“So she cursed you,” Karen mused, staring up at the lights above the door. “My grandmother has this neighbor who goes to a psychic healer and she’d probably be able to break the curse. Would you like me to call her?”
Alec smiled politely. “I think I can take care of this myself.”
Getting into a cab was tricky, but after a few stumbles, he was comfortably seated. Only then did he realize he was sitting in a familiar backseat. Photographs lined the interior of the cab and Mario Capelli’s face stared back at him from the rearview mirror. “Ruta’s?” he asked.
Alec didn’t even want to consider the sheer luck it took for him to get inside Capelli’s cab for a second time. He could only take comfort in the fact that he was relatively safe considering Capelli and Ruta were friends. “Yeah, Ruta’s,” Alec replied.
“She’s not home. I took her to New Jersey this morning. She’s doing a brunch for a family reunion. She’s very popular as party entertainment.”
“I’m not interested in seeing Ruta. I have business with her granddaughter, Sabina.”
Mario’s grin grew wider. “Now, there’s a beautiful girl.”
“Beautiful, but dangerous,” Alec muttered. “Very, very dangerous.”
“Ah, but what woman isn’t? When they have the ability to steal your heart away, it’s a frightening thing. But once it happens, you realize that it’s better off in their keeping.”
“That’s a pretty sappy sentiment,” Alec said.
“I believe in romance. I believe that for every single guy, there’s a gal out there waiting to be needed. And for every gal, there’s a guy waiting to be saved. Look around you. I know what I’m talking about.”
Alec scanned the photos, the smiling faces of at least a hundred couples, young and old. “And you think Sabina and I are one of those couples?” He chuckled as he held up his hand in protest. “She cursed me. In the past week, my life has gone straight to hell and she’s the cause.”
“I never said it was going to be easy,” Mario replied.
As the cab headed downtown, Alec leaned back and closed his eyes. No, it wasn’t easy. The entire thing had been confusing and frustrating. But it had also been exhilarating and crazy. It had been seven days since he’d last seen Sabina, and he’d spent almost every waking hour thinking about her, wondering what she was doing and where she was going. He’d looked for her face on the street every morning on his way to work. He’d visited her favorite coffee shop, hoping that they might run into each other.
Hell, their relationship had begun and ended in a twenty-four-hour span, yet Alec felt as if he’d known her so much longer. In the past, women had come and gone without much fanfare or fuss. He’d preferred to keep his social life uncomplicated. But Sabina had been nothing but trouble.
Maybe that’s what he found so intriguing. With any other woman, he would have walked way. But there was something undeniable about his attraction to her. She was worth the trouble-or at least she had been until she’d cursed him.
Alec lost himself in a lazy replay of the time they’d spent together, rewinding their encounter in his kitchen over and over again. If he hadn’t decided to suddenly grow a conscience, they may have ended up in bed. Even now, the thought of losing himself in that beautiful body sent a wave of heat pulsing through his veins. Whatever relationship he had with Sabina Amanar might be over. But he preferred to believe that it was just beginning.
“Here we are,” Mario said.
Alec was surprised at how quickly the cab ride passed. Either Capelli was a terrific cabbie or Alec had been caught in a long daydream. He grabbed a twenty out of his wallet and handed it to the cabbie. “This may be over pretty quick. Wait ten minutes and if I don’t come out, you can leave.”
“Sure thing,” Mario said.
Alec grabbed his briefcase and crawled out of the cab, but without Karen’s help there was no way to carry it. Instead, he kicked it along in front of him, the rough sidewalk scratching the Italian leather.
The bell jangled as he stumbled inside, the briefcase making an entrance before he did. But he didn’t find Sabina behind the counter. Instead, he found the same salesgirl, her hair now streaked with blue. Alec drew a deep breath and balanced himself on the crutches. “Where is she?”
Chloe pointed up. “Second floor, apartment 2B. You can use the stairs. They’re right through that bead curtain.”
“Stairs,” Alec muttered as he moved to the back of the shop. It took him nearly five minutes to navigate the doors and stairs up to the second floor, throwing his briefcase from landing to landing, the air stuffy and warm. By the time he got to 2B, he was exhausted.
Alec reached up and banged on her apartment door, but the sudden motion caused him to sway on the crutches. He tried to catch himself, but there was nothing to grab on to, and a few seconds later, he was sprawled on the floor. The door opened and he looked up to find Sabina staring at him, wide-eyed.
“I want you to remove the curse,” he said, attempting to keep calm. “I’m willing to pay whatever you want. Just reverse it. Make it go away.”
“What happened to you?”
“Do you really need to ask?” Alec shook his head. “Per your orders to the spirit world, I fell in a hole and broke my leg.” His gaze fixed on hers and he couldn’t deny the joy he felt in seeing her again. She really was extraordinarily beautiful, even with her brow furrowed in concern.
“It’s broken?” Sabina asked.
“Severely sprained,” he admitted. “On top of that, two of my biggest deals went south this week and last night I had a dream that I married my eighth-grade science teacher…who happened to be a fifty-year-old man.” He shuddered. “So just do whatever it is you Gypsies do and get rid of the curse.”
Sabina bent down and helped him to his feet, but the moment Alec tried to straighten a dagger of pain shot through his lower back. He sucked in a deep breath and winced. “I-I don’t think I can move. My back is out.” He tossed the crutches aside. “I just need to lie down for a moment.”
Sabina wrapped his arm around her shoulders and helped him inside. He expected her to lead him to the sofa, but instead she took him to her bedroom. “Lie down,” she said.
“Here?”
“No, underneath the bed,” Sabina said. “I’ll go get you something for the pain. I think I have some arsenic around here somewhere.”
“I’m not taking anything that isn’t in a clearly labeled bottle,” Alec called. “I don’t trust you.” He leaned back into the pillows and surveyed his surroundings.
Sabina’s apartment had all the charm of a turn-of-the-century building, coved ceilings and built-in cabinets. She even had a fireplace in the living room. Compared to his overdecorated house, her place seemed homey and comfortable…lived-in. Everywhere he looked he saw bits and pieces of the woman she was-a pretty pillow embroidered with a bunch of violets, a jeweled egg, an old photo of a beautiful woman surrounded by an antique frame.
These were her things, yet he had no idea what they meant to her. He wanted to find out. Alec wanted to know every little detail of her life before him, the dreams she’d had and the disappointments she’d suffered. He’d never be completely satisfied until he knew it all.
Groaning softly, he stretched his hands over his head, trying to work the kinks out of his back. There had to be a way to parlay a momentary twinge into a full night of spasms. Alec was exactly where he’d always hoped to be-in her bedroom. And he had no intention of leaving anytime soon.
CHAPTER FOUR
SABINA STOOD IN THE hallway outside her grandmother’s apartment, wringing her hands and glancing over her shoulder. “I-I don’t know what to do,” she whispered. “This was my first curse. I never thought it would work.”