Devlin's Curse by Lady Brenda Read Free Book Online Page B

the Emerald Salon very soon.
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter Five
    The Queen of Montebank
     
    E smeralda hired an army of painters and carpenters to refurbish her house on B Street. It was amazing what a handful of gold could accomplish in 48 hours. She had the outside painted forest green trimmed with gold and violet.  In the interior she had expensive crystal chandeliers put in and, furnished it with fine sofas and chairs.  In the very back of the house she converted a room into a small theater. The gaming tables and roulette wheel were all set up in the front parlor.  The salon was equipped with a billiard table and piano along with a small ornate bar stocked with liquor. 
    This was their first night open for business. Eager gamblers already surrounded the card tables and roulette wheel. In the corner by the bay window an olive skinned young man played a lively tune on the piano. 
    Esmeralda was dressed elegantly in a patterned silk gown of emerald green. Her hair was curled and piled high and she wore a jeweled comb with a flirty green feather in it.  Smiling, she presided over her own Monte table. Women gamblers, who were rare in the west and often, extraordinary beauties as well, drew men to them like bees to honey. She was immune to their covetous gazes as her hands flew deftly over the cards never missing a beat. She smiled as she scooped up their bills and gold.  All evening a steady stream of gentlemen flowed into her parlor. 
    Things are off to a nice start .
    Jamie had spent the last week handing out flyers up and down the boardwalk. He took his new job seriously and now stood just inside the parlor and watched over her.
    He is charming , she thought.
    She smiled as she saw him dressed in his fancy suit and boiled collar. She still saw him as a boy of eighteen. It was nice for a change to be the recipient of simple youthful adoration. Most of the men that attended her salons reeked of one sort of avarice or another.
    Mr. Leonard White was one of them. She had observed him on the stage ride to Virginia City. He had not gambled tonight but nursed his whiskey and watched Esmeralda from the bar. At a quarter to midnight she glanced up when she heard him nearly choke on his drink. She looked towards the entrance where Leonard White stared.
    She saw the gambler Devlin Winter walk into her salon. Her hands faltered with the cards. What was left of her heart missed a beat. What the hell had brought him here? To Virginia City? To her Salon? She felt betrayed by fate because, he, Devlin, had not changed at all. He was still as handsome as sin. His eyes the same color of smoky topaz with his raven hair that he wore long and that framed his chiseled austere features. His tall form was accentuated by a long black frock coat with a blood red satin vest and ruffled white shirt. A large ruby stickpin, winked from its snowy folds. She could hear the sighs from the other female dealers as he entered the room.
    She continued her play. She didn’t want him to see how rattled she was. She expected him any moment to take the next available seat at the Monte table but then noticed that he hung back. She could not concentrate and rapidly lost two of her plays. Flustered she gathered up the cards.
    “That’s all for tonight gentlemen. Have a drink on me,” she said.
    The two remaining players gathered up their winnings tipped their hats and left.
    Devlin watched her from across the room. In a few strides he reached her table before she could flee. He reached out and grasped her hand. “Do not run from me, Bianca, or is it Esmeralda now?”
    She tried to pull her hand away. “Let me go Devlin, you have no right…”
    Devlin smiled. “I have every right.”
    He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. Esmeralda felt weak and helpless like a fly caught in a spider’s web.
    “Let us go to your private rooms, my dear. There is much I would like to say to you.” 
    Esmeralda started to protest but reminded of her