The Mark of Cain (18 page)

“First, we have our appetizer,” he said with a
lopsided grin.

“What?” she said, giggling as he handed her a
plate-like bowl from Herod’s with shrimp risotto in it.

“What do you mean, what?”

“I just didn’t expect such a fancy lunch.”

“Well, when you own your own five-star restaurant,
you eat well for every meal. Besides, I’m trying to impress you,” he said as he
threw her his best smile.

“You’ve already impressed me with your personality.
You don’t have to try any longer. Especially with stuff like this.”

“I just figured that since you’re becoming a new
woman, maybe you should try some new food.”

She smiled before humoring him by taking a bite.

“Wow! That’s
good
.”

After the risotto, they had beef wellington, which
she also liked, followed by chocolate soufflé. To go with lunch, he had poured
them both a small glass of eighteenth century red wine from one of his many
vineyards in Italy. He didn’t pour more than that because she still had classes
to attend.

They chattered about nothing of importance until she
looked at her watch, groaning at the time.

“You have to go?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s okay. I’ll walk you.”

He hurried to put everything back in the basket
before taking her hand with his free one to slowly walk her to class.

“So how long have you been in college?” He just
realized that, in everything they’d talked about last night and today, they’d
never breached anything personal. Mostly they had talked about trivial things
because they’d both been distracted from wanting to kiss one another. Now that
they’d gotten that behind them, they could start getting to know one another.
Or at least he’d get to know her.
She
would only learn about the
character he was playing.

“It will be three years this fall. I’ve been out
here for four years, though. I was working at a restaurant as a waitress until
I got my residency. I couldn’t afford the out of state tuition.”

“So how did you manage to become their number one
bartender at the club?”

“Crystal was my roommate, and she’s been there for a
few years. As soon as I was old enough, I started working at the club as a
waitress. While doing that she secretly taught me everything she knew so Vinnie
would give me a chance.”

“I bet he’s glad that he did.”

She shrugged. “Most of the time….”

“So where did you live before?”

“I grew up in the country in New Hampshire.”

“I bet that was beautiful,” he said as they
meandered down the sidewalk, trying not to get run over by any of the students
focused on making it to their classes.

“It was. I really miss the greenery. Where I lived,
we were perched next to this forest with a creek, but the other side was just
meadow after meadow after meadow. It was gorgeous. Very peaceful.”

“So why did you leave? Especially to come out here?”

“Well, I was born here, and I always planned on
coming back out here if I could. I was really excited when I got accepted here,
but deferred enrollment until I could become a resident; I knew that becoming a
student here was the only way I could have come back.”

“That’s brave to come out here all by yourself.”

“But I didn’t. Tracker came with me.”

He feigned surprise for a moment. “Really? Were you
two an item?”

She laughed. “No way! We’re more like siblings. You
see, I was raised in an orphanage. After his parents died and nobody would take
him in any longer because of his acting out, he was shipped out to us.”

“Why were you in an orphanage? If you don’t mind me
asking?”

“I don’t mind,” she said, not losing any of her
exuberance. It seemed that losing her family wasn’t a big deal to her. “When I
was three, my entire family was killed in a fire.”

“Wow, that’s terrible! I’m so sorry about that,” he
said, mustering up fake sympathy. “How is it that you survived?”

“I wasn’t there. I was out with my aunt and uncle,
but they couldn’t take me in.”

“So only your parents were killed?”

“No. I had two brothers, and I guess there was a
neighbor girl that my parents were watching who was there too because of some
emergency her parents were having. I’m told that she was my age and even looked
a lot like me.”

Squeezing her hand, he said, “Then she would have
turned out to be beautiful.”

She laughed again. “Yeah, maybe. Anyway, it’s been
nice being out here. I’ve been able to visit my family’s graves.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah. It’s been nice,” she said as he opened the
door to the history building for her and they walked out of the blazing
sunshine and into the wonderful air conditioning.

“So it was only a fire?” He knew better than that.
Micah had sliced them all up first, only setting the fire to burn any evidence.

“Yup.”

The Order must have lied to her. She obviously had
no clue anyone had ever been after her, let alone was after her now. Another
one of Their idiotic mistakes. At least if she’d known, then she’d be wary,
rather than throwing herself into the explosive volcano that was Inac.

“What about you?” she asked, though she was hesitant
about it.

“What about me?”

“Do you have family?”

He shook his head. “Nobody that’s closer than like a
great-great-great-great something or other.”

“What happened? If you don’t mind me asking…?”

“Well, my parents had lived quite a long time before
I was born, so we weren’t exactly the typical family.”

“What were they like?” she asked with shining eyes.

He did his best to keep his annoyance from his
voice, but he knew it was still laced with it when he replied, “Hara, I’m not
trying to be rude, but I can’t talk about them. It’s not like it is with you.
You never really knew your parents so there weren’t ever any hard feelings. All
you have are fantasies of how your life would be different if they hadn’t died.
I have to remember how mine looked at me the last time I saw them; when they
were pretty much disowning me. There are just too many emotions and I can’t
talk about it.”

“Okay,” she said, stopping to face him because they
were to her class.

“Okay? That’s it?” he asked, not really buying it.
Experience had taught him that women never really dropped a subject. They would
bring it up at the least opportune times…like when he was trying to get sex.

