Jeopardy (18 page)

“What about the horror she put you through?” he exclaimed. “No child should ever have to go through that.” 

She nodded. “The explosions of the bomb brought the gunshot back to me; the red glass stones brought back the blood around her neck.”

 "What happened next?”

“I remember the police grabbed the man . . . some other policemen had found me. I remember being in a hospital. I remember my father visiting me there, but Mother never came. She was sick at the time, and now I realize she must have died while I was in the hospital.”

“My Lord, Angelica! I knew your mother had died when you were young, but I didn’t realize—” 

“I didn’t either,” she whispered, amazed. “Not until now.”

“No wonder your mind hid all this away from you! You were dealt two major traumas at the same time, and you were little more than a baby."

“I remember leaving the hospital and going to live at Elena’s house. Daddy, Nico, and Elena were there, and they all practically smothered me with love and attention. I was happy, but I never saw Nanny or Mother again, and I’ve never connected any of this in my mind until now. Isn’t that strange?”

“What’s strange, not to mention remarkable, is that you went through all that and managed to come out of it normal.”

She gave a light laugh, “Well, I wouldn’t say normal exactly.” She paused. “I think tomorrow we should go back to Boston. I want to see my father, and I want to call Nico too.”

“If you’d like, well leave for Boston right now. That way you can see your father tonight.”

She smiled, feeling such relief, love, and joy, she thought she would burst. “We have a ball to go to.”

“To hell with the ball!"

“But this is a very special ball.”

He started to make another objection, but then he stopped. For days now he had been tensed with fear and concern about her, so much so that he had almost missed what was right before his eyes: She was positively glowing with happiness. “A special ball? How could I have forgotten. It’s in SwanSea’s ballroom. The one that’s warm and happy.”

“That’s right. And it will be the first time we’ve ever been in public together. It’s perfect that it will be here in the ballroom.”

He could feel himself relaxing, muscle by muscle. “There is that. And since we're going together, that means I won’t have to watch you flirting with your date.”

“And I won’t have to watch some gorgeous blonde or redhead doing her best to enchant you.”

He shook his head. “None of them ever enchanted me.”

She wiped the last of her tears away, circled her arms around his neck, and used her most beguiling tone. “Then come to the ball with me, Mr. Smith, and let me enchant you.”

“You’ve got yourself a date. Miss DiFrenza. But later.”

A tiny frown touched her brow. “How much later?”

"However long it takes me to undress myself, undress you, make love to you, and then for the both of us to get dressed again.”

“Oh.”

His mouth was just about to claim hers when she stopped him. “There are two things I have to tell you.”

“They had better be important.”

She smiled at his growling tone; she was deliriously happy. “They are.”

“Okay. What’s the first?”

“The first is, I felt very strongly that I had to figure out the demons that were haunting my dreams
by
myself;
I felt I was the only one who could do it. But I was wrong. In the end I remembered everything and I came out of the nightmare all right. But I never at any time did
anything
by myself. You were with me the whole time, reassuring me, loving me. Amarillo, I couldn’t have done it without you.”

He swallowed against the sudden tightness he felt in his throat. “And the second?”

“The second? The second is the most important. The second is this: I love you, Amarillo. I love you more than words can say.”

"Then show me,” he said with a low growl.

SwanSea was celebrating. All within its walls were safe and sound. Lights shone from every window, making the great house a beacon in the darkness. Music swelled and swirled, filling the ballroom, the house, and people’s hearts, making everyone and everything laugh and be happy.

And when the lights on the fourth floor went out for a little while, the night and the house turned even more joyous with the celebration of living and loving.