by Julia Anders
"What are you going to do, Jason? Kill me to keep me from telling the truth? Put your hands around my throat and choke me into silence?"
He grabbed her shoulders in a steely grip. "By God, it's not a bad idea." He let her go as if he had suddenly come to his senses. "It's not necessary. Your conversion came too late. That's what I was coming to tell you. The final papers were signed this afternoon. Tonio is mine now."
The words pierced a tender place in her chest. She had delivered Tonio into the hands of a monster. She loved the child, and she was his betrayer.
"I'll find a way to protect him from you, Jason. I swear I will."
"You are mad," he said wonderingly. "We'll gloss over the fact that you're disloyal, ungrateful, that you can't be trusted to keep a bargain. All this time I've been traveling with a mad woman, sharing experiences, laughing with her, thinking she was—discovering I—"
It was the first time she had ever heard Jason incoherent. Then he stopped the flow of seemingly random words and said quite precisely, "Crazy or not, you're coming with me to the villa to pick up Tonio. The D'Allasios know we're coming. They'll have his things ready."
She shook her head. "I won't be a part of it."
He grabbed her again and his fingers pressed into her shoulders hard enough to bruise. "You'll do as I say. You're standing in clothes I've bought, in a room I've paid for, and you dare to tell me you won't do the one thing you were hired for I You'll come if I have to drag you by your lovely hair, if I have to knock some sense into your lovely lying head."
His hand like a vise on her arm, he propelled her to the door as she resisted with all her strength. She was powerless before him.
Suddenly she relaxed. He would hardly dare to drag her through the lobby this way, would he?— though perhaps there was nothing he wouldn't dare. But she had realized she must go with him after all. Hating him, hating the situation, still she must accompany him. In the mood he was in she couldn't leave him alone with Tonio.
The child would be frightened seeing his uncle in this white-mouthed rage. He wouldn't be able to talk to him. At least if she were there she could soothe the child, hold him in her arms on the drive back to the hotel, try to protect him. She made no further resistance.
As the powerful car purred through the night, a sense of total desolation swept her. It was not that she had lost Jason. How could you lose what you had never had? But she had lost her love for him, her foolish, hopeless love. She should be glad to lose something that could only bring her pain. Then why did it hurt so much? Why did she feel more alone as she sat here beside him than she had ever felt in her life?
They pulled up to the villa, which was dark except for the lower part in the right wing where the living and drawing rooms were. Several cars stood in the drive. The front door was partly open.
Jason rang. She could hear the bell echoing through the house. No one came. He rang again, imperiously. They waited, but still no one came.
"What sort of game are they playing?" he muttered. "Come on. We're going in."
He pushed open the door and pulled her inside. "D'Allasio!" he shouted.
There was only silence.
He crossed the hall to the drawing room, Lynne behind him. As the door swung back, light spilled out into the hallway.
Peering around Jason, Lynne was met with a most peculiar sight. The D'Allasios and Vincente were there. She also recognized Paola Malina, and there were several others. They were all sitting in odd attitudes of relaxation, one man on the floor leaning against a wall, Paola lying back on a couch with her shoes off.
"D'Allasio, what's the meaning of this?" Jason barked. "No one answered the door. You don't think you can stop us from—"
Suddenly he stopped and gave a snort of disgust.
Lynne felt as if she were viewing some strange nightmare sequence. They moved, not in alarm or surprise, but in what almost seemed slow motion. Their expressions were vapid, their eyes black and expressionless. She began to shiver.
"What's wrong with them?" she whispered.
"Drugged," he said. "It's a drug party. And isn't that a pretty sight to treat a child to? Opium, I shouldn't wonder."
"Matteo, where's Tonio?" He shook the older man by the shoulder roughly, but received only a foolish smile.
"Jason, what's that strange odor. Is it the opium?"
He looked up, his senses alert. Then he moved quickly. "No, by God, it's smoke—not opium smoke, a fire!"
