by Juniper Hart
Tony sat back against the pillows as Luca turned to leave.
I’d like to see the expression on that kid’s face when he sees what I have planned for his girlfriend. And she ain’t gonna get off as easily as the other one did.
18
“I’m sorry, sir, but I’m afraid I cannot let you in to see Mr. Williams. Do you want to speak with him through the glass or not?”
Ansel spitefully eyed the officer. “I want to hug my brother.”
“That’s very touching,” the officer retorted. “But it still isn’t going to happen. Through the glass or nothing.”
Ansel gritted his teeth. Titus was going to kill him.
“I’ll speak to him through the glass,” he sighed. He offered his brother’s ID and went through the metal detector before being led through the corridors of the Clark County Detention Center. Seating himself at the table, he waited for his identical twin to appear, knowing that Titus was going to be livid with him.
After a few minutes, Titus appeared, his eyes narrowing as he glared at his brother.
“You have a lot of nerve showing up here,” he snarled. “If I ever get out of here—”
“You will,” Ansel assured him. “I spoke with your lawyer today—”
“You mean your lawyer!” Titus spat. “I am going to set you—”
“Shh!” Ansel hissed. “These conversations are being recorded. You know better.” Titus gritted his teeth, and Ansel continued to speak. “Be patient, all right? If I had known this would turn out like this—”
“You would have done it anyway,” Titus growled. “Because you are selfish and never care about anyone but yourself.”
“I care about Nora,” Ansel replied quietly. “That is the only reason I did this.”
Titus narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “And, where is she?”
“She’s coming tonight,” Ansel answered. “But while I am here, I have some business to take care of.”
“That business best include me!” Titus yelled. “Because I am not spending another day—”
“Just trust me,” Ansel said calmly. “I heard some interesting news from your lawyer today.”
“I don’t care about interesting. I care about getting out of here!”
“I know. And you will.” He offered his brother a timid smile and replaced the receiver, glancing at the overhead camera as he walked away.
I better have a plan to get him out of here, Ansel thought worriedly. Because Titus has much less patience than me, and if he takes down the walls, he’s going to take the entire building down with him.
On the plus side, Ansel had spoken to his American attorney, who had informed him that the ballistics had come back on the gun, and they matched a hit from two years earlier.
“Probably a mob thing,” Gary Grant had explained. “But that doesn’t mean the gun wasn’t dropped on the black market and repurchased by someone else.”
“There are so many holes in this case, I can’t even count!” Ansel had snapped. “Can’t you talk to the prosecutor about this?”
“I have, and she is offering a deal. Ten to twenty.”
“No one is doing any time,” Ansel had snapped.
At least he knew he was on the right track. If ballistics had matched the gun to a mob hit, it was more evidence for his theory that Valducci had murdered Carrie.
God, Ansel was antsy for Nora to return. He should have flown out with her, but he’d wanted to see Titus before he exploded, and Nora had wanted to deal with Jerome on her own, anyway. Ansel had to admit he was very curious to know how she had planned to punish him, but he had not dared to ask. Perhaps it would do more harm than good.
She will tell me what she did when she is ready, he told himself. Maybe I will simply have her take care of Valducci, too. Tony never begged for forgiveness like Jerome did.
Ansel glanced at his watch. She would be landing in a few hours. He just had enough time to go back to the hotel, shower, and take a nap before she arrived. He decided he was going to surprise her at the airport.
Ansel nervously touched his suit jacket, oblivious to people who were pointing and staring at him at the gate. The flight had slowly let out over half an hour, but he still had not seen any sign of Nora.
Did I get the flight wrong? he wondered. Or did she fly over another way?
It would be an incredible trip to make from London to Las Vegas, and Ansel knew that Nora had been exhausted. Had things gone awry with Jerome, after all? A thousand horrible possibilities fluttered through his gut, and he waited until he was sure no one else was coming from the gate before picking up his cell phone and dialing his house in London.
James answered on the third ring.
“Master Williams!” he said, sounding surprised. “I—how are you?”
“Is Nora there, James?” Ansel asked without preamble.
“Nora? You mean the young lady who was here this morning?”
“Yes, James. Is she still there?”
“No, sir,” James answered. “I—I called for a car to the airport this evening. I was under the impression she was coming to see you… in prison.”
Ansel ground his teeth. “Are you sure she went to the airport?”
“Yes, sir! She said her flight was at six o’clock.”
“Thank you, James,” he said, and he was about to hang up when James spoke again.
“Master Williams?”
“Yes, James?”
“I—I’m glad you’re out of prison, sir.”
Ansel smiled slightly. At least someone had faith in him.
“Thank you, James,” he said. He disconnected the call and stared back into the crowded airport.
Where could Nora be?
Nora, can you hear me?
Ansel waited, checking his watch again. He closed his eyes for a moment and willed himself to be calm as he listened to the sounds around him. Had something happened to Nora on her way to the airport? He wiped his palms on his pant legs, nervousness making him sweaty.
In his pocket, his cell began to ring.
“Nora?” he answered.
