A Little Bit Sinful(58)

“The stone reminded me of you, polished and shiny on the outside.” He took her hand and held it up to the light, turning her hand slightly. The opal blazed from within. “See that, that is how I see you. That fire inside.” He released her hand. The carriage pulled up alongside them and stopped. It was, by far, the finest coach she’d ever seen.

Justin helped her inside, then took a seat, not across from her, but next to her. Her husband. He would be by her side for the rest of her life now.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“I want to show you something.”

They rode along in silence for a while until the rig stopped and Justin once again assisted her down. She looked around and noted the street looked much different in the daylight than it had that fateful night she’d come here alone. Unlike the worn sign at Rafferty’s, Rodale’s sign was freshly painted and tasteful.

Justin took her hand. “Come,” he said.

“Inside?” she asked.

He nodded. “This belongs to you now too.”

She hadn’t expected that. She allowed him to pull her up the stairs and then opened the door and she stepped across the threshold. It was not overly busy because of the time of day, but there were more people here than she had expected. The same man she’d spoken to that first night approached them. Instead of the grizzled frown she’d been greeted with that night, he wore a broad smile.

“Mrs. Rodale,” he said and then grabbed her into a fierce embrace. “Welcome to Rodale’s.”

“Thank you,” she said. She couldn’t help but smile at the unexpected warmth of the man she’d thought to be an ogre.

“Clipps, this is Clarissa. Chrissy, Basil Clipps. He essentially runs this place,” Justin said.

“Mr. Clipps,” she said with a nod.

“Nah, you call me Basil. My wife will be wanting to meet you soon.”

“We can arrange a dinner,” Justin said. “I’m going to show her around. Anything of note today?”

Clipps shook his head. “The young man was back again last night. Your brother is becoming more and more insistent that we let him play the boy.”

“I’ll see to it,” Justin said. He took her hand again and led her forward.

The room was large and divided up into sections, she supposed based on the type of game played there. Heavy wood tables made of the finest mahogany were placed around, and surrounded by matching ornate chairs. Lush red draperies hung from the windows blocking out the sun, but the room was well-lit. There were a few doors off the main room and then a staircase that led upward.

“That door over there,” Justin said pointing to their right, “leads to the kitchen and there is a dining room there. We serve food whenever people want to eat. I hired the cook from Lord Abernathy’s estate.”

They made their way to the stairs and climbed to the top. Once inside, she saw the windows that overlooked the playing floor. “You can watch from up here,” she said.

“Indeed. We don’t catch cheaters very often, but it happens. And I like to stay informed.”

The office had plush furnishings, all the finest materials, like she would find in any wealthy family’s home. “It’s all very lovely.”

“I wanted you to see it,” he said.

“Why?”

“Partly so you could see what I have built. And partly because you are my wife, this business is yours as well.”

She shook her head in confusion. “Am I not simply to manage your household?”

“You are welcomed to do that, but I might want your input for other things. Remember I know about Mr. Bembridge and his talents. He has not salvaged the finances of two families in London. He’s developing quite the reputation. There are men twice your age who would not have made such sound decisions. You have a unique mind for business, Clarissa. This is our business.”

She looked around at everything. The wife of a gaming hell owner. Or as Justin declared, part owner of a gaming hell. This was certainly not the life she’d imagined. For the first time in her adult life, she was thankful Rebecca and Charles and her parents were dead. They would be appalled at what her life had become.

A handful of weeks ago, it had been a scandal for her to stand on the sidewalk outside of this establishment and now she was inside, shared a name with it. So much had happened, she barely recognized herself. And, yet, those familiar feelings of excitement welled up inside her. Her entire life she’d had to fight her own nature to fit into the mold of the perfect society lady.