“How can you?” Jennifer bit off each word.
“I will be glad to break one of Dexter’s legs to help out,” Richard offered helpfully.
“Outrageous.’’Ann froze a laughing Laura with one look.
Zachary Colby glanced at his wife, then at his older son. “Ahem . . . my boy, I fully understand your feelings, but 1 would prefer you waylaid Dexter in an alley, rather than take him and his cronies on here.”
Dash’s head swiveled slowly away from his wife who was trying desperately to hang on to an energetic Dexter doing the mambo. “Okay.”
Ann and Jennifer expostulated, not able to articulate clearly as they tried to expel their wrath.
“Mother.” Jennifer tried to appeal to her for help.
“Now, now, girls, your father has settled everything. Dasher won’t do anything here . . . and I’m sure we’ll all be home and in bed before he’s able to get Dexter into an alley.” She frowned for a moment. “I can’t even think of an alley terribly close to us.”
“Mother!” Ann squeaked. “How can you encourage Dasher! He has always been such a—such a—Hun.” She finished with a baleful glare at her spouse who was propped against the wall laughing. “And you are as unprincipled as Dasher,” she told him.
“Thank you, Annie. That’s the nicest compliment you’ve paid me in a long time. In fact, it may be the only compliment you’ve ever paid me.”
Blood chugged into Ann’s face just as a panting Lotus staggered from the floor with Dexter to come to a halt next to her sister-in-law.
Lotus saw the hurt flit across Ann’s face, then fade as she looked at Richard. She squeezed her sister-in-law’s arm companionably and smiled at her. “Ann, Dexter still wants to dance.”
Ann’s smile wobbled, then steadied “Thanks. Just what I needed.” She held out her arms to her cousin. “Hello, Dex. Just delete the jumps and leaps and we’ll be fine.” She gave Lotus a weak smile and dragged her cousin onto the floor.
“But I wanted to talk for a while,” Dexter complained, looking over his shoulder.
“I think you may have saved his life,” Jennifer’s husband murmured to Lotus.
“I suppose she has.” Jennifer’s smile was fleeting, but her husband kissed her on the forehead.
“If you’ll excuse us, Lotus, I think I’d like to dance with my wife.” Jen’s husband grinned when his wife’s social smile widened.
“Of course.” Lotus stepped back and felt a hard body meet hers, reveling in the familiar strength.
“I felt like dismembering that cousin of mine.” Dash gave a rueful laugh.
Lotus sagged against him. “No problem, darling. It was just a dance, but I will admit he’s like a dynamo. He would go up and down and sideways all at the same time. It was amazing.”
“Devoid of rhythm,” Laura pronounced solemnly as she sidled up next to them. “Madame Duval said it many times, but it never penetrated Dex’s thick skin. He has always been of the opinion that he’s a great dancer.” She smiled at Lotus. “I always hide in the ladies’ room when I see him coming.”
Dash slipped both his arms around his wife, holding her tight to him. “Well, I don’t think you’ll escape this time, sis. The Menace has just discarded a half-dead Ann and is now approaching-”
“No,” Laura cheeped, turning to face an ebullient Dexter who took a grip on her upper arm. “I have a broken leg,” she told him.
“Nonsense. The exercise will do it good.”
“Get my husband,” Laura gasped at Lotus, then was dragged away by the inexorable Dexter.
“We have to find him,” Lotus told Dash as he was about to walk away.
“I want to leave before I land him one right on that soft chin of his.” Dash had a mixture of amusement and irritation in his voice.
“Dash,” Lotus cooed. “We’ll leave soon.”
“Stop doing that. The city of Boston is going to see your effect on me because I don’t think my jacket will disguise it.”
Lotus laughed, leaning against him, joy spilling out of her.
“Was I that amusing?” His eyes held lazy heat. “No. But it’s wonderful to laugh when you’re happy. Next to singing it’s the very best thing to do.”
“I'll remember that. I feel a little like singing myself.”
“You look surprised that you would experience such a thing.”
