Then Came You (The Gamblers #1)(56)

Recklessly she flung the three dice on the felt-covered table with a brisk sweep of her hand. “Come, let’s have a triple!” Over and over the cubes rolled, until the numbers were up. One, two, six. Nothing. Her money was almost gone. “Well,” she said with a shrug, facing Banstead’s consoling smile, “I believe I’ll play on credit tonight.”

Suddenly Derek was at her side, his cool voice in her ear. “Come ’ave a walk first.”

“I’m playing,” she said softly.

“Not wivout money.” He snared her gloved wrist in his hand. Lily excused herself from the hazard table, smiling at the others and promising to return soon. Derek guided her forcibly to Worthy’s vacant desk, where they could talk with a measure of privacy.

“You interfering bastard,” Lily said through her teeth. She smiled so that it appeared they were having a pleasant conversation. “What do you mean, dragging me away from a game? And don’t you dare refuse me credit—I’ve played here on credit hundreds of times, and I’ve always won!”

“You lost the lucky touch,” Derek said flatly. “It’s gone.”

She felt as if he’d slapped her. “That’s not true. There’s no such thing as luck. It’s numbers, a knowledge of numbers and chance—”

“Call it whatewer you wants. It’s gone.”

“It’s not. I’ll go back to the table and prove it to you.”

“You’ll only lose.”

“Then let me lose,” she said with desperate anger. “What do you think you’re doing?…Trying to protect me? Is this a right you’ve recently bestowed on yourself? To hell with you! I have to win five thousand pounds, or I’ll lose Nicole for good!”

“An’ if you lose more tonight?” Derek asked coldly.

Lily knew there was no need for her to answer. He was well aware of her only choice—to sell her body to the highest bidder. “You’ll get your bloody money. Or your pound of flesh. Whatever appeals to you most. Nothing matters to me but my daughter, don’t you understand?”

All at once Derek’s accent was pristinely perfect. “She doesn’t need a whore for a mother.”

“Let fate decide,” Lily said tautly. “That’s your philosophy. Isn’t it?”

Derek was stonily silent, his eyes like chips of jade. Then he produced a mocking bow and a smile, setting her free. Suddenly Lily felt lost, adrift, as she had on that night two years ago, before Derek had allowed her into the club. He was as fascinating and changeable as the tide, but once more she realized she couldn’t lean on him. One small part of her had always hoped that he would be there to help her when she reached the end of her luck. Now that hope was gone for good. She couldn’t blame Derek for being what he was. She was on her own, as she had always been. Turning her back on him, she walked away quickly, her skirts whipping around her ankles.

As she reached the hazard table, she pasted a smile on her face. “Gentlemen, please excuse the interruption. Now where—” She stopped with a gasp as she saw the new addition to the gathering.

Alex lounged at the table with the others. He was dressed in black pantaloons, an embroidered silk waistcoat, and a dull green coat with gold buttons that emphasized his tawny coloring. He gave her a slow, easy smile. Her senses sparked with awareness. He looked different than usual. Even in Alex’s best, most impressive tempers, there had always been something a little wooden about him, some part of himself that was always kept in reserve. Now the reserve was gone. It seemed as if he were lit with an inner golden blaze. Lily had seen gamblers wearing that same look on a lucky tear, carelessly risking entire fortunes.

Her spirits sank even lower than before. She had known she would eventually have to confront him—but why now? First losing her money, then Derek’s desertion, now this. It was rapidly shaping into one of the worst nights of her life. Wearily she picked up the gauntlet. “Lord Raiford. How unexpected. This isn’t your preferred sort of haunt, is it?”

“I prefer to be anywhere you are.”

“A fool returneth to his folly,” she quoted softly.

“You left before our last game was finished.”

“At the moment I’m concerned with more important things.”

Alex glanced at the table, where Banstead had just cast the dice. “Such as regaining your luck?”

So he’d heard she was having a bad night. Tadworth must have told him, or perhaps Foka, the big-mouthed ox. Lily shrugged indifferently. “I don’t believe in luck.”

“I do.”

“And I suppose it’s on your side tonight?” she sneered. “Please don’t let me stop you from placing a bet, my lord.”

Foka and Banstead moved to clear a place for him. Alex didn’t take his eyes from Lily. “I’ll wager ten thousand pounds…against a night with you.” He watched as Lily’s eyes turned wide and her throat worked silently.

The action at the table stopped.

“What did he say?” Tadworth demanded eagerly. “What?”

As the news spread around the crowd at the hazard table, the other occupants of the room became alerted to the goings-on. Rapidly a multitude formed, all pressing inward, a hundred avid gazes centering on them.

“Very amusing,” Lily managed to say hoarsely.