Then Came You (The Gamblers #1)(34)

“That’s three questions so far,” Alex interrupted sardonically. “And before I answer, I want to know why you’re so interested.”

“I like the boy,” Lily replied with dignity. “I’m asking out of sincere concern.”

He considered that. It was possible she was telling the truth. She and Henry did seem to get along well together. “It wasn’t his marks,” he said brusquely. “Henry was in some trouble. Tardiness, mischief, the usual things. The headmaster ‘disciplined’ him…” Alex’s jaw hardened.

“Flogging?” Lily stared at his averted face. His features were especially harsh at that angle, giving him the appearance of a golden satyr. “That’s why he walks so stiffly at times. It was bad, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, it was bad.” His voice was gruff. “I wanted to kill Thornwait. I still do.”

“The headmaster?” In spite of her loathing of anyone who could commit such cruelty against a child, Lily almost pitied the man. She suspected Thornwait would not get off lightly for what he’d done.

“Henry retaliated by lighting a pile of gunpowder underneath Thornwait’s front door,” Alex continued.

Lily laughed at that. “I would have expected no less of him!” Her amusement died quickly as she studied Alex’s implacable face. “But you’re disturbed about something else…it must be…that Henry didn’t tell you about what had been happening?” She read the answer in his silence.

All at once she understood. Alex, with his unreasonable sense of responsibility for everyone and everything, would take all the blame upon himself. Obviously he doted on the boy. This would be the perfect opportunity for her to twist the knife and make him feel worse than he already did. Instead she found herself trying to ease his guilt.

“I’m not surprised,” she said matter-of-factly. “Most boys of Henry’s age are extremely proud, you know. Don’t try to claim that you weren’t when you were young. Of course Henry would try to handle things himself. He wouldn’t want to run to you like a child. From what I’ve observed, that is the way boys think.”

“What would you know about boys?” he muttered.

She gave him a chiding glance. “It’s not your fault, Raiford, much as you’d like to shoulder the blame. You have too much of a conscience—it nearly matches the size of your ego.”

“What I need is a lecture from you about conscience,” he said caustically. But he looked at her without the usual animosity, and the pale gray depths of his eyes caused a strange feeling to ripple through her. “Miss Lawson…” He gestured to the deck she held. “Would you care to play another hand of truth?”

“Why?” Smiling, Lily flipped another couple of cards to the floor. “What question would you like to ask, my lord?”

He continued to stare at her. Lily had the startling feeling that even though they were standing apart, he was touching her. He wasn’t, of course, but still she had the suffocated sensation that plucked notes of warning in her memory…yes, she had felt this way with Giuseppe…threatened…dominated.

Alex ignored the pretext of the cards, the game, and watched her intently. “Why do you hate men?”

He couldn’t stop himself from asking. The curiosity had built with every word he had heard her speak, every wary glance she had given him, her father, even Zachary. She kept a distance between herself and every man that came near. With Henry, however, Lily was different. Alex could only surmise that Henry was too young for Lily to consider a threat. His instincts told him that Lily had been taken advantage of in the past, often enough that she had come to regard men as enemies to be used and manipulated.

“Why do I…” Lily’s voice drifted into shocked silence. Only Derek had ever been able to disarm her so completely with a few words. Why would he ask such a thing? Certainly he had no personal interest in her feelings. He must have asked because he had sensed somehow that it would hurt her, the bastard.

And he was right…she did hate men, although she had never before put it into words, spoken or otherwise. What should she find so frigging wonderful about them? Her father had ignored her, her fiancé had jilted her, Giuseppe had abused her hard-won trust. Men had taken her child. Even her friendship with Derek, such as it was, had started as blackmail. Devil take the lot of them!

“I’ve had enough of games this afternoon,” she said, and dropped the deck, letting it scatter. Turning quickly, she left the gallery. She heard Alex’s footsteps behind her. He reached her in three long strides.

“Miss Lawson—” He caught at her arm.

She whirled around, violently flinging off his hand. “Don’t touch me,” she hissed. “Don’t ever touch me again!”

“All right,” he said quietly. “Calm yourself. I had no right to ask.”

“Is that some sort of apology?” Her chest heaved with the force of her anger.

“Yes.” Alex hadn’t expected to hit a raw nerve with his question. Even now Lily was struggling to control herself. Usually she was so brashly confident. For the first time she seemed fragile to him, a volatile woman living with some terrible strain. “It was uncalled for.”

“Bloody right about that!” Lily raked her hand through her hair until the curls fell in a wild tangle over her forehead. Her searing eyes locked onto his unreadable face. She couldn’t seem to hold back a tumble of accusing words. “But here’s your damned answer. I have yet to meet a man worthy of trust. I’ve never known a so-called gentleman with the slightest understanding of honesty or compassion. You all like to bray about your honor, when the truth is—” Abruptly she closed her mouth.