Authors: Lucy Francis
Sassy tugged at her hair and squeaked. Victoria helped the rat into her exercise ball and let her loose on the bedroom floor. She slumped onto the edge of the bed and watched her pet without really seeing her.
She should have told him tonight. His confession about his company made a great lead-in, but she chickened out. If not telling him gave her one more day with him, she’d take it. Since it was going to end anyway, she wanted to enjoy every minute, not ruin it faster by bringing up the article.
The night passed in a haze of staring at the ceiling, playing with Sassy and half-formed dreams during those moments when her eyes finally closed. She started awake at the ringing of the phone beside the bed. She rubbed her eyes, clearing the gunk out of them enough to read the red numbers on the clock. Who on earth would call at five-thirty?
She picked up the phone, barely registering her cousin’s voice. “Mara, why are you calling so early?” The words barely crossed her lips when she bolted upright. Mara’s flight. She needed to leave in about five minutes in order to get her cousin to the airport on time.
“Hey, cuz, just called to tell you I canceled my flight. So you don’t have to wake up early and take me. Oh, sorry, guess you’re up early already, huh?”
Victoria took a couple of deep breaths to calm her racing heart. “When did you cancel?”
“In the middle of the night practically, but I got my cards read last night, and I am so not supposed to go to Florida this week.”
She fought a yawn and lost. “Mara, I thought tarot readers weren’t supposed to predict the future. Doesn’t that break some sort of psychic code of ethics or something?”
“Well, yeah, but this was a total emergency, so she bent the rules a little. She didn’t want me to get hurt down there, isn’t that thoughtful?”
Victoria dropped onto her back. “Lovely, Mara. I hope you tipped her well. Can I go try to get some sleep now?”
Mara clucked her tongue. “You’ve been up all night, haven’t you? Your voice gets really rough when you haven’t slept.”
“I’ve had a lot on my mind.”
“Ohhh, cuz, you’ve got it bad. You’ve been replaying the evening.”
Victoria rolled her tired eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s a chick thing. We are genetically wired to revisit every word, every expression and search for the deeper meanings. We just don’t realize that there isn’t a lot to read between the lines with men. What you see, what you hear, is generally all there is to it.”
Victoria cringed at the hoarseness of her laugh. She really, really needed to sleep. “Thanks for the advice, Mara. You’re right. Curran is a great guy. He’s straightforward, and so far, he’s pretty understanding of my limitations and my baggage. But I don’t expect that to last. Besides, I’m going to blow the whole thing sky high when I tell him about my original connection to him.”
“Back up, what did I miss? What original connection?” Her cousin sounded miffed.
Victoria shivered, pulled the covers back over herself. “Several years ago, when DCS GlobalTech bought Pieron Pictures, Curran threw a huge press junket. I covered it as part of an article I wrote about him for a magazine.”
“So?”
Victoria sighed. Sometimes Mara had to have things completely spelled out for her. “So, he doesn’t remember meeting me before. Curran doesn’t know that I already knew who he was. He thinks I’m just some regular, normal woman he met. The right time to discuss it has just never come up, and frankly, he doesn’t strike me as the kind of man who takes deception very well.”
Mara blew a tongue-raspberry in her ear. “It’s not deception, Vic. So you knew about him already, big deal. It’s not like the person he’s been dating doesn’t exist. Who knows, maybe you’ve seemed familiar to him all this time, and finding out the truth will just tell him why. But if you’re worried about it, I’d discuss it with him sooner rather than later.”
Sooner rather than later. Yikes. “So, did Madame Psychic tell you when it’s okay to go play in Florida?”
“In a week or so. Go get some sleep. I’ll talk to you later.”
Victoria let the phone slip from her fingers, not caring where it landed. How Mara could possibly sound so perky this early in the morning was a mystery. Did she have that much energy when she was twenty-one? Nope, too far back, she didn’t remember. One thing for sure, her flighty cousin would never get her feet on the ground until Uncle Martin stopped financing her life of leisure. The only thing that made Mara’s parental spoiling tolerable was her relative lack of brattiness.
Victoria rubbed her thumbs over her eyes and ran a hand through her hair, wincing when her finger caught on a tangle.
Sooner rather than later.
If by some miracle, the truth didn’t bother him, and he could live without sex, as if, then maybe there would be hope for this relationship after all. She glanced at her watch. Way too early, and she was way too tired. Besides, this wasn’t the kind of discussion one should have over the phone. She’d go see him later today. She’d tell him.
Really.
* * * *
Victoria dragged herself out of bed after ten in the morning, when Sassy scraped her food dish across the bottom of her cage for the fifth time. Showering and slipping into a cozy fleece pullover and pants made the morning a little more bearable.
She lit the gas fireplace before braving the cold to get the morning paper. She found a letter wedged in the jamb when she opened the door. A yellow sticky note clung to the front of it, from the neighbor a quarter-mile to the west. The letter was delivered to her house yesterday by mistake.
She carried the letter and the newspaper into the kitchen and dropped the paper on the table. She leaned her hip against the counter, turning the ivory envelope over in her hands. The letters came regularly now, at least once a week. What surprised her was how little they bothered her lately. They never said anything new, and she was kind of accustomed to them.
Besides, what could Nate really do to her from where he sat?
A knock sounded on the door as she slid her finger under the envelope flap. She pulled the paper from the envelope. Not the usual ivory, but white copy paper. She unfolded it, and the kitchen around her vanished as she realized what she held.
A copy of her medical file from the obstetrician in Los Angeles, showing the dates of her prenatal visits. A red-ink note scrawled in the margin drew her attention.
