Feehan, Christine - The Scarletti Curse (39 page)

Nicoletta stepped closer to the wall to study the carvings. Most of them
were serpents of some kind with wicked fangs and claws. She frowned as she ran
a finger inside the deeply etched relief. There was something right in front of
her, something eluding her. She was so close, it was hovering in her brain but
refusing to come forward.

The guards were shaking their heads when she went upstairs, straight to the
bedchamber shared by Maria Pia and Sophie. Again she had the same strange
shadowed feeling of evil. She stared at the wall relief. They were very similar
to ones in the downstairs room. "Look at this," she said to the
nearest guard. "Obviously the artist was a very violent man." She
touched the tip of what looked like a razor-sharp talon.

Nicoletta sat on the bed and stared at the mural, wishing she could see the
artwork in the two rooms side by side. Something moved under the coverlet,
brushing her fingers. She jumped off the bed, so surprised she let out a small
cry of shock. Immediately the guard closest to her jerked her behind him.
"What is it, Donna Scarletti?"

The second guard, Francesco, thrust her farther behind him, almost shoving
her out of the room. Nicoletta tried to peer around him as the first guard
caught the edge of the coverlet and pulled it from the bed. At once a ball of
scorpions fell to the floor, a wriggling, boiling black-and-brown mass
immediately scattering into different directions across the tiled floor.

Nicoletta stared in horror at the hideous creatures as the guards gave
chase. The poisonous insects were fast. It was a frightening thought that
someone had dumped such a swarm of them in the bed in which Maria Pia and
Sophie slept. "Why?" She asked the question aloud.

"Look out!" Francesco yelled, shoving her none too gently into the
corridor, slamming his boot heel down hard on a scorpion that had crawled far
too close to Nicoletta's bare foot.

Nicoletta stumbled backward, trying desperately to regain her balance. The
guard leapt to steady her. Another hand snaked out to drag her to safety. She
was pulled up against her husband's hard body.

"The tower is looking better and better," he murmured, his dark eyes
slashing at the guard and the poisonous creatures spreading out across the
marble floor. Don Scarletti swung her up into his arms, holding her far above
the danger as he aided her guards in dispensing with the scorpions.

Both of his brothers were soon there, too, stamping on the creatures,
Vincente going through every inch of the room. "Sophie cannot stay in
here," he announced, his body trembling. "Something must be done,
Giovanni! This cannot continue." His tone was accusing, his expression
dark and dangerous.

Nicoletta's heart went out to him, knowing he must be afraid for his
daughter and angry that someone had done such a thing. She couldn't blame him
for his anger. His child had been placed in danger on more than one occasion.
"Why would anyone want to hurt Sophie? She is just a child." She
voiced what the others would not.

"The curse," Antonello said softly. "We are cursed to lose
all our women." It was an ominous warning, and his eyes were on Nicoletta
when he uttered them. Giovanni's arms tightened around her like twin bands,
threatening to cut off her air. "The curse is ours, Antonello, not that of
our women, and I refuse to allow it to rule my life. This was no 'curse.'
" He gestured toward the dead and dying scorpions. "A human gathered
and brought these things to this room." She could feel the fury running
through his body, a rage that refused to give in to the superstition that
dominated their lives. "I want every servant questioned. Every single one.
Get to the bottom of this." His black eyes pinned Antonello.

Antonello nodded silently.

"They were beneath the coverlet, Don Scarletti," Francesco
announced. "Donna Nicoletta nearly placed her hand on them."

Giovanni gave her a little shake, as if she were responsible for the near
tragedy.
I am seriously considering chaining you to my bed.
"We
cannot risk that even one escaped, Vincente. We must move Signorina Sigmora and
Sophie to another room immediately. The poor child will soon feel she has no
home."

"Better to be safe," Vincente said. "I will search the
chamber myself. I do not want any of her things taken to a new room when one of
those poisonous creatures may be carried along."

Giovanni nodded and turned with Nicoletta in his arms to carry her down the
hall to their bedchamber. A rush of excitement heated her blood, and she
relaxed in his arms. "I did not find the scorpions on purpose to provoke
you," she informed him.