“Mm-hmm. I’m not going to pry, Inac. You can tell me
when you’re ready. And, if you never become ready, that’s okay too.”

Nobody had ever before really understood that he
couldn’t talk about it. With wives he’d had, they’d always continuously pressed
the issue until he would finally just abandon them and their kids. It’s why he
hadn’t been in a “relationship” for fifty years.

“Really?”

She gave him a small peck on the lips. “Really.”

Hara truly was an amazing woman. He could see why
she had been chosen to do God’s work.

Still unsure if he believed her or not, he said,
“Thanks. I appreciate you dropping it.”

“No problem.”

Eager to change the subject, he tucked a tendril of
her hair behind her ear and asked quietly, “So when can I see you again? I
wouldn’t want to bother you too soon and make you sick of me, but I really
don’t want to wait to see you again.”

“I could never get sick of you, Inac. It’s more like
I don’t want
you
getting sick of
me
.”

“Then how about dinner tonight?”

She made a face, like something nasty had just been
forced under her nostrils. “I have study group tonight.”

“How about tomorrow night?

“Tons of homework before work. Then I work Saturday
and Sunday too.”

“I’m sure the boss will let you play hooky,” he said
with a sideways grin.

A smile blossomed across her perfect face. “I’m sure
he would, too. But I need the money. The money from my parents’ life insurance
needs to last me as long as possible. I try not to touch it.”

Before he even thought about what he was saying, his
mouth ran off and said, “I can just pay your bills.”

Hara’s face was set and stern when she replied by
saying, “Inac, I can pay my own bills.” Then, her face softening, she lightly
touched his forearm and said, “We’ll talk later and figure something out, okay?
Right now I better get into class.”

It was only then that he realized that they’d moved
until they were standing in the doorway of her classroom, and no longer down
the hall a few feet. “Okay. Call me later when you get a free moment. I’d
really like to spend some time together. Just me and you time.”

Her face flushed, telling him that she’d caught the
insinuation in his words. But, ever the innocent, naïve little Hara, she said,
“Lunch was just you and me.”

“I know. But we were on a deadline.”

Just then, a man around Inac’s “age” stepped out,
rubbing at his unremarkable chin bare of any hair—Inac wondered if the guy even
had to shave. “Are you going to join us, Hara?” the guy asked with a kind
smile.

“Yeah. Sorry, Professor.” She then gave Inac a
confidential grin that spoke of how much she’d rather still be with Inac and
their picnic.

“And who’s this?” the sandy-haired man asked. He
looked very familiar. And not just because Inac had slipped into his class once
when he’d been following Hara.

Without skipping a beat, Inac offered his right
hand. “Inac Adamson. I’m Hara’s boyfriend.”

Both Hara and the professor looked taken aback. But
Hara also looked pleased. The professor, who looked like he was wearing glasses
though he wasn’t, didn’t.

“You said Inac Adamson?” he asked, his sorrel eyes
narrowing.

“Yeah. Do we know each other? You do look familiar.”

“No. No we don’t,” he replied as he nervously raked
his hands through his slightly wavy hair, his eyes taking in the tattoo on the
arm Inac had offered. “I’ve just heard of you.”

“How so?”

“I’ve done a lot of research on yachts and your name
always seems to come up,” he said, finally grasping Inac’s hand. The
professor’s was cool and slick, as though he was afraid of something. Then, his
face cleared and he smiled, saying, “You have some of the best in the world.”

“You’re interested in yachts?” Inac asked, wiping
the boy’s sweat from his palm by inconspicuously putting his hand in his
pocket. For some reason, he didn’t quite believe this guy. Maybe because all of
the yachts that were in the name of Inac Adamson would have been purchased
twenty years ago. The one they’d used last night was under a different name.

“Yes, I am. I could never afford one as exquisite as
your
Nina
, but that doesn’t keep me from researching them. That’s a very
apt name, by the way.”

He believed the guy now. Maybe the professor
believed he was the son of the Inac Adamson who’d purchased the yachts.

“So you know what it means?” he asked the professor.

“I’m guessing that you’re going with the Sumerian
meaning?”

“And you know what that is?”

“I teach Ancient Civilizations,” he said with a
small smile that was almost endearing. “It means Lady of Water, am I correct?”

Inac nodded. “It does indeed. I’ll tell you what,
she’s docked in Greece right now, but I’ll bring her over and you can take her
out for a spin. She has a crew of sixty, so you’ll be taken care of.” She may
be older, but she was continually updated. Even the worst of his yachts was better
than the most expensive ones other people could afford.

“Oh, I couldn’t. I appreciate the offer, though.”

“Anytime. And the offer still stands. You can borrow
any of my yachts or sailboats anytime you’d like.” Inac then turned and gave
Hara a quick yet intimate kiss, using it as a promise of more to come. He held
her hand, lightly squeezing it before saying, “We’ll talk later.”

She nodded and gave him a grin that showed him just
how much she was falling for him before going into class with her still shocked
professor.

***

“You won’t believe what happened today!” Hara
announced to Crystal the moment she walked through the door.

Crystal set her tabloid magazine down and patted the
couch.

“What happened?”

Hara bounced onto the couch, folding her legs
beneath her as she proclaimed, “Inac introduced himself as my boyfriend!”

“Get outta here. Are you serious?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Okay, you have to tell me what happened last night
that made a
male
do such a thing,” she teased.