by Day Leclaire
He hesitated. “What are you talking about?”
“I must have faked amnesia for some reason.” She spread her hands. “Tell me what I could possibly gain by such a pretense.”
“Will half of Dantes’ fire diamond mine do? I mean, when we first met at Le Premier that was your original scam, wasn’t it?”
“For the sake of argument, let’s say it was. Did it work?”
“You know it didn’t.”
“Why?”
His eyes narrowed in speculation. “What game are you playing now, Kiley?”
“Just answer the question. Why didn’t it work?”
“Because your argument that day wasn’t logical. You had all the documentation lined up, but it didn’t make sense your family would have waited so many years before coming forward with the claim.”
“Huh. Good point.” It almost felt as though she were tiptoeing through her analysis, though he couldn’t figure out why she bothered. “Okay, so I tried the con on you when we first met at Le Premier and it didn’t work. Logically, what would I have done next?”
“Slipped away before I took legal action or involved the police.”
“Then why didn’t I? How would an amnesia scam work to my advantage? What do I gain by it?”
“You’d inveigle yourself into my life.”
“Again, to what end? Money? I haven’t asked and you haven’t given me any. For the sex? Pretty damn good, I’ll admit, but not worth the consequences when you found out about the scam. So, why would I assume such a risk? I had to know you’d take the precise steps you have and ask Juice to look into my background. If I were faking amnesia, that is.”
He folded his arms across his chest. “You tell me. What could you possibly get out of pretending to lose your memory?”
“And there’s the rub.” For just an instant, humor lit her eyes before fading into something heartbreakingly bittersweet. “I haven’t a clue. Maybe I fell in love with you when we first touched. Blame it on The Inferno, if that helps. Maybe I wanted a few days, a few precious weeks, to experience normalcy. No cons. No angle. Just a woman in love with a man with no strings attached.”
He steeled himself not to reveal how her words had affected him. “And now?”
She lowered her head as though considering her options. Her hand slipped into her pocket, wrapping around something that crinkled. She froze, so still and silent, while conflict battled across her expression. And that’s when it happened. She slowly looked up and he watched a hint of avarice grow in her eyes, watched them take on that hard, knowing look that had been so apparent in Lacey’s gaze. She even managed to imitate her mother’s flirtatious smile, the tip of her tongue tracing a tantalizing path along her lush mouth.
“I guess my little vacation from reality is over,” she purred. “It’s been fun. I got some designer clothes out of it, not to mention a trip to an island paradise. Of course, it didn’t end as well as I’d hoped. But we’ll just chalk that up to misfortune and move on.”
“Kiley, what—”
“Don’t,” she said sharply, her breezy expression shattering for a telling moment. “It would never have worked, Nicolò. You must have known that as soon as you read my file. If we’d tried for anything more than a fling, my reputation would have ruined the Dante name. Just let me go. It’s long past time I got back to my old life.”
She was right and he knew it. “Fine. No point in dragging this out.”
Without another word she headed for the foyer, picking up her purse from off the small hallway table where she’d left it. She hesitated with her hand on the front doorknob. “I appreciate you taking care of me after my accident.”
Nicolò leaned against the archway between the living room and foyer. “Before you go, answer one question.”
She shrugged without turning around. “Sure.”
“Was any of it real?”
She swiveled to face him, but all he could see was Lacey staring at him through Kiley’s eyes. “You mean, did I love you?”
“Did you?”
Her movements slowed, fluttering to stillness like a bird settling to its nest and she moistened her lips. “Sorry, Dante. I guess there was some sort of glitch in The Inferno that day at Le Premier. Our bond never took, at least not on my end of things. It may have been fun. But it wasn’t true love.” And with that, she walked out the door.
The instant it closed behind her, Brutus howled in anguish. “I’m right there with you, buddy,” Nicolò whispered. “Right there with you.”