She dashed after him as he ran from the room. Which way was Tonio's room?
"Call the fire department," he flung at her over his shoulder and went bounding up the steps two at a time.
With shaking hands she made the call and went back to the drawing room. "The house is on fire," she shouted. "You must tell me where Tonio is!"
"It doesn't matter," Isabella said very slowly. "He doesn't live here now. Francesca doesn't live here now. Hardly anyone lives here now,"
"Tell me where he is!" Lynne's frantic hands shook the woman by the shoulders, but she only closed her eyes.
"If you can't help, then all of you get out of here. Don't you understand? The house is burning!"
"Nero burned while Rome fiddled," Paola giggled.
They were hopeless. Perhaps she could lead them out one by one if they were too stupified to understand, but not until after Tonio was safe.
She raced upstairs and almost collided with Jason, who was running back from searching the upper rooms of the right wing. "He's not there or here in the central portion. He must be in the left wing, and that's where the fire is."
"Could the servants have taken him somewhere? None of them seem to be around."
"We can't take a chance on it," he said grimly.
They ran into the left wing and began to choke on the smoke which filled the corridor. They rounded a corner and could see flames licking out of one of the rooms, making their way across the carpet and along the wall.
Jason was shouting Tonio's name, and at last they heard a small cry. He was standing at the far end of the corridor beyond the area that was ablaze but the fire was moving toward him and blocking the path to the spot where he stood.
"Get me some wet towels," Jason ordered. "Stand still, Tonio, I'm coming."
Lynne realized the boy couldn't understand Jason's words and shouted to him in Italian as she ran into a bathroom and soaked several towels.
Jason wrapped one around the lower part of his face to breath through and poised for a second, preparing to dash through the flames.
As she saw him run into the inferno, Lynne's heart turned over. "Oh, Jason," she whispered, knowing in a moment of horrible clarity that if he died, part of her would die, too.
Over the crackle of the flames she heard his voice shouting, "There's no exit at this end. We'll have to come back through the fire."
She held her breath. Another moment and he came hurtling through the wall of fire, shielding Tonio, swathed in the wet towels, in his arms. Together they ran back to the central part of the hall where the smoke was not so thick.
Lynne screamed. The shoulder of Jason's coat was on fire. She grabbed one of the wet towels from around Tonio and smothered the smoldering blaze.
Jason leaned against the wall in a spasm of coughing. She took Tonio from him and he motioned her down the stairs.
"Will you be all right?"
He nodded, again gesturing her to safety. Because of Tonio, she had to go down the stairs out the front door into the cool, life-giving freshness of the night.
The fire department had arrived. "There are people in the drawing room," she shouted in Italian. "They won't come out."
She laid Tonio on the grass. He was so white and still. She laid her ear to his chest and could feel that he was breathing.
Then Jason was kneeling beside her. He lifted the boy, cradling him in his arms. "Tonio!" he cried brokenly. "Speak to me, son. Tonio."
The child opened his eyes. "Zio Jason."
Jason buried his face in t
he boy's neck. "Oh, thank God. Thank God."
Lynne stared at the two of them. Jason had risked his life to save Tonio. She had seen anguish in his eyes as he had lifted the boy's still form, and the most exquisite relief when he saw that he was all right.
"Why, Jason," she said in wonder. "You love Tonio!"
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
At the emergency room of the hospital, the doctors had pronounced Tonio fit. They dressed the burn on Jason's shoulder, which was fortunately not a severe one.
The three of them started back to the hotel. Before they had left the villa, the fire department had had the blaze under control. The whole house would not be lost, only one wing badly damaged. The D'Allasios and their oddly assorted group of guests had been herded from the house and left roaming unconcernedly about the lawn.
"I told you we should have invited Nero to bring his fiddle," they heard Paola say as they got into Jason's car.
