Page 137 of Theirs to Tempt: The Marriage Claim

I may be willing to let my father live with whatever he’s done.

But not my mother. Never my mother.

And Lucian knows that.

Voss regards him across the table. “I want one unfettered use of your intelligence network.”

My stomach tightens.

“Shall we play?”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Sophie

The dealer steps into position, and the room grows quiet.

I look at the score displays built into the table, the empty columns waiting to be filled with red and blue marks.

Apophenia with complimentary electronics.

“Standard commission baccarat,” Lorenzo says. “The plaques remain in play until either side calls for the principal wager. Once both parties accept, the next hand decides the real stakes.”

“One hand?” I ask.

“One,” Voss says.

“That is insane.”

The dealer slides the first cards from the shoe.

For the first several hands, I focus on the cards. Player. Banker. Totals stripped to their final digit. Fixed drawing rules. Lucian and Voss trade wins while millions of dollars move back and forth across the felt with alarming ease.

But before long, the cards become less interesting than the men.

Lucian plays with controlled patience. He does not chase losses or increase a wager merely because he won the hand before. His plaques rise and fall, but his breathing never changes.

Caleb does not bet.

He watches.

The dealer. Voss. The other men.

And me.

Voss loses a million-dollar hand, and his fingers move to one of the dark-red stones at his cuff. He rotates it once, then releases it.

Interesting.

Two hands later, he loses again.

Again, his fingers touch the cuff link.

“What does it mean?” Caleb asks quietly.

I look at him and whisper back. “What?”

“You’ve been watching his hand.”