“I am.” He looked down at her, studying her. “You have the skin of an angel.”
“I think angels are blond.”
“Wrong. Angels have blue black hair and almond-shaped green eyes, with wide cheekbones and delicate bone structure. They’re doll-like and have great legs and breasts,” Dash whispered the last three words in her ear. “And I love them.”
“Good.” She could feel her heart beat out of control. “Did you say something about leaving?” “Good idea,” Dash said hoarsely, leading her toward his mother and father. “We’re leaving,” he told them succinctly.
“Your manners astound me, John Dasher . . ." his mother drawled, but when she looked at Lotus, her eyes were twinkling. “I’m sure Lotus would love to stay for another hour or two.”
“She wouldn’t,” Dash said brusquely, making his father chortle. “What’s so funny?” he charged his parent.
“I do enjoy seeing you out of stride, my boy.” His father smothered another laugh when Dash muttered an imprecation.
“Lotus, you must learn to control your husband.” Lissa was chuckling.
“She controls me well enough,” Dash said when Lotus started to open her mouth.
“Good night, everyone,” Lotus said, then impulsively, she hugged her mother- and father-in-law, taking note that their mouths were agape when she pulled back. “I had a lovely time. Thank you.” “Dash, why don’t you move East with your wife and take over your grandmother’s house on the Hill? It was left to you,” his father stated gruffly, his eyes sliding back to Lotus. “I have a hankering to have my daughter-in-law nearby. I think she’s good for this family.”
“I agree,” Lissa said softly, watching her son as he cuddled his wife close to him.
Dash shrugged. “The business demands a great deal of attention.” He looked down at Lotus and smiled. “But I know you would like to be closer to your family. Perhaps we will locate somewhere in the East, if you like.”
Lotus wanted to shout at him that she would live on Main Street on the moon if he wished, but instead she quietly nodded.
The other good-byes were quickly made and in minutes they were walking down the wide curving stair to the outside. Dash didn’t release his hold on her until he helped her into the front seat of the Porsche. Conversation was fragmented between them, but Dash held her hand all the while they drove. Boston traffic was fairly light at one o’clock in the morning so that they had no holdups on the route they traveled to Beacon Hill.
When they left the car to mount the steps to the front door, Dash had his arm around her waist. He kept it there, even when he unlocked the door so that they could enter the house. When they were standing in the foyer, he looked down at her and smiled. “Shall we have a nightcap? A juice or something?”
Lotus shook her head, smiling when he grinned at her. “It was fun this evening. Even Dexter . . .”
“I was ready to kill him.” Dash shook his head as he led her up the stairs to the third-floor suite they occupied.
Lotus was brushing her hair, when Dash came out of the bathroom. He was rubbing his head with a towel. She smiled at him, continuing to brush.
“By the way, darling, what is the birth control pill called that you’re using? I think we should tell the doctor the name when we arrange for your physical.” Dash disappeared back into the bathroom.
“What pill?” she whispered to her mirror image. “I meant to tell Dash I wasn’t on birth control pills . . .” She groaned, her hand, with the brush, falling to the dresser with a thump. She remembered he had been prepared the first time they made love, but they hadn’t discussed it since. She s
traightened with a jerk. “Maybe I’m pregnant now.” She pressed one hand to her mouth, the other to her middle, both elated and horrified at the thought. What would Dash say? He would be happy about the child, but he might be irritated with her, that she hadn’t discussed the possibility with him that she could get pregnant. Especially since he made such a fuss about her getting checked by a doctor first. She tapped her lips with an index finger. She would find a nice quiet place to tell him. That way they could discuss any disagreements they might have. Yes, that was the best way, she thought, when they were alone, with no interruptions. She smiled to herself. She was probably crazy to act as though it were a fait accompli that she was already pregnant. Yet she couldn't chase the certainty from her mind that she and Dash would be parents.
