“He seemed to,” their father agreed on a sigh. “But Robert wouldn’t lie and if Dicky is treating her badly . . .” He shook his head and sank wearily back onto his chair. “Anyway, that was the reason I came to town. I swear I never intended to gamble. I’m not even sure how it happened,” he repeated with a frown.

“And how are we supposed to believe that?” Suzette asked, biting out the words in her fury. “How can we believe anything you say? You promised us you would never ever gamble again and yet here we stand on the verge of ruin for the second time in little more than a year!”

“I know,” Cedrick Madison moaned and covered his face with his hands. His next words were muffled as he said, “I don’t understand how it happened. I really don’t recall gambling, I must have had too much to drink or something.”

“How convenient,” she snapped coldly, and then asked, “And how exactly did checking on Chrissy land you drunk in a gaming hell?”

His hands dropped away from his face and he said wearily, “She wasn’t in when I arrived at their townhouse, and Dicky took me for a drink at the club. I recall going there and his suggesting a quick stop at the gaming hell. He—”

“Dicky took you to the gaming hell?” Lisa asked with a combination of dismay and disbelief.

“I think so.” He didn’t look at all certain. “I mean, I said no when he suggested it, but I also recall being at the gaming hell, so—”

“Oh, so you do recall that much, do you?” Suzette asked grimly, and then screeched, “You shouldn’t even have been there! Obviously you intended to gamble or you wouldn’t have gone. How could you do this again?!” She sucked in her breath and then hissed, “Gambling your own daughters to the edge of ruin not once, but twice. I’m glad Mother is not around to see the useless, drunken wastrel you’ve become.”

Suzette didn’t wait to see how he reacted to the words, but promptly whirled on her heel and stormed out of the room, too sickened by the sight of him to stay any longer.

Lisa followed quickly, pulling the door closed behind her. She then asked worriedly, “What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know,” Suzette admitted, coming to a halt. Her throat was tight and she felt lightheaded, as if something had been cinched around her chest and was preventing her breathing. She forced herself to take a deep breath in an effort to calm herself, and then began to pace, and muttered, “I need to think.”

Lisa nodded and fell silent, simply watching as she strode the length of the hall from the office to the front door and back.