Carpathian 00 - The Scarletti Curse

exact hideous room the child had been banished to.
    She ran along the corridor, waving to the maid she had taken the broom from earlier. The woman stopped working long enough to lift a hand in return, blushing when she noticed the two guards trailing behind Nicoletta.
    Sophie was facedown on the big bed, so small she could barely be seen among the covers. Nicoletta rushed to her and dragged her into her arms, rocking her while the child sobbed as if her heart were breaking. "I thought I killed you!" She hiccuped the words, her tears soaking Nicoletta's neck and face.
    "I am sorry, Nicoletta."
    "Bambina." Nicoletta hugged her even closer. "You did not do anything wrong. You did exactly what you should have done. Don Scarletti commanded you to open the door, and of course you must do as he says."
    Sophie lifted her head, looking forlorn. "I can never go out of this room again. Zio Gino and Papa told me never to go into the hidden passageway. They said it was dangerous. I have to stay here forever now.

    Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    I have to be punished." She wailed the last dramatically.
    Nicoletta's soft mouth curved. "Who told you to stay in your room?"
    "Zio Gino." Sophie looked as pathetic as possible.
    Nicoletta laughed softly. "Maria Pia shall stay with you, and I will go talk to your zio. Perhaps he will think you have been punished enough. But you must heed his warnings. I do not think i fantasmi guard the passageway, but certain traps in there can endanger your life. You must promise me you will never go in there again."
    Sophie nodded vigorously, willing to promise Nicoletta anything at all.
    "Dry your tears, bambina. I will get you out of your prison." She ruffled the child's hair and beckoned Maria Pia into the room to comfort Sophie while she was gone.
    Nicoletta hurried back along the hall, making a little face at the two guards who seemed so amused by her antics. "Wagering is sinful," she reminded them haughtily, but neither looked in the least repentant that she knew what they had been about. Instead, both openly grinned at her.
    Outside the don's study, she hesitated, her courage suddenly faltering. She was interrupting his work, intruding on his time. She was all at once unsure of herself. Don Scarletti had been more than kind to her, but he had a certain reputation, and Nicoletta wasn't blind to the fact that he was a powerful man. He had probably earned that reputation many times over. She bit her lip in an agony of indecision. She couldn't very well encourage Sophie to defy her uncle and leave her room without permission. Her bare foot tapped out a rhythm of nerves on the tiled floor. He had already been interrupted once, leaving his important visitor to rescue her from the passage.
    She glanced over her shoulder at the guards. They were whispering together, no doubt making another wager on what her actions would be. She rapped on the door quickly before she completely lost her nerve, glaring at the guards as she did so. The same soldier had to hand over his losses. She raised an eyebrow at him. "One would think you would have learned the first time."
    He burst out laughing. Giovanni opened the door to find Nicoletta sharing the merriment with her two guards. He sighed heavily and wrapped his palm around the nape of her neck as he moved out into the corridor, closing the door to his study behind him, obviously to afford his visitor privacy and anonymity.
    His thumbs tipped her face up to his. "Once again I find you without your chaperone, cara mia. Did you run away from Signorina Sigmora again? How is it you manage to elude her? She looks quite capable to me."
    That faint betraying shiver began again, from deep within her. She glanced at the guards. They were no help, moving away to give the don privacy in dealing with his errant bride-to-be. Giovanni urged her closer to the hard strength of his body. "You have misplaced your shoes again, I see. What is so urgent, piccola, that you would dare Il Demonio in his lair?" His thumb was feathering along the delicate line of her jaw to linger over her frantically beating pulse.
    Her dark eyes were enormous as she looked up at him. "I do not think of you as Il Demonio," she denied.
    He raised an elegant eyebrow at her. "Is that so?"

    Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    "I might have before I met you," she conceded reluctantly, unfailingly truthful.
    His eyes