Feehan, Christine - The Scarletti Curse (26 page)

Sophie leaned close to her as they finished their food. "What of
Signorina Sigmora? Perhaps she will catch us and look like this." The
child turned her face into a severe scowl. It was such a fair representation of
Maria Pia's fierce disapproval that Nicoletta, the two guards, Bernado, and Celeste
burst out laughing.

Nicoletta caught the child's hand to lead her from the kitchen and hastily
waved her thanks to the cook and his assistant. "You are getting too good
at that, Sophie. One of these times, Maria Pia will catch you, and then we will
both be in trouble. Do you know the name of that maid?" She indicated a
young woman who was industriously sweeping out the alcove with the shrine to
the Madonna.

Sophie shook her head, but Nicoletta was undeterred from her quest. Within a
matter of moments the maid was laughing with her, and the broom was in
Nicoletta's possession. The guards shook their heads at her unpredictable ways
but followed her back up the stairs to her room. Nicoletta's eyes danced at
them. "You be certain and keep a good watch out there, and warn us if the
don or Maria Pia happen to come by."

The guards looked at one another suspiciously. "Signorina
Sigmora?" one asked her.

Sophie nodded vigorously. "We are going to—" She clapped her hand
over her mouth and looked up at Nicoletta.

"Clean," Nicoletta supplied hastily. "A surprise for Maria
Pia. She has a distaste of dust, and the room is heavy with dust."

"The don would want a
domestica
to do the cleaning, certainly
not his bride," the guard pointed out. He raised his eyebrows at his
partner, who only shrugged and smiled at the strange ways of their charge.

"Signorina Sigmora likes things a certain way," Nicoletta amended,
pushing Sophie into the room, where they both burst out laughing. "I am
quite used to doing things the way she likes." Nicoletta hastily shut the
door on the guards' startled expressions. "I could not tell a lie, or
Maria Pia would have me light many candles to the good Madonna and kneel in
prayer for a long, long time."

"Are you sure you will not meet
i fantasmi?"
Sophie asked.
What had seemed a great adventure was a bit more frightening when they were
actually about to do it.

"If there really is such a thing," Nicoletta said as she searched
beneath the smooth edge of the wall for the hidden mechanism, "it would
only come out at night."

Sophie sighed and wiggled her body to fit between Nicoletta and the wall so
she could guide Nicoletta's hand to the right place. "It is dark in
there," Sophie cautioned. "Perhaps
i fantasmi
cannot tell the
difference."

They moved back as the wall seemed to shimmer with life. The sun had changed
position, and Nicoletta noted that the strange differences brought on by the
stained-glass window were no longer apparent. Back were the images of
wickedness and doom. Or were they? She peered closer. Were the winged creatures
embedded in the marble reaching to free the hapless victims from the sea
serpents?

"Nicoletta!" Sophie tugged at her skirt. "See how dark it
is?"

Nicoletta looked into the interior and was astonished at how dark it really
was. As there were no windows, the passageway looked black inside. When she lit
a taper and held it up, it illuminated shiny spider webs, white tapestries of
silken threads covering the walls and hanging from the ceilings. She looked up
the walls in hopes of finding a sconce for her candle, but found none. She was
forced to set the taper precariously on the floor.

Nicoletta studied the passageway. It was narrow in comparison to the
cavernous corridors in the palazzo, but a man with wide shoulders, such as
Giovanni Scarletti, could still pass through without scraping his skin. The
ceiling was much lower, too, so that she felt closed in by the heavy stone. She
very much wanted to explore, to see where the passage led, but Sophie was
frightened, breathing fast, nearly jumping up and down in her terror. Nicoletta
contented herself with bashing spiders and sweeping away the webs between the
nursery and her room. The walls of the passage appeared smooth, the secret
doors obviously hidden from both sides. The floor immediately outside the room
was constructed of marble but soon gave way to rougher, grainy stone.

