Always and Forever (33 page)

Gabriel glanced at Cole and Charles before he replied, "Yes."

Nicholas stood.

"Then let's go ask Quinn if she knows."

It wasn't the same instrument. The harpsichord she had played once before, but the Steinway was magnificent as her fingers danced over the keys. She was so lost in the music that she didn't realize she had an audience until the last note faded and the clapping started.

"That was beautiful, Quinn," Nicholas said sincerely.

"It's a beautiful instrument."

"Yes, but it takes talent and skill to play it," he said and she lifted her eyes from the keys and met his gaze.

"So you've read it."

A small smile touched his lips before he answered. "Yes, but I already knew. You are sort of a legend in my family."

"Meaning?" she asked.

"Your story, yours and Archer's, has been told through the generations," he paused. "I suppose most think it's a lovely fairy tale but I knew differently. He left you things you know."

Quinn reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the burlap bag. "I found this in Nickie's nursery."

Nicholas didn't hide his look of surprise. "In the nursery? Where?"

"Baseboard in the closet."

"Damn, I missed that one!" His excitement was almost palpable as he gestured towards the sack. "May I?"

"Please."

As he unveiled the horse and note, Quinn noticed that his hands weren't quite steady when he saw the initials.

"My namesake," he whispered and then his brow furrowed. "But who's he warning you about?" he asked. Suddenly, Gabriel's curiosity peaked.

"Derek," Quinn offered coolly as she contemplated Gabriel. He hadn't signed up for falling for a time-traveling woman with serious emotional baggage and to have it all dumped on him was really unfair. When his attention turned to her, she could see he was still fully in temper.

She stood and started from the room. "I've something else to show you."

She knew they followed, could hear their footfalls, but her mind was elsewhere. Once Derek was stopped Quinn decided she was going to move back to the States. Being this close to Whispering Winds, Nicholas, and most especially Gabriel, it was too much. Gabriel didn't want this. He didn't want her. Well, he may have wanted her at one point but her colorful past was clearly more than he wanted to deal with since he couldn't seem to look at her and not clench his jaw. Being so close to him would keep her constantly hoping and hoping would prevent her from moving on. They entered the room and Quinn gestured towards the fireplace where she had hidden the treasure in the past. Before she could speak, Gabriel's hand closed around hers and he announced to Nick, "The top left panel."

Then he gently ran his finger along her jaw and whispered, "I'm sorry. I haven't handled any of this well but I do want you more than I've ever wanted anything in my life. And apparently, I always have -- in more than the one lifetime."

"You remember?" she gasped.

If she only knew everything he remembered. But he couldn't tell her, not yet, and so he settled for a simple, "Yes."

Quinn felt the tears as Gabriel pulled her into his arms. Nicholas had already worked the panel free and was pulling and emptying the sacks onto the Persian rug.

"My God," Cole whispered as he held a gold chalice that Quinn knew, when dated, would go back to the eleventh-century. "This is priceless."

Quinn turned her head as it rested against Gabriel's chest and looked at Nicholas. "It's also Scarcliff property. This is what Derek attempted to steal when he went back. I saw him burying it so together Thaddeus, Nickie and I hid it here. I know before it can be added to your insurance you're going to need proof that it belongs to you but how you're going to do that, I don't know."

"He already has the proof," Gabriel offered. "A detailed accounting of these items is locked in the family vault."

Quinn lifted her head to look at Gabriel and Nicholas finished his friend's thought, "Yes, courtesy of Archer Scarcliff."

Later they sat around the table in the dining room, the same table where Quinn had sat three hundred years earlier, and discussed Derek and what it was he sought. According to Nicholas there was rumor of a treasure with enough allure to draw Derek's attention.

"What is this treasure?" Charles asked as he settled back in his chair.

"That's just it. No one knows. But the legend of the treasure has grown so much through the generations that it's become much like the Holy Grail."

"That certainly would be enough to spark Derek's interest. He would love to be the one to find the illusive Scarcliff treasure," Cole agreed.

"That would explain why he went back, too. Just like he always does. Went to retrieve and bury this treasure but he was unable to find it," Gabriel added.

Quinn was unusually quiet all through dinner so when she did speak, she had the rapt interest of everyone at the table.

"Before I went back in time, Whispering Winds was not like it is now. I was drawn to it, found it as if I was looking for it, but it was abandoned because people feared that the castle was cursed. There were no Scarcliffs nor was there a treasure. I've thought on this a great deal. What happened that had everyone turning their backs on the place? But then Gabriel and I went to visit Morgan's family in Ireland." Quinn looked over at Gabriel.

"I thought maybe it was Archer and Nickie's deaths that caused the ripple effect and changed the future," she continued, "but I think maybe it was Morgan's death."

Gabriel held Quinn's gaze. "What do you mean?"

"Morgan was murdered and everything that happened after was a result of her murder."

That statement was answered with silence so Quinn continued on. "It explains how I found Whispering Winds that first time and why I was the one who was sent back. Morgan's death altered the future and somehow I was given the chance to correct that future by fixing the past. But that couldn't have been the actual future because why then would Derek have gone back? There was no treasure in that reality. Only a forgotten haunted castle. So what was in that actual reality that makes any of this worthwhile to Derek?"

