“It doesn’t matter if there is no risk for me. This is your night. Only you have to feel the edge of risk. I’m merely your able assistant.”
She couldn’t help the smile that broke at the trivial description. “Oh, no, Gabriel,” she said, and he stiffened at her free use of his given name. “If we are to play a legitimate round of cards, I should like you to feel that you might lose.”
His blue eyes glittered across the table. “Name your terms.”
Excitement flared. “All right, for every round I win…you must answer a question. Truthfully.”
His brows snapped together. “What kind of questions?”
“Why?” she teased. “Are you afraid you will lose to me?”
He leaned forward. “All right, Empress, but for every round I win, you must grant me a favor…of my choosing.”
A thrill went through her at the words, followed immediately by an acute sense of terror. “What kind of favor?”
“Why?” he repeated. “Are you afraid?”
Yes. She met his eyes firmly. “Of course not.”
“Excellent,” he said, dealing the cards quickly. “Then let’s make this interesting, shall we?”
All of a sudden, gambling seemed to Callie like a wonderfully addictive pastime. Every turn of the cards had her breath catching in her throat as she sought ways to beat Ralston. And, on the first round, she did…although she couldn’t help but wonder if it wasn’t possible that he’d let her do so.
Not that she cared. She wanted her answer. She leaned back in her chair and watched for several moments as his long, graceful fingers collected the cards from the table, stacking them carefully and idly shuffling them while he waited for her question. She met his eyes. “Tell me about courtesans.”
He gave a short laugh, shaking his head. “I agreed to answer questions. That wasn’t a question.”
She rolled her eyes. “All right, then. Are there often courtesans here?”
“Yes.”
When he didn’t elaborate, she pressed, “And do they often entertain groups of men?”
“Callie,” he said, matter-of-factly, “what are you really getting at?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I’m just having trouble understanding how she was—that is…what they were going to—I mean…”
He smiled a wry smile and waited for her to finish.
“Oh…you know what I mean.”
“I assure you I do not.”
“There were three of them and only one of her!”
“Were there?”
“You are insufferable! You told me you’d answer my questions!”
“If you were to ask a question, love, I assure you I would answer it.”
“Could she really be expected to…” she paused, searching for the word.
“Pleasure?” He offered, amiably.
“Entertain. All three of them?”
He began dealing the cards again. “Yes.”
“How?”
He looked up at her, and offered her a wolfish grin. “Would you really like me to answer that?”
Her eyes widened. “Uhm…no.”
He laughed then, a deep, rumbling laugh unlike anything she’d ever heard from him, and she was stunned by the way it transformed him. His face was immediately lighter, his eyes brighter, his frame more relaxed. She couldn’t help but smile back at him, even as she admonished, “You’re enjoying my discomfort.”
“Indeed I am, Empress.”
She blushed. “You shouldn’t call me that.”
“Why not? You were named for an empress, were you not?”
She closed her eyes and gave a mock shudder. “I prefer not to be reminded of the hideous name.”
“You should embrace it,” he said, forthrightly. “You’re one of the few women I’ve met who could live up to such a name.”
“You’ve said that before,” she said.
He turned a curious look on her. “I have?”
She met his eyes and immediately regretted bringing up the decade-old memory, so insignificant to him—so very meaningful to her. She spoke quickly, trying to end the moment. “Yes. I don’t remember when. Shall we play?”
His eyes narrowed on her slightly before he nodded. She was so flustered during the next round that he won easily, twenty to her twenty-eight.
“You should have held on nineteen,” he offered casually.
“Why? I still wouldn’t have won,” she said, grumpily.