"How do you manage to get yourself into these incidents?" he
asked, thrusting her into their bedchamber so that the door banged closed
behind them.

"Maria Pia says I have a knack," Nicoletta admitted, unrepentant.
She wiggled to remind him to put her down but found as her breasts moved
against his chest through the material of her blouse that his skin was suddenly
hot and his body aggressive.

"Where are all the new gowns the seamstresses made for you?"
Giovanni demanded, allowing her bare feet to touch the tiles.

Nicoletta's eyes darkened, the smile fading from her mouth. "What is so
wrong with my own clothes?" She sounded hurt.

Giovanni's heart turned over at the forlorn note. "You cannot think I
am ashamed of you,
piccola"
he said softly, his voice lowering an
octave until it purred along her skin like the touch of his fingers. "I
would not marry a woman of whom I was ashamed."

"I like my own clothes. I am comfortable in them." She stepped
back defensively. "I planned on wearing the new gowns when we must
entertain." Even to her own ears she sounded young and uncertain. She took
another step away from him. "I do not belong in this place, Don Scarletti.
I cannot breathe here. I do not understand what goes on here. I cannot be a
proper wife to one such as you."

"What has brought this on, Nicoletta?" he asked softly, stalking
her right across the room. "You
are
my wife. I will have no other.
You are doing the things necessary to become the mistress of the palazzo. The
guards, the servants—all of them accept you readily. Portia and Margerita know
they must, too. They live in your home by your allowance."

"I do not want that kind of power. I am from the
villaggio.
I
know it entails much work to run a house of this size, but I do not like the
way servants are treated here, and I cannot be a part of it." She tilted
her chin at him even as he cut off her escape by planting his body firmly in
front of hers.

Giovanni reached out and gently tucked her hair behind her ear. The gesture
was tender, and his palm brushing across her skin caused her to shiver with
heat. "I am aware I did not realize Gostanz had so much .work. I have
provided him with more help and made the changes he suggested. Bernado also
informed me of certain needs at your suggestion. I thank you for bringing these
matters to my attention. It was wrong of me to count on others to run my home
without soliciting their advice."

Nicoletta sighed, looking as confused as she felt. She had made promises to
Beatrice that she would not reveal her secret, and she wouldn't go back on her
word, but it was far more than Gostanz she was talking about. "Can you not
see, you cannot take a plant from where it belongs and expect it to thrive. It
will wither and die."

"You have moved plants,
cara mia,"
he pointed out gently.
"I have been to your garden in the hills. You have managed to rearrange
many plants, and they thrive and grow and seem healthy."

Nicoletta swallowed hard, her eyes large and dark. "How long have you
been watching me?" She was trembling, pressing one hand to her suddenly
churning stomach.

His black gaze didn't waver as he looked at her. He was tall, arrogant, unrepentant.
"What does it matter?"

"It matters to me," she answered, her heart pounding loudly. She
had thought she had freedom; she had thought the
villaggio
protected
her. All along he had known of her. All along he had planned to take her from
her home.

"That is not true," he denied, even though she hadn't spoken her
thoughts aloud, proof their tie was growing ever stronger. "I had no
intention of claiming you for my own, only of protecting you. I did not want
the Scarletti curse to claim you as it has all the others. I live every day
with the knowledge that murder is in the hearts of men and that I brought you
into this danger."

"Why did you?"

There was an insistent knock on the door. Giovanni closed his eyes and shook
his head as if attempting to resist the interruption.

"Why did you?" Nicoletta insisted. "This is important to
me."

"I know it is,
piccola,
but things are happening that I must
take care of. Have patience, and do not condemn me for what I must do to
safeguard our people." He raked a hand through his hair, looking suddenly
world-weary.

At once Nicoletta's heart turned over, and she found herself wanting to hold
him. She even took a step toward him. Giovanni met her halfway, gathering her
close, his lips in her hair. "I love the way you dress,
piccola,
but I find you far too appealing to the eye. Men look at you, and they see
something that you, in your innocence, cannot conceive of. I know you wear
little beneath your garments, and the gowns I have provided will cover you more
adequately."

