Carpathian 00 - The Scarletti Curse

the don were the only two people in existence. He was watching her closely, his mind in hers. She felt him there. He was waiting in silence for her to condemn him.
    Unbidden came the image of his scraped knuckles, the incriminating droplet of blood on his otherwise immaculate clothing. Nicoletta felt her heart pound uncomfortably. His gaze continued to bore straight into hers, and she couldn't turn away from him. She knew he was waiting for it, knew he expected her to denounce him. Don Scarletti, Il Demonio of the palazzo. The curse. The whispers. The rumors.
    Giovanni stood tall and straight, his black eyes fathomless, his features carefully expressionless. Nicoletta took a breath and let it out slowly. "Will you send your men to search the entire maze for him? Perhaps Cristano could not find his way out."
    He bowed slightly. "At once, piccola. And I will send them into the hills to see if the boy was injured on his way home," he added deliberately to remind her of the numerous other travelers who had fallen victim to wild animals, the terrain, or even to robbers. His voice was incredibly gentle. A warmth brushed at the walls of her mind so that she felt somewhat comforted.
    Nicoletta swallowed the hard knot in her throat. It was difficult to think straight with the don watching her so intently. She could feel Maria Pia's eyes on her now, as accusing as they had been on Don Scarletti.
    "You were the last person to see Cristano alive, Don Scarletti." Maria Pia said what Nicoletta would not. Her very tone was a declaration of his guilt.
    "We do not know that he is dead, Signorina Sigmora," Giovanni pointed out softly. His voice held a thread of menace, as if his patience was fast wearing thin. "If the young man met his demise in the maze, the scavengers would be present overhead."
    Relief swept through Nicoletta. "That is true, Maria Pia," she said. But a terrible dread was creeping into her mind and heart and soul like a dark shadow. She would know if someone was hurt, would she not?
    She always knew.
    Maria Pia faced the don bravely. "The wedding should be postponed until the young man is found," she challenged. If you are exonerated. The words were left unspoken, but they shimmered there in the room, as vividly as if Maria Pia had uttered them aloud in condemnation.
    The black eyes gleamed ominously. "Nothing will stop the wedding, Signorina Sigmora. Not you, not this errant young man. For all I know, he disappeared with every intention of bringing a halt to the wedding plans. We are to be married on the morrow." It was a decree, Giovanni's dark features implacable.
    For a moment Maria Pia looked mutinous, but the don's words seemed to sink in. She knew Cristano well. He had a childish temper and, if humiliated, could sulk for days. He was quite capable of disappearing to frighten the compassionate Nicoletta and thus get back at her for not marrying him as he had demanded. Still, she had the feeling that Nicoletta was in terrible danger, and she wanted desperately to drag her from the palazzo. Maria Pia looked at her young charge. "Mayhap I am worrying over nothing," she said softly, looking at the floor in defeat. Don Scarletti was not going to give up her beloved Nicoletta; she could see it in his masculine aggressiveness, his possessive posture each time he was near Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    the younger woman. Perhaps it was her fear for Nicoletta, living in such an environment, that had caused her to condemn the don so rashly.
    Giovanni reached out to capture Nicoletta's hand, taking it right out of Maria Pia's grasp. It was a blatant gesture, claiming her, branding Nicoletta as his own. He carried her fingers to the warmth of his mouth.
    His black gaze was locked on hers, and she had that strange feeling of falling forward, to be trapped for all eternity in the depths of his eyes. Time stood still. Her heart beat for him. She felt the rush of blood, of heat, of liquid fire.
    Don Scarletti released her reluctantly, his touch lingering for a moment before he glided away. "I have kept my visitor waiting far too long, and I must arrange for my men to begin the search for your young friend."
    Nicoletta stood rather dazed, as if in a trance, staring at the closed door after the don left the room.
    Maria Pia sighed heavily. "Do you believe him, Nicoletta? Really believe him? Because I am not certain I do. It is possible Cristano is hiding out in the hills. When he