Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Chapter 66: Danger

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Fortunately for Samantha, Zachary was not a very attentive person. She could handle the situation as long as she was cautious.

Samantha raised her hand and tucked her hair behind her ear. She lowered her voice and pretended to giggle softly, “You’re hilarious, Mr. Summer. How could I have met you when this is the first time I attended such a large party?”

As she spoke, she lowered her eyes slightly and avoided Zachary’s eyes smoothly.

The lights in the room were dim and she donned a mask in addition to changing her voice deliberately. As long as Zachary was not serious, she would probably be able to hide her identity from him.

Zachary squinted at her for ten seconds and his reply was just as she expected, “You’re right. How could a little dancer like you ever cross paths with someone like me?”

Samantha was about to breathe a sigh of relief when he heard Zachary continuing in an intrigued voice, “Still, I’m very interested in your appearance. If you were able to pole dance in such a seductive manner, I wonder if your face is just as extraordinary.”

As soon as he spoke, his hand reached for the mask on her face.

His movements were too sudden, but Samantha was lucky to have kept her guard up. She pretended to turn her face sideways by accident.

Zachary’s fingers could only grasp thin air.

Rather than feeling annoyed, his interest was piqued even more. He touched his chin, “Why don’t you take it off yourself, Beautiful. I’m really looking forward to seeing what you look like under that mask.”

On the other side, Felix’s attention was drawn to her again despite earlier losing his interest in her. He pushed away the woman in his arms and pointed at Samantha, “Come on, Beautiful. Since Mr. Summer here wants to see your face, you might as well take that mask off. If he likes you, you stand the chance of sampling gourmet food and fancy wines if you stay by his side.”

The others chuckled ambiguously as soon as he said that.

Samantha’s eyes narrowed slightly. If it were any other person, she would not really mind taking off the mask for the sake of getting it over with. Unfortunately, the man in front of her was Zachary, and there was no way she could take off that mask.

She had not forgotten the time Timothy thought she was with other men at the club. The horrible things that happened to her after that caused her to come down with a sickness that nearly took her life.

If Timothy caught him yet again, whatever punishment she would receive from him was beside the point. If he interfered with her attempt to save Corey, she would never be able to forgive herself.

When Felix saw her staying silent and keeping still for a long time, he immediately became unhappy. His face sank and he asked coldly, “What? Do you have to continue being that pretentious just because you were told to take off your mask?”

The Summers was one of three powerful families. Felix—as the host—could not afford to upset Zachary simply for the sake of an insignificant dancer.

He snorted again. “You should be honored that Mr. Summer wants to look at you, although you don’t seem to appreciate his courtesy. If you’re not going to take it off, I’ll have someone take it off for you!”

Felix lifted his chin and gestured to his men.

They nodded at once and immediately walked toward Samantha in an intimidating manner.

Samantha clenched her fists all of a sudden and scanned her surroundings rapidly. Once she ascertained the position of the room door, she got ready to run at any time.

As the subordinate’s hands reached over to grab Samantha, Zachary unexpectedly grabbed his hand and stopped him. “Come on, can’t you be gentle? How can you be so rough to a beautiful lady? It’s important to be delicate to members of the fairer sex. Capiche?”

His words were directed at Felix.

Those words were muted but possessed an individualistic aura. Felix’s fierce expression froze and he immediately put on a flattering smile. “You’re absolutely right, Mr. Summer.”

After reprimanding Felix, Zachary returned his gaze to Samantha’s face. He groaned and said, “It’s rather boring to have you just take off your mask like that. Let’s play a game, shall we?”

He pointed his finger at the pool table placed on the other side of the room. “Do you play pool? Let’s have a little match. Pot five balls and you win the game.”

“You’ll get five chips for each pot you make, but for every pot I make...”

Zachary glanced over Samantha’s long legs and smiled like a fox. “…you’ll take off one item of clothing.”

Samantha’s face changed slightly as soon as he said this.

The other men in the room immediately started whistling and shouting, “If it comes to playing pool, Mr. Summer is an expert!”

“How about it, Beautiful?” Zachary looked at Samantha.

Samantha clenched her jaw slightly. She was starting to suspect that Zachary was making things difficult for her because he had recognized her.

Judging from the situation, she might have no choice but to turn him down.

Then again, it was pool...

In the past, Timothy had brought Samantha out to play with Jonathan and Zachary. She had seen Zachary play before and he had quite the skill. However, her abilities were not that far off either.

She surmised that their skill was probably on par with each other, so much so that she might be able to beat him if she put on a stellar performance.

Should that happen, she could stand to earn even more money without having to take off her mask.

Samantha curled her lips and responded softly, “I can’t possibly refuse your kind invitation, Mr. Summer. I’ll agree to your conditions.”

“Sweet.” Zachary patted his palms. “Come on, Beautiful. Let’s head over there.”

Samantha and Zachary walked to the pool table. The rest of the men could not resist following along, as they too were interested to see what would happen.

After all, Samantha has to take off one article of clothing with every pot she failed to make. With only two pieces of clothing on her body, she would already be naked if she could not pot two balls.

Their game seemed to be much more interesting than everything else.

Samantha and Zachary stood at opposite ends of the pool table. Samantha picked a random cue and held it in her hands to get the feel of it.

Zachary looked at her for a few seconds, then suddenly said, “Judging from my horoscope today, my luck will be pretty bad if I gamble so I won’t be playing. I’ll let...”

He raised his hand, swept his finger across the numerous young men there, and finally pointed to a booth in the corner before continuing, “…one of best bros take my place!”

Zachary’s ‘best bro’?

Samantha’s grip tightened around the cue and she raised her eyes abruptly to look at the booth.

A man was sitting quietly there. Half his body was hidden in the dark, and he had escaped Samantha’s attention earlier because no one dared to come over and disturb him.

At that moment, she looked right into the man’s dark eyes and recognized his familiar facial features despite the dim light.

His long legs were gracefully crossed as he leaned lazily against the sofa. A cigarette was held between his fingertips and a slight flame lit the tip of the cigarette.

Despite not saying anything, the sight of him was enough to make one shudder.

To her marked surprise, Timothy had been inside the room all along! He even saw what she had done that day!

Samantha’s black pupils contracted all of a sudden and she somehow stopped breathing too.

Timothy was in no hurry as he took the last puff of his cigarette and exhaled the smoke.. After putting out the cigarette in the ashtray, he uncrossed his legs, got up, and took slow steps over to her.