Andrea Kane (45 page)

“Stay down, Kassie,” he ordered, shielding her from his uncle’s crazed hands. Completely berserk, Cyril attacked Braden, ripping him off of Kassie and dragging him to the jagged brink. Kassie lay paralyzed with gripping, all-encompassing fear.

“You should be dead!” Cyril panted, his hatred giving him unnatural strength. “That boulder I hurled should have killed you. But this time there will be no escape, Braden. None.” With a frenzied shove he heaved Braden over.

Frantically Braden grabbed hold of the jutting rock and clung, his legs dangling uselessly in space, small pebbles of stone breaking off and toppling into the bottomless abyss below.

With an ugly laugh Cyril leaned over to break Braden’s precarious hold on life.

The realization that Braden was in danger broke through Kassie’s immobilized state.

Leaping to her feet, she seized the largest rock she could find and, without pause, crashed it down upon Cyril’s head.

She held her breath as Cyril looked slowly up at her, his expression glazed. And then he fell, plunging forward over the side of the cliff. Kassie squeezed her eyes shut, unable to close out Cyril’s piercing shriek as he fell to his death. The sound merged with the shattering memory of Elena’s screams, roaring through Kassie’s head in unendurable explosions of agony. She clamped her hands over her ears, crying out with pain, cringing down on the craggy cliff.

As if from a great distance she could hear a rider approach, and seconds later running footsteps sounded. Still in a trance, Kassie opened her eyes in time to see Charles lean forward and lock hands with Braden, hoisting her husband to safety.

It was only when she felt Braden’s arms go around her, heard the sound of his voice, that reality descended and the dam inside her broke.

“He killed her, Braden. He killed Mama,” she wept piteously, her body burrowed into Braden’s.

“I know, love, I know.” Braden’s heart twisted with grief. “But it’s over now.”

Kassie continued as if Braden hadn’t spoken, her face buried against his chest. “How could a man who made Mama so happy be such a monster?” she choked, gripping Braden’s shirtfront. “How? He tried to buy me … and when I married you, he stalked me … convinced himself I was Mama … then hated me because I wasn’t.” She took a shuddering breath. “He was going to murder me, Braden …
and
you. He already murdered my mother, my father …” Abruptly she stopped. “I killed him,” she whispered brokenly. “I killed him, and I’m not even sorry.”

“He was insane, Kassie.” Braden lifted her tear-streaked face and cupped it in his palms, forcing her to emerge from the hell of her past. “But now he’s gone. He can never hurt you again.” He kissed her damp cheeks. “It’s over, sweetheart … over.”

Braden said the words again and again, refusing to allow Kassie to retreat back into her paralyzed shell.

Kassie clung to her husband’s vow, concentrated on his beloved face, felt Charles’s strong hand on her shoulder. “Over,” she repeated, finally allowing herself to believe.

“Yes,
ma petite,
all over.” Braden enfolded her in his shaking arms, saying a silent prayer, knowing how close they had come to losing each other. “God, how I love you,” he breathed, healing Kassie with his words.

“I love you, too,” Kassie echoed, looking from her heroic husband to her newfound uncle. Slowly she came back to them, accepting the peace of knowing that the past had at last been laid to rest. “I love you both very much.”

Braden stood, keeping Kassie clasped tightly to him. “Let’s go home, my courageous wife,” he murmured.

Kassie never looked back. Secure in Braden’s embrace, she nodded. “Yes, husband,” she answered softly. “Let’s go home.”

And on the very spot where it had first begun, the nightmare ended.

And the dream came true.

“H
APPY?” REPLETE IN THE
aftermath of their lovemaking, Braden nuzzled Kassie’s neck, tasting the fine sheen of her perspiration, now rapidly drying in the summer sun. A warm breeze blew across the grounds of Sherburgh, calm and filled with the same peace that pervaded Braden’s heart.

Kassie gave a sigh of utter contentment. “M-m-m, yes,” she breathed, opening her sated blue-green eyes … the fathomless eyes that never ceased to touch Braden’s soul. “Very happy.” Stretching contentedly upon their oft-used blanket, she gave her husband an impish grin. “I have grown to enjoy our picnic ritual more and more as the months have passed.”

Braden chuckled at her pleased expression. “You have
grown
more and more as the months have passed,” he teased, running a possessive hand over the rounded swell of her bare abdomen. He felt the responding kick with wonder and renewed pride, still amazed by the miracle that Kassie was carrying their child. “I do believe our picnics are going to have to come to an end soon,” he said with a worried frown. “At least until after my daughter is born.”

At that, Kassie raised up on her elbows, her delicate brows arched. “Your daughter?” she grinned. “You sound so arrogantly convinced that our child will be a girl! And here I thought that every gentleman wanted sons to carry on the family name.”

