He pushes the coin back toward her. “Take it then. But I want proof of how you spend it.” Felix stretches his arms out behind his head, leaning back and grinning at her. “You’re not the only one who had a successful night.” Amara is slow to hide her surprise. She hadn’t thought they were so intimate. “Not that, for fuck’s sake,” he says, laughing at her expression. “I wouldn’t call a woman a success.” He inclines his head. “Well, maybe if she earns me ninety denarii. No. I mean Simo has finally been taught a lesson.” Amara feels the smile freeze on her face. “Some drunks trashed his bar late last night. Smashed the place up.” He shrugs. “These things happen at the Vinalia. A lot of drunks around. Sadly, pretty little Drauca didn’t move fast enough. Her face doesn’t look so pretty now. Not after a glass took out her eye.”

Amara stares at him, all the air crushed from her lungs. “No,” she says, as if the word can wipe out what he’s done. “No.” She thinks of Drauca at the baths, her perfect body and lovely face. She covers her own in horror. “No!”

“What’s the problem? You were the one who suggested turning over his bar in the first place. You didn’t even like the girl.”

“But Drauca never did anything to you!” Amara shouts, torn between grief and rage. “She’s just a woman! What will happen to her? How will she work? How will she eat? How will she live? Her poor face . . .” she breaks off, choked by tears. “Her poor beautiful face.”

“She won’t be competition for any of my girls, that’s for sure,” Felix says, completely unmoved by her distress. “Simo will have to spend a lot of money if he wants to invest in another whore like that. And I doubt he can afford to, not with the bar to repair.”

“Was Drauca the real target?” Amara’s sense of horror is growing. In her mind’s eye she can see Drauca dancing with Victoria at the Vinalia last night, full of life, face lit with passion. She feels like she might pass out.