Kiley never remembered the hours immediately following her flight from Nicolò’s, where she went or what she did. She didn’t awake to her surroundings until dusk had settled over the city and she found herself standing in front of a seedy little hotel somewhere in the Mission District.
A quick check of her wallet elicited five hundred dollars and a couple of credit cards. One was maxed out, so she used her precious cash, holding the second credit card in reserve. At least she now had a roof over her head. She huddled in the depressing little room she’d rented, her locket clutched in her hands, determined to come up with a game plan. The silver heart seemed to burn within her grasp, the lacey strips of silver pressing ridges into her palm, as though trying to imprint a message there.
But all she could think about was Nicolò. The expression on his face when he’d walked into the living room after overhearing her moth—No, not her mother—Lacey. That flash of emotion she’d seen in his eyes when he’d asked if any part of what they’d experienced over the past few weeks had been real. His shock when she’d shoved out the one lie she could ever remember telling.
She opened her hand and studied the locket, pushing absently at the intertwining strips of silver. She’d had to do it, had to lie to him. Once she’d absorbed that damning information from the file, she realized she couldn’t stay. Couldn’t allow her relationship with Nicolò to continue, assuming he’d have wanted such a thing. There’d been no other choice but to sever all remaining ties between them.
Even if Nicolò had been willing to overlook her past, she couldn’t take the risk that one day her memory would come back and she’d transform into a younger version of Lacey. Couldn’t risk the possibility she’d turn on him and use his wealth and position for her own personal gain. It didn’t matter that walking away had broken her heart. After all she’d done to hurt others, it was a small price to pay.
And, regardless of what cost the sacrifice, she’d continue to pay until she put right all she’d set wrong in the past.
The instant she reached her decision one of the small strips of silver slid to one side and the locket clicked open. She stared in wonder at the small key she found nestled inside. If Lacey were right, it was the key to a safety deposit box, as well as the solution to her problem.
Because in that safety deposit box was the means for her to make amends to all those she’d injured over the years.
“Have you lost your mind?”
Nicolò glared at his brother, Lazz. “Why do you keep asking me that same question?”
“Because it bears repeating.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “I mean, get serious. Did you not read her file?”
“Yes, I read her file.”
“Did you not see the part that said scam artist in big red letters? Hell, it was hard to miss since Juice also put it in bolded caps.”
“I saw it,” Nicolò stated between gritted teeth.
“So then why the hesitation? She scammed every man she ever met, but she’s not going to do the same to you because she’s your Inferno soul mate?”
“That’s part of it.”
“And the other?”
“She’s changed. She’s not that person anymore.”
Lazz’s mouth dropped open and he floundered a moment before he could speak again. “You have got to be kidding me. You did not just say that.”
Nicolò swore beneath his breath. He didn’t know why it had taken him a full three hours after Kiley left before he
caught the mistake within the lie. Maybe he’d been so focused on her claiming she didn’t love him—and the “tell” which had given lie to that statement—that he hadn’t fully processed her comment. But the instant it sank in, he realized she hadn’t regained her memory at all, or she’d have known they never bonded at Le Premier.
As soon as he’d realized the truth, he’d gone charging out of the house. With Brutus at his side, he’d spent the entire night combing the city for her, but she’d disappeared as though she’d never existed. It was the first time in his entire life he hadn’t been able to find a way out of a predicament. He was good at solving problems. The best. But this time he hit a brick wall and it was a wall he couldn’t find a way over, under, or around, let alone through.
“She doesn’t remember, Lazz,” Nicolò insisted. “She still has amnesia.”
“How can you possibly know?” Lazz argued.
“Because she slipped up right before she left. She said we first bonded at Le Premier. But we never did. We just spat sparks at each other. We weren’t ‘Infernoed’ until I took her hand at the hospital.”
“Hello. She’s. A. Con. Artist. She hasn’t changed. And it wasn’t a slipup. It was an ‘on purpose.’ She was hoping you’d catch the mistake. Hoping you’d buy right back into the con. And damn it, Nicolò, you have, haven’t you?”
