replied. She grumbled a little.

"And for my dress? Whereas I'm only wearing panties underneath." She pecked.

"Mhh, in that case, I'll take the shoes, the dress and the panties as buy-in." He suggested to her.

She sighed, but relented and began undressing and handing them to him.

"Does her assistant have that kind of money on her?" pecked Penny.

"She's not playing along. And I'll put down the buy-in for both of them," Carl replied amiably, putting down the money.

"So the three of us are playing against you?" Penny huffed.

After a brief pause, he made them a proposition.

"What do you think of that? I give them all three the buy-in plus another 2,000 credits to play with, in return, I get their clothes and bodies. When the game is over they either get it all back or I keep it all depending on who wins."

"So if we should have gambled it all away, they own us? And if they gambled it all away, they're ours?" Sophie asked.

"That's the way it is. And I can only throw in 3,000 credits. That should be fair, right?" He replied

"Then we're good to go," Sophie replied, grinning. She was sure the three of them could beat him.