Part 16 (1/2)
”That's your intent anyway, isn't it?” she said softly. She couldn't escape him. Why not enjoy the moment She brushed her knuckles against his cheek.
”Ragnor ...”
He took her hand, forcing her to drop it. She smiled slowly anyway. ”Do you think that I ever forget?” she asked.
”Do you think that I ever forget?” he cross-queried harshly. ”I'm telling you, Nari, that it stops. I'm warning you. Threatening you, if you like. You could have everything, you have a life here, a beautiful palazzo, a t.i.tle, a position. You-”
”You forget yourself, don't you, Ragnor? I know the legends, that you think yourself so different, but in all honesty, are you so very above us all?”
”All? Many are living-”
”Henpecked. Locked into a world like a cage.”
”Being rational and surviving. Nari, look around you-you have everything!”
She studied him for a moment. ”No, I don't have everything. But I know what I am.”
”There's so much more that you could be.”
She rose on tiptoe to whisper in his ear. ”I like what I am.”
”Last time. Definitely a threat. I could-”
”You could what? Break me here and now? In front of all these people? They'd arrest you, throw you in jail. You could escape of course ... but then, what about your face? You couldn't just wander around all these nice people, then, could you? d.a.m.n me and you d.a.m.n yourself.”
”We are already d.a.m.ned,” he told her flatly.
”So you haven't!” she marveled. ”The truth is what is, and you know it, though, you always thought you were different.” He was different She felt a spasm of hunger suddenly that was so violent she could barely contain it She wanted to touch him again. All these years ... he was still Ragnor. Solid, never faltering. Beautiful. The rugged planes of his face, the wall of his chest Old regrets died hard. Well, she had made her decisions and her choices. She had underestimated him. And now, looking into his eyes, she knew it was too late.
”There are laws-”
”Their laws? Our laws? What laws?” she taunted. ”The world is in chaos, Ragnor- hadn't you noticed? And we will prevail. Foolish fellow! Don't you know-”
”I know that I can break you-and will.”
”Will it be so very easy?” she whispered softly, moving against him.
”Like snapping my fingers.”
She moved away. ”It's that American girl.”
”It's what you're doing.”
”You're a liar. You've been watching that girl.”
”If I have an interest in the American girl, Nari, you've created it.”
Nari smiled. She had at least found his weakness.
”She doesn't like you, you know,” she informed him. ”She senses that you're not... well, you're just not right at all.”
”Why was she among the ... select guests at your party?”
Nari hesitated, then lied. ”Can I help it if the foolish creature stumbled into the wrong place?” Was she being dishonest as well? Eventually, he would know the truth. The whole truth.
And that the girl was, indeed, select.
”What you're doing here, the horror you're creating, goes far beyond the American girl. And there are ways around it.”
Nari shrugged. ”Why? It's estimated that there are perhaps hundreds of serial killers all around the world today. The police continue to search for a majority of them.”
”You will bring the fires of h.e.l.l down upon us.”
”On you, maybe. We are the fires of h.e.l.l.” She suddenly softened her voice, her words damp with a sweet whisper of breath. ”Don't you ever ... crave . .. old times? Remember what was, how it could be ...” Again, she spread her fingers over the expanse of his chest.
Again, he removed her hand. She was startled by the fury of his rejection.
”What an a.s.s you are. And as to the American ... I, at least, am friendly with her family.
As a matter of fact... I have plans with her this evening.”
His grip tightened with such intensity that she was afraid he would break a bone. She felt her cheeks paling, her power draining.
”If you so much as touch her-”
”And your interest is mere concern for the benefit of mankind?” Nari scoffed. ”If I touch her?” Nari started to laugh. ”Oh, Ragnor!”
Again, his grip tightened. She gasped with the pain, fighting, struggling to find her own sense of power. ”If you think that I'm all that you have to deal with . . .”
”What? What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?” he demanded.
”Ragnor, let go of me! You're hurting me,” she cried out. Anyone in the crowd might have heard her. There were carabinieri in the Square. Still, he didn't let go of her; his eyes were a blue fire as he stared at her. She felt again the deep, bitter pain of loss. And a shooting agony of raw, furious, jealousy she'd thought could never touch her again .. .
”Tell me what's going on,” he repeated. ”What plans do you have? Where are you meeting her tonight? What is it you're talking about?”
”She'll be at Harry's!” Nari gasped out. She had to ease his grip; she couldn't afford to suffer any broken bones right now. ”You'd have to kill me before I'd say more now. Yet if you kill me, you'll never know, you'll hunt forever, and your precious little midget of an American would be gone-”
”Don't try that, Nari. I told you that this all stops. It has nothing to do with one person-”
”Good.” She relaxed into his hold. ”Because if you hurt me now, I'll enjoy her myself!