Page 38 of Dare to Love a Duke
“As you wish.” Greyland held the French door that opened into a rear-facing parlor. “It’s probably for the best. Cassandra would challenge you to a game of cards, and I have it on excellent authority that she cheats.”
Chapter 10
“A profitable Friday night,” Elspeth said as she and Lucia awaited guests in the foyer.
“It’s not yet eleven,” Lucia felt obliged to point out. Like bees buzzing in her belly, nerves made themselves known. “The crowd might thin.”
“Or, there might be a rush at midnight and we’ll have our best evening yet. The prince himself might come a-calling.” Elspeth wrapped an arm around Lucia’s shoulders. “Anything might happen.”
“That’s the beauty of chance,” Lucia said. “It can’t be predicted.”
There were two risks tonight—adding a second night to the Orchid Club’s hours of operation, and the possibility of Tom coming.
The evening’s take might not be enough to compensate for the staff’s extra hours of employment. She would feel the loss more keenly than anyone. She refused to deprive her workers, so she’d set aside her own money, just to be certain that her poor business decision didn’t cost anyone but herself.
And if Tom didn’t show... if he decided to simply close the club...
Risks were familiar territory. She knew them as well as others knew with certainty the rising of the tides. In Napoli, her mother played thelotteriaevery Saturday, and though Antonia couldn’t read, she knewLaSmorfiaby heart. Whatever appeared to her in dreams found its corresponding number in the pages of that book, and both she and her daughter eagerly awaited thelotteria’s drawing, hoping against hope for a way out of poverty. They would dream of leaving the overcrowded, shabby Quartieri Spagnoli, retiring to a villa in Posillipo to live out the rest of their days in abundance and peace.
Every week, Lucia and her mother would be disappointed. But that never stopped Antonia from playing again the following Saturday.
When Lucia would ask her mother why she threw away good money on the slim chance that they might win, Antonia always said,If you take no risks, nothing changes.
Lucia would not be mired in a present where the world did not alter. There was alwaysmoreandbetter—for herself, and the people she cared for.
But for once in her life, she wanted things to stay exactly as they were, with the club open and Kitty, Elspeth, and the staff all gainfully employed. It all rested on Tom.
“What will you do if he doesn’t show?” Elspeth asked, as if reading Lucia’s thoughts.
“We’ll go on as we have,” Lucia said with more conviction than she felt.
Elspeth dropped her arm. “Until he decides to shut us down.”
“Ifhe decides.” She said this as much to remind herself as Elspeth. It was a foolish belief to think that if she spoke with enough conviction, it might make something come to pass. “Perhaps he’ll permit us to keep our doors open.”
The knock sounded, with a corresponding leap in Lucia’s chest. Elspeth strode to the door and opened it. She walked slowly backward into the foyer as a man stepped inside.
His gaze went immediately to Lucia, and her breath caught in her chest.
“Theseare your lesser-quality clothes?” she demanded.
She eyed Tom from the black satin mask on his face to the tips of his barely scuffed boots. Everything in between—coat, waistcoat, breeches—would easily suffice as a banker’s Sunday finest. As it was, every inch of Tom looked elegant, though slightly raffish from his incipient beard, and utterly delicious.
He held out his arms, and the fabric of his coat clung adoringly to the breadth of his shoulders.
“It was either this,” he said drily, “or pay my groom for the loan of his clothing.”
“Nothing to be done for it. You’re here now.” Lucia stepped closer, and his eyes flashed hotly as she neared, while her body hummed from his presence. Oh, she hadn’t forgotten their night together, either. She glanced at Elspeth. “No introductions tonight, but you’re no strangers to each other.”
Elspeth and Tom exchanged wary nods.
At that moment, Will lumbered into the foyer. “No problems up front, Amina?”
“None,” Lucia answered. She waved to Tom. “Thinking about hiring this bloke, so I’m giving him a tour of the place.”
“Best of luck, mate,” Will said affably, giving Tom a wink. “Hope you don’t got a maidenly disposition.”
“Far from it,” Tom said.