CHAPTER TEN
The flight to Greece was uneventful, yet Lotus knew that Dash was irritated with her. More than once in the last two weeks, while they were in Las Vegas finishing up the paper work for Dash’s takeover of the casino in downtown Las Vegas, he had asked her for more details about her visit to the doctor. She had had the physical. The doctor had confirmed her suspicions. She was pregnant.
Lotus had told him as much as she could without revealing that she was expecting. She knew she was vacillating, but she wanted to tell him when they were in Greece, in pleasant, relaxing surroundings where their privacy would be total.
She had not been surprised when Dr. Ellen Ryan pronounced her pregnant. After the night of the Symphony Ball she had been positive. Not even the fact that she had always had irregular menstrual cycles had shaken that faith. It was fait accompli to have Dr. Ryan concur with her feelings. Before she had taken the test, the doctor had-told her that she would have bet money that she was to have a child.
How ironic! The wife of a casino owner would bet money she’s having a child, Lotus mused, her head, lolling against the back of the plane seat as they banked over Athens. Athens! The cradle of civilization! Lotus straightened in her seat as they approached.
“Are you looking for the Acroplis? You can’t see it from your angle.” Dash’s voice had that same curtness she was getting accustomed to hearing since she had been evasive with him.
“Will we see it? Or are we going right to Piraeus and the boat?”
“We’ll see it.” Dash felt impotent anger. What was she hiding from him? It had put him into a cold sweat when he suspected it was her health. He had called the doctor himself and been assured that Lotus was in excellent condition, but even then he had felt a reserve when he asked Dr. Ryan if it were safe for Lotus to be pregnant.
“Yes, I would say that it is safe for her,” Dr. Ryan had answered in measured tones. “If you will excuse me, Mr. Colby, I have a patient.”
“Yes. Of course,” he’d told her, but he had picked up the restraint in her voice.
Now as he helped Lotus leave the plane and watched her scan everything eagerly, he wished he could read her mind. What was bothering her? Was she frightened of having a family? He could feel his features tighten in anger at being closed out of her thoughts. Talk to me, damn you, Lotus, he grated in his mind. He sighed. He would find out what was going on! His mind ticked over the conversation he had had with the doctor. Except for a slight lack of iron in her system, which was being taken care of with iron pills and supplemental vitamins, there, was no problem. Could Lotus be
worried that he might not be able to impregnate her? Could she think he was sterile? His anger increased.
“Dash? Dash, the customs man said we’re all set.” Lotus said, pulling his sleeve.
“What? Oh, fine. Let’s go. There should be a car out front to take us to the hotel. Then if you like we’ll explore Athens this afternoon and take the boat tomorrow.”
Lotus nodded. Oh, darling, don’t look so hurt. I’m going to tell you everything when we get to the island. I just want us to be alone when I tell you our good news, with plenty of space in case you decide to blow your stack.
“What are you smiling about?” Dash looked at her suspiciously as he directed two attendants to see to their luggage, speaking in very passable Greek.
“Where did you learn Greek?” Lotus asked him.
“One of my partners in the Atlantic City casino is Greek, born and raised in Salonika. He taught me to converse in it, so that we can speak privately at times. Athos Paranis is a tough, wily fox, whose body is made of raw hemp and whose soul is tempered steel. He smiles like a piranha and he would literally snap off your head with his teeth, but I’d trust him with everything I have. You’re the only person I trust more,” Dash said.
Lotus heard the touch of pathos in his voice. “And you can trust me, Dash. You can.”
He exhaled a breath and nodded, tossing some bills at the attendants, who thanked him in a spatter of Greek.
“I understood parakalo, and efharisto, please and thank you, but after that I’m lost,” Lotus told him.
Dash settled back against the cushions of the rather battered Rolls-Royce, which he had told her belonged to the Paranis family. “Remember to say kalimera for daytime greeting and kalispera for evening. Say adio when you depart. The rest I’ll teach you as we go along. It’s a beautiful, convoluted language that’s as ageless and interesting as it’s people.”
“It’s very exciting being here, yet somehow I still can’t believe it. It’s been a dream of mine to visit this country since I used to devour Greek mythology as a child.”
