Her gaze wandered to her lap, and she yawned.
"Are you following me?"
She straightened. "Sorry. I'm listening."
"The number you choose is the main. Then you throw. If you score a two or a three, you lose. If you score an eleven or a twelve, you lose. If you hit your main, you win."
She tilted her head, frowning. "But what if I get the remaining five numbers?"
She was bright, his angel. Pedro's lips tugged up. "Your main number becomes your chance, and you roll again. This time, you win if you hit your chance, but you lose if you hit your main. You keep rolling the dice until you either lose or win."
"Can I cast?"
"As you wish."
She bounced on the chair. "Can I pick seven as my main number?"
He nodded.
Hands cupped, she threw the dice. They clattered twice and settled—a nine. Without a pause, she pluckedthe cubes and rolled again. Five and four.
"I won!" She grinned as if he had offered her jewels. For three consecutive times, she played and scored. "I'm surprised it's not a child's game. Why do you suppose it is frowned upon?"
"It is not the dice, but the gambling. When gambling, drunk, or in the heat of war, mankind shows its true nature."
"Surely, when under the influence of strong emotions, people can display nasty behaviors, but I can't believe it to be their true nature." She looked at him from under gold-tipped eyelashes.
Pedro made a cage with his fingers. "Enlighten me then. What is man's true nature?"
She raised a pretty shoulder. "I believe people are good before they prove otherwise."
"When they prove otherwise, it’s too late."
"When? Not if?" She clicked her tongue. "I must beg to disagree. Our human nature is innately good."
Pedro smirked. "I imagine you have experience to support this belief."
"What would you do if you saw a child drowning in the ocean? Wouldn't you help? I dare say every person would save a child in harm's way." She hoistedher chin in defiance. "Isn't this proof our nature is good?"
"A few would remove the child to hurt it further."
"I cannot believe such evil exists."
With her rosy beliefs and youthful mulishness, she was as well-equipped to live in the real world as a soldier arriving in battle without a bayonet. Maxwell must have been insane to bring her up with such ideas.
"The man behind Salgueiro’s attack relishes inflicting pain." Pedro grabbed her wrist. "Promise you won’t allow your stupid, reckless optimism to put you in danger."
Her face paled, and she winced.
Pedro realized he had crushed her wrist and released her. Three red marks flashed on her skin. He stared at what his touch had done to her, and bile rose in his throat. "I've hurt you."
"It's nothing." She moved her hand below the table. "My skin is too fair. How do you know this, anyway?" Her voice softened. "Is he part of the shadows?"
Her perception was too near the mark. He should tell her the truth about Ulrich so she could protect herself. But she would not look at him with dawn in her eyes if she found out about Mozambique, would she? He could not bring himself to shatter her trust. Best to keep her close, guarded at all times.
"Since you seem to like thought experiments." Pedro crossed his arms. "Are you familiar with the Gyges ring?"
She raiseda brow. "Should I be?"