She retrieved the taper and went farther into the dark interior, holding up
the light so she could see beyond the nursery. Tentatively she reached out with
the broom, swiping at the seamless wall in hopes of discovering another door.
Instead, something dropped out of the top of the wall, a heavy, flat, sharp
object that cut right through the broom handle, so that the bristles end
clattered to the floor. Her heart nearly stopped as the huge blade disappeared
with menacing silence back into the ceiling as if it had never been Gasping,
Nicoletta dropped the taper, which fell to the stone floor and rolled away,
extinguishing the flame. At once the passageway seemed a dark, sinister place,
a death trap, and she shuddered to think of Sophie skipping through it. She
froze in place, terrified of moving, looking around her now with wide,
frightened eyes.

Behind her, Sophie held the door open, valiantly keeping up her end of the
adventure, completely unaware of the very real danger to anyone moving around
in the passageway. The child was Nicoletta's only escape. If the marble wall
somehow closed, she would be unable to find her way out. She had no idea where
the doors were located or even how to open them. She had no idea what other
hidden traps lay in wait for an unwary victim, but she was certain that they
did, each as lethal as the one she had accidentally sprung. Now, in the
darkness, after witnessing the sudden descent of that hideous blade, she felt
the vibrations of the aftermath of violence. Very cautiously, Nicoletta turned
around, careful not to touch the walls and placing her feet gingerly, one
directly in front of the other, to minimize the risk of stepping on the wrong
stone.

Cara!
She could clearly hear the anxiety in the don's voice.
What
is it? Your fear is swamping me.

The sound of his voice brushing so gently in her mind was instantly
comforting. Nicoletta managed to take a deep breath, exhaling before walking
slowly and carefully toward the pinpoint of light from the open door still
several paces away from her. She wished she had Don Scarletti's particular
talent so she could answer him. It was terrifying to be moving in the darkness,
afraid of the very walls and floor. She used what was left of the broom to
probe the stones straight in front of her before she placed her foot.

She heard Sophie yelp, call out her name, and to Nicoletta's horror, the
child's head withdrew into the bedroom. At once, the thick marble wall swung
shut, the faint pinpoint of light extinguished, plunging the passageway into
total blackness. She froze, her heart pounding so loudly she could almost hear
it echoing in the eerie silence.

Nicoletta attempted to force her mind away from fear and panic. It didn't
matter that it was daylight outdoors; here in the passage it was forever night.
She could hear the scratching of rats, tiny sounds that made her blood run
cold. The air was musty and thick, heavy and still, oppressive in its silence.
Beads of sweat began to trickle down her skin. While the palazzo had so many
drafts, it was stifling in the passage. The low ceiling and walls seemed to be
pressing in on her, leaving no space for air.

She straightened her shoulders and told herself she was simply in an
unfamiliar environment. She often stayed alone in the hills, where bears and
wolves roamed. This was no different. Both places were potentially dangerous
but not necessarily lethal. For all her firm lecturing, Nicoletta couldn't
force her feet to move forward. That hidden blade had sprung from nowhere and
had disappeared just as silently and smoothly. The evidence—what remained of
the broom handle—was in her hands.

What was the passage hiding? Where did it lead? What was so secret that
someone would prepare lethal traps to guard it? An inquisitive rodent touched a
tiny wet nose to her ankle, and she cried out, stepping in a straight line,
fearful of reaching out toward the walls. The drumbeat in her head seemed even
louder, and for a moment she was literally choking on her fear.

Just ahead a faint crack of light appeared. At first it was a mere slit, but
then light radiated into the passage. A man's large frame filled the open
doorway. Nicoletta hurtled herself forward, uncaring of decorum, uncaring of
his station. She ran into Don Scarletti's arms, nearly impaling him with the
remains of the broom handle clutched tightly in her hand.

Giovanni wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly to him, burying
his face in her hair. He took the precaution of removing the broom handle and
tossing it into the bedchamber. His body was trembling slightly, and he waited
there, still partially in the passage, for the pounding of his heart to
subside. Then he hauled Nicoletta back into the bedroom and shook her slightly,
furious that she had managed to frighten him when no man had ever done so.

Abruptly, his arms dragged her close again and enfolded her protectively.
"I have considered locking you in the tower,
piccola,
but I suspect
even there you would manage to find trouble." He whispered the words in
exasperation against her ear.