“If that woman’s still a con artist, then yeah, I’m buying it. And I’m going to keep buying it until I’m old and gray and we’ve been married for as many decades as Primo and Nonna.” He leaned in, jaw set. “I’m going to find her, Lazz. And then I’m going to marry her. She’s going to have my sons—and I say sons because, with the exception of our cousin, Gianna, the men in our family seem incapable of producing daughters. We’re going to have four of them, in case you’re interested. And anyone who has a problem with that can discuss it first with my right fist and then with my left hook.”
He looked around with a hint of defiance, stunned when he caught Sev and Marco’s nod of approval. Even better was the expression Primo wore, one that offered unconditional support. “Everyone should receive a second chance,” his grandfather stated.
Nicolò turned on Lazz again, his determination rock-solid. “So, are you going to help me find her, or are you going to fight me over this?”
“You know I don’t believe in the family curse,” Lazz muttered.
“Blessing,” the others chorused in unison.
Nicolò barked out a laugh, the first one since Kiley left him. “You better start believing in The Inferno, Lazz. So far, it’s three down. You’re the only one of us left.”
“And that’s the way it’s going to stay.” Lazz held up his hands before anyone could argue the point. “Fine. You want her, you got her.”
Nicolò nodded. “Let’s just hope it’s that easy.”
Chapter Ten
Of course, it wasn’t easy at all. It took a team effort involving Juice and the entire Dante family to finally locate Kiley. Nicolò couldn’t recall a rougher few weeks. Not that he had anyone to blame other than himself. He’d allowed her to walk out instead of stopping her, and that knowledge had haunted him every single minute since. When the call finally came in from Juice, he found it a struggle just to form a coherent sentence.
“Where is she?” he managed to ask.
“A small dive down in the Mission District bearing the delightful name of the Riff Raff Inn. Not one I’d recommend, especially not for a woman on her own.”
Nicolò swore. “What the hell is she doing there?”
“I can’t say. Might be all she could afford. Thank God she finally used plastic or we’d have had the devil’s own time finding her.”
Nicolò closed his eyes. Of course. She’d left with nothing in hand but the funds in her purse. Five hundred couldn’t have kept her fed and housed for much longer than a couple weeks, if that. Not in San Francisco. What would she have done if she hadn’t had another source of money? Would she have come back to him? Somehow he doubted it.
“Watch the motel in case she leaves,” Nicolò instructed. “I’ll be there in fifteen.”
“You’d better make it ten.”
Hell. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“Our old buddy Ferrell just got out of a cab. He’s making tracks toward the motel and looks like a man on a mission. Do you want me to intercept him?”
“Not unless there’s trouble. It can’t be a coincidence he’s shown up, or much doubt who he’s there to see. Follow him and call me back with a room number. I’m leaving now.”
He was five minutes out when Juice called again. “More good news,” came the head of security’s gloomy voice. “By the look of things, Kiley’s about to have another visitor.”
“Who?”
“Based on the description you gave me, I’m guessing it’s Lacey O’Dell. Blonde, blue eyes, five foot nothing. Looks a good bit like Kiley, except . . .”
“Harder,” Nicolò supplied.
“I’d call her cold if she didn’t look spitting mad. If I were a betting man, I’d say your wife, er, sorry—Ms. O’Dell has done something to seriously tick off Momma dearest.”
“Which room is Kiley in?”
“Two-oh-nine. Up the stairs, hang a right. Middle of the hallway on the left. You’ll find me near the stairwell. I can see the door, but I’m not close enough to hear anything. Don’t want to attract too much attention from those inside.”
“Will I have any trouble getting past the front desk?”
“I wasn’t sure what sort of reception you might receive when you joined the party, so I dropped a Franklin on the manager. He’s suddenly developed a severe case of deaf, dumb, and blind.”
