Page 85 of Reckless
“I was just about to ask you the same thing.” She barely manages to avoid an old man who hobbled into our path. We turn another corner,this street more crowded than the rest. Without a word, she’s tugging me toward a dimly lit building and throwing open the door.
We all but stumble inside, going from blinking in the blinding sun to being shrouded in shadows. I scan the room, taking in the velvet chairs and gaming tables. The space is smoky, helping to conceal the faces of the men drinking and gambling. Women prowl around the room in flimsy clothing, searching for an empty lap to sit on.
“You just pulled us into a gentleman’s club,” I murmur beside her.
“Of course you would know what this was,” she whispers harshly. “What now?”
“Now,” I say, letting my hand graze her lower back, “we blend in.”
I pull the floppy hat from the pack slung over her shoulder and quickly rip the scarf from her head. Then I tug the hat low over her face, tucking the remnants of her messy braid into it. “Play along, all right?” I murmur, wrapping an arm around her waist. “Take off your vest. It’s recognizable.”
She obeys for once, folding the fabric into her pack to leave her with only a thin shirt hanging off a tan shoulder. Then I’m pulling her toward an empty chair seated at one of the many gaming tables. A few men encircle the game, peeking around the women on their laps to sort the cards in their hands, smoke puffing from the cigars hanging at their lips.
I sink slowly into the velvet chair before pulling Paedyn onto my lap. She sits straight and stiff until my hands find her hips to ease her back against my chest. “Loosen up, darling,” I whisper against her ear. “Look like we belong here.”
She nods slightly, the brim of her hat nearly hitting me in the face. I feel her melt against me, convincingly more comfortable with where she’s perched atop my thigh. Keeping one hand slung loosely across her hips, I use the other to signal the table to deal me in. Afterthrowing the few shillings I have onto the felt, a man throws me several cards.
She turns so her cheek is against mine and slowly wraps a lazy arm around my neck. It’s just an excuse to whisper without looking suspicious, but I struggle to slow my racing heart, nonetheless. “What are you doing, Azer?” she murmurs, her lips bushing my cheek.
I swallow at the feel of it. “You pay to play,” I breathe. “And not playing will only draw more attention to us.”
She exhales against my skin in a way that has me clearing my throat. “Remind me to steal your money back at the end of this.” With that, she’s turning toward the table to watch the men lay their cards.
It would be a lie to say that I’m unfamiliar with a gentleman’s club, though the one in Ilya feels much cleaner than this. But I know how these games are played and, much more importantly, how to win them.
“I doubt you’ll need to do that, darling.” I lay a card onto the worn table. “I don’t plan on losing.”
The men around the table take their turns, frequently swapping out the women decorating their laps. I feel Paedyn tense each time a girl is exchanged, hating how the men discard one just to run their hands over another.
It’s not long before a woman slinks over to wrap her arm around my shoulders. Her voice is high and breathy as she offers to take Paedyn’s place. But when I open my mouth to decline, it’s not my voice I hear.
“This lap is taken,” Paedyn says coolly, pulling herself closer with the arm still draped across my neck. With a huff, the woman nods and turns away to find another body to warm.
A sly smile spreads slowly across my face. I lean forward to look at her, but she’s stubbornly ignoring me to instead focus on the game unfolding before us. Wanting to catch her eye, I drop my cards onto the table to drag her chin toward me.
“Jealousy looks good on you, Gray,” I murmur, my fingers still cupping her chin.
Her eyes flick between mine, full of a familiar fire. “I’m not jealous.”
My gaze lingers on her lips before traveling down the length of her. “Then you just look good.”
She scoffs, turning her face from my hold. “Why don’t you focus on not losing, hmm?”
I open my mouth to argue that it’s her fault I’m distracted in the first place when the door suddenly bursts open, flooding the room with harsh light.
Two familiar men step inside, looming in the doorway and looking for us.
CHAPTER 33Paedyn
“You brought your own, eh?”
I tear my eyes from the two men crowding the doorway to blink at the one beside us. The woman on his lap wears a feathered hat that sits precariously atop her head, likely knocked around by the handsy man she’s perched on.
His comment has my cheeks heating. I despise this place. And I despise having to act like nothing more than a pretty toy.
Kai’s hand tightens on my hip.
Don’t be rash. We are being watched.