Nicoletta allowed herself the luxury of snuggling closer to him, so she
could hear the reassuring beat of his heart. He was solid and strong. He bent
his head to hers, his hand lifting her chin so that his mouth found hers in
total desperation. She tasted his fear for her, his hunger. A need as elemental
as time. He was fiercely possessive. And his kiss was the most sinfully
intimate thing she had ever experienced.

She felt the way his body hardened, his arms like iron bands about her, his
loins hot and aggressive. But his mouth… It moved over hers like hot silk. It
teased and insisted. Caressed and tempted. The moment she relaxed and
submitted, opening her own mouth, he took complete control, sweeping her into a
world where there was only feeling. Only Giovanni and Nicoletta and pure
sensation. Of their own volition, her arms crept up to circle his neck, and her
body melted, soft and pliant, right into his. They fit together perfectly
despite the differences in their sizes. As if they were halves of the same
whole.

Giovanni deepened the kiss, demanding, dominating, ruthlessly sweeping her
along with the rising tide of his own wild passion. And she followed where he led.
His hands slipped down her back, shaped her small waist to slide over the curve
of her rounded bottom, dragging her even closer until she was pressed tightly
against him.

"What is going on in here!" Maria Pia's voice rang out with
shocked outrage. "Don Scarletti, I demand that you let go of that girl at
once!"

Giovanni's mouth was hot with need, moving over Nicoletta's, his tongue
dancing and dueling and teasing her body into hot flames until she was drowning
in her own desire. He made a sound. A soft groan of frustration and need.
Slowly, with infinite care, he reluctantly kissed the corners of her mouth,
then rested his brow against hers as if he didn't have the strength to lift his
head.

"Nicoletta!" Maria Pia's voice was sharper than ever, and this time
it penetrated enough that Nicoletta heard the note of fear.

Bemused, she stared up at Giovanni, her dark eyes searching his face
intently. He smiled at her, the expression in his eyes so tender that it robbed
her of breath. Carefully he picked a spider web from the silken strands of her
hair. "You have taken ten years off my life," he confided very
softly.

"Thank you for rescuing me." Her voice didn't sound like her own.
It was husky and soft, a seductive invitation, and she found herself blushing
wildly.

The don turned his head to look at Maria Pia. He bowed slightly, a courtly,
elegant gesture. "I believe I am going to have to insist that you stay
with your charge at all times, Signorina Sigmora. It is that or the guards will
have to be stationed
in
her room." A dark scowl shadowed his face
at the thought of the two men in Nicoletta's bedchamber.

"That passage is dangerous, Don Scarletti," Nicoletta announced,
pointing to the severed broom handle as evidence. "Sophie has been using
it to get from the nursery to my room. Her father knew." Her voice held
accusation although she tried hard to keep it neutral.

His eyebrows shot up. "Call me Giovanni," he prompted, his lips so
outrageously close to her ear that she felt the warmth of his breath heating
her blood all over again. "It is forbidden to all to use the passageway.
Sophie knows that, and certainly Vincente knows it. Sophie was moved out of the
nursery when it was discovered she knew of the passage. She was warned many
times of the danger. Both Vincente and I forbade her to use it. There are
numerous traps in there, and more than one person has died trying to hunt
treasure or escape to the sea."

Nicoletta lifted one eyebrow. "I have heard of Scarlettis under assault
escaping unseen to the sea, but I have never heard rumors of hidden
treasure."

Giovanni shrugged his wide shoulders with careless ease. "It is said
that our ancestor, Francisco Scarletti, who had this palazzo built, included
the hidden passageway to allow members of the household to escape to waiting
ships should there be need. Few know how to maneuver the passageway or the
rocks in the cove, but Francisco mapped it carefully for future generations.
More than once, during an invasion, the passageway and the cove were used for
escape. In the days when the palazzo was constructed, fortresses often hid
elaborate traps for invaders. Francisco was also reputed to have treasures
without equal. Solid gold sculptures." He glided across the room with his
natural grace, lifted the golden boat from its alcove shelf, and handed it to
Nicoletta. "These pieces have been protected from all invaders, including
the Holy Church."