Lynne unlocked the door to their hotel suite and Jason carried Tonio inside. "He can sleep in the other twin bed in my room," Lynne said. "But first I think I'll bathe him and wash his singed hair. The smoke smell is so strong. Maybe he could sleep in one of your undershirts."
"I'll bring one in," Jason said-He came back with the shirt and helped Lynne bathe, shampoo, and dry the tired child. The undershirt was miles too big, but Lynne found a long blue and white scarf to use as a sash and Jason stood him up on her dresser so that he could see himself in the mirror.
"Tell him I said that he looks so handsome he'll set a new fashion."
When she had repeated it, they were rewarded with the sound of a small giggle. Lynne tucked him up in bed and could see that he was almost asleep from exhaustion.
Jason knelt by his bed and kissed him, saying softly, "You belong to me now, old son. We belong to each other. I'll never leave you again."
Tonio couldn't understand the words, but from the look he gave his uncle, it seemed to Lynne that he had caught their meaning.
As Jason stood up and turned to her, she swayed and leaned against the door. One arm came out quickly to steady her. "What is it? Are you ill?"
She blinked. "No, I just went a little giddy. You know, I believe I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast."
"I'll order up an omelet. Meanwhile, why don't you have a bath too."
She stood under the shower a long time, and the water seemed to revive her. She toweled her hair damp dry and then got into her old cotton pajamas and the conservative brown robe.
She could hear the clink of the dishes as the waiter rolled the serving cart into the sitting room. She didn't wait to be summoned but went in directly. There was a delicious aroma of butter and mushrooms in the air. Without even waiting for Jason to seat her, she pulled a chair up to the table and whisked the domed cover off her plate.
"I must be absolutely famished," she said, "because right now that omelet looks more beautiful than anything I saw at the Uffizi Gallery. I wouldn't even trade it for a Botticelli."
Jason laughed and poured two glasses of white wine. She practically fell upon the huge basket of Italian bread. When she had finished the omelet, Jason put several generous wedges of cheese on her plate and she helped herself to more bread and butter. She could feel life flowing back into her.
She poured out the coffee. "Are you finished. You don't want that last slice of fontina?"
They didn't speak until they had drunk their coffee. Then he handed her a brandy snifter and motioned her to an armchair.
"We have some talking to do, Lynne."
Obediently she sat where he had directed and took a sip of the brandy. Yes, she supposed they must talk.
"You said something very odd back at the villa, Lynne. You said, 'Jason, you love Tonio,' and you said it as if it was the biggest surprise of your life."
"Yes," she said slowly. "I guess it was."
"How could that surprise you when I've been working all this time in order to get custody and make him mine?"
"Justine said it was for the money."
"Justine I And what money are you talking about?"
"This morning—heavens, it seems like a year ago— she followed me from the hotel and caught me up and said she had to talk to me. Among other things, she said the whole plan was because of Tonio's inheritance—the half of the company that had belonged to his father. She said you wanted to be able to do as you liked with the firm without having to answer to anyone and that if anything should happen to Tonio—" She stopped, her eyes wide, and her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be telling you this. It must be the wine."
"And you believed her!" he said bitterly.
"I wouldn't have believed it if one of your enemies said it, but she loves you. She's going to marry you."
"She loves a monster like me?"
Lynne twisted uncomfortably in her chair, but his eyes compelled her to continue. "She said the quality of ruthlessness in you only made you more attractive to her because she knew how business operated."
The silence deepened and at last she said unhappily, "I wouldn't have taken her word for it but I asked Darren and he confirmed it."
"Darren said I only wanted Tonio's money!"
"He said it was true that Morgan had owned half the company and it now belonged to Tonio."
"That was all?"
She nodded. "Wasn't that enough?"
"A pity you didn't question him further. He could have told you that Tonio's inheritance is in trust-that I couldn't touch it or manipulate his holdings if I wanted to, that I'm answerable to the same trustees as when Morgan was alive and a partner though not active in the firm. They are three of the most reliable bankers in London and they'll keep their eagle eyes on Tonio's interests, just as they did on his father's before him."
