“I can’t do that.” She met his gaze with determination. “I have to stay here for a short time. Will you help me?”

“Goddammit, you can’t-” Travis broke off, his eyes narrowing shrewdly on her face. “Dominic Delaney? I’ve heard you’ve been trailing around after him like a calf does its mama. Is that why you’re here?”

“He is here tonight, isn’t he?” she asked, a touch of apprehension in her voice. It would be awful if she had suffered this situation for no reason.

Travis nodded toward a table in the corner of the saloon. “Over there. He hasn’t seen you yet. He ain’t going to be happy when he does, you know. You’ve been making things pretty uncomfortable for him.”

“I know.” She moistened her lips with her tongue. “It’s not as if I’m a difficult woman, Mr. Travis. What I’m doing is necessary.”

“Why?” he asked bluntly.

“I’m afraid that’s a private matter between Mr. Delaney and myself.”

He was silent a moment, glaring at her. “That uproar you caused at Rina’s place wasn’t so damn private. Come to your senses and get out of here.”

She slowly shook her head.

He turned on his heel and strode to a table a few feet away occupied by two men. “Sam, you and Hiram belly up to the bar and let the lady sit down.”

“Let her sit on my lap,” the man named Sam said with a grin. “I’m not selfish about-” He broke off as his gaze traveled past Travis’s brawny shoulder to Elspeth standing by the door. “Christ, it’s the shadow!” He shot a look to the corner of the room and his grin became slyly malicious. “Sure, Ben, we’ll be glad to let the lady have our table. Come on, Hiram.” The two men rose, grabbed their foam-crested glasses, and strolled toward the crowded bar.

Ben held out a chair, motioning for Elspeth to sit down. “Well, if you want Dominic to know you’re here, you won’t have long to wait. Sam and Hiram will be sharing the joke with everyone at the bar.”

“Thank you, Mr. Travis.” Elspeth sat down and clasped her gloved hands together on the scarred surface of the table. She smiled tremulously. “I told Mr. Judkins, at the hotel, he had no reason to worry about me. I knew I’d find someone as kind as you to help me.”

Travis glanced again at the smoke-wreathed table in the corner and his lips tightened grimly. “You may need more than kindness if you keep on pestering Dominic. He’s not a man who’ll stand for being made a fool of.”

“I have no intention of making a fool of him.”

“Then what do you…” He trailed off. “Never mind, I can see you’re not about to tell me.” He pulled out the chair opposite her. “I’ll just sit here and make sure none of the boys bother you.”

She shook her head. “No, I want him to see me alone. I have to let him know I’m not relying on anyone else.” She paused. “If you want to hurry events along, you might call his attention to the fact that I’m here.”

“From the sound of those snickers coming from the bar, I may not be able to get across the room in time to break the news first,” he said dryly. “Can I get you a glass of water or a sarsaparilla before I mosey on over there?”

“No, thank you.” She looked down at her clasped hands. “I’m quite comfortable.”

Dominic played the ten of hearts and leaned back in his chair, his eyes studying the face of the Russian. It required little effort to read Marzonoff. The man was as transparent as the empty whiskey glass in front of him, altogether a terrible poker player. It was a puzzle why he insisted on entering the game each night when he lost steadily and in no small amounts. Hell, why should he worry about the man, Dominic thought impatiently. If Marzonoff’s boasts were true, he could afford to lose much higher stakes without hurting.

“Dominic.”

Dominic glanced up and then smiled lazily. “You want to sit in on the game, Ben?”

Travis shook his iron-gray mane. “There’s someone here you should know about.”

Dominic tensed. One of Durbin’s hired guns? Durbin himself? He kept his features expressionless. “Who?”

Travis nodded to a table near the door. “Her.”

For a moment Dominic couldn’t believe it. Elspeth MacGregor, prim and proper, black-clad as usual, sitting with meekly folded hands. Then, as if sensing his regard, she looked up and met his gaze across the room. There was nothing meek about that composed stare. It was direct and challenging behind those wire-rimmed spectacles.

Oh, he believed it then all right, and rage tingled through his veins. He looked around the room. The grin on each face disappeared as Dominic leveled his gaze at each man in turn. He knew the smiles and snickers would return as soon as his attention was engaged by a man down the line, and the knowledge chafed at him like barbed wire on unprotected flesh.

“She shouldn’t be here,” Ben said gruffly.

“You’re right. She shouldn’t be here.” Dominic’s murmur was velvet soft, as his gaze fastened on Elspeth. “It was a mistake for her to come to the Nugget.” He threw his cards facedown on the table. “I fold.” He pushed his chair back and stood up. “I believe I’ll call it a night, gentlemen.”

He didn’t look to the right or the left as he crossed the room toward Elspeth MacGregor’s table. He knew he would see only smiles of frank enjoyment at his discomfort on the faces of those he passed. They would think she had routed him. It didn’t matter. Not any longer. The only thing that mattered was the gauntlet that black-gowned witch had tossed down before him. His anger was so hot it was close to pain, and yet he was experiencing, too, a fierce satisfaction. She had once more stepped across the line and he could now retaliate. He would give her a last chance, but he knew he would be disappointed if she backed down.

He stopped before her table. Conversation had halted in the room and the only sound was the hollow tinkle of the piano. He lowered his voice to a level that was inaudible to everyone but her. “Leave Hell’s Bluff. I won’t tell you again.”

He had spoken to her! Elspeth experienced a wild throb of hope that immediately turned to apprehension. His blue-gray eyes were so strange. Blazing fiercely, yet ice cold. Her throat tightened and her breath seemed to stop. It was a moment before she could force herself to speak. “No,” she whispered.

Then, incredibly, he smiled. It was a smile filled with joyous savagery, lighting his dark face with a wild, wicked beauty. “Good.”

He turned and in another moment had disappeared through the swinging doors of the saloon.

5

“You should not have come here.”