by Susan Napier;Kathryn Ross;Kelly Hunter;Sandra Marton;Katherine Garbera;Margaret Mayo
She stared at him while her brain processed the question. It was a good question. An excellent one.
And she had no answer.
‘I’ll find a way,’ she whispered, blotting at her eyes with the now useless tissue. ‘I’ll go to—to the thief, and—and I’ll plead. I’ll get down on my knees and beg him to give me the stone, so I can return it to you. I’ll offer him anything, anything—’
‘Anything, Bree?’
She spun around. Slade was standing in the doorway, dressed as if he were back in the jungle, in jeans and a cotton shirt and dusty, well-worn boots. His hands were on his hips, and he was watching her with absolutely no expression on his face.
‘McClintoch,’ Esterhaus said happily. Brionny watched as he hurried across the room and grasped Slade’s hand. ‘It’s so good to see you.’
Slade smiled tightly. ‘We only saw each other two hours ago, Simon,’ he said, his eyes never leaving Brionny’s face.
‘Of course, of course.’ Esterhaus laughed. ‘But the man who gave the museum such a gift will always be a welcome visitor in my office.’
Brionny tried to speak, but her throat was dry. She forced moisture into her mouth, then swallowed.
‘Gift?’ she whispered. ‘What gift?’
‘I’ve been trying to tell you, Miss Stuart. The Eye of God is safe in the museum vault.’
‘What? But how—?’
‘Mr McClintoch telephoned me just after you did this morning. He told me that you and he had recovered the Eye of God.’
‘He told you…?’
‘He explained that the thief had agreed to return the emerald at no cost, provided we agreed to keep the matter quiet.’ Esterhaus put his finger to his lips. ‘I assured Mr McClintoch that there was no problem with that, of course.’
‘Of course,’ Brionny said lamely.
‘It means,’ Esterhaus said, smiling at her, ‘that we will never know the name of the thief, nor even how he came by the stone—’
‘But I told you that much,’ Brionny whispered.
‘Did you?’ Esterhaus shook his head. ‘I’m afraid I’ve so much on my mind this morning, Miss Stuart, that I wasn’t paying full attention.’ He looked from Slade to Brionny and cleared his throat. ‘In fact, I have an appointment in just a few minutes, so if neither of you minds…’
‘Neither of us minds,’ Slade said, his eyes still on Brionny.
The door swung shut and they were alone.
Slade spoke first. ‘I heard that last part,’ he said as he walked slowly toward her. ‘That you’d get down on your knees, if you had to, and beg the thief to give back the stone.’
Brionny flushed. ‘Why do you sound surprised? You were the one who kept saying I’d do anything to get the Eye back.’
‘Not quite. You didn’t tell Esterhaus I was the man who’d stolen it.’ He moved forward again until they were a breath apart. ‘Why didn’t you?’
‘That’s my business, McClintoch.’
He reached out and touched her hair, his hand gentle and light. ‘For a woman who couldn’t wait to have me locked up in Italpa, that’s one heck of a change in attitude.’
Brionny moistened her lip with the tip of her tongue.
‘Were there—were there really roaches in the Italpa jail?’
Slade smiled. ‘Big enough to lasso, Stuart, but it was just as well. Trying to stomp them to death kept me from thinking about what I’d do to you when I saw you again.’
‘What you’d do to me?’ Brionny’s voice rose with indignation. ‘That’s very funny McClintoch. You stole the emerald from me, and—’
‘I took it from your pack while you were sleeping.’
‘Damned right you did!’
‘I took it because I woke up and heard the Mali-Mali drums in the jungle.’
Brionny’s eyes widened. ‘What?’
‘I thought, If only I’d spent the last hours of daylight building a raft, we might have a chance.’ A fleeting smile curved across his mouth. ‘And then I thought, Hell, those hours with Bree in my arms were the best hours of my life. I figured if I had to die I was ready.’ His eyes darkened. ‘But I didn’t want you to die, sweetheart. I decided there had to be a way to stop those bastards.’
Without thinking, Brionny put her hand out and touched Slade’s arm.
