by Kay Hooper
His eyes were narrowed again, fixed on her face, and his voice was very deliberate when he said, “I haven’t quite made up my mind what I think about you, Miss Sutherland. Let’s just say I knew my brother very well. He never met a beautiful woman he didn’t try to get into his bed. And that was not something at which he often failed.”
Laura ignored the backhanded compliment. “Be that as it may, I’m not in the habit of sleeping with men on fifteen minutes’ acquaintance. Or married men at all, for that matter. Whatever you think of your brother’s morals, you have no right to make assumptions about mine.” Hell incline his head slightly to the side in that mocking way.
He did just as she expected, the gesture familiar to her for no reason she could explain to herself.
“I was brought up never to call a lady a liar,” he said dryly. “So we appear to have a standoff. I don’t quite believe your relationship with my brother was innocent, and you have no way of proving it was.”
The fact that he was all too right about the latter point was something Laura found distinctly unsettling. She didn’t want anyone to believe she had been sexually involved with Peter Kilbourne, not the public, not the press, not the police, not the family—and most certainly not this man.
“At least believe I didn’t kill him,” she said, hearing the plea in her voice.
She thought that harsh face might have softened imperceptibly, thought there was a glint of warmth in the chilly eyes, but whatever Daniel would have replied to her plea was lost forever when a new force entered the study.
“Thank you, Miss Sutherland. Or may I call you Laura?” Her voice was soft, her accent more Alabama than Georgia.
“Of course.”
“And everyone calls me Amelia. I hope you will.”
“Thank you.” Laura could almost feel Daniel’s sardonic gaze on the back of her head, and wished to heaven he’d move around the sofa where she could keep an eye on him. It was like having the big cat of her imagination crouching in darkness behind her, ready at any moment to spring forward and devour—or at least seize—his prey.
And she felt more than a little uncomfortable facing his grandmother, wondering how swiftly Amelia’s gracious manner would desert her when she found out just who their visitor really was. But then Amelia spoke again, her tone still pleasant, and it became clear that she knew exactly who she was entertaining.
“I understood the police are looking for evidence connecting you to my grandson, Laura.”
It was hardly a question, and the suddenness of it caught Laura off guard, but she tried to keep her voice steady when she said, “I met Peter for the first time on Saturday, Mrs. Kilbourne.”
“Amelia, my dear. Please.”
“Amelia, then. Thank you. He just came to my apartment to talk about a mirror I bought here that day.”
“Yes, my dear, so the police said.” Amelia brushed the mirror aside, uninterested. “But it appears that Peter was seen several times in the company of a beautiful redhead, and it seems the police want to cast you in that part.” Her tone was brisk and matter-of-fact, and if she round it distressing that her grandson should have been seen in the company of a woman not his wife, she didn’t let her feelings show.
His voice level, Daniel said, “Have you been talking to the police, Amelia? I thought we agreed that I would handle them.”
“You forget, Daniel, the commissioner is an old friend of mine.” She glanced up at him, a hint of pleased triumph in her eyes. “He called to tell me how the case was progressing.”
“And obviously,” Daniel said grimly, “let his tongue run away with his judgment.”
All the characters in the book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
This edition contains the complete text of the original hardcover edition.
NOT ONE WORD HAS BEEN OMITTED.
ON WINGS OF MAGIC
A Bantam Book / published by arrangement with the author
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Doubleday Loveswept edition / November 1993
Bantam paperback edition / December 1994
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1983, 1993 by Kay Hooper.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 93-6661.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information address: Bantam Books.
eISBN: 978-0-307-56800-7
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