He followed her home, that sleek black machine he drove, kept a safe distance behind her. She had told him it wasn't necessary, that she would be fine, but he wouldn't hear of it. He had even suggested that she drive his car and he'd ride her bike but she wasn't about to drive a $200,000 car.

As soon as she pulled into her driveway, his car came to stop just behind her. His lights flicked off and she watched him unfold his large frame to climb from his car. There was no denying what was on his mind as he walked toward her, it was the same very thing that was on her mind. He stopped just in front of her but made no move to touch her. He was giving her a chance to say no, so when she spoke her voice was soft but steady, "Come inside, Gabriel."

As soon as they were locked inside, he turned and moved her back so that she was sandwiched between the door and his hard body then his mouth came down on hers. She sighed into his mouth as her arms came around his neck to pull him closer. "The bedroom is upstairs."

He didn't miss a beat as he lifted her into his arms and carried her up the stairs.

The following morning they drove to Stow and parked along High street. Gabriel came around to Quinn's side of the car and helped her out before he reached for her hand.

"There's a lovely cafe that serves the most delicious breakfast." Quinn tried to sound casual but her comment sounded overly formal even to her own ears.

Gabriel could sense it. He reached for Quinn's other hand as his eyes searched hers.

"What's wrong, Quinn?"

She had trouble looking him in the eyes because she feared seeing the anger she had seen yesterday burning in their depths.

"Why the change of heart? You were ready to flay me alive yesterday," she said cautiously. She lowered her head. "I want to talk with you about what you remember but I'm afraid it will set you off."

He reached up to frame her face with his hands as his thumbs caressed her cheeks. He was fighting it to protect her, to keep himself focused, but there were images and memories in his head, memories that couldn't possibly be his yet he knew that they were. He knew the bond they shared but clearly not even he knew just how powerful that bond was and so he was going to have to change tactics because staying away from her was no longer an option.

"I was fighting it because it scares the hell out of me. I remember things that I couldn't possibly know, like knowing where that hidden panel was yesterday. For some reason I don't understand I have a great affection for the circular tower room at Whispering Winds, I love Mozart
Sonata in G
and I'm terrified of seeing you on horseback. That day at the Foundation when I saw you dressed like a spy I had the oddest flashes in my head, images I can't seem to make any sense of."

Quinn's lips twitched into a smile. "Was I dressed like an English gentleman?"

"Yes," he said perplexed.

"I was undercover snooping out dirt on Derek's accomplices. For the record, Archer I mean you, were not happy with me after that stunt."

"No, I don't image that I was," he conceded.

"It is you, isn't it? I mean you're Gabriel McCabe but you're Archer too."

If she only knew. "I am. At least in part, I am."

Quinn wrapped her arms around his waist. "I'm falling in love with you, all of you, Gabriel McCabe."

She heard the hitch in his breathing in response to her softly spoken vow. Then he lowered his head and kissed her with all the emotions those simple but perfect words evoked in him.

"No, I will not."

"Oh, come on, you know you can't resist me for long," Gabriel purred which caused Quinn to fold her arms over her chest and shake her head.

"No."

"I'm going to take it eventually so you might as well give it to me now."

Quinn narrowed her eyes as if she were searing him with laser beams, and shook her head with a decided no.

"I'll pay you triple."

"If I give you Park Place then you'll have that entire half of the board. There is no way I'll make it around and not get slammed. I can't believe I agreed to play Monopoly with you, Mr. Billionaire. I need to have my head examined."

"I think your head is lovely but let's talk money. I'm willing to pay you three times what it's worth when built up with hotels."

"Yeah, how did you get that much money anyway?"

He grinned, a sexy mischievous little grin, and Quinn wanted to toss her water in his face. "I've the Midas touch, always have."

Realization dawned as she grabbed a pillow and tossed it at his head. "You little sneak, you've been lifting it from the bank!"

His smile was completely unrepentant. "You can't prove that, love."

She wanted to laugh but the realization that that was how he had been forced to survive as a child, by lifting money from people, dampened her mood. He saw the change in her when he sat up from his prone position on the floor and reached for her hand.

"What's wrong?"

"What was it really like? Where did you sleep? How did you eat? When I was seven my biggest concern was getting on top of my horse and not falling off and you were across the ocean picking pockets so you could feed yourself."

"Are you sure you really want to know?"

"I do. I want to know everything there is to know about you; I want to know what makes you
you
."

He sat back against the sofa. "I lived on the streets but when the weather was bad I would duck into abandon warehouses. I learned to sleep just about anywhere and to sleep light, but many nights I didn't sleep at all and my body adapted. When I was ten, I got nicked by a peeler so spent some time in the system but I eventually escaped and hooked up with Niall. He was a good guy, helped me when I really needed it."

Quinn considered his story for a moment before she asked, "What happened to Niall?"

"We were deceived by someone close. I started looking after things when Niall went away, and since I was good with numbers, I eventually took over."

"Where did Niall go?"