Carpathian 00 - The Scarletti Curse

did not take it. The gown ripped when she stepped on the hem."
    Margerita shrieked and rushed at the woman, her face a mask of fury. She raised an arm, swinging wildly. Nicoletta stepped in front of the cowering maid, taking the blow, a hard slap that filled the air with a grotesque sound, full on her face. It seemed for a moment to Nicoletta as if it had all happened in slow motion, Margerita rushing forward, hand upraised, faint marks on her wrist, reminiscent of something, triggering a fleeting memory.
    A terrible roar spun the three women around to face the doorway. They all froze as they faced Giovanni Scarletti. His black eyes glittered with menace, his handsome face marked with dark cruelty. Behind him, Vincente and Antonello gaped at Margerita as if she had lost her mind. Giovanni was in such a rage, the room fairly crackled with it. He covered the short distance to Margerita in two gliding steps, like a stalking mountain lion.
    He caught her arm and flung her away from Nicoletta. "You will leave this house at once." He bit the words out between clenched teeth. "I do not care where you go or what you do, but you will never enter this house again."
    Margerita went so white, she looked a ghost. For the first time she looked young and vulnerable, a child who had overplayed her hand and now was at a loss as to how to remedy the situation.
    Nicoletta touched Giovanni's arm with gentle fingers. "We are all much too upset to make rash decisions.
    You, more than anyone, should know that. Margerita did not mean to strike me. She is little more than a Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    child, Giovanni."
    When the don continued to glare at Margerita with slashing eyes, Nicoletta's hand slid up to his jaw, a soft, tender caress, turning him to face her. "Please, Giovanni, you cannot send her away. She and I have not had a chance to become friends. It would be such a terrible start to our marriage." She whispered the words to him softly, her dark eyes eloquent, pleading.
    Don Scarletti stood quite still, his body rigid. Neither of the other brothers spoke. No one dared to breathe. At last he nodded abruptly.
    Nicoletta relaxed slightly, careful not to touch her stinging cheek. "Thank you, Margerita, for enlightening me to the fact that you would prefer not to have a personal maid. As we are short of staff at the moment, that will free Beatrice to help Maria Pia and Sophie. Beatrice, please tell Gostanz that it is my wish that you take a few days off—with pay, of course—and when you return, you will attend Maria Pia and young Sophie personally."
    Beatrice curtsied several times, carefully skirting around the don, slinking past his two brothers without looking at either of them, and rushing away.
    Giovanni took Nicoletta's hand in his, his black eyes as cold as ice as he stared at Margerita. "Had you been a man, you would be dead right now." He tugged Nicoletta beneath the protection of his shoulder and pushed past his brothers.
    "It does not hurt," Nicoletta offered softly as she walked with him down the hall.
    "I should not say that I wanted to strangle her with my bare hands, as that seems to be the Scarletti way, but I did," he admitted. "I wanted to choke the life out of her for striking you. Dio, Nicoletta, why can't you stay out of trouble?"
    Nicoletta flashed him a quick smile. "I told you it is a knack I have. Did you find Aljandro? Because I am certain he came here to kill you, not me."
    One dark eyebrow shot up. "How did you come to that conclusion? Did he speak to you?" His body was brushing against hers, warm and hard and solid. A comfort to her.
    Nicoletta winced at the question. She should have known he was going to ask. She sighed when he continued to look down at her, silently demanding an answer. "He said he was not the only one who wanted me dead."
    A muscle jerked along Giovanni's jaw; his eyes blazed with menace. Nicoletta hastily tightened her hold on his hand. "But that is not the point. I know things—you know I do. I think someone is trying to kill you. I think that whoever it is helped Aljandro to escape all those men searching for him. Someone poisoned the soup meant for you the night little Sophie ate it. And you and I both know that your cousin, Damian, was involved in a conspiracy against you. And now Aljandro."
    "It is not safe to pursue this, Nicoletta," he said sternly. "Forget that you ever saw Damian. Do not ask anymore questions. I know