Gamble by Jessica Hall

Returning home after work, Fallon discovers her father unconscious and their house overrun by men she doesn’t know. The stakes are high, and the odds are stacked against her: her younger sister is on the brink of death, needing expensive medical treatment they can’t afford. Driven by desperation, their father attempted the unthinkable – robbing the casino where Fallon works, only to fail disastrously.

Leone Pressutti instills fear in anyone who crosses him. For five years, she has been working for him, but she has never been on his radar until now. Fallon’s boss is a notorious man in the underworld with a chilling proposition. He offers Fallon a dangerous chance to save her family: compete in and win a high-stakes poker game, and he will cover her sister’s medical expenses. Her freedom and her sister’s life hang in the balance. But there’s a catch – if Fallon loses, her father pays with his life, and she becomes Leone’s.

Fallon believes it’s an easy win; she is no amateur and has one skill she thinks Leone doesn’t know about–counting cards. Fallon steps into the dangerous world of underground poker, where each hand brings her closer to salvation or ruin. As she nears the final table, Fallon finds herself drawn into a game far more complex than she ever imagined. The final hurdle? A showdown against Leone himself, where she learns the bitter truth: in this game of power and seduction, the house always wins.