Feehan, Christine - The Scarletti Curse (28 page)

"Bambina."
Nicoletta hugged her even closer. "You did
not do anything wrong. You did exactly what you should have done. Don Scarletti
commanded you to open the door, and of course you must do as he says."

Sophie lifted her head, looking forlorn. "I can never go out of this
room again. Zio Gino and Papa told me never to go into the hidden passageway.
They said it was dangerous. I have to stay here forever now. I have to be
punished." She wailed the last dramatically.

Nicoletta's soft mouth curved. "Who told you to stay in your
room?"

"Zio Gino." Sophie looked as pathetic as possible.

Nicoletta laughed softly. "Maria Pia shall stay with you, and I will go
talk to your
zio.
Perhaps he will think you have been punished enough.
But you must heed his warnings. I do not think
i fantasmi
guard the
passageway, but certain traps in there can endanger your life. You must promise
me you will never go in there again."

Sophie nodded vigorously, willing to promise Nicoletta anything at all.

"Dry your tears,
bambina.
I will get you out of your
prison." She ruffled the child's hair and beckoned Maria Pia into the room
to comfort Sophie while she was gone.

Nicoletta hurried back along the hall, making a little face at the two
guards who seemed so amused by her antics. "Wagering is sinful," she
reminded them haughtily, but neither looked in the least repentant that she
knew what they had been about. Instead, both openly grinned at her.

Outside the don's study, she hesitated, her courage suddenly faltering. She
was interrupting his work, intruding on his time. She was all at once unsure of
herself. Don Scarletti had been more than kind to her, but he had a certain
reputation, and Nicoletta wasn't blind to the fact that he was a powerful man.
He had probably earned that reputation many times over. She bit her lip in an
agony of indecision. She couldn't very well encourage Sophie to defy her uncle
and leave her room without permission. Her bare foot tapped out a rhythm of
nerves on the tiled floor. He had already been interrupted once, leaving his
important visitor to rescue her from the passage.

She glanced over her shoulder at the guards. They were whispering together,
no doubt making another wager on what her actions would be. She rapped on the
door quickly before she completely lost her nerve, glaring at the guards as she
did so. The same soldier had to hand over his losses. She raised an eyebrow at
him. "One would think you would have learned the first time."

He burst out laughing. Giovanni opened the door to find Nicoletta sharing
the merriment with her two guards. He sighed heavily and wrapped his palm
around the nape of her neck as he moved out into the corridor, closing the door
to his study behind him, obviously to afford his visitor privacy and anonymity.
His thumbs tipped her face up to his. "Once again I find you without your
chaperone,
cara mia.
Did you run away from Signorina Sigmora again? How
is it you manage to elude her? She looks quite capable to me."

That faint betraying shiver began again, from deep within her. She glanced
at the guards. They were no help, moving away to give the don privacy in
dealing with his errant bride-to-be. Giovanni urged her closer to the hard
strength of his body. "You have misplaced your shoes again, I see. What is
so urgent,
piccola,
that you would dare
Il Demonio
in his
lair?" His thumb was feathering along the delicate line of her jaw to
linger over her frantically beating pulse.

Her dark eyes were enormous as she looked up at him. "I do not think of
you as
Il Demonio,"
she denied.

He raised an elegant eyebrow at her. "Is that so?"

"I might have before I met you," she conceded reluctantly,
unfailingly truthful.

His eyes gleamed at her, a wicked amusement dancing in their black depths.
"I may have become one since I met you," he answered her
suggestively.

She frowned at him. "I think you like to scare me with your wickedness,
Don Scarletti, but in truth, I am not so easily frightened." It was the
truth. No one else seemed to frighten her quite the way he did. "I… I have
a need to speak with you… about your order to have your men taste my food and
drink. I would not wish anyone to become ill on my account," she ventured,
hesitant to bring down his wrath on little Sophie, preferring that he spend it
on her first.

Giovanni shook his head gravely. "I will not rescind my order,
cara
mia,
not even to please you. But you knew that. I suspect you had another
reason to seek me out."