“No, Mr. Williams, this is Gary Grant. I have some good news for you,” the attorney chirped into his ear. “Your brother is being released tomorrow morning due to insufficient evidence. The prosecution has declined to press charges.”
Ansel exhaled in relief.
“That’s great news,” he agreed. “Have you told him?”
“I tried to get through, but it’s late now. He’ll get the surprise in the morning, I just thought you might want to be there for him when he gets released at 9 a.m. The paperwork should be done.”
“Thank you, Gary,” Ansel sighed. “Does this mean I… he has to watch his back from now on, or is this done?”
Gary chuckled dryly. “Well, I never say never, Mr. Williams, but I have a feeling that they are taking this mob angle a little more seriously. It seems that Miss Halpstern spent a great deal of time in Vegas with several suspicious characters.”
Ansel felt a stab of guilt. Even if she had, Tony had only gone after her because of him. He was the one who had brought her into this mess.
“I hope they aren’t going to drag her name through the mud,” he muttered. “She was a nice girl.”
“Did you know her?” Gary asked, and Ansel grunted to himself.
“No. My brother told me she seemed like a decent person,” he lied. “Anyway, thank you for the update. I will be there for him in the morning.”
He hung up and shoved the phone back in his breast pocket. The cell hit the box he was keeping inside the pocket, and Ansel took out the blue velvet container and opened it to gaze at the ring. He had forsaken his nap in favor of doing some shopping.
We should have been married a million years ago, he thought. She won’t even be surprised. She’s just going to look at me and ask what took me so long.
But the proposal could wait until after the mess with Tony Valducci was resolved.
Ansel called out to
Nora again. Nora, please don’t ignore me. I’m worried about you, love. Where are you?
There was still no response, and Ansel was filled with dread. He refused to believe something else had happened to her. In seven hundred years, she had only been in one situation she couldn’t handle, and in the end, she had managed to get out of it on her own. The odds that she had fallen into a similar situation again were nil. Ansel just had to be patient, and Nora would tell him where she was.
But as the minutes ticked by, his panic only continued mounting, and he could not shake the sensation that Nora was in over her head again.
The problem was that this time, he had no idea where to start looking for her.
19
Nora slowly tried to open her eyes, but she felt like her head was swimming. She struggled to get more comfortable, and it was only until she attempted to move that she realized she was bound to what felt like a chair.
Oh, no, she cursed to herself. No, no, not again!
Her last memory was sitting on the plane from London to Las Vegas, chatting with an attractive British businessman. Someone had drugged her, and Nora had a very good inkling as to who had been responsible.
Dammit, Jerome! I’ll really have to kill you, won’t I?
But as her vision became sharper, Nora found herself sitting in the center of a room with two men staring at her, and she did not recognize either of them. It seemed like, for once, Jerome had not been involved in drugging her.
“Ah! Cara mia!” the fatter of the two men cried happily. “You’re awake now!”
“What is this?” Nora rasped, her mouth like cotton.
“Luca, get the lady a glass of water, will you?” the same man ordered, and the lumbering giant behind him hurried to oblige his request. “I am Tony, honey. I’m friends with an old friend of yours. Ansel Williams?”
Nora’s spine tensed.
“Is this how you treat mutual friends?” she demanded, annoyed.
“It ain’t personal, baby,” Tony explained, drawing closer to her. “Your boyfriend screwed me over pretty good. I’m just trying to regain some of my losses, you know?”
Nora did not bother to ask what he meant.
“Whatever business you have with Ansel has nothing to do with me,” she informed him as Luca approached with a glass of water in his hand. “Furthermore, I don’t take kindly to being kidnapped.”
Tony hooted. “You English broads are so fancy! You don’t take kindly, huh? You get kidnapped a lot?”
You’d be surprised, Nora thought ruefully, but she wisely said nothing. She wasn’t strong enough yet to unleash her hand.
Luca put the water to her lips, and Nora guzzled it thirstily.
Ansel, love? she called out to him. I think we may have a small problem. I’m being held in a room with an obese Italian man and his bodyguard.
“Listen, baby,” Tony said, “I just want you and me to be friends.”
“I have enough friends,” Nora bit back. “But I will make you a deal. If you untie me, I will walk out of here like nothing happened, and I won’t tell Ansel what you’ve done.”
Tony whooped, but his black eyes glittered with malice.
“Your boyfriend ain’t here to protect you now, sweetheart,” he rasped, pushing his face against hers. “He’s done enough damage to me for a lifetime, and I’m gonna take it out on your ass.”
“Are you?” Nora purred, smiling dully at him. “Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider?”
Tony glowered, his hand closing around her throat. “Maybe I will just kill you. Something tells me you’re gonna be more trouble than you’re worth.”
He reached into the waistband of his pants and pulled out a gun.
In her mind, Nora could hear Ansel saying something to her, calling out to her, but she couldn’t quite hear it over her anger. Her brown eyes turned amber, glinting in the low lighting of the room, and Tony gasped, firing the weapon at her. The bullet hit her cheek, and a searing pain tore through her face.