Braden’s eyes twinkled. “Well, then, I suppose I must be unlike any other gentlemen of your acquaintance, wouldn’t you say?”

Kassie laughed and slid her arms around his neck. “Definitely,” she agreed, tugging him down for a kiss.

Another sharp kick broke them apart, and Braden shook his head, chuckling. “I believe our child is telling me that enough is enough.” He rubbed Kassie’s flushed cheek with his knuckles. “Besides, we should be getting back, sweetheart. It will soon be dark.”

Kassie gave an exaggerated sigh. “I suppose we must. Although I don’t know who will miss us,” she complained. “Margaret spends half the day sewing newborn clothes and the other half instructing Dr. Howell in the proper method of delivering a child. Perkins is forever fighting with Harding over who will be the first to hold the baby, and Charles has made three trips to Tattersall’s this month to purchase the appropriate first horse for the child. However,” she added, her lips curving upward, “I do believe Charles has another reason for going to London so often. He’s dropped a few hints.” She leaned forward conspiratorially. “I think our Charles has met a lady.” At Braden’s surprised look she nodded emphatically. “My instincts are rarely wrong, Braden. And I’d be surprised if our child doesn’t turn out to have not only a great-uncle, but a great-aunt, as well.” She dimpled. “Oh, Braden, wouldn’t that be wonderful?” She flung herself into her husband’s arms. “I’m so happy,” she whispered, “and I want everyone I love to be happy, too.”

Braden hugged her back, burying his face in his wife’s hair. Happy didn’t begin to describe what he was feeling, what he had felt since Kassie. She’d given new meaning to his life, filled his world with her goodness, her joy, her love. She’d given him everything he needed, infused in him all that had been missing in his life. And for the first time Braden was whole.

“Thank you,” he murmured huskily.

Kassie drew back and gave him a questioning look. “For what?”

“For everything,” he told her, love shining in his eyes. “You’ve given me all I could ever wish for … you’ve given me you.”

Kassie pressed her forehead to his, her eyes damp. “Then we’re even, my love,” she whispered back. “For you’ve given me just what I wished for as well.”

“And what is that?” he asked softly, his breath warm against her lips.

Kassie gave him the look of a woman who knows she is loved, gratefully relinquishing the memory of the frightened young girl who was no more. “Don’t you remember?” she reminded him gently, happiness glowing in her eyes. “Four years ago I asked you to wait for me to grow up.” She kissed him. “And just as I wished for, you did.”

Andrea Kane is the
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author of more than twenty-five novels—including fourteen historical and twelve contemporary novels—that have been published in sixteen countries and translated into more than twenty languages. Whether she’s writing about Regency England, America on the brink of civil war, or New York Police Department detectives caught up in mayhem and murder, Kane’s ability to create unforgettable stories has earned her a loyal worldwide following.

Kane published
My Heart’s Desire
, her first historical novel and the first book in the Barrett Family series, in 1991. Others quickly followed, including
Samantha
, the second book in that series;
Echoes in the Mist
and
Whispers in the Wind
(the Kingsley in Love series); and the acclaimed Black Diamond, Thornton-Bromleigh Family, and Colby Coin series. Stand-alone historic romances include
Dream Castle
(1992),
Masque of Betrayal
(1993),
Emerald Garden
(1996), and
The Music Box
(1998).

Kane’s groundbreaking romantic thriller
Run for Your Life
(2000) became an instant
New York Times
bestseller. This was followed by a series of suspense novels featuring NYPD detective-turned-private investigator Pete “Monty” Montgomery. Kane’s current contemporary series introduced FBI special agents Sloane Burbank and Derek Parker. Other thrillers include
No Way Out, Scent of Danger, Twisted, I’ll Be Watching You, The Girl Who Disappeared Twice,
and, most recently,
The Line Between Here and Gone.

Kane is a self-proclaimed “cerebral” type, and prides herself on her questioning, analytical mind, which has led to her passion for mysteries. She has spent many happy hours with the classic novels of Agatha Christie, trying to outsmart Hercule Poirot.

She is also a die-hard sentimentalist. She cries at old movies and believes in striving for happily-ever-after. In Kane’s words: “The idealist in me loves writing romance, and the pragmatist in me loves writing suspense. I feel very fortunate that I’m able to combine the two, and give you books that keep you at the edge of your seat, but at the same time, make you care.”

Kane lives in New Jersey with her family.

Andrea Kane as a little girl, with her first puppy, Inky, named for the black spots on his white back.

An eight-year-old Kane, a proud sleepaway camper for the first time.

A photo from Kane’s trip to the Thousand Islands (on the border of Canada and the United States) to research and write
My Heart’s Desire
. Kane toured the area by boat.