Dash watched her, his heart hammering at the thought of being at the tiny Paranis island, alone with her for two weeks. He smothered his irritation and his fear at her evasiveness. “Tonight we’ll be dining early, then I’m taking you to a taverna that has all the Greek dancing. . . He grinned when he saw the eager sheen to her eyes. It made his heart thud to give her joy! “But First we’ll climb to the Acropolis.”
Lotus slid closer on the backseat of the car and put her head on his chest. “I’m so happy with you.”
“Darling,” Dash groaned, his arms folding her closer.
“We are here, kyrie." The driver had gotten out of the car and now he held open the back door. His mustache quivered with good humor as he watched them. “Is good to be in Greece and be happy,” he told them in halting English.
They went into the house on the hillside, the white limestone almost blinding in the sunlight.
“This home belonged to Athos’s grandmother and she left it to him.”
“I like it very much,” Lotus told him as she followed him up the steep staircase to the second floor.
Later when they began to dress for their excursion to the Acropolis, Lotus felt two arms slide around her waist.
“My good intentions went out the window, Mrs. Colby, when I saw you parade around in that peachy-colored underwear.”
She turned in his arms, laughing. “I was not parading, but I must admit I was hoping you would notice me and get some ideas.”
He groaned into her hair when she laughed. “I always have ideas about you, Lotus. You could be draped in horse blankets and you could turn me on.” He smiled down at her, feeling his heart turn over at the warmth of her eyes. “You look content as a kitten.”
“I trust you, Dash.” She took his hand and led him over to the bed so that they could sit side by side. Then she turned to face him. “May I tell you a story that you mostly know already?”
“I like you to tell me anything about yourself.” Dash leaned over her, wanting to tell her not to speak about the past, but to talk about their present and their future. He held his tongue, wanting her to stay as relaxed as she was at that moment.
“When I decided to take leave from my job and go out to Las Vegas, no one in the family knew anything about my plans, as you know. I was scared, not just about uncle’s condition and about the danger in what I would be doing—”
“It was damned foolish. You could have met people who would have hurt you.”
Lotus lifted her hand to his cheek. “You have the power to hurt me.”
�
�I never will.” His skin and bones were heating to scalding level because she had her hands in his hair and was threading her fingers through it.
“Oh, I think we’ll hurt each other a great deal . . . even when we’ve been married eighty years.” Lotus chuckled, edging closer to him so that their bodies were touching.
He laughed, scooping his hand around her backside and bringing her onto his lap. “Eighty years,” he said huskily. “What a lovely prospect!”
Lotus put her hand on his to stop him caressing her. “You’re not listening to me.”
“I’m not?” He felt out of breath. “Sorry, darling. Keep talking.”
Lotus clutched her husband around his waist, resting her face under his chin. “It was awful to see our family slowly disintegrating. Each one seemed to become more ghostlike even day. Before the scandal broke, my cousin, Lee, was like sparkling water all the time. Even when we were kids, you could always hear her laugh before you saw her.” Lotus spoke with her fingers curling in his flesh.
“Baby!” Dash soothed her. “Don't talk about it if you don’t wish, if it makes you unhappy."
She sighed and looked up at him. "I want to tell you everything about me. . . .” She stared at him. “Some of which I’m saving until we reach the island.”
Dash’s antenna quivered. He felt danger flags flying and his stomach tightened. He had to force himself not to insist she tell him now. “Choose your pace, angel,” he whispered to her.
Lotus talked for almost twenty minutes, held close in her husband’s arms, drawing him the picture of the clan Sinclair and their closeness to each other. . . And so, you see, it wasn’t just as though Uncle had been accused and framed, it was as though all of us had been accused.” She swallowed. “I had the awful feeling that if we didn’t do something . . . that ... all the Sinclairs would die one by one, beginning with Uncle.”
“Darling.” Dash felt a wrenching pain when her body clenched. “I understand.”
Lotus lifted dewy green eyes to him. “I know that.”
“God, you own me.” Dash’s body trembled in answer to her smile.
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