Stop it. As compelling as she found him, she could not become distracted from her purpose. Men wanted only one thing from women: to control them. To take away their choices.

No one was taking away Florence’s choices. Ever.

Clearing her throat, she averted her face and studied the craps game beneath them.

“You must learn to filter out the noise at any given moment, concentrate on what’s missing or out of place. You have to know the sounds, grow familiar with them, until they’re like the sound of your own breath. Then you know when someone is stealing from you.” He pointed toward a poker table on the left side of the room. “Watch.”

One of the players was casually glancing at a man at the neighboring roulette table. From his position at the roulette wheel, the man could see the cards of the other poker players. He was subtly tapping his arm with his fingers, giving clues to his friend on his opponents’ cards.

Florence exhaled. “He’s cheating. How was I supposed to hear that?”

“You wouldn’t. The man at the roulette table isn’t betting. He’s not even watching the wheel. It’s what is missing in this case that counts.” He lifted his hand and caught the attention of Jack, who was dealing with a drunk and disorderly craps player. Some quick hand motions followed then Clay took her elbow and began leading her to the stairs. “Jack will meet you at the bottom of the steps. I have another matter to attend to.”

“The cheaters?”

“Yes, my second occurrence just this evening. It must be my lucky night.”

The words were terse and angry, but there was a hint of anticipation there, as well. She almost pitied those two cheaters. “Wait, are you kicking me out?”

“Those are the terms we agreed to, yes. Anytime I must cut a lesson short you’ll respect my decision. And we are cutting this lesson short.”

“Well, when should I return for my next lesson?”

Impatience radiated from his hurried gait, the stiff movements of his arms. He wrenched open the door at the top of the stairs. “Why not surprise me? You seem to enjoy doing that.”

He disappeared, leaving her to descend alone. As she reached the bottom, she realized he was right. She did like surprising him.

What worried her was how he’d come to recognize it before she did.

Chapter Three

Clay pressed the block of ice to his knuckles and strode toward his office. Two attempts to cheat the House in one night? That had been unusual.