thoughts of marrying such a man. Besides, she’d gone so far as to throw his ring in his face. Any commitment they might have had to one another had been severed by time and events.
And where was the confounded man now? For all Rosalyn knew, he’d jumped overboard again. Had James followed to ensure the man hadn’t escaped?
Rosalyn pulled a black satin gown out of the trunk and shook out the wrinkles. Time to learn where she stood and what Mr. Dalton Black had hiding up his sleeve on the Marie-Dearie.
Chapter Five
Dalton sat in the gaming room with a three of a kind—the best he could get from his current hand of poker. He and James had quietly spread the word that a certain Dillon Green had gold to burn at the gaming tables aboard the Marie-Dearie in hopes of luring Pierre Saulnier, the notorious card sharp, into the open.
So far the evening had been a bust. Not only had he lost at every hand of poker, Pierre hadn’t shown up.
James sat smoking a cigar, his feet propped on another chair across the room—relaxed but ready.
The men at Dalton’s table had long since pushed him past boredom into a semiconscious state, not good for playing poker.
“Today must be my lucky day.” The Memphis businessman, wearing a striped shirt and a gray wool suit, scooped the money from the center of the table into his pockets. “You might consider giving it up for the evening, Mr. Green. You haven’t won a hand since I sat down to play. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. The little lady will be right pleased with my day’s winnings.”
“You’ll have to buy your wife a present on the way home,” the man across from him said.
“Who said anything about my wife? I was thinking more about Sugar at the Rose Palace.” He winked. “She’d be much more appreciative of a gift.”
The Rose Palace, where Dalton had first met Rosalyn. He remembered that day as though it had been yesterday. She’d settled a dispute between two men arguing over one of the ladies in her employ. Her beauty and determination had captured his attention from the beginning. He’d spent countless days convincing her to see him, not as a client, but as a man interested in an intelligent woman.
Now Dalton had lost every hand because his thoughts weren’t in the game, they were back in the bedroom with Rosalyn. His cock twitched beneath the buttons of his trousers. She made him hard without being anywhere near him.
All the same reasons he’d asked her to marry him still held true. She was strong, independent and loyal to those she loved. If only he’d stayed and tried to figure out a way around the law. But there’d been a posse after him for months. Rosalyn’s Rose Palace had been the first place they’d searched. No doubt they’d have paid well for anyone to report back if Dalton had showed up. That Rosalyn would disappear as well had never occurred to him until he tried to get back to her only to find her gone. She’d left to protect herself, her business and most of all him.
She’d make a wonderful mother, defending her children with her life. She’d talked of a house with plenty of room for little ones to run and play, far away from the Rose Palace, from the fickleness and danger of the Mississippi River. Texas, she’d said. It sounded pretty and far enough away from her life as a madame that no one would ever have to know. She didn’t want her children to suffer because of her former profession.
Rosalyn never talked about her life as a child.
In his search to locate Rosalyn over the past year, Dalton had paid a private detective to go back east and find out anything he could about her past. Maybe she’d gone to live with some long-lost family member or friend.
What he’d discovered had been astounding.
Rosie of the Rose Palace Bordello had been raised as Elizabeth Thomas of the Boston Thomases, one of the wealthiest families of the new world. She’d run away from home when she was only sixteen. The official word was
And where was the confounded man now? For all Rosalyn knew, he’d jumped overboard again. Had James followed to ensure the man hadn’t escaped?
Rosalyn pulled a black satin gown out of the trunk and shook out the wrinkles. Time to learn where she stood and what Mr. Dalton Black had hiding up his sleeve on the Marie-Dearie.
Chapter Five
Dalton sat in the gaming room with a three of a kind—the best he could get from his current hand of poker. He and James had quietly spread the word that a certain Dillon Green had gold to burn at the gaming tables aboard the Marie-Dearie in hopes of luring Pierre Saulnier, the notorious card sharp, into the open.
So far the evening had been a bust. Not only had he lost at every hand of poker, Pierre hadn’t shown up.
James sat smoking a cigar, his feet propped on another chair across the room—relaxed but ready.
The men at Dalton’s table had long since pushed him past boredom into a semiconscious state, not good for playing poker.
“Today must be my lucky day.” The Memphis businessman, wearing a striped shirt and a gray wool suit, scooped the money from the center of the table into his pockets. “You might consider giving it up for the evening, Mr. Green. You haven’t won a hand since I sat down to play. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. The little lady will be right pleased with my day’s winnings.”
“You’ll have to buy your wife a present on the way home,” the man across from him said.
“Who said anything about my wife? I was thinking more about Sugar at the Rose Palace.” He winked. “She’d be much more appreciative of a gift.”
The Rose Palace, where Dalton had first met Rosalyn. He remembered that day as though it had been yesterday. She’d settled a dispute between two men arguing over one of the ladies in her employ. Her beauty and determination had captured his attention from the beginning. He’d spent countless days convincing her to see him, not as a client, but as a man interested in an intelligent woman.
Now Dalton had lost every hand because his thoughts weren’t in the game, they were back in the bedroom with Rosalyn. His cock twitched beneath the buttons of his trousers. She made him hard without being anywhere near him.
All the same reasons he’d asked her to marry him still held true. She was strong, independent and loyal to those she loved. If only he’d stayed and tried to figure out a way around the law. But there’d been a posse after him for months. Rosalyn’s Rose Palace had been the first place they’d searched. No doubt they’d have paid well for anyone to report back if Dalton had showed up. That Rosalyn would disappear as well had never occurred to him until he tried to get back to her only to find her gone. She’d left to protect herself, her business and most of all him.
She’d make a wonderful mother, defending her children with her life. She’d talked of a house with plenty of room for little ones to run and play, far away from the Rose Palace, from the fickleness and danger of the Mississippi River. Texas, she’d said. It sounded pretty and far enough away from her life as a madame that no one would ever have to know. She didn’t want her children to suffer because of her former profession.
Rosalyn never talked about her life as a child.
In his search to locate Rosalyn over the past year, Dalton had paid a private detective to go back east and find out anything he could about her past. Maybe she’d gone to live with some long-lost family member or friend.
What he’d discovered had been astounding.
Rosie of the Rose Palace Bordello had been raised as Elizabeth Thomas of the Boston Thomases, one of the wealthiest families of the new world. She’d run away from home when she was only sixteen. The official word was
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