Desire and Deception (44 page)

She stared at Felix, realizing that the faint signs of dissipation etched on his features had deepened since she had last seen him. Realizing also that she had dropped out of her role of Marguerite, Lauren smiled the cool, seductive smile that never failed to set male hearts aflutter.
"But how clever you are, Felix.
And now that you have found me, what do you intend to do with me?"

His dark eyes flashed with a gleam that she had no trouble recognizing as lust. "What do you think I intend,
ma belle?"
he asked huskily as he moved closer.

When he slipped his arms around her waist and bent to kiss her, Lauren hastily averted her face. "You are very bold,
m'sieur
," she said somewhat desperately —which fortunately made her voice merely sound breathless. "And not very gallant, I fear. You have set the stakes and the rules, and not given me a fair opportunity to play."

One eyebrow rose skeptically. "What are you suggesting?"

"You are a gambler. You should not be opposed to engaging with me in a game of chance.
Chemin
de
fer
, perhaps?"

He gave her a patronizing smile. "And for what stakes shall we play,
chérie
?"

"Matthew's vowels, of course.
And if you win, you shall have a night with me."

"Merely one night?"

Lauren reached up to run a slender finger along his lower lip.
"A week, then.
I am worth it, I think."

"Agreed, mademoiselle, if I will at last be allowed to view the lovely face behind the mask."

Jason would kill her, Lauren thought as she returned a provocative smile. But it seemed the only way to save Matthew from jail. She didn't have great faith in her ability to defeat Felix at cards, but she thought she could manage to make the play challenging enough to give him a scare. And that might lead him to make a very big mistake.

Easing herself from Felix's embrace, Lauren turned and led the way to the crowded gaming rooms. She wanted to be very certain there were other people nearby when she exposed Felix Duval as a cheat.

As luck would have it, Desiree
Chaudier
was working the
chemin
de
fer
table. The beautiful brunette scowled the moment she saw Lauren. "I see the Amazon has returned,"

Desiree said nastily, calling attention to Lauren's height.

Lauren ignored the slur and flashed a cool smile at the five men already seated at the table. "
M'sieurs
, you will kindly allow us to join you,
non
?"

At once, all five gentlemen rose and made a great show of inviting the husky-voiced Marguerite to participate. Desiree took immediate exception. "You cannot!
Madame
Gescard
will forbid it."

"Tonight I am a guest," Lauren replied as she allowed a balding overweight gamester named Smithson to seat her. "And my great friend
M'sieur
Duval wishes to play with me."

Other than cause a scene, Desiree had no choice but to back down. She acceded with poor grace, while the players made room, less enthusiastically, for Felix Duval.

He wound up sitting two seats to Lauren's left, which pleased her. She had chosen
chemin
de
fer
because it offered numerous opportunities for a cardsharp to execute a sleight of hand. The dealer changed frequently, and the initial two cards each player received were turned facedown, making them easy targets for marking or substitution. In order to catch Felix at cheating, however, she had to be close enough to see him.

The decks were shuffled and cut, then placed in the dealing box called a shoe. Lauren bid low when the deal was auctioned, for she wanted to see what Felix would do. The Creole seemed to be waiting also, since he allowed the deal to go to the bald gentleman.

"The bank is three hundred dollars," Smithson announced, before beginning the first hand.

The bets were conservative at the start, with Smithson winning the first three coups, then losing on a natural eight. When the deal passed to the left, Lauren increased the betting in order to drive up the stakes. Her first two cards totaled five, but when she drew another, it was a queen, which put her over the required count of nine.

"A pity,
chérie
," Felix remarked with mild sarcasm.

Accepting her loss with a shrug, Lauren flashed him a challenging smile. "But can you do better,
m'sieur
?"

"Watch and you shall see."

Lauren did watch, carefully, as Felix
bancoed
by matching the entire bank with his wager. She could see no indication, though, that his play was anything but aboveboard, for he made no extraordinary moves, and he hadn't had time to mark any of the cards. His impassive face revealed no emotion as he added the value of his cards and elected to stand.

An eight to the dealer's seven, Lauren saw with disappointment when the card was revealed. As long as Felix won so handily, he would never be desperate enough to try anything underhanded.

To Lauren's dismay, he continued to win—at least until the deal had gone once around the table and again belonged to her. Then Duval's luck took a downturn, while Lauren's improved. Twice she had a natural—a count of nine—in the first two cards, and since she was holding the bank, she won all bets. Felix's confidence remained strong, however, even when he began losing steadily.

The deal went around the table once more, with Lauren again winning several hands. When it was Felix's to deal, she watched him carefully out of the corner of her eye. If he were to make a move, she thought, it would probably be while he controlled the cards.

She was right, although she almost missed his deft sleight of hand; Duval slipped a card from the shoe and let it fall to the floor so smoothly and quickly that Lauren knew he must have practiced the motion regularly. She resisted the urge to cry foul, though, knowing a charge of cheating would only stick if he were caught
redhanded
.