“Holy shit!” Tony screamed, firing off another round. “She’s one of them, too!”
Luca found his firearm, and together, they continued to empty rounds into her stationary body.
A low, terrifying growl emanated from Nora’s body, and she began to shift into a fearsome iridescent beast. The men fell backward as a high-pitched scream of pain radiated from Nora. Her head flipped downward, and she bared her teeth, nipping at Tony’s face as he screamed in terror.
Luca tried to flee, but Nora released a blast of fire, catching him mid-run and turning him into a charred ball. Blood poured from Tony’s face, and Nora flipped her tail, sending him flying into a wall.
Suddenly, another dragon appeared on the balcony, and Tony howled like a terrified baby. Ansel burst through the doors, snatching Tony by his teeth and dangling him over the edge of the twenty-fourth story balcony.
Nora fell back, the searing holes in her body immobilizing her as she tried to catch her breath. Despite the black spots dancing before her eyes, Nora gritted her teeth.
You will fight through this, she told herself. Just take deep breaths until you begin to heal.
The agony was almost too much to bear, but she had been through worse. She had just grown weaker after not being engaged in battle for hundreds of years. Ansel would think she had become a pathetic beast. They were only a few wounds—Nora could fight them. She could fight them.
She faded into unconsciousness before she could realize it.
The clink of a tray caused Nora to immediately sit up. As her eyes flew open, she expected to see Collette sitting at her side, carrying a tray with her breakfast. Instead of her old housekeeper, she saw Ansel.
“What… what happened to—?” The realization that she had fainted after being shot a few times with mortal weapons rushed back to her, and she slapped her own forehead. “Ah, damn it!” she cursed, throwing the blankets aside to look at herself. Her wounds had all healed perfectly, and there was not a single scratch on her.
“How are you feeling?” Ansel asked with a small laugh.
“Well, my pride is wounded,” Nora admitted. “But I’m fine.”
Ansel perched at her side, brushing a strand of dark hair out of her face. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there sooner.”
“It is not your responsibility to take care of me,” she growled, pulling her head back. “I am a dragon. I can take care of myself.”
He nodded agreeably.
“Yes,” he replied. “You are, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have someone watching out for you.”
“Like you?” Nora retorted.
“Yes, like me,” Ansel said. “I have always had you to look out for me. I can’t remember a time when you weren’t at my side, even if you were fuming mad or fighting me about something.”
Nora’s face fell into a smile, but it looked like Ansel had more to say, so she let him gather his thoughts.
“I… I have been stubborn and blind,” he started. “I should have told my father centuries ago to get stuffed, but I didn’t because I was afraid. It took me this long to realize that the only thing I should have ever feared was losing you. You are the only thing that has ever been right in my life.”
Nora narrowed her eyes at him. “Have you been drinking?”
“No,” Ansel declared. “I am in love with you. If we have learned anything over these last few days, it’s that we can overcome anything together, no matter what kind of mess we find ourselves in.”
Nora laughed lightly. “I thought you had learned that a long time ago.”
Ansel smiled at her. Then he reached into his breast pocket, and Nora’s eyes widened when he opened it, revealing a ring inside of it.
“In some ways,” Ansel said, “I already feel as if we are married, but I think it is high time we make it official. Nora Chambers, will you marry me, finally?”
Nora gaped at him in amazement before turning her glance to the ring.
“Are you sure about this?” sh
e asked. “If we do this, your father will never allow you back into the Kingdom.”
“I disowned that life a long time ago,” Ansel told her. “As you said, I do well enough for myself, and for both of us. I could build you that art studio you always wanted in the house in London, or we could move to the countryside. I just want to go anywhere you are.”
Nora thought of her isolated art studio at the chalet and shuddered.
“I am perfectly content being in the city,” she assured him. “Maybe you can hire me as your boxing manager.” She winked to show him she was only joking, but Ansel did not smile.
“I would give it all up to be with you,” he said, his eyes intense upon hers. “And I will for eternity, Nora. I swear it.”
Nora sat up and stroked his dark hair, pulling him in for a tender kiss.
“I believe you,” she said. “And I accept your proposal. I should warn you that while I do not come with a dowry, I do possess a lot of baggage.”
Ansel chuckled, and Nora joined in. He reached for the ring and slid it on her ring finger, smiling at her with affection.
“We are officially betrothed,” Nora murmured, smiling back at him. “Although, I daresay we will have a very small guest list.”
Ansel fell onto her with a laugh, nuzzling his nose into her neck. “I don’t care if it’s the two of us and a justice of the peace. We are the only ones who matter.”
“I think this calls for a celebration,” Nora commented, glancing at the tray he had brought in. “No champagne?”
“I ordered room service, but I held off on the champagne. I wanted to make sure the answer was positive before I popped the cork.”
Nora stared at him for a long moment.
“Did you really believe that I wouldn’t accept?” she asked in disbelief. “I have longed to be with you forever!”
“I thought you may have finally come to your senses,” Ansel replied, and Nora laughed, placing another kiss on his forehead.