Gift of Fire

beautiful.”
    “They weren’t very expensive,” Jonas said uneasily. “Are you sure those are the ones you liked?” His gaze was very intent as he watched her delighted expression.
    “Definitely. I love them. Thank you, Jonas.” Verity stood on tiptoe and managed to brush his cheek with her lips even though the sacks they were carrying got in the way.
    “I’m touched, really touched. It was so sweet of you to remember them this morning.”
    “I don’t know about the color of those earrings,” Jonas remarked as they resumed walking toward the marina. “I still think you’d look better with something that matched your eyes.”
    “These are the ones I want.” She stowed the package safely in her pocket. She couldn’t wait to put them on. “They’re just right.”
    “In that case,” Jonas said softly, “consider them an engagement gift.”
    Verity snapped her head around to stare at his rock-hard profile. “You can’t do that.”
    “Can’t do what?” he asked innocently.
    “You can’t give a gift with…with strings like that attached.”
    “Verity,” he said wearily, “you’re old enough to know there are strings attached to everything in life. And you’re smart enough to realize that I’ll put strings on you any way I can. You want the earrings?”
    “You know I want the earrings,” she muttered, clutching the small box. She wanted them very badly, more than she had realized when she’d first spotted them in the window. The earrings were hers, they belonged to her. She was certain of it.
    “Then you keep them and the strings that come with them.”
    “I don’t have to accept them on your terms.”
    “You don’t have any choice. And I’d appreciate it if you’d stop whining. Whining women are extremely annoying.”
    “I’ll whine as much as I like. Pregnant women are entitled to whine.” As a snappy come-back, that lacked something, but Verity was unable to think of anything else. She definitely did not intend to return the earrings. Jonas could put all the imaginary strings he liked on his gift. She didn’t have to accept them along with the jewelry.
    “That’s one of the things I like about you, sweetheart. You always go down fighting.”
    “Don’t push your luck, Quarrel.”
    “It’s not luck I’m pushing. It’s you.”
     
    Forty minutes after leaving the marina, Jonas docked the launch in the cove below the villa. The squall line from the approaching storm dogged their heels as he and Verity climbed the path to the old fortress. Doug Warwick met them at the door.
    “Glad you made it in ahead of the storm,” he said as he took the packages out of Verity’s arms. “Otherwise you would have been stranded in town until tomorrow. I’d rather not lose any more time than necessary this week. Find out anything interesting from your contacts?”
    Much to Verity’s relief, Jonas did not take noticeable offense at Doug’s comment about wasting time. “Just straightened out a few details,” he replied easily, his eyes on Verity. “How are things going here?”
    “I think acute boredom is setting in.” Doug grimaced. “I wish to hell Elyssa hadn’t invited Crump, Spencer, and Yarwood. We’ve all been stuck inside since yesterday because of the rain, and I think we’re starting to get on each other’s nerves. Spencer keeps trying to bait Yarwood, and Yarwood and Elyssa seem to be feuding. Crump just reads articles about herbal remedies or wanders around the halls. I think that guy’s a little strange, if you want to know the truth. He makes me nervous. I’ll be glad when this week is over. What’s the next phase of the big treasure hunt?”
    “The west wing, I think,” Jonas said, slipping into his academic voice as he discoursed on Leonardo da Vinci’s influence on Milanese architecture and described how traces of it could be seen in the west wing of the villa.
    “I didn’t know that Leonardo da Vinci actually built anything,” Verity interrupted in surprise.
    Jonas glared at her with fine academic condescension. “As far as we know, he didn’t. But he did a series of theoretical drawings that influenced Bramante and others.”
    “Oh, I see.” Chastened by his authoritative tone, Verity started toward the stairs. When she glanced back over her shoulder she saw a suspicious glint of amused satisfaction in Jonas’s eyes. The man was not above using the academic put-down when he wanted to dominate a situation, Verity discovered.
    The upstairs