She regarded him steadily for a moment, tapping her foot nervously on the
floor, considering how best to argue with him. He looked far too implacable.
She sighed heavily. She didn't want to reduce Sophie's chances for freedom. But
in any case, he was watching her with such unbelievable intensity, she wasn't
certain she would be able to think clearly much longer. "I would like to
take young Sophie with me into the courtyard. She is very sorry for her
disobedience, and I have lectured her on the dangers of the passageway,
although I think she could be given a demonstration from her
zio
Gino,
as she respects him very much. In any case, I encouraged her to aid me.
She
should not be punished."

He stared down at her for so long, she thought she might melt. Nicoletta was
mesmerized by the hot intensity in his gaze. She was very aware of his body,
too, so close to hers that she could feel the heat of his skin. Again a current
seemed to arc between them like a lightning bolt, sizzling and dancing until
her skin was sensitive and ached with need. His gaze dropped to her mouth, and
her body went weak. Butterfly wings brushed at her stomach; her body clenched,
and heat pooled low within her. She honestly didn't know who moved first.

His mouth fastened to hers, hot and exciting, sweeping her away with him. It
was a dark promise, erotic, sensual, his tongue demanding her response rather
than asking for it. She melted into him, boneless and pliant, her body molding
to his, so that she felt his fierce arousal. Instead of pulling away as she
should have, Nicoletta reveled in her power, wanting more, suddenly craving his
dark secrets, aching with a need so strong she burned with it. Liquid fire.
Molten heat.

Her breasts swelled with desire, pushing into the heavy muscles of his body,
straining for his touch. The thin material of her blouse seemed all at once too
much of a barrier between them. Her mind was suddenly filled with images: her
hands on his skin, his palm cupping her breast, his mouth blazing fire along
her throat, lower, across bare skin to close, hot and moist, over her aching
nipple. She wanted him more than she had ever wanted anything in her life.

Giovanni lifted his head, his hand still curled around the nape of her neck,
her body resting against his. "I need you, Nicoletta." His voice was
husky and sensual.
"Dio!
I do not think I can wait one more night.
Go take the child into the courtyard, and do not find any more trouble. Keep
Signorina Sigmora with you at all times; she is your only protection."

She could feel his strong body trembling with the effort to allow her to go.
A good girl would have been appalled at his conduct, shocked and horrified at
her own, but Nicoletta suspected she wasn't as good as Maria Pia would have
liked. She wanted the don's hands on her body. She knew he wanted her.
Nicoletta. Not any other. She made him nearly as weak with wanting as he made
her. She smiled up at him, trying desperately to find a way to breathe.

He groaned softly. "You cannot do that,
piccola.
You cannot look
at me with such trust and need in your eyes." He kissed the top of her
head. "I am not to be trusted around you. Go find your worthless chaperone
and insist she stay attached to your side." Giovanni carefully put her
from him. "I promise I will impress Sophie sufficiently to stay out of the
passageway. Now go while I still have some respect for myself."

Nicoletta didn't dare look at the two guards. She knew they would have
smirks on their faces, and at the moment she didn't care. She looked up at the
don, and for the first time she touched his shadowed jaw with her fingertips, a
small, almost tender caress. Her gaze moved over his face as if drinking him
in.

Giovanni shook his head and bent toward her so that his mouth was against
her ear. "I think you may be the witch Margerita has named you, casting
your spells to mesmerize a mere man." His breath warmed her skin and sent
tiny shivers of flame dancing in her blood.

For the first time, she wasn't afraid of the taunt. She turned her face so
her lips moved tantalizingly against his. "I would not call you a 'mere
man,' Don Scarletti, not ever." It was a brush of sinful, silken heat,
their mouths touching as she whispered to him. Her body moved against his in
restless need. Hot desire flared in his eyes, a firestorm of such intensity it
robbed both of them of their ability to breathe.

