“Really?” His brows rose as his gaze wandered through the crowd to a table where Gallo stood talking to Margaret. “And what about him?”
Catherine’s gaze followed his, and she felt the familiar jolt of pure sexuality as he lifted his eyes and saw her. He smiled faintly and inclined his head.
Heat.
Electricity.
Both of which interfered with what she had to do. He was a complication. She needed her son and her best friend in the world and not to be swept away by Gallo. She turned away. “I’m leaving for Hong Kong,” she repeated.
“He’ll follow you,” Venable said softly.
“I can’t stop him. He’ll have to do what he has to do. He won’t have an invitation.”
“You could avoid him by going to Guatemala City.”
She ruefully shook her head. Venable was as obstinate as a mule. “No way.” She started to make her way through the crowd toward Joe, to say her good-byes to him. “Find someone else, Venable.”
* * *
“YOU’RE EXHAUSTED, JANE,” Eve said in a low voice. “Go on up to the cottage and go to bed. There are only a few people left, and they’ll understand.”
Jane shook her head. “I’ll wait. I don’t want to leave it up to you. Trevor was my—” For an instant she lost track of what she had been about to say. He was my heart. My life. My love. “All of this is my responsibility. It was kind of you to offer this service, but you shouldn’t have to—”
“Oh, be quiet, Jane,” Eve said. “This has nothing to do with kindness. This has to do with family, and if you weren’t in shock, you’d realize that. Joe and I only want to get you through this. That’s all that’s important.”
“No, what’s important is that I have you and Joe beside me,” she said unsteadily. “You’ve kept me from falling apart during these last few days. I know I’ve been behaving like a sleepwalker. It’s not fair to you.”
“You’d have gotten through it on your own. You’re tough.” Eve touched her arm affectionately. “It was our privilege to be with you. But now it’s my privilege to send you to bed. Scoot.” She gave Jane a quick kiss on the cheek. “If you won’t go to bed until everyone has gone, I’ll see that they take the hint.” As she started to turn away, she stopped and glanced at Seth Caleb, who was standing alone a few yards away. He had a glass of wine in his hand and he lifted it to Eve as he met her gaze. “But I’m not sure that Caleb will take the hint. I may have to send Joe to reinforce it. He’s been hovering over you like an eagle who’s spied prey.”
The last thing Jane wanted was a confrontation between Joe and Caleb. “Leave Joe out of it. It will be okay. Caleb has been very civilized ever since he got here today.” She tried to smile. “Even subdued. That’s a first for him.”
“You’d know better than I,” Eve said. “He didn’t look subdued to me. He looked like a hurricane waiting to happen. I won’t have him upset you.”
“He can’t upset me.” Not today. Everything that could be done to her had been done. “Stop worrying, Eve. He might just be waiting to offer his condolences.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Eve said doubtfully. “Just motion to me if he gives you grief.” She moved toward the remaining pockets of guests. “I’ll be there for you.”
Eve was always there for her, Jane thought lovingly as she watched her. Ready to do battle. Ready to offer a shoulder to comfort.
“I’m surprised she left you alone.” Caleb was at her elbow. “She’s been guarding you all day.” He lifted his wine to his lips. “We’ve all been in protective mode toward Eve, and now she’s returning the favor.”
“Hello, Caleb. Eve knows you’re volatile, and she didn’t want me to have to deal with you today. She wasn’t sure if I could handle it.”
“Can you?”
“I can handle it. I can handle you.” She added wearily, “But I don’t want to do it today.”
“I know,” he said curtly. “You’re so fragile, a wind could blow you away. You’re bleeding inside. I can see it. Feel it.”
“Am I? I guess you’re probably right. At least, figuratively. You know a lot about blood.”
“Not enough to save your lover.”
She stiffened. “No, you couldn’t do that. Though you did try.”
“You bet I did.” His dark eyes were glittering in his taut face. “I tried everything I knew. I didn’t want Trevor to die. I knew it would be like this. Now he’s a damn martyr. How can I fight a martyr?”
“Do you mind if we don’t talk about this right now?” she said unevenly. “I think perhaps it’s time you left, Caleb.”
“Yes, it is. But I can’t go until I’ve said what I have to say. It’s been seething inside me, and it has to come out.” His grasp tightened on the delicate stem of his glass. “And all these fine people who love you and sympathize with your loss would tell me not to put you through this. But everyone knows what a selfish bastard I am.”
“You weren’t selfish when you tried to save me from being shot. You covered me with your body.”
“Unusual circumstances. I didn’t think, I just acted.” He took a step closer to her, and said through his teeth, “I was angry. She was going to kill you. She’d already shot Trevor.”
“You still did it.”
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m all that’s good and noble like Trevor. I’m not like him. I won’t be like him.”
“No, there’s no one who could be like Trevor.” She smiled faintly. “And he wouldn’t like you calling him noble. I remember that when you did it before, he laughed at you.”
“He laughed because we were so different. He had a code of honor, and I am what I am. We weren’t even on the same page.” His lips tightened. “And yet he said I could be anything I wanted to be.”
“I remember that.”
“But I won’t be what he wants me to be.” His voice was suddenly harsh. “I liked that son of a bitch. I didn’t want to like him, but I did anyway. Even at the end, I was mad as hell because I couldn’t save him.” His dark gaze was burning into her own. “And then he looked at me, and I knew what he was thinking, what he wanted of me. It was all about you.”
She shook her head in bewilderment. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“He had an obsession about taking care of you, of making sure you were safe and well. He was crazy about you, so that shouldn’t be surprising. But even as he was dying, he was worrying about you.”
“I know.” She tried to keep her voice from breaking. “That was Trevor.”
“But he found a solution, didn’t he? He looked at me, and I could see what he was thinking. What he was asking. You didn’t even realize that, did you?”
“I still don’t.”
“He wants me to take care of you, to keep you from being unhappy, to guard you.” His voice was harsh with exasperation and anger. “He wants me to be him, dammit.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Do you think I don’t know that? Even Trevor couldn’t believe that I’d be able to change dark to light. But he wanted to tie my hands. And he was willing to let me stand in and take care of what he regarded as necessary.”
She shook her head. “You have to be mistaken.”
“Am I? Think about it.”
“And, if you’re not mistaken, then you’re still not someone who would let your life be influenced by Trevor’s irrational wish. He was dying, Caleb.”
“A dying man’s last wish,” Caleb said. “You’re right, a callous bastard like me shouldn’t pay any attention to it. Because if I did, it would interfere with everything I intend to do to you and with you. I can overcome this setback. Given time, memories will fade, and I’ll be ready.”
She shook her head.
He smiled. “You don’t think so now, but it will happen.”
His voice was soft and silky, the passionate intensity nearly tangible. She could suddenly feel the force, the power, the fire of him. She instinctively took a step back. “My memories of Trevor won’t fade.”