Carpathian 10 - Dark Symphony

I'm really looking forward to it."
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    9/13/2007

    Dark Symphony
    Page 101 of 188
    He groaned deliberately to make her laugh. "You just want to make me squirm."
    "Well, there's that, too."
    "Do you think it will help Tasha to remember I was not found under a rock?" There was wealth of amusement in his voice.
    She tipped her head back as if she could see him through her dark glasses. "You honestly don't care whether she likes you or not, do you?"
    "Not particularly. I have never cared one way or the other. Does it change who or what I am? My honor demands a certain code of behavior. I cannot change it for someone else."
    "Can you really read minds? Literally? I have ideas, like a thought or image in my head, and I know I'm picking it up from someone else, but I can't read minds," Antonietta admitted in a burst of confidence when she was normally very discreet about her unusual gifts.
    He laced his fingers through hers and brought her hand up to his mouth, nibbling on her fingers. "Sit down with me a moment in the solarium. After all the screaming, I could use peace before the captain arrives."
    She went with him, intrigued by the idea he might be able to read other minds. They were connected, she accepted that, but it seemed different that he might be able to hear the thoughts of others. "Is that what you do," she asked curiously, "do you hear their thoughts?"
    "I have the ability to scan minds." He held the door courteously, eager to be alone with her. He needed to be alone with her. "It is not so easy in this particular region or with your family as with most. You have built-in barriers, some more than others. I suspect it is due to your bloodlines. Mar-ita is easy enough. I picked up the image of a man. She was obviously on her way to meet him."
    "That can't be," Antonietta denied again. "I'm telling you, Byron, she loves Franco, almost to the point of obsession. She would never do anything to lose him. She loves being a Scarletti almost as much as she adores Franco. She would never have an affair. Is that what you're implying? I will never believe it of her."
    "And why is amour the only reason for a woman to meet a man clandestinely?"
    Antonietta allowed him to seat her in the deep, comfortable chair facing the waterfall.
    She loved the chair not for its comfort but because she could feel the spray of droplets on her face. "You're right; of course it had nothing to do with an affair. It could have been any number of reasons."
    "She was meeting a man, Antonietta, and she was going to deliver a package to him. For all I know, it was the gentleman found with his throat torn out."
    Antonietta shivered. Byron sounded so matter-of-fact, even when discussing infidelity or brutal death. His fingers on her nape were soothing, gentle, tender even. "I highly doubt Marita was going to meet a man for any purpose. What package? You never said a word about a package." Celt pushed his nose into her palm, and Antonietta obediently scratched his silky ears.
    "In all the excitement, Marita forgot she was carrying a package, but I am willing to bet she will remember when her head clears of fear and distaste. She did not want anyone to see.
    That was very important to her."
    "I don't like this. I feel in the middle of a great conspiracy. I have no idea what's going on around me, or even why."
    "I just happened to pick up the package when Marita swooned."
    "She swooned? She is very good at that. Tasha is jealous and wants to be able to drop gracefully to the floor at a moment's notice. I doubt if anything is capable of making me swoon."
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    9/13/2007

    Dark Symphony
    Page 102 of 188
    He leaned into her, kissed her hard, possessively. "I can make you swoon if you wish it."
    She loved the way he sounded. Mischievous. Laughter in his mind. In his heart. He had a way of making her world right again. "I seriously doubt it."
    "I will take that as a challenge."
    "Did you open the package?" She had to ignore him. It was the only sensible thing to do when little flames licked over her skin at the heat in his voice.
    "I waited for you." He pulled the brown wrapper from