“Hang tight. I’m almost there.”
A few minutes later, Nicolò swung into a parking space and hustled into the motel. Juice’s bribe worked. The manager didn’t so much as lift his head, just gestured toward a worn stairway carpeted in the remains of faded paisley. Nicolò came across Juice in the hallway, a few doors up from Kiley’s room.
“In there,” he muttered, pointing. “Decided I better move closer so I could step in if things turned nasty. Got a right little row going.”
More than a row. Nicolò could hear Ferrell’s voice raised in fury, as well as Lacey’s. And then he heard Kiley’s cry of alarm and didn’t bother with a civilized knock on the door. He crashed against the hollow core panel and sent the door bursting inward.
It took only an instant to assess the situation. Ferrell and Lacey were in a furious struggle over something that glittered with unmistakable fire. A diamond necklace. Or rather, what remained of a diamond necklace. And then he saw Kiley. She was on the floor, a hand raised to her cheek, one that showed evidence of a rapidly growing bruise. He was at her side in an instant, lifting her in his arms and clear of the fray. He didn’t know who had hit her or why, but someone would pay for hurting her.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She ran her hands across his chest while she ate him up with her eyes. “Don’t think me ungrateful, but . . . What are you doing here?”
He pulled a slow smile. “I’m here to rescue you, of course. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work?”
She shook her head, despite the hope dawning in her expression. “Only in fairy tales. Not in real life.”
“In real life, too, sweetheart. Now, who hit you?”
“It was an accident.”
“Uh-huh.” He shot Lacey and Ferrell a grim look. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back.”
“Forget it, Nicolò. This is my fight, too.”
Together they waded into the fray, separating the two combatants. Lacey gave a squeak of surprise and broke away from Ferrell with only minor prompting from Kiley. The older man backed up several paces, the remains of a diamond necklace clutched in his hand.
“If you don’t want to find yourself eating carpet with a bruise to match Kiley’s, I suggest you hand over that necklace.”
“I’m not hand
ing over anything,” Ferrell snarled. “The diamonds are mine.”
“I paid you what you were owed,” Nicolò bit out. “And a good deal more beside. Or have you forgotten that minor detail?”
Kiley balled her hands into fists. “Why, you lying piece of scum. You told me you didn’t receive so much as a dime from the Dantes.”
“Look who’s calling who scum,” he shot back. “I deserve the diamonds for the hell you put me through. You deserve to know what it feels like to get conned.”
“I’m not going to warn you again,” Nicolò interrupted. “Drop the necklace.”
Ferrell glared in frustration. “You don’t understand.”
“No, you don’t understand.” Nicolò stalked closer, leaned in so the other man couldn’t mistake his words. “I’m going to pretend that bruise on Kiley’s cheek is a regrettable accident. That it didn’t have anything to do with you. While I’m operating under that misapprehension, I suggest you get as far from this room as physically possible. You got me?”
Ferrell’s hand clenched around the necklace, common sense in a pitched battle with greed. After an endless minute, sensibility won out, though it took on a vindictive edge. “Fine. I’ll leave. But you’re a fool, Dante. She’s just going to use you the same way she’s used every other man she’s ever met.” He shook his head in disgust. “You’re going to wish you’d never met her before she’s finished with you.”
And with that, he threw down the remains of the necklace and stalked from the room. He attempted to slam the door behind him, but it listed drunkenly on its hinges and wouldn’t close.
“Thank you for getting rid of him,” Lacey said, offering Nicolò a beaming smile. “You can come to my rescue any time.”
“My pleasure, though I’m here to rescue Kiley, not you.”
He couldn’t help but notice that Lacey’s smile was absolutely symmetrical, no adorable tilt to disturb its perfection. She bent down and scooped up the necklace, allowing a brief frown to carve a network of lines between her brows and at the corners of her mouth.
“Damn,” she muttered. “What the hell were you thinking, Kiley?”