Cast in Ice by Laura Landon

Nick,” she cried, and threw herself into his arms.
    Nick wrapped his arms around his cousin and held her close. Her sobs came in huge agonizing gulps, but he let her cry. She’d endured more than anyone her age should have to go through. “Tell me everything, Lizzy. I need to know it all.”
    His innocent cousin nodded her head then separated herself from him. She took the handkerchief he handed her and wiped her cheeks. “I owe them money, Nick. A lot of money. And I don’t have it.”
    “Then we’ll have to get it.”
    She looked up at him. “Will you give it to me?”
    Nick could give Lizzy the money, and they could go to The Dove and pay what she owed. No one would be the wiser, especially his aunt and uncle, Lord and Lady Rummery. But that wouldn’t be what was best for Lizzy.
    Nick shook his head. “No, you’ll have to ask your father for the money.”
    “I can’t,” she cried. “They’ll know what I’ve done. They’ll know everything!”
    “Yes, they’ll know everything. And you’ll be punished. Because what you did could have ended much worse. You could have been ruined. You could have been forced to sell your body to a lecherous old man who would have used you for his own pleasure, then tossed you aside. You could have been so scarred because of what happened to you, that you couldn’t live with what you’d done, as Jenny was unable to live with herself. Did you learn nothing from what happened to your friend?”
    “Oh, Nick,” Lizzy cried, and buried her face against his chest.
    Nick knew he’d been unreasonably cruel, knew his words had been harsh and unforgiving. But he’d intended them to be. He didn’t want to minimize what Lizzy had done. He wanted to be certain she never returned to The Dove . Never took the risks she’d taken ever again.
    “Let me take you home, Lizzy. Your parents are waiting for you.”
    When Lizzy nodded, Nick helped his cousin to her feet. He wrapped a cloak that was hanging on a hook on the wall around her shoulders, and he led her from the Marquess of Rushling’s attic.
    Nick would take Lizzy home and get the money she needed to pay her gambling debts. Once she was free from the hold The Soiled Dove had over her, he’d return her to her parents and let them care for her.
    He’d done as much as he could for them right now. But he hadn’t begun to do what had to be done to wipe out the filth and corruption that existed under the guise of an elite gaming hell. He hadn’t begun to bring an end to whatever illegal venture The Dove was being used to hide.
    And he wouldn’t give up until he’d destroyed everyone involved in that hellhole.

CHAPTER 8

    Winnie sat in the large receiving room at Townsend House and tried to pay attention to the conversation going on around her. The Earl of Montroy had come to call on her sister, Anne. Having him call wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. He was a frequent guest, and Winnie knew that before the Season ended, her father would announce his youngest daughter’s betrothal.
    The match would be perfect. And it couldn’t happen soon enough.
    Then…
    Winnie tried to think what would happen then, but she couldn’t think of anything except the kiss she and Nick Stillman had shared three nights ago. She’d tried to forget it, but that was like trying to forget that the sun would come up in the morning, or the moon would shine at night.
    She tried to think of a reason as to why he might have kissed her, but she couldn’t come up with one excuse that she could believe except that he’d had a momentary lapse of sanity. Or that anger had driven him to do something so reckless. Except nothing hinted that anger had anything to do with the way his mouth had possessed hers.
    Then, she tried to convince herself that he’d meant nothing by kissing her. But the words that came to mind when she remembered the emotions that surged through her weren’t words that indicated no feelings had been involved. They said much