This time it was Nicoletta who moved away. She turned and walked slowly down
the corridor, her hips swaying with feminine invitation. Don Scarletti could
not be evil. It couldn't be so. No matter how many rumors flew about the
palazzo and their don, she couldn't find it in her heart to believe him a
murderer. Her head down, she wasn't looking where she was going, so she nearly
jumped when someone grabbed her arm and yanked her into a small alcove.

She landed against the wall and found herself staring up at the don's
grandfather. He looked wilder than ever, his face twisted into a fierce scowl,
his bushy brows drawn together into one frightening line. Over his shoulder she
saw the two guards rushing forward. Hastily she shook her head at them, a
warning to back away. They did so reluctantly, staying close enough to reach
her should there be need. Their presence enabled her to relax in the old man's
surprisingly strong grasp.

"Signore Scarletti." She let her breath out slowly. "Is
something wrong? Please tell me. I can see you are upset."

He stared down at her. She could feel his body trembling with a terrible
tension. "You must leave this place at once. Do not go near any of them.
Any of us. Go while you still have your life!" His fingers bit into her
arm. He even shook her slightly. "You are in danger. If you stay here, you
will surely die!" He thrust her away from him and rushed off, swiping at
the guards with his cane so that they hastily moved out of his reach.

Nicoletta sagged against the wall, watching the old man as he hurried away.
His voice had been hoarse with fear. He was warning her away from
all
the Scarletti men, even himself. What did that mean? Could she be so wrong
about the don?
Was
there a strain of madness running through the family?
Two sides to the men? Angel and devil? She rubbed absently at the finger marks
on her arm. Where did the man get such strength? She had noticed that the don
seemed abnormally strong. Did that run in the family along with madness?

One of the guards approached her solicitously. "Did he hurt you?"

She shook her head. "He didn't mean me any harm. On the contrary, he
was attempting to be nice." She knew the older man had bruised her skin
with his terrible grip, but he seemed desperate to make her believe him.

"I must report this to the don, signorina." The guard spoke
quietly, knowing she would object. "It is my duty."

She wrung her hands. "Must you? He really did not hurt me. I do not want
him to be reprimanded, and the don seems very…" She trailed off, searching
for the correct words.

"Protective of you," the guard supplied. "I will take care in
the way I word my report."

"Grazie,"
Nicoletta responded, and she pushed away from the
wall. More shaken by the encounter than she wanted to admit, she hastened along
the corridor until she was safely in Sophie's room.

The bedchamber was much like she remembered it but without the chandelier.
In the light of day the room didn't seem quite so alarming. Nicoletta smiled at
the waiting child. "Your
zio
Gino has said you may go to the
courtyard with me,
bambina."

Sophie's face lit up. "I knew you would get him to say I could
go!"

Nicoletta held out a hand to the child, carefully avoiding looking at Maria
Pia. The older woman knew her very well and would know something had upset her.
"I cannot wait to get outside, either." She tried to be enthusiastic,
but she was suddenly afraid.

The eldest Scarletti had succeeded in terrifying her. Nicoletta tried to
keep her racing mind under control, but it seemed impossible. Her imagination
was running wild as they made their way outside. The palazzo felt like a
living, breathing entity, wholly evil to her. She didn't want to feel that way;
she wanted to make it a home.

"You are very quiet,
piccola"
Maria Pia said thoughtfully
as they made their way outside.

Nicoletta inhaled deeply, looking upward at the swirls of clouds drifting
across the blue sky. No ominous birds circled above the maze. The wind brought
her no message of an injury or illness. The tightness in her chest slowly began
to ease. Cristano couldn't be dead or dying in the labyrinth, and, true to his
word, Don Scarletti had soldiers moving through the tall hedges. She could hear
their voices calling back and forth to one another. High up on the ramparts,
several other men were using spyglasses in an attempt to peer down into the
maze from above.

"Well, it is my new sister-to-be." Vincente, along with Antonello,
came through the corridor of green shrubs to make his way to Nicoletta. Both
bowed politely, Vincente with elegance, Antonello stiffly, as if he was rarely
in the company of ladies.

Nicoletta smiled at them. "Have you two been searching for
Cristano?"