Without ceremony, she handed him the gun. Micah’s expression acknowledged the gesture as at once simple and symbolic—her handing him her trust.
Removing the clip from the handgun, Micah faced Usher and indicated the man under the pile of metal rubble. “It would be in your best interests to get him out of town,” he said, wiping away all fingerprints from the weapon. “Send him back to wherever he came from before he went to work for Frank Gonnella.” He tossed
the gun to one corner of the room, the clip to the other.
The old man nodded. “He’ll be taken care of.”
That sounded like a threat to Angela.
Not wanting clarification on whether it really was, she let Micah push her out of the great room into the foyer.
One of Usher’s guards opened the front door. Micah’s rental car—a sedate-looking sedan—stood directly in front.
When they were both settled inside and on their way off the property, she said, “Nice wheels,” and wiggled her butt around in the seat. “And comfortable.”
“I’m glad you approve, since I’ll be driving it back
to Denver to pick up the Thunderbird.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “When are you leaving?”
she asked in a small voice, not believing that the man she loved was ready to drive straight out of her life and she didn’t have a clue as to how she could stop him.
“We have to get you a change of clothes first. I hate
to say it, but I’m sick of that dress. I don’t think I could
stand seeing you in it on another road trip.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “You’re suggesting I come with you? I’d be crossing the state line. Again.” Not that it much mattered at this point, after all the other laws she’d broken.
“I’m leaving this moment. Your father’s getting the
ball rolling to clear your name even as we speak.”
“Oh, my God, my father! Micah, I think he might have been having a heart attack—”
“Whoa. He’s fine. Trust me.”
Angela did. Implicitly. Still, he had some explaining left. She understood about his obligation to his father. But the rest of his past still bothered her. Never in her life had she thought she’d be involved with a criminal, not with all her hard-nosed views on the subject. And yet, despite his past—despite all the proof in the Thunderbird’s trunk—she had a difficult time believing he was the same man who’d lost three years of his life to the penal system.
She waited until they were well on their way to Las Vegas before asking, “Why didn’t you tell me you’d served time?”
“At the beginning, it was none of your business. Later, I knew how you felt about your father. I figured you’d turn on me, too.”
“And I did.”
“Because you found out for yourself. How did you, anyway?”
She winced. “I happened to get my hands on a computer.”
“Who ever would have classified a computer as a dangerous weapon?” he muttered. “I meant to tell you, Angel. I just waited too long.”
Pulse accelerating with the possibilities, she asked, “You are reformed, right?”
“You want me reformed?” He appeared shocked. “I thought you got off on excitement.”
“I’ve had enough for a long, long time.” Frowning, she stared at him as if she could climb inside his head. “What really happened, Micah?”
“Good intentions gone bad. My younger brother, Harry, wasn’t a bad kid, but he was always a little squirrelly. He got the idea Pop loved me more than him, so he figured out a way to get the old man’s attention. He was going to surprise Pop on a job, help him execute it. I figured it out and went after Harry to stop him.”
“And got caught.”
“What was I going to do, turn in a seventeen-yearold who had his whole life ahead of him?”
“You couldn’t have been much older.”
“Telling the truth wouldn’t guarantee I’d get off, anyway. So I served time. No big deal.”
“You’re wrong. I can’t think of a bigger deal.”
And if she hadn’t already fallen in love with him…
It hit her then. Another bond. His serving time for something he didn’t do—something she hoped wasn’t about to happen to her. His fast change of heart toward her made sense. Once Micah believed she was innocent, he hadn’t been able to help himself.
“One last thing,” she said, hating that she had to ask. “What about that stuff in your trunk?”
When he said, “The tools of my trade,” her heart fell. But his clarifying comment—”I’m a security expert”—made it soar. “I learned a lot from Pop, even if I chose not to follow in his footsteps. Not only do I install security systems, but companies hire me to see if I can break through theirs.”
Angela laughed so hard that tears came to her eyes. No wonder he’d been able to get into Mariscano’s house and computer. No wonder he was so enamored of gadgetry. As she laughed, she digested exactly how wrong she’d been about Micah. She’d been wrong about a lot of things, but it wasn’t too late to start making up for stupid mistakes.
“I’ve had a lot of time to think about my father over the past few days,” she said. “I want to get to know him before time runs out. I’ve been using my pride like that armor Usher collects. It got me through some really tough times. It’s just that I didn’t know when to let it go. I don’t want to be like that anymore.” Bitter. Isolated. “It won’t be easy, but I won’t let my pride stand in the way of my happiness any longer.”
Micah found her hand and encased it in his own in a firm show of solidarity. “That’s great. Tomas is crazy about you.”