She raised an eyebrow. "You have not seen them. And when I roam the
hills, I must wear what is functional."

Giovanni groaned as the thumping at the door became more persistent. His
arms tightened for a moment, then he lifted her chin so that his black gaze seemed
to capture hers. "I know you need reassurance from your husband, and there
is much you do not understand, but trust in me, Nicoletta, for a while longer.
Have faith in me." And he was gone as abruptly as he had left her on their
wedding night, off to another of his secret meetings.

Nicoletta stood in the middle of the bedchamber feeling bereft. She did need
reassurance, badly. Her head ached from trying to put all the pieces of the
puzzle together. The answers were there, just out of reach.

The guards were waiting outside the bedchamber as she emerged. Giovanni was
already out of sight. She didn't want to think about the curse anymore. She
wanted to go out into the cool, crisp air and breathe in the sea. She wanted to
look at her hills and be with the children.

Nicoletta hurried along the corridor, self-conscious for the first time in
her life. Things were not the way Giovanni had described. Her clothes were
serviceable, simple, not made to draw the eyes of men.

Sophie and Ketsia rushed at her as she entered the courtyard. Their faces
were flushed from running, their eyes shining with childish joy. "We were
coming to get you!" Sophie greeted cheerfully. "You took so
long."

Nicoletta was pleased to see they were hand in hand, already firm friends.
She kissed them both, laughing as they danced around her in their exuberance.
The breeze was fresh on Nicoletta's face, bringing the sea with it. She looked
from the laughing children to the garden of flowers, shrubs, and trees and felt
alive again.

Maria Pia smiled gently at her. "You have shadows in your eyes."

Nicoletta glanced up at the row of windows. They looked baleful, staring
grimly at her. "I went to look at the artwork in your bedchamber and
almost stuck my hand into a nest of scorpions someone had placed beneath the
coverlet on your bed." She said it softly, making certain the yelling
children would not hear her.

Maria Pia gasped, visibly paling. "Scorpions? Who would have done such
a thing?"

"I am very afraid for Sophie, not to mention you, Maria Pia I think the
soup Sophie ate the night she became sick was tainted on purpose. The voices
she hears are very real. I do not know why her life would be in danger, but I
think it is. You must watch her at all times. I have already asked the don to
place guards at your door at night. He is moving you and the
bambina
to
another room."

"Nicoletta!" Ketsia yelled. "Come on! Find us."

Nicoletta watched the girls disappear into the maze. "I had better
chase after them. If I do not wear them out before nightfall, they will keep us
both up too late."

"Ketsia asks more questions than any ten children," Maria Pia said
with a smile, "and Sophie is beginning to follow her example. She is
becoming more and more like a normal child. Ketsia is a good influence on her.
I will watch over her all the time, Nicoletta."

"Well, I will go chase the little imps down and let you have a
much-earned rest." Nicoletta glanced back at the unsuspecting guards and
took off running, a flash of bare legs and long hair flying, her laughter
taunting the soldiers as the labyrinth swallowed her up.

Maria Pia leapt out of the way as the two guards scrambled after their
charge. Nicoletta was already well out of sight, running along the twists and turns,
following the sound of the children's laughter. Small flowers were scattered
along the paths, and beneath her bare feet the lush carpet of grasses felt soft
and natural. She ran fast, lifting her face to the wind, feeling free. When
Nicoletta knew she was some distance from the center of the courtyard, she
slowed so she could enjoy the beauty of the maze. The shrubs were tall, well
over her head, and very thick, forming a solid wall she couldn't see through.
"Nicoletta!" Ketsia was giggling, her young voice carefree and happy.
"Where are you?"

"Where are you?" Sophie echoed. "You cannot find us."
There was more giggling just ahead, so Nicoletta slowed her walking further so
she wouldn't catch up too quickly.

"I am right behind you," she called, attempting to block out
everything sinister and frightening about the palazzo to enjoy this moment with
the children.