Her impatience was growing thin by the time Duval won several more coups, for he still hadn't reached for the fallen card. Lauren took a deep breath and gambled. "
Banco
," she declared, hoping that the bank of five hundred dollars would be too large for Felix to risk losing.

All smaller bets had to be withdrawn, and Smithson, who had also been losing, decided to fold. As he left the table, Lauren counted her points. The total came to four, so she had no choice but to draw. She could feel her palms sweating as she asked for another card.

A four.
She was still in. She glanced at Felix, realizing as she met his penetrating dark gaze that her own calm expression was no more revealing than his own. Smiling slightly then, she tried to look as if she were repressing excitement over a winning hand.

Elation coursed through her when she saw Felix draw a lace- edged handkerchief from his pocket. When he dropped it as if by accident, then bent to pick it up, Lauren knew the fallen card would be concealed in its folds. She opened her mouth to denounce him, just as a tall, tawny-haired man dressed in a blue coat and buff breeches moved into her range of vision.

"
M'sieur
Stuart!"
Desiree crooned, while Lauren nearly jumped.

"How careless of someone," Jason drawled as he bent casually to pick up the card he had purposely stepped on. "The two of spades was lying beside your chair, Duval." He flicked the card on the table,
then
smiled dismissively at the other gamesters, managing to defuse the potentially explosive incident with his unconcern.

Felix kept his face carefully blank as he added the spade to the discards. Lauren would have seen a muscle in his jaw tighten had she been watching, but she was staring at Jason in dismay. She had been startled by his sudden appearance, then angry when he had foiled her carefully prepared trap, yet she could only bemoan her ill luck in silence.

When he greeted Desiree with a liberal dose of masculine charm, Lauren nearly ground her teeth in frustration. He turned to her then with a polite bow, his gaze locking with hers. "Mademoiselle Marguerite, is it not? I had the great pleasure of hearing you sing some weeks ago."

She was taken aback by the smoldering anger in his blue eyes. Realizing she would be lucky to get home with her skin intact, Lauren managed to murmur a reply. She was too disquieted, though, to protest when Jason asked to join the game and seated himself at the table. She didn't even smile when she discovered she had won the bank of five hundred dollars with her hand of eight. With the two of spades, Felix's total would have been nine.

The play turned deadly serious after that, probably, Lauren decided, because Felix seemed determined to win at any cost. He didn't have much luck against Jason's phenomenal skill, however, nor did anyone else. One by one the other
gamesters
dropped out, making it a contest between the two men. By the time three hours had passed, Felix had lost more than five thousand dollars, and Jason's winnings were nearly double that.

"You are very lucky,
m'sieur
," Felix said at last, barely keeping his tone civil.

Jason raked in the proceeds from the last coup,
then
looked up to fix his gaze steadily on the Creole. "Some hold the belief that a man makes his own luck. I would have thought you agreed. Or did the two of spades just happen to fall off the table by itself earlier this evening?"

Felix's face darkened in anger. "Is that an accusation?" he demanded in a dangerous voice.

Lauren stirred uneasily in her chair. The other players had drifted away, so only she and Desiree were left to observe the brewing confrontation.

"I see no need to make any accusations," Jason replied evenly. "Madame
Gescard
will hear of the incident, I don't doubt, and take the proper precautions. But perhaps you
ought
see that no stray cards end up in your vicinity in the future. It could be rather embarrassing for you."

"This issue should be settled on the field of honor!" Felix exclaimed, his voice taut with fury.

"Please, Felix," Lauren said quickly as the Creole leapt to his feet. "There is no need to get upset."

Unconcerned by Duval's outburst, Jason leaned back in his seat, a ghost of a smile wreathing his mouth. "I would be happy to oblige, of course—"

"
Non
!"
Desiree interjected. "One of you could be killed."

"—but a duel," Jason continued, "
would
not be particularly good for a gambler's reputation. You would find it hard to avoid the stigma of cheating afterward, even if you were to win.
Which, I must warn you, is unlikely.
" When Felix remained standing there, clenching his fists and glaring, Jason raised an eyebrow. "Come now, Duval, you're not a stupid man, sit down. You're making a scene, in addition to disturbing these lovely ladies. Besides, I have a proposition for you that will allow you to cut your losses."

Felix continued to glare, but he resumed his seat. "What proposition?" he demanded. Lauren let out her breath, not realizing that she had been holding it.

"I believe you're holding a note of hand belonging to a friend of mine," Jason said, pushing a stack of bills across the table to Duval. "Here's five thousand for the note, plus another thousand for your trouble."

Felix's brows drew together in a frown. His suspicious gaze sliced to Lauren, before returning to Jason. "This
MacGregor
seems to have a great number of friends."

"I wouldn't know," Jason lied. "
MacGregor
happens to be in my employ, so I have a vested interest in keeping him out of jail."