Genuine Lies

the first time I’ve seen you in action, champ.” He pulled her up against him and just held on. “Bloody amazon. Remind me not to tick you off.”
    Julia sucked in air and felt it burn her ravaged throat. “She had a gun.”
    “It’s okay.” His hold on her tightened spasmodically. “I’ve got it now. Let’s get you inside.”
    “I’ll take her.” Grim-faced, Travers swooped down on Julia with a huge bath towel. “You watch that one. You come with me now.” She wrapped her big arm around Julia’s waist. “I’m going to get you some dry clothes and fix you a nice cup of tea.”
    Paul wiped the water from his face and watched Travers lead Eve’s daughter into the house. Then he rose to see to Charlie’s.
    •   •   •
    Swathed in one of Eve’s flowing silk robes, bolstered by tea spiked with brandy, Julia rested against the pile of pillows Travers had plumped around her.
    “I haven’t felt so pampered since I was twelve and broke my wrist roller skating.”
    “It helps Travers deal with the guilt.” Paul stopped pacing to light a cigar.
    “She doesn’t have anything to feel guilty about. She believed I’d done it. Christ, there were moments I almost believed it myself.” She shifted, winced.
    “You should let me call the doctor, Jules.”
    “The paramedics already cleared me,” she reminded him. “Scratches and bruises.”
    “And a gunshot wound.”
    She glanced down at her arm where it was bandaged just above the elbow. “Gosh, Rocky, it’s just a scratch.” When he didn’t smile, she reached out her hand. “Really, Paul, it’s a graze, just like in the movies. The little bite she landed on my shoulder hurts worse.” Grimacing, she touched it gingerly. “I just want to stay right here, with you.”
    “Shove up,” he ordered, sitting by her hip when she made room. He took her hand between both of his, then brought it to his lips. “You sure know how to scare the life out of a man, Jules. When I heard that gunshot, I lost five years.”
    “If you kiss me, I’ll do my best to give them back to you.”
    He bent down to her, intending to keep the kiss light. But she wrapped her arms around him, drew him in. With a low sound of desperation he hauled her against him and poured all of his needs, his gratitude, his promises into that one meeting of lips.
    “Hate to interrupt,” Frank said from the doorway.
    Paul didn’t glance around, but brushed his mouth over the scratches on Julia’s cheeks. “Then don’t.”
    “Sorry, pal, it’s official. Miss Summers, I’m here to inform you that all charges against you have been dropped.”
    Paul felt her shudder. Her hand had fisted against his shirt as he looked up at Frank. “Sure, after she collared the killer for you.”
    “Shut up, Winthrop. And to offer an official apology for the ordeal you’ve experienced. Can I have one of those sandwiches? I’m starved.”
    Paul glanced at the plate of cold cuts Travers had left on the table. “Take it to go.”
    “No, Paul.” Julia pushed him away far enough to sit up. “I need to know why. I have to know what she meant by some of the things she said. She’s talked to you, hasn’t she?”
    “Yeah, she talked.” Frank bent over to build a huge sandwich of chilled ham, salami, chicken breast, topped with three cheeses and thick slices of beefsteak tomatoes. “She knew we had her. Got anything to drink with this?”
    “Try the bar,” Paul told him.
    Impatient, Julia got up to fetch him a soft drink herself. “When she talked about killing me, she said she’d make it quick. That she’d been taught by the best. Do you know who she meant?”
    Frank took the bottle she offered and nodded. “Michael Delrickio.”
    “Delrickio? Nina was involved with Delrickio?”
    “That’s how Eve met her,” Paul said. “Sit down. I’ll tell you what Travers told me.”
    “I think I’d better.” Unconsciously she took the chair under Eve’s portrait.
    “It seems Nina’s background wasn’t quite what she’d led you to believe. It hadn’t been poor, but it had been abusive. Her father had left her mother a sizable bequest. But it wasn’t enough to buy off hate. Nina’s mother took out that hate on the child—physically, emotionally. And there was a stepfather for a while. All of that was true. What she left out was the fact that her mother tried to poison her against Eve, telling Nina how she’d betrayed Charlie, caused his death. When Nina left home at sixteen, she