“How did you get on a first-name basis with my father, anyway?”
“After things started going wrong, I got suspicious of the setup. So I called your father to find out how good a friend Otto Usher was to him. He set me straight.”
“Imagine your surprise.”
“Imagine. Tomas was instantly ready to send out the cavalry. I assured him I’d take good care of you.”
Warmth stole through her as she remembered how
well he’d carried through. “A man who keeps his promises.” Not to mention proof that her father did love her. “Do you have any major faults?”
“I’m sure you’ll find every one of them and tell me
about them, too,” Micah said ruefully. “You know, I’d
better call Tomas so he and your mother can stop worrying.”
The rental car was equipped with a cellular phone. Micah made the call and offered her a chance to talk to her father herself.
Angela shook her head and said, “I have a lot to say to him. In person.”
Micah signed off. “Does that clear up everything to your satisfaction?”
“Not quite.”
“What’s left?”
“How you feel about me…about us.”
“Should I have ridden into the fortress on a white horse?”
“I got the drift,” she admitted. “I just want to hear you say the words.”
Micah slowed the car and pulled over to the side of the road. He cut the engine and slid closer, so that his magnetic heat surrounded her.
Rubbing knuckles softly against her cheek, he murmured, “I love you, Dragonlady.”
“I thought I was an Angel,” she complained, her pulse already racing.
“That’s before you were willing to let your exboyfriend work me over.”
“Ever hear of tough love?”
Their gazes locked and Angela was so happy she feared her heart might burst right out of her chest. Micah ran his hand around her cheek to the back of her head. Tangling his fingers in her hair, he pulled her head closer with tantalizing slowness. Then he kissed her. Erotically. Deeply. Stirring her desire for him. More important, her emotions. She’d never felt so close to any human being before. She never wanted the joyful connection to end.
So when Micah released her mouth
and pressed his forehead to hers, she whispered, “I love you, too. So what do we do about it?”
He pulled back to look into her eyes. “You want to do something?”
“You doubt it?”
“I wasn’t sure I was high-powered enough for you.”
Knowing he meant his line of work compared to hers, she purposely misunderstood. “You may be equipped with a little more power than I can handle.”
“Good.” He grinned. “That’ll give me an edge over you.”
About to give him a tart reply, Angela stopped herself. Always competitive, she didn’t think that would change. But the drive to win every battle was fading. She didn’t always have to be first to be satisfied.
“But I’m here and you’re there,” she reminded Micah of their homes. “And don’t say long-distance relationships can work, not when one of us is afraid of flying.”
“Who says I’m going to let you out of my sight? Unless I miss my guess, Las Vegas businesses can probably give me more work than I can handle. And considering Usher’s threat, I’ll feel better being closer to Pop while he’s serving out his sentence. You need to be here, too, so that you can work things out with Tomas. Only one thing bothers me. I know you’re in the business and all, but do you really have to wear a traditional wedding gown?”
“Are you asking me to marry you?”
“What have we been talking about here?”
Though she hadn’t been sure, she didn’t hesitate. “Yes!”
“Yes?”
“I’ll marry you. And if you’re so sick of what’s left
of this gown—” she gave him an ingenuous look “—you can always take it off.”
“Deal,” he murmured, his mouth covering hers, his fingers finding the zipper.
Angela settled against Micah, content to let the man she loved take the lead.
This time.
Epilogue
“So they lived happily ever after?” Alex asked when Zoe finished her story and closed the folder on the last of her newspaper headlines: Dragon Framed, Now Freed
Having had a more difficult time reading Alex Gotham’s response to the project than she liked, Zoe asked, “You don’t care for happy endings?”
“I just don’t much believe in them.”
Zoe had dealt with more personal disillusionments in her life than she cared to remember, but this might prove to be her biggest professional disappointment. She’d been so certain Alex was right for the project merely from reading his prior work. And now, having met him, she’d sensed a depth in him that convinced her any collaborative effort between them would shine.
She forced a philosophical smile to her lips. “Then writing this book doesn’t interest you.”
“Wrong. I am very interested.”
“Enough to put your own prejudices aside?”
“Impossible. But as a writer, I’m also open to other points of view.”
“Welcome on board, then.”
Standing, she offered Alex her hand. Uncertain exactly where this journey might take them, she surmised it would be a fascinating ride.
eISBN 978-14592-6855-5
BEFORE THE FALL
Copyright © 1997 by Patricia Pinianski
All rights reserved Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills. Ontano, Canada M3B 3K9
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
Printed in U.S.A.
Table of Contents
Cover Page
Table of Contents
Excerpt
Dear Reader
Dedication
Cast Of Characters
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Epilogue
Copyright
Before The Fall Page 21