“My mood needs no sweetening,” he clipped as he set down his cigar and reached for the glass. “And I do not like her. I merely wished to learn why she was so desperate to gamble here.”

She lowered herself into an armchair. “And?”

He took a long drink and let the smooth bourbon warm his insides. “She plans to open a casino. For ladies.”

Anna hooted, a gleeful grin overtaking her delicate features. “Oh, I like her. I approve, Clay. I approve.”

“Whatever you’re thinking, stop it. She’s hired me to give her lessons on how to run a casino. That’s all.”

“And you agreed? It cannot be for the money. God knows you have enough of that.”

No, he didn’t. One could never have enough money, especially in New York City. “It . . . pleases me to assist her down the path of debauchery and vice. Mostly because I loathe her father and I know how much it will irritate the old bastard.”

Anna sobered, her brows pinching together. “I don’t like you using her. Men and their hidden motives. Women have it hard enough without being lied to—”

“I haven’t lied to her about a thing. In fact, I told her how much I hate her father.”

“You did?”

“Yes. I also informed her that I was attracted to her.”

That caught his friend off guard. “How did she take that news?”

“Not as expected,” he admitted. “I thought to scare her off by telling her, actually. She merely asked if I planned to force her. When I said no, she threatened to shoot me if I hurt her.”

Anna’s lips pressed together like she might be fighting to hold in laughter. She hid her face by taking a long drink of bourbon. “So you’re not planning on bedding her?”

“It would be a terrible idea. Women of her ilk get ideas after intimacy.”

“Know a lot of fancy uptown ladies, do you?”

“I know enough. And even I would not fuck a woman purely as revenge against her father.” An eye for an eye.

“What if she’s attracted to you, as well?”

He shook his head. Florence Greene had her pick of men in Manhattan. Why on earth would she settle on a man like Clay, who lived in the shadows? “She isn’t, nor will she be.” Not after spending a significant amount of time with him. He wasn’t capable of romance and warmth. Of long walks and picnics in the park. He preferred the nighttime, with its damp fog and anonymity.

Anna tossed back the remaining liquid in her glass. “I’d best return next door.” She rose. “Shall I send over a nice young woman to keep you company tonight?”