Then Came You (The Gamblers #1)(84)

Alex looked at her a long time, his face impassive. “Are you going to see Craven?”

Lily was tempted to lie to him, but she nodded. “I want Derek to be the first to know about the marriage. He deserves that much from me. Oh, I know it’s obvious he has no morals or scruples, but in his own peculiar way he’s been kind to me, and for some reason I think he would be hurt if I didn’t explain this to him.”

“Don’t explain too much,” Alex advised. “That would be just as hurtful.” At her bewildered expression, he smiled without amusement. “Are you really so unaware of how he feels about you?”

“No, no,” she said in a rush, “you don’t understand how it is with Derek and me—”

“Oh, I understand.” He looked at her speculatively. “So it’s necessary that you go out alone this afternoon.”

Already it had begun, the strangeness of accounting to someone for her activities. Lily hoped he wouldn’t make it necessary for her to lie to him. “And perhaps the early part of the evening.”

“I want you to take a groom and a pair of outriders with the carriage.”

“Certainly,” she said with an agreeable smile. She wouldn’t mind riding to Craven’s in a closed carriage and a whole army of outriders. But she would have to be unaccompanied for her meeting with Giuseppe in Covent Garden. She would simply borrow one of Derek’s mounts and sneak away alone.

Alex looked torn between pleasure and suspicion at her easy acceptance of his request. “While you’re gone,” he said, “I’m going to call on Lord and Lady Lyon.”

“Your aunt and uncle?” Lily guessed, having heard her mother mention the names before.

He nodded ruefully. “My aunt is well respected, and experienced in matters requiring extreme diplomacy.”

“You think she’ll be able to help us avoid the appearance of scandal? After our card game at Craven’s and the scene last night and Penny’s sudden elopement and our hasty marriage?” She made a comical face. “Don’t you think the damage has already been done, my lord?”

“She’ll consider it a challenge.”

“A disaster, more likely,” Lily said, suddenly tickled by the idea of a society matron trying to delicately smooth over their brazen antics. Her flurry of giggles caused a multitude of offended gazes to turn to them as the sober-faced clerks and clients noticed the undignified behavior of the couple standing next to the gray marble column.

“Hush,” Alex said, though a grin flicked across his face. “Behave yourself. Every time we’re in public together, we cause a scene.”

“I’ve been doing it on my own for years,” Lily said airily. “But you’re concerned for your reputation, I see. Eventually you’ll be reduced to begging me not to make scenes—”

She started with astonishment as Alex bent and kissed her right in front of the assembled crowd at the bank. The somber room resounded with quiet exclamations of disapproval and gasps of amazement. Pushing at the heavy muscles of her husband’s chest, Lily strained to escape him, feeling herself turn hot with mortified dismay. He persisted until she forgot where they were, and she gave a shiver of pleasure. Then he lifted his head and smiled down at her, his eyes glinting with challenge and enjoyment. Flustered, Lily stared at him, and suddenly she laughed in admiring surprise. “Touché,” she said, raising her hands to her flushed cheeks.

Lily found Derek in one of the private rooms at the gambling palace. He had pushed two tables together and piled them high with account books, bank drafts, promissory notes, and money—piles of coins and thick wads of bills tied with white string. In the past Lily had observed him count money with dazzling speed, his thin dark fingers rifling through notes until they were a blur. But he seemed strangely clumsy today, combing through his profits with exaggerated care. As she approached the tables, Lily caught the bittersweet smell of gin. She saw a glass of it on the table, surrounded by splashes that would ruin the fine wood. She regarded Derek in surprise. It was unlike him to drink heavily, and especially gin, the liquor of the poverty-stricken. He hated gin. It reminded him of his past.

“Derek,” she said quietly.

He raised his head, his green eyes traveling over the yellow gown and the heightened color of her cheeks. He looked like a jaded young sultan. The hard bitterness of his face was especially pronounced today. Lily thought objectively that he might have lost a little weight. The edges of his cheekbones were as sharp as knife blades. And he was strangely untidy. His cravat was undone, and his black hair spilled over his forehead.

“Worthy hasn’t been looking after you,” Lily said. “Just a minute, I’m going to the kitchen to have them send up someth—”

“I’m not hungry,” he interrupted, pronouncing his h with mocking care. “Don’t bother. I told you I’m busy.”

“But I came to tell you something.”

“I don’t have time to talk.”

“But Derek—”

“No—”

“I married him,” Lily said bluntly. She hadn’t meant to blurt it out so suddenly. She gave a sheepish, self-conscious laugh. “I married Lord Raiford this morning.”

Derek’s face went blank. He was very quiet, taking his time about finishing his drink. His fingers exerted unnecessary pressure on the glass. His face was unreadable as he spoke in a flat voice. “Did you tell ’im about Nicole?”