Where is my child?
She couldn’t breathe. He’d given up his rights to the child, before the trial was over. He didn’t want the baby.
But he wanted him now.
The adoption records were sealed. He’d never find the boy.
Someone was talking to her. She forced her whirling thoughts to calm and focused on the sound.
“Victoria?”
She jumped, recognizing the low rumble of Curran’s voice. She wrenched herself fully into the moment and pasted a smile on her face as she jammed the paper back into the envelope. “Curran, where did you come from?”
“I knocked a few times. The door was unlocked, so I let myself in. I hope you don’t mind.” Through narrowed eyes he looked down at the envelope in her hands, then back up at her face. “You were in another world for a few moments there. What’s going on?”
“Nothing, just…lost in my thoughts, I guess.”
“What’s the letter?”
No. Oh, no. This was definitely not for his eyes. “It’s nothing.” She cringed inside at the waver in her voice.
Curran’s eyes darkened. “Nothing. Except your hands are trembling and you won’t look at me.” He crossed the room slowly, like a predator on a hunt. He grasped her shoulders, his hard gaze snaring hers. “Victoria, you’re keeping a lot of things from me, and I’m quite aware I’ve just stumbled onto one of them. I want to know what is going on, and I’m not leaving until you explain it.”
Victoria steeled herself under Curran’s gaze. Standing here in the kitchen, Nate’s latest twist to the note game in her hands, Curran awaiting an explanation…she felt exposed, vulnerable, with no visible means of escape.
Curran’s thumbs brushed the sides of her neck. “What is going on, Victoria?”
She was tired of keeping secrets from him. How could she even dream of growing closer to him if she constantly hid things from him? As long as he didn’t insist on seeing the letter in her hands, she’d break one of her secrets open right now.
“I’ve been getting letters from Nate.” The tension unwound slightly inside her, providing an amazing sense of relief as she let the secret go.
His brow creased. “What sort of letters?”
“Annoying ones. One line, sometimes two. Reminders that he isn’t finished with me until it is on his terms.”
“The hell he’s not. Isn’t there something the police can do?”
“Not really.” She turned away from him, out from under his touch. She wanted to save all the letters for evidence, just in case, but this one should never, ever see the light of day again.
She strode into the great room to where the fireplace blazed, opened the glass front and tossed the envelope into the fire. It blackened and curled before bursting into flames.
There. The worst part of her life was still a secret, and safe for now.
Victoria shut the door, only then becoming aware of Curran’s gaze locked on her. She turned and found him leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. A muscle in his jaw ticked.
“You did a lovely job of acting unconcerned about his letters. I almost believed it, until you destroyed that one in such a panic.” He pushed away from the wall, striding toward her with an air of almost lethal grace. Was he angry with her?
She stood her ground, waiting. When he reached her, Curran grasped her fingers in his, gently but insistently unfolding her grip on her own arms.
“Just because someone sends you something doesn’t mean you are obligated to read it. He wants to continue hurting you, and if you read these things, it’s not that far removed from standing there while he bloodies your nose.”
How the hell would he know? “Wrong. It’s not nearly in the same category.”
He gently touched her cheek. “Ignore them, Victoria. Toss them all in the fire unread.”
Oh, if only it were that easy. If she did ignore the letters, she’d have no warning at all if he upped the ante again, like he had today. At least through the notes she might have some clue what to anticipate. “It isn’t that easy.”
“Hmm. Perhaps not. Where is he incarcerated anyway?”
“I told you, California.”
“Be more specific.”
A quiet threat hung in his tone, and the way he shifted closer to her combined with the hardness in his eyes sent a chill shuddering through her. This was a side of Curran she’d heard about but never witnessed. When he set his mind on something, he could be ruthless. “Why does it matter?”
“It’s time for someone to have a word with Mr. Fielder about the way he chooses to spend his spare time.”
“Someone like you?”
“Of course. I’m not fond of men stepping into my territory.”
“And I’m your territory.” It had such a caveman sound to it, part of her bristled. A greater part nearly melted into a puddle at his feet. He wanted to protect her.
“Yeah, honey, you are.” Curran drew her into his arms, pulled her tight against him, and tilted his head, capturing her mouth with his. The bottom dropped out of her stomach the way it did shooting down the first hill of a roller coaster.
Then the kiss ended and he brushed his fingers along her cheek. “I won’t allow him to hurt you, Victoria. If I have to have a personal sit down with him to stop this, I will.”
She swallowed hard against the lump that swelled in her throat. She didn’t deserve his protection. “What if that isn’t enough?”
“There are always legal means.”
“He comes from fairly old money, Curran. I don’t think his family would appreciate any more legal problems.”
“Good. The threat of further public humiliation hangs over their heads. They might pressure Nate to stop this behavior.”
She shook her head. “They fought for him before, against me. They have deep pockets.”
Curran laughed, but there was little humor in it. “Honey, I really doubt their pockets are deeper than mine. If they decide to back him against me, they will be very, very sorry.”
She took a deep breath and buried her face in his shoulder, unwilling to let him see her get all choked up. It was such a silly, girly thing to get teary eyed.
Still, how could she not? It wasn’t every day a man offered to be her champion, to go to war for her. Even her thick armor was little defense against a hero.
He held her for a while, then gently set her back and smiled. “We’re going skiing. Come.”
She smiled back, blinking hard, hoping he didn’t notice the sheen of tears in her eyes. “We?”
“Jamie, Kelli, Rob. Me.”
“I’ll be ready in ten minutes.”
* * * *