Cast in Ice Read Online Free Page A

taken her that long to win enough money to warrant the risk of going to The Dove . And she blamed the stranger who’d forced her to draw on every skill she’d learned about gambling for the lateness of the hour.
    He was a proficient gambler. And he had the devil’s own luck when it came to the hands he was dealt. But she eventually won enough that she had part of the blackmail demand. Even if it had taken her all night.
    By the time she arrived home, Tilly had worn a path in the carpet, pacing from one side of the room to the other. And Winnie didn’t blame her. If Winnie had been much later, she’d have run into the kitchen staff already up when she entered through the kitchen door.
    Winnie didn’t know who the masked stranger was. She’d never seen him at The Dove before, but he was an expert gambler. As experienced and competent as she was. There was even a time when she thought she’d be forced to come home having lost the money she’d gone with. Something that had never happened before. But at the last, her luck held and she won several hands in a row.
    Winnie concentrated on what she remembered of the stranger who’d sat next to her at The Dove . She’d nicknamed him Erebos , the Greek god of darkness and shadows. Because there was something dark and dangerous about him. And that danger warned her to be wary of him.
    His hands were sturdy and strong, his fingers long and narrow, and he held his cards as if they were a natural extension of his hands. His hair was so dark it almost seemed black, and appeared even darker when framing the silver-gray of the masks they wore. His shoulders were broad, and filled out the expensive cut of his finely tailored jacket to perfection.
    She couldn’t see much of his face. That was the purpose of the masks. But his jaw was chiseled in sharp angles that conveyed a strength she found intriguing.
    That formidable strength should have told her that he would be a worthy adversary. She should have realized he’d be a threat, and that it would take all her skill to best him. But she’d been too intrigued by his innate confidence to face the danger his self-reliance emitted.
    He exuded a forceful intensity that characterized a commanding presence. She’d found nothing lacking in his demeanor. His shirt was a pristine white, and his cravat expertly tied.
    There was a gold pocket watch in his waistcoat pocket that he’d pulled out in a swift, exacting move when the gentleman with the nervous twitch had asked the time. His actions were precise, as if he was in complete control of every movement he made.
    There were times when she appreciated the mysterious seclusion the masks afforded the patrons of The Dove . But there were times, like last night, when she wished she knew the identity of the man she played against. The man who’d expertly challenged her. The man who intrigued her more than any man ever had.
    Winnie let her thoughts drift away from the masked stranger and opened her eyes long enough to focus on the happenings in the ballroom. Without a doubt, no one she was likely to meet at a Society function could be nearly as powerful or captivating as the man she’d battled with last night over a deck of cards. But when her gaze turned to the groups of elegantly dressed lords and ladies enjoying their time at Lord and Lady Rummery’s ball, her heart shifted in her chest and her breath caught. A man equally as absorbing, but in a different, more dangerous way attracted her attention.
    At first she thought her eyes must be playing tricks on her. The man standing across the ballroom floor talking to her father and brother looked like Nick Stillman. But it couldn’t be. This was the last place she imagined she’d see a brigadesman from Mack Wallace’s Bedford Street Brigade. There must be some mistake. The man talking with her father and Ben must simply look like Mr. Stillman.
    Then he turned.
    Their gazes met, then locked, and she knew she hadn’t been mistaken. The man