Antonietta stood in silence and darkness while he retrieved her slacks. She jumped when his hand slipped between her legs, his finger pushing inside of her.
I want to be alone with you,cara mia
. I hate that we can never be alone. His finger stroked deep. Her highly sensitized feminine muscles convulsed around him. She clung to him while her body went up in flames again.
Byron’s hair brushed her face as he leaned close to help her into her slacks.
You are my lifemate, always in my care.
He was fully clothed.
I don’t think I can breathe. Carry me upstairs. Let’s run away together.
His mouth settled over hers, a long, leisurely kiss.
“What in the world is this?” Tasha picked up the package lying in the middle of the floor. There was a smear of blood on the brown wrapper.
I fear it is too late, my love.
Byron moved them so that they appeared together, walking around a giant potted palm, hands linked. Tasha found the package, and we need to know what is inside of it. We must reveal ourselves.
Antonietta tried to appear calm and cool and not at all as if she’d been having wild sex only moments earlier. Laughter was bubbling up, a very unlike Antonietta characteristic. She hardly recognized herself anymore.
“
Grazie
, Tasha.” Byron took the package right out of her hands and gave it to Antonietta. “I was not certain where we left that. Good evening, Captain Vantilla.” Byron bowed low at the waist.
“Signer Justicano, its good you were there to rescue Signora Scarletti.”
Tasha made a sound of annoyance. “Diego, didn’t you listen to a single word I said? What were you doing wandering the grove so late at night, Byron?”
“Tasha, you go too far,” Antonietta said quietly. “I want you to stop. There is more at stake here than your petty jealousies.”
Tasha’s breath hissed out. “Call it what you will. That man is dangerous, and I refuse to allow you get involved with him.”
Byron studied her scarlet face. She was humiliated in front of the captain, yet she persisted in spite of Antonietta’s warning. It seemed at odds with her sense of self-preservation.
Could she really be afraid for you? You’re the one who reads minds. She would know. If I push beyond her barriers, she would know I was there. I am uncertain if I could fog her memory enough to make it worthwhile. Who knows why Tasha does and says the things she does?
Antonietta sounded weary enough that Byron swept his arm around her and dragged her to him, giving her shelter against the steady rhythm of his heart.
“You do not seemed surprised, Captain,” Byron said. “Is this the first kill? You must tell us what you know.”
The captain pushed his hand through his hair, a clear sign of agitation. “This is not the first person killed in this way.”
“Do you mean to say you’ve known of this creature, and you didn’t warn everyone?” Antonietta was outraged.
“It has been in the newspapers, signorina. We brought in the best trackers we could find. The cat has not been found.”
“In the meantime, my cousin’s wife could have been killed. That’s completely unacceptable.” There was a soft whip in Antonietta’s voice. “I have employees who walk from the city to my home daily. I don’t want to lose any of them to such a hideous fate as a wild animal killing them.”
“It doesn’t bear thinking about,” Tasha contributed with a shudder. “Marita had blood all over her. No wonder she collapsed.”
“No one should be walking around alone at night.” The captain pinned Tasha with a steely eye. “There is no reason to be in the grove until this animal is found. I believe the gentleman we found is most certainly one of your grounds-keepers. Signor Franco Scarletti identified him.”
“Oh, no.” Antonietta’s fingers curled around Byron’s, hung on tight. “One of ours? We must hire security to escort our people back to their houses until this creature is caught.”
“And this has been going on for some time?” Byron prompted, his voice a compulsion for truth.
“Unfortunately, yes. In other areas for some time. Our first discovery was a young woman’s body by the sea with her throat torn out. We have plaster of the paw prints. It was identified as a jaguar, a rather large one. The general belief at the time was that someone had one of these cats as a pet, and it either escaped or, like so many others when the laws went into effect against exotic pets, it was dumped in the middle of the night.”
Tasha sank into a chair. “Our grounds are extensive, the wildest country around, and little Vincente and Margurite play all the time in the maze. They were in such danger, and we never knew.”
Diego put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I have three children at home. Madre mia takes care of them, and she is old and frail. I’ve given orders that they remain indoors, but the two oldest get away from her. I worry myself. I do know how you feel. The killings have been far between in a range of well over a hundred miles. We didn’t put it together until several months ago.”
“When did this start around here, Diego?” Tasha asked.
“The first body was found in our area nearly two years ago. We searched, of course, but nothing was found. There were two bodies found prior to that one, but it was thought they were dead and wild animals got to them. It took us awhile to put it together that one cat might be actually preying on humans.”
“And what does your wife say to this? Why does she not stay with your children?” Tasha asked.
The question was unexpected, and Diego answered truthfully before he could stop himself. “My wife did not want our children or a policeman for a spouse. She left after the bambina was born and does not want to see any of them again.” It was a painful moment for him, humiliation and anger shimmering in his dark eyes.
“Poor little bambini, abandoned and unwanted,” Tasha said softly.
“I want them,” Diego said adamantly. “They do not need a woman who will not love them.”
“What is it?” It was one of the few things about being blind that made Antonietta crazy. She always had to wait for identification.
“I am sorry,
cara mia
, it is sheets of music.”
Antonietta sucked in her breath. Finally, they were in the privacy of her sitting room with the doors firmly locked. Tasha had settled in for the evening to entertain the captain, and with all the other duties, Antonietta thought she would never be alone with Byron. Curiosity was slowly killing her. That, and wanting to be alone with him.
“My music? She was taking my music out of our home to give to someone else?” Antonietta’s body didn’t feel her own. Feverish. Needy. Incomplete. She moved away from Byron to keep him from noticing.
“No. It is not yours. This music is very old. I am afraid to touch it. It could crumble in my fingers.”
Antonietta went very still. Her hand went to her throat. “I know what it is. How did Marita get her hands on that? It’s kept locked in Don Giovanni’s private safe. No one but Don Giovanni has the code. At least they shouldn’t, and believe me,
Nonno
would never give away such a treasure. The existence of that composition is not even known outside our immediate family.”
Byron leaned back in his chair and stretched his legs toward the leaping flames in the fireplace. “It is very valuable?”
“Oh, yes, it’s valuable. It is genuine, the original work of the composer George Frideric Handel. As a young man, he visited Italy, and of course, he was a frequent guest here at the palazzo. Even then the Scarletti family had power and wealth and was interested in music, and he was an exceptional talent. No artist would turn down such an invitation. He stayed on and off during the three or four years he was in Italy. He left behind many notations and a journal. He also left sheets of music, of cantatas and operas, even oratorios. But our most treasured is a full opera composed by Handel for the Scarletti family. He was not happy with it. He said it lacked the fire of Italy, and he did not want it kept. Our family agreed it would never be for public use then or in the future. The Scarletti word is sacred. We have kept that vow to him for generations.”