Be thankful he didn’t feel the need to kiss you, she wanted to snap at him. But she kept the thought to herself.

“Charmed, as always, Miss Fox,” Mac said, grinning horribly.

“Likewise,” Dorothy said. She was careful not to yank her hand away too quickly.

Roman pulled at the knot of his bow tie so that the silky fabric came loose around his neck. He seemed nervous, or at least uncomfortable. “Mac has something he’d like to discuss with us.”

“Does he?” Dorothy turned back to Mac. “Mira gave us the impression that you’d be sending your goons over to break our legs if we couldn’t pay your bribe.”

“Don’t be silly, girl.” Mac flicked his hand, and Dorothy bristled. Girl. “What’s a few dollars here and there? I value our relationship too much to let a little thing like that get in the way.”

Something prickled, uncomfortably, in Dorothy, though she kept her expression impassive. She didn’t like to think that she had a relationship with Mac at all.

“Then why are you here?” she asked.

And now Mac’s gaze seemed hungry. “You’re having cash-flow problems, sweetheart,” he said, and Dorothy opened her mouth to respond, but he lifted a hand, stopping her. “Don’t bother lying. I know it’s not just me you’re in debt to. I hear you owe Graham Harvey and Chadwick Brunner a few hundred dollars each, too.” Mac paused, studying his fingernails.

Roman glanced at Dorothy, eyebrow twitching. Dorothy suspected the Black Cirkus was strong enough to hold the hotel by force, if it came to that, but they’d never had to test that before. It would be foolish to start now, when there was so much else at stake.

Eyeing Mac, she asked carefully, “What do you want?”

Mac flashed his teeth at her, attempting a smile. “I’d like to fund your little expedition.”

“Why?” asked Roman, blunt.

“Call it my good deed for the year. I’ll cancel your debts to me, and I can help you pay off Chadwick and Graham, maybe even throw a little extra your way to cover whatever else you need to keep going.” Mac balanced on one crutch, digging a half-empty pack of matches out of his pocket. “Your Cirkus Freaks eat, don’t they? And it can’t be cheap to keep that time machine running.”

He pulled the cigarette from behind his ear and stuck it between his teeth, smiling thinly. When neither Dorothy nor Roman answered, he shook his head, lighting a match. “Look, I know what you used to bring in looting little old ladies on the docks. How you’ve kept this enterprise going for over a year is beyond me. Chadwick and Graham have already been whispering in my ear about running you out of your hotel, and, personally, I think that would be a damn shame.” He said this with a hand pressed to his heart, a sympathetic expression twisting his toad-like face. “You need a backer, darling. Someone with deep pockets and a little additional security to help you keep the rats from crawling all over you.”