Authors: Anne Stuart
Tags: #CIA, #assassin, #Mystery & Detective, #betrayal, #Romantic Suspense / romance, #IRA, #General, #Suspense Fiction, #Women Sleuths, #Large Print Books, #Large Type Books, #Fiction, #Espionage
Moonrise (33 page)
But Rachel was frozen harder than an iceberg, and thoughtful looks and soulful eyes left her unmoved.
“You’re very angry with the Foundation of Being, aren’t you?” he said, not moving from her bed. “You think we took advantage of your mother.”
“No.” She began unfastening her silk jacket, determined not to be intimidated by him. “I think
you
took advantage of my mother. You seduced her, convinced her not to leave her money to her only child, and then act as if you’re the misunderstood victim.”
His smile was slow and oddly unsettling. “I’m celibate.”
“So they told me. I don’t believe it.”
“You were asking about me? Why did you want to know?”
The dark wouldn’t show the faint color that rose to her cheeks, she thought with sudden gratitude. “They volunteered the information.”
“How very odd,” Luke said, swinging his long legs around and rising from her bed. He was very close to her in the small room, and she noticed he was quite a
bit taller than she’d realized. She didn’t like tall men. But then she didn’t like short men or average men either, she reminded herself. There was nothing to be nervous about. “They must have divined somehow that you wanted to know. There are no coincidences in this life. No accidents.”
“Life is nothing but one long accident,” Rachel snapped, immediately regretting her impulsiveness. “If my mother hadn’t met you, she wouldn’t have fallen under your influence, and I wouldn’t be a pauper.”
“Yes,” Luke said gently, reaching up and touching her short-cropped hair. It was an odd, intimate gesture, one that left her frozen in place. “But you still wouldn’t have your mother, would you?”
She was still standing there, minutes after the door closed behind him.
I’ve been writing since the dawn of time. A child prodigy, I made my first professional sale to Jack and Jill Magazine at the age of 7, for which I received $25 (admittedly my father worked for the publisher). Since then I’ve written gothics, regencies, romantic suspense, historical romance, series romance—anything with sex and violence, love and redemption. I misbehave frequently, but somehow have managed to amass lots of glittering prizes, like NYT, PW and USA Today bestseller status, Lifetime Achievement Award from the Romance Writers of America, and a decent smattering of Romantic times and RITA awards.
I live on a lake in Northern Vermont with my incredibly fabulous husband. My two children have flown the coop, but the three cats do their best to keep us from being lonely.
In my spare time I quilt and play around with wearable art, and the rest of the time I write write write. Apparently women of a certain age get a rush of creativity, and I’m currently enjoying it. Too many stories to write, not enough hours in the day.
