Page 2 of The Mistress
He has lost this house.
He has lost his fortune.
He has lost the ability to keep you.
I scolded myself, knowing I wasn’t the entirety of Reggie’s world. Perhaps this wager had nothing to do with me or my future.
So I kept my tone and expression neutral when I prompted, “Yes? And you lost, I suppose?”
“I did.” He blew out a breath, his shoulders slumping until he was staring between his knees. “I wascertainIronhenge couldn’t beat my hand; I held point and sequence, a near-flawless run, and he'd already discarded like a man defeated.”
Reggie had been playingpiquetwith the Duke of Ironhenge? My heart began to pound again, but not for the same worry as before. Ironhenge was…
Well, there were whispers about him.
Whispers which I’d never decided intrigued me or terrified me.
Reggie was waiting for a response from me, which was odd. “I had not realized the Duke was part of your club,” I admitted.
“You’ve heard of him?” When he winced, I realized he’d been peeking at me. “Of course you have, everyone has. And it turns out, he’s heard of you.”
My hold on him tightened as dread pooled in my stomach. Something had happened tonight, something whichdidaffect me. “What?” I rasped.
“One hundred thousand pounds, Jocelyn,” he sighed. “That’s how much I owed him after he laid down a perfect set and claimedcapot, and I watched a hundred thousand pounds vanish like cigar smoke.”
Oh God.Hewasgoing to have to sell this house, before I convinced him to put the deed in my name! I would be without a place to live, without a patron, without?—
Reggie took a deep breath and turned to face me. “Except, he offered me an alternative.”
I could barely process what he was saying. Eyes wide, I clutched at him, willing him to explain himself.
“Ironhenge wants a night with you, Joss. He’s willing to erase my debt if I give—ifyougive him that.”
“A…night,” I choked, uncertain I understood.
Oh, yes you do. You understand perfectly well.
Reggie grimaced. “Tonight. He’s coming here tonight, to collect what he’s owed.”
Owed.As if I were a prize, a wager.
Unable to stop the movement, I pushed myself to my feet, the green silk flying around my ankles as I pulled my hand from his. “Tonight? The Duke of Ironhenge is coming heretonight?” My pitch was rising as panic set in. “And he wants to…”
Reggie stood and grabbed my shoulders before I could begin to pace. “He wants to—totupyou, Jocelyn.” The poor man’s facehad gone pale with worry. “I’m sorry! I should never have made that wager, and to accept the alternative…”
“No,” I whispered, distracted from my panic by his guilt. “A hundred thousand pounds is a fortune. You would be ruined. You…” I swallowed. “You had no choice. If the Duke will accept…”
I tipped my head back to meet Reggie’s eyes and made my decision, despite the knotting of my stomach. “If Ironhenge will acceptmeas an alternative, then we would be fools not to take him up on the offer.”
“Really, Joss?” he whispered, his gaze darting between my eyes, hope growing. “You mean it? You’d be willing to—to subject yourself to that, to saveme?”
His words, his phrasing…doomed me. I closed my eyes just briefly.
Subject yourself. So the rumors of the Duke of Ironhenge were true.
This time, my comforting smilewasfalse—but I thought I could be forgiven—when I opened my eyes and cupped Reggie’s cheek with my palm.
“Of course, love. If I can help you, I will.”
