David gives him an annoyed look. “Thought you said you could play, ya fool. Barely seem to know how to hold your cards from where I’m sitting.”
Cypress blinks at his hand, turning it front and back and flashing three of a kind in the process. “What’s wrong with how I’m holding them?”
Needless to say, Cypress does not win that time either. Or the next. Or the next. In fact, we are on our sixth or seventh hand with a sizable pile in the center of the table when Cypress and David become the only two still remaining, along with the dealer.
“Raise you,” Cypress says, tossing a few more bills from his pocketbook into the center in response to David’s most recent bet. Something the man barely registers while he’s busy tugging on one of the ringlets falling over the back of my chair.
I turn my head, pretending that it’s to smile at him again when it’s really to pull my hair free from his grasp. “It’s your turn now, I believe,” I say, making my voice unnaturally high. I’m getting the hang of this.
“Think you’re right.” David reaches for my hair again, not even bothering to look before pushing everything he has intothe center. “Tell me something. What’s that husband of yours going to do when he runs out of money, do you think?” I shrug, continuing to smile and fighting the urge to let my lip curl in disgust. “Might have to get creative with our wagers in the next round.”
“Oh,” I start to say, before my gaze catches on movement at a table in the back corner. I freeze, my voice hardly above a whisper as I finish saying, “I don’t think it will come to that.”
Aiden.He’s there, nearly swallowed up by the shadowed corner, but I know without question that it’s him. His broad shoulders are hunched as he sits with his elbows on the table, his dark eyes on me from under the brim of his hat.How long has he been there? How did I not see him sooner?
“All right, show your cards,” the dealer says, but I don’t even think to look, my eyes still on Aiden. He leans forward, and it’s like I can feel the way he is following the path of David’s wandering fingertips as they once again move up my arm, over my shoulder, along the side of my neck. Aiden stands.
Then everything explodes.
“The fuck is this?” David is shouting, jarring me back to the table. “The fuck did you get that hand?”
Next to me, Cypress has laid down a series of matching cards that I’m inclined to believe are good.Verygood, based on the fact that he is now grinning like a cat who just ate every single one of David’s canaries.
“Guess it was our turn to get lucky,” Cypress tells him, laughing as he swiftly helps me up and tucks me behind him. A safe distance from David and a few other men from the saloon who have appeared at the first sign of an impending brawl.
“Think our friend here has had enough,” Cypress informs them, tipping each handsomely with his winnings. “Perhaps you can help him find his way to his accommodations.”
“You fuckingcheat,” David says, pointing a finger at Cypress ashe’s strong-armed out. “He’s a fucking cheat!”
“Such a shame. Why gamble if you can’t afford to lose?” Cypress asks of the remaining onlookers, their suspicion immediately evaporating the moment he offers, “How about I buy everyone a round of drinks? As an apology for the disturbance?”
He grins at me again when there is a deafening cheer, then leans down, cupping my face in his hands. He brushes the barest hint of a kiss against the corner of my mouth. “You did so well, Cora. Perfect girl,” he murmurs. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
I manage a nod.
“Would you do it again?”
“Yes,” I say, smiling back at him and meaning every bit of it, because as much as being close to David had made my skin crawl at times, seeing him get his comeuppance made up for it. Would have made megiddyif not for…
When Cypress turns for the bar, I look once more at the back corner, my heart sinking when I find Aiden gone until the moment I catch sight of him heading toward the rear doors.
“Cypress.” I try to get his attention but he’s too surrounded by hearty back slaps and words of thanks for me to break through. I hesitate for a fraction of a second, torn between staying and going after Aiden, but when I see him glance over his shoulder in my direction before disappearing through the door, my decision is made.
I move, weaving through the crowd of people clamoring for free drinks, barely able to take a breath until I’m out the door after him and into the alley behind the saloon.
“Aiden,” I call, looking up and down the dark street. “Aiden.”
There’s no response, and I’m about to head back inside, disappointed, when I finally see a figure appear. “There you are. I—” The figure comes closer, stepping into the low lantern light, and fear rips through me. I immediately turn, lunging for thedoor and yanking it open.
But David is faster. Rushing forward to slam a hand over my head to shut it again. The wood reverberates with a deafening smack as the sound from inside cuts off.
“If it isn’t the thief’s little wife,” he says, leaning down close to my face. “Not so lucky after all, if you are out here on your own.”
“She isn’t,” replies another deep voice, paired with the click of a pistol. The long shining barrel comes to rest neatly against the side of David’s head. “You touch her again, and it’ll be the last thing you do on this earth.”
David puts his hands up, backing away and moving his glare from me to Aiden. “You don’t look like the fella who cheated me at cards,” he says. “What stake do you have in this?”
“One third,” Aiden answers coolly. “Cora? Are you—”