Carpathian 00 - The Scarletti Curse

that my home, I promise to tell you."
    "Do not make light of it, Nicoletta," Maria Pia reprimanded.
    Nicoletta leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. "I am sorry. I wanted only to see you smile. It is beautiful today. I promise to meet you in the courtyard and take those little imps off your hands as soon as I am able."
    Maria Pia smiled in spite of herself. "You always find a way to get around me." She leaned close, glancing back toward the guards to make certain they weren't paying close attention. "I am sorry, piccola, but I must confess, something is not quite right. I pulled a chair in front of the passageway last night as you instructed, to make certain no one could enter the room while we slept. I also locked the outer door and removed the key. I did fall asleep, but then I awoke to a noise at the door." She lowered her voice even more. "I think someone was trying to get into the room."
    The smile faded from Nicoletta's face. Her heart seemed to stop. Color drained from her face. "You should have told me at once. I knew I should never have asked you to stay here. I knew it." She suddenly looked fierce. "No one is going to hurt you or Sophie. I will ask Giovanni to place guards at your door at night."
    Maria Pia regarded her with serious eyes. "It could be the don who seeks to harm us. We do not know, bambino." She tried to soften the suspicion with the endearment.
    "It is not Giovanni," Nicoletta denied. "I know it is not." Even to her own ears she sounded defiant rather than certain. She was lost in the erotic web he had woven around her, a spell of enchantment so strong she could not break free of him.
    "I hope you are right," Maria Pia said softly as she rose.
    Nicoletta didn't look at her, tapping her fingers on the tabletop as she considered her relationship with Giovanni. He was very gentle and tender with her, yet she could feel the fire raging in his blood, making him a darkly passionate man. He was secretive, meeting at all hours of the day and night with visitors whisked in and out of the palazzo before any other could see them. He protected these guests from prying eyes. Twice Nicoletta had observed Antonello hovering close but out of sight, as if he were hiding from his brother as well as the constant stream of visitors.
    Were they paid assassins? Giovanni had all but admitted to her that he eliminated threats to his people and lands as soon as he heard of them. Suddenly aware of the silence in the kitchen, Nicoletta stood up, smiling at Bernado. "An excellent meal, as always. I do not know what Don Scarletti would do without you, signore. Is there anything you need? I will see that you get it." She made the offer in the hope it was true. Giovanni did seem to cater to her whims. He often smiled at her with great amusement, but he indulged her.
    Bernado bowed low. "Don Giovanni has already spoken to me this morn, Donna Nicoletta. Grazie!
    Grazie! I gave him a list, and he has said it will be done. You are truly an angel."
    Nicoletta laughed softly and shook her head. "You have not asked the opinion of my guards, Bernado. I fear they would not agree with you."
    The two men shook their heads at her nonsense and followed her out of the room, as silent as ever. Her Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    shadows. Nicoletta sighed as she walked along the corridor toward Maria Pia's bedchamber. She wanted to examine it and then the room where Sophie had been so ill. What was it about the two rooms that nagged at her? She was used to wide-open spaces, used to freedom, not being watched every minute of the day and night. Something deep inside her was rising up in rebellion, and the strength of it was frightening.
    A dark shadow passed through her as she neared a room on the lower floor, one she had never explored. She slowed, her feet turning almost automatically, and the shadow lengthened and grew inside her. The door was ajar, and she peeked in. The room was a study of some kind, with books and paintings from floor to ceiling. She had never seen such riches. Nicoletta opened the door farther to see the woman who had drawn her there.
    The same maid she had borrowed the broom from was attempting to dust, but she couldn't reach the spot she was trying to clean. Nicoletta could hear her muffled moans of pain as she worked to raise her arm. Very softly, Nicoletta closed the door on the two guards and went to the woman.
    "You are hurt," she said. "I am a healer. Perhaps I