‘And?’ she whispered. ‘What did you do?’
‘I took the emerald from your pack. I kissed you and stepped outside. Everything was still—even the sound of the river seemed muted. The drumming had stopped.’ He smiled again, but Brionny could see the tension in the smile. ‘Not a good sign, I figured.’
‘No,’ she said, caught up in the story. ‘No, I suppose not.’
‘I had to do something and do it fast. So I rubbed myself all over with mud—for camouflage—and made my way through the trees. I ended up right in the middle of twenty or thirty Mali-Mali. I figured I was as good as dead anyway, so I stuck out my hand, let the rising sun glint off the Eye, and told the bastards to come and get it if they had the guts.’
Brionny stared at him. It was an incredible story, so unreal that if any other man had told it she’d have known it was an outright lie. But it was easy to picture Slade doing just what he’d said, going off to save her, daring the savages to take him on.
‘The emerald and my head would probably be sitting in some Mali-Mali village this minute—except that the Indians went crazy when the light hit that stone. They leaped into the air, yelling like banshees. “Woowie”, somebody screamed, or something like that. It scared the hell out of me and I screamed back. The next thing I knew, they were racing off like the wind—What’s so funny?’
‘My God, Slade!’ Brionny’s shoulders were shaking with laughter. ‘They thought you were a woo-ya-hoo. A demon! No wonder they ran.’
‘Yeah.’ A grin tilted across his mouth. ‘well, whatever they thought, it worked. I waited a couple of hours, but there wasn’t a sign of them.’ He took her hand and brought it to his chest. ‘I figured it was safe to go back to you, that there was no risk they’d sneak back and follow me…’ He drew a deep breath. ‘But when I got to the shack, you were gone.’
Brionny nodded. ‘Yes. Father Ramón—’
‘Had found you. Yes, I know that now. But then—then, I couldn’t imagine what had happened. Had you stumbled into the river and become dinner for another snake? Had the Mali-Mali doubled back and taken you?’ His arms swept around her and he held her to him with fierce determination. ‘I searched for two days, praying to find you—and afraid of what I’d find if I did.’
‘Slade—I didn’t know—’
‘Eventually, I stumbled into Father Ramón’s village. He told me he’d sent you upriver with his men. I went after you—but I was too late. You’d left for the States.’ His smile was swift and hard. ‘And the police decided to put me up in jail as their guest.’
‘Oh, God,’ Brionny whispered. ‘I’m so sorry! I didn’t know—’
‘It was an interesting couple of days, Stuart, I’ll say that.
Impulsively, she reached up and kissed his mouth. ‘I love you,’ she said fiercely. ‘I’d never want anything bad to happen to you…’
Her hand flew to her mouth, but it was too late. The words she hadn’t even permitted herself to think were in the open.
Slade smiled. ‘Do you, now?’ he said, very softly.
Brionny’s cheeks flamed. ‘Finish your story,’ she said, her chin uplifted. ‘How did you get out of jail?’
‘It wasn’t easy. It took me two days just to get word to my office in Rio to tell them to fly somebody down and sort things out.’
‘Your—your office in Rio?’
He nodded. ‘Later, one of my vice-presidents pointed out that I’d have been better off calling my New York office, or the one in Miami—Bree? What is it?’
She had gone white as a sheet. ‘What—what are you talking about, McClintoch? What offices in New York and—and Miami—and—and—?’
‘R
io,’ he said helpfully. ‘Well, of course we have offices in Houston and LA too, but—’
Brionny closed her eyes, then opened them again.
‘I take it you’re—you’re not talking about opening offices to—to supervise the theft of—of antiquities,’ she said in a faint voice.
Slade chuckled. ‘No, sweetheart, I’m not. I suppose I should have told you sooner—hell, I tried to tell you sooner…I’m President, CEO, and the guy generally in charge of Worldwide Construction.’
‘Worldwide Con…The company building that road in Peru?’
‘Yeah,’ he said with a modest smile, ‘that’s the one.’