"Oh, Jason, what can I say? Did Justine know that?"
"What do you think?"
She thought a minute, biting her lip. "Jason, I don't think you should be hurt by what she told me. It sounds very terrible, I know, but when you think about it, it just shows how much she loves you. She must have felt miserable knowing I was with you all this time. She must have felt so threatened that she was willing to say dreadful things in order to make me leave. It was foolish of her to be jealous, but I can understand how it could happen to a woman in love, so you mustn't feel she betrayed you. She was only trying to keep you. I'm sure of it."
He gave her a long, level look. "That's enormously comforting," he said dryly. "Did this great love of hers take into account how I'd feel about losing Tonio through her meddling?" Lynne colored.
He shook his head. "Lynne, Lynne. You're the limit. Trying to protect my feelings by explaining away Justine's conniving on the grounds that she acted out of love. Do you really think I need a love like that? If you really think I'd fall apart at finding out what kind of woman Justine is, then all I can say is, you haven't been paying much attention the last few weeks."
She wasn't sure what he meant by that so she said nothing. She was still chagrined at having doubted him and also at having borne tales against Justine, but after the stress of the day the words had slipped out, and she didn't know how to set things right.
"The reasons I gave you for wanting Tonio were true ones," Jason said. "But there were two I left out. One seemed so self-evident that I didn't think I needed to say it. It's that I do love him. The other was something I hated to talk about because it seemed disloyal to my brother. I wanted to get Tonio away from his grandparents because I didn't trust them to bring up the boy. There's a wild streak in them—as you've now seen. They lead an unwholesome life—gambling, running with an unsavory set, even drugs. But there was "nothing I could prove in a custody battle. I knew they'd be very circumspect if I brought suit until the matter was settled.
"There was a wild streak in Francesca too," he continued. "She seemed to bring out the recklessness in Morgan. She encouraged him to continue as a test driver long after he'd outgrown his boyish love of danger. But danger excited her. Morga
n would have settled down soon, I know. Pray God if there's a reckless streak in Tonio I can guard him from coming to harm. But I don't believe in bad genes. I think it's the way a child is brought up that makes him what he is. For that reason, it seemed vital to get him away from his grandparents' influence before it was too late."
"I know it's too late for apologies," Lynne said, "but I wish I'd known. I might have been of more help. I could so easily have ruined everything for you, and I would have if the papers hadn't been signed in time."
"You have nothing to apologize for. I should have been more open with you. It was stiff-necked pride-not wanting to admit what kind of family my brother had married into. Until Justine spread her poison, you did everything you could to help. I couldn't have gotten anywhere without you."
The telephone shrilled and Lynne jumped.
"That must be Darren," Jason said guiltily. "I'd forgotten all about him. I promised to call the minute we got back with Tonio."
He picked up the receiver. "Yes, Darren. Everything's all right. No, we weren't out celebrating." His eyes met Lynne's and he grimaced. "It's a long story and I don't want to go into the details but there was a fire at the villa. We're all safe. Is Maddy with you? Yes, you can assure her we're all safe and Tonio's with us. And tell her she can take tomorrow morning off. Tell her it's a reward for always having my best interests at heart." His lips twisted slightly with amusement as he hung up.
"She's been so sweet to me," Lynne said.
His eyebrows rose in surprise. "Maddy? Sweet? She has a dozen good qualities, but sweet? You must have seen a very different side of her than the one I've seen."
"But she is. Oh, I'll admit she scared me to death that first day. I'd never seen anyone so cool and efficient, as if she knew exactly what she was doing every minute and had no doubts about it being right. But then, just as she put me in the car to go out to Long-ridge, she gave me a package and said it was a personal present from her. It was some perfume. That was certainly a sweet thing to do. She must have known I was scared and wanted to give me a little token—for courage." There was an odd glint in Jason's eyes. "As far back as that!"