The Reef

speeded things up.”
    “Yeah. I could practically see ‘X’ marking the spot. I knew I’d have it, and him. Then you . . .” He reached out to touch her face. “Then you tipped the scales. You can’t imagine how shocked I was to realize I was still in love with you. To know that the only thing inside me that had changed where you were concerned was that there was more.”
    “Yes, I can,” she said quietly. “I can imagine that perfectly.”
    “Maybe you can.” He took her hand, brought it to his lips. “I wasn’t going to let that stop me though. I couldn’t let it stop what had started sixteen years ago. Even when you put the amulet in my hand, I wasn’t going to let it stop me. I told myself you loved me, you’d understand and come to accept what I had to do. You’d try to understand, but you’d have to live with it.”
    Watching her face, he linked his fingers with hers. “If I killed him, he’d always be between us. I realized that more than anything else, I want a life with you. The rest just doesn’t come close.”
    “I love you so much.”
    “I know. I want to keep it that way. You can call the Smithsonian, or one of your committees.”
    “You’re sure?” she began.
    “I’m sure it’s what’s best for us. What’s right for us. The amulet’s going into a vault for safekeeping until we get that museum off the ground. Make sure whoever you call hits the media hard. I want it to be worldwide news.”
    “A publicity safety net.”
    “It’ll be tough for him to get around it. Meanwhile, I’m going to arrange to meet him.”
    Panic grabbed her by the throat. “You can’t. God, Matthew, he’s already tried to have you killed.”
    “It has to be done. This time it’ll be VanDyke who’ll have to back down and sail away. A dozen news agencies will be sending reporters out here. The scientific worldwill be buzzing with the discovery. He’ll know the amulet is out of his reach. There’ll be nothing he can do.”
    “It sounds reasonable, Matthew. But he’s not a reasonable man. I wasn’t exaggerating before. He’s not completely sane.”
    “He’s sane enough not to risk his reputation, his position.”
    She wished she could be so sure of that. “He kidnapped me. We can have him arrested.”
    “How are you going to prove it? Too many people saw you go with him, without a struggle. The only way to end it is to face him, to make him see he’s lost.”
    “And if he doesn’t see, doesn’t accept?”
    “I’ll make him.” He smiled again. “When are you going to trust me, Red?”
    “I do. Promise me you won’t meet him alone.”
    “Do I look stupid? I said I wanted a life with you. He’s going to be meeting me, along with a couple of my pals, in the hotel lobby. We’ll have drinks, a nice quiet chat.”
    She gave a quick shudder. “That sounds too much like him.”
    “Whatever it takes.” He kissed her brow. “After tomorrow, we’re finished with him.”
    “And then?”
    “And then I guess we’re going to be pretty busy for a while, putting this museum together. There’s a piece of land at Cades Bay that ought to do.”
    “Land? How do you know?”
    “I checked it out the other day.” His eyes heated again as he stroked her bruised cheek. “If I hadn’t gone off to hunt up a realtor, VanDyke would never have gotten near you.”
    “Hold on. You found a realtor and went out to look at land without telling me?”
    Sensing trouble, he shifted back. “It’s not like you’re committed to it. I just put a deposit on it to hold it for thirty days. I thought it would be like a wedding present.”
    “You thought you would buy the land for the museum as a wedding present?”
    Irritated, he jammed his hands in his pockets. “Youdon’t have to take it. It was just an impulse so—” She moved so fast he didn’t have time to yank his hands free and brace himself before she tumbled him onto the bed. “Hey.”
    “I love you.” Straddling him, she rained kisses over his face. “No, I adore you.”
    “That’s good.” Pleased, if baffled, he pried his hands loose and cupped them comfortably over her hips. “I thought you were mad.”
    “I’m mad about you, Lassiter.” Bracing his hands on either side of his head she lowered to cover his mouth with hers in a deep, dreamy kiss that turned his brain to mush. “You did this for me,” she murmured. “You don’t even care about a museum.”
    “I don’t have anything against it.” His hands