Brionny slammed her fists against his shoulders. ‘You bastard! You let me think—’
‘I let you think what you wanted to think,’ he said, catching hold of her wrists. ‘You took one look at me and saw a bum.’
‘I—I—’ She stared at him, and suddenly she knew the truth. ‘I—I saw a ghost,’ she whispered. ‘Someone hurt me, a long time ago, and—and I thought I saw him again when I saw you. It was wrong, I know that now, but—’
‘Yeah.’ He blew out his breath. ‘I guess I looked at you and saw a ghost, too, a specter from my childhood, when I was always the kid who had to prove himself over and over…’
Brionny reached up and kissed him again. It was a longer kiss this time, and when it ended they were both smiling.
‘Slade?’ Brionny moved closer into his arms. ‘Were you really going to—to demand payment from me last night?’
He brushed a soft kiss over her mouth. ‘That was the plan. At least, I told myself it was. I think I really had some crazy idea that if I got you in my arms again I could make you admit you loved me as much as I loved you, but—’
‘Do you?’ she whispered. ‘Love me, I mean?’
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘with all my heart.’
‘You’d better mean it. Because if you don’t—if you don’t, I’ll—I’ll—’
Laughing, Slade scooped her into his arms. ‘What will you do? Whip out your gun and shoot me?’ He kissed her, then let her down slowly to her feet. ‘Darling Bree. Will you marry me?’
Would she marry him, her handsome renegade? Of course she would. He might not have stolen the emerald, but he had surely stolen her heart.
‘I should tell you that you weren’t entirely wrong about me,’ he said. ‘I’ve spent most of my life bouncing from one construction site to another—but if you marry me I promise to settle down.’
Brionny kissed him. ‘You don’t have to,’ she sighed. ‘To tell you the truth, McClintoch, I think I’d like to try my hand at being a bum for a while.’
His arms tightened around her. ‘I’m supposed to be in Bora-Bora next week. How does that sound for a honeymoon, Stuart?’
‘It sounds wonderful.’
He kissed her again, and when the kiss grew deep and heated he drew back and gave her an unsteady smile.
‘I think we should carry on this conversation in a more private setting. I happen to know this apartment on the East Side with a great view of the river.’
Brionny laughed softly. ‘I love places with views of the river.’
And, with that, Slade swept Brionny into his arms and carried her out of the director’s office, through the Great Hall, and down the wide marble steps of the museum to the street.
Mistress Minded
Katherine Garbert
Katherine Garbera has had fun working as a production page, lifeguard, secretary and VIP tour guide, but those occupations pale when compared to creating worlds where true love conquers all and wounded hearts are healed. Writing romance novels is the perfect job for her. She’s always had a vivid imagination and believes strongly in happily-ever-after. She’s married to the man she met in Walt Disney World’s Fantasyland. They live in central Florida with their two children. Readers can visit her on the web at www.katherinegarbera.com.
Don’t miss Katherine Garbera’s next great romance. The Moretti Seduction is available now from Mills & Boon® Desire™!
Prologue
“Pasquale, you’ve done well,” Didi said as I materialized in front of her desk.
“Babe, call me Ray.” No one had lived who’d called me by my given name when I’d been on earth, but Didi was different.
I didn’t like the body-disappearing thing, but it beat the alternative, which was me going to hell. I’d been a capo with the mob until I was betrayed by one of my lieutenants and killed. My dying prayer for forgiveness had brought me here to Didi—one of God’s seraphim, some sort of high angel.
The deal I’d cut was to unite in love as many couples as enemies I’d murdered in hate. I was going to be doing this gig for a long time. Madon’, some days it wasn’t half-bad, but Didi had a way of getting on my nerves and under my skin.
And when she was giving me a compliment I certainly didn’t trust her. She’d sent me to earth in a woman’s body one time. Not a hot-looking chick, either, but some old broad.
“There was a reason I was called Il Re on earth,” I said to her. Il re is Italian for “the king.” Yeah, I had the ego and the attitude to carry that off. Didi was always reminding me there was only one king up here, but after successfully uniting three couples, I’d decided to call myself the king of hearts.
“And that reason was…?”
“Don’t be smart, babe. You know it’s because I’m good at what I do.”
“What’d I tell you about calling me babe?”
“Did I call you that? Madon’, I’m sorry, Didi. I know you don’t like it.” I enjoyed giving her a hard time. She looked as if she’d been working in this office too long. Today she was wearing another one of her ugly suits. This one was the color of cooked salmon.
“What’s up next?” I asked.
A large pile of colored file folders appeared on her desk next to the jar of Baci chocolates.
“Pick one,” she said.
So far I’d pulled from the top and the middle of the pile. I reached for a blue folder about three-quartersof the way down and Didi took it from me. The remaining pile disappeared.
“So where am I going this time?” I asked. What I really wanted to know was if I’d be a man. But asking her that made me feel like a babbeo.
She handed me the folder. The location was an island in the Caribbean. Life was looking up. And this couple, Adam Powell and Jayne Montrose, already worked together.
“No problem.”
“Don’t start thinking about your tan yet, Pasquale. This one is different,” Didi said.
Hell, they all were. Didi had yet to give me one assignment that was easy. Matchmaking—Holy Mary!—was hard work.
“How?”
She smiled. My gut tightened. I didn’t trust her when she was acting all happy.
“I’ll be accompanying you this time.”
“Madon’, is this some sort of punishment?”
“No, babe, it’s your reward.”
She disappeared before I could respond. Freakin’ matchmaker to the lovelorn was one thing. Partnered up with a prissy, bossy angel? Oh, merda, this was going to be one hell of an assignment.
Chapter One
Adam Powell bit back a curse and tossed his cell phone onto the leather seat next to him. His plane was ready to leave, his guests would be here any moment and Isabella had chosen now to tell him that she wasn’t getting what she needed from their relationship.
Frankly, he couldn’t give her anything else. If diamonds, furs and a brand-new Jaguar weren’t good enough, she’d have to look elsewhere.
Normally, being without a mistress wasn’t any big deal. He was a grown man; he could live without sex. But the coming two weeks were important to his company. Adam had been trying to acquire La Perla Negra Resort for the last five years and had been getting no where.
The owner, Ray Angelini, refused to sell his resort to anyone. Out of the blue, Adam had received a call last week inviting him to come to the resort to discuss the possibility of a sale
. He had jumped at the chance.
Angelini had asked Adam to bring his wife, which had led to an awkward conversation. Angelini wanted a happily married couple to run the resort, as he and his wife had been doing for the last twenty years.
Adam had always believed in doing anything to close a sale, but pretending to be married was going too far. He told Angelini he’d bring the woman he’d been living with. Angelini had warned him that unless he believed Adam was a man who understood love and relationships there’d be no sale.
“I understand they’re both a crock,” he muttered.
He left his seat in the back of the jet, exiting the plane. He’d have to make up some excuse for Isabella, and see if Jayne Montrose, his executive assistant, could find another woman who’d meet him in the Caribbean.
Damn, it was hot. New Orleans in the summertime was no one’s ideal place to be. The humidity soaked into his skin. He threw his head back, breathing through his teeth. It reminded him of the days when he’d worked the swamp in his uncle’s old pirogue, taking tourists for jaunts to see gators and swamp lilies.
God, he’d come a long way from that boy. He intended to go even further, and no woman was going to throw him off track for long.
“Ooo, someone looks pissed,” said Jayne, coming up behind him.
He’d hired Jayne because she was sassy and smart. She made life at the office flow smoothly, and in the downtime always made him laugh. “Don’t give me any lip, Montrose. Isabella is not going with me and the Angelinis are due in less than fifteen minutes.”
“I’m sorry. I told you not to count on her,” Jayne said. She reached into the large bag she always carried and drew out a sheaf of papers. “I need your signature on these before I leave for vacation.”
“You can’t leave on vacation until I find a woman to accompany me to the Caribbean.”
“Listen, boss, we’ve been over this before. I don’t procure women for you,” Jayne said. She narrowed her eyes and handed him a Mont Blanc pen to sign the documents she’d brought.