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couldn"t stop asking. She strode deeper into the brick building, looking at each of

the plaques, displays, signs, and paintings that lined the halls. She stopped at the

third picture and reread the signature line as she felt tears pool in her eyes.

Rome A. Vicenza.

She remembered so well when the painting had gone up. Rome had come to

her weeks earlier, so happy, she wondered if his juvenile heart could take the

excitement. Breathless, he had told her that he had won the school"s art contest and

that the judges were so impressed they had convinced the principal to let the art

hang in the halls.

That was the year Sela realized Rome was destined for great things.

More than a decade later, he had achieved more than even she had envisioned.

She couldn"t help wondering if there was room in his life for her.

She continued walking, looking without seeing, allowing the memories to carry

her forward. Sela wasn"t even surprised to find herself standing in front of her

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favorite teacher"s classroom. She suspected she had always been headed to Mrs.

Marshall"s classroom, long before she stepped out of her car.

Gratitude filled her when she saw that Mrs. Marshall was still in the

classroom. She knocked on the door and waved when Mrs. Marshall looked up.

She stepped into the room and felt a little bit of the confusion she had been

feeling disappear. It was disconcerting to discover that her hero was human. That

her father had betrayed her.

But being in Mrs. Marshall"s classroom reminded her that not all her heroes

were faulted. Mrs. Marshall had never lied to her. Not once in the almost twenty

years she"d known Marshall had the woman lied to her.

“I was wondering when you would show up.” Mrs. Marshall looked up and

smiled at Sela as she closed the classroom door behind her. Sela returned Mrs.

Marshall"s smile. She was giddy with excitement at meeting up with her old

teacher. Mrs. Marshall had taught her sixth-grade science class. Since then Mrs.

Marshall had been one of her favorite teachers. Long after she"d left Mrs. Marshall"s

science class, Sela still visited Mrs. Marshall.

A little part of her believed she held Mrs. Marshall in such high esteem

because the woman had brought Rome into her life.

“How long has it been?” Sela asked as she walked across the room.

Mrs. Marshall grinned at her as she placed the books she held on one of the

shelves that lined the classroom"s eastern wall. “I"d say it"s been about five years.”

“Really?” Sela knew it had been some time since she"d gotten the chance to

visit Mrs. Marshall, but five years? Darn, she was slacking.

“I"ll make it up to you. I"ll take you to dinner.”

Mrs. Marshall cocked one silvery eyebrow before glancing at her watch. “I

might be willing to accept your apology, but that depends on where we are going for

dinner.”

Sela chuckled. “Your choice.”

Mrs. Marshall straightened fully and peered at her. Sela stood still for the

woman"s perusal, hoping Mrs. Marshall found what she was looking for. The look on

the older woman"s face was similar to one a child wore before opening a gift. It was

filled with hope and joyous expectation.

When Mrs. Marshall smiled, Sela felt her heart kick up in speed. Until then

she hadn"t realized just how afraid she was that Mrs. Marshall wouldn"t find what

she was looking for.

“I always knew you would turn out to be something if given the chance,” she

said. Her forehead wrinkled as she looked out the window behind Sela. “Have to

admit I thought your success would be marriage to some lawyer or politician.”

Sela stared at her in surprise. She had busted her ass all through school, and

the woman thought her greatest accomplishment was going to be her marriage. She

had been her class"s valedictorian.

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Mrs. Marshall shook her head. “It wasn"t that I didn"t think you could be more.

I was just worried you would never get the chance to be anything but some man"s

trophy wife.”

“Why would you think that?”

Mrs. Marshall shrugged her slightly stooped shoulders. The motion looked

decidedly awkward coming from a woman who Sela knew didn"t have an indifferent

bone in her body. Elaine Marshall always had a view about the topic at hand, no

matter the topic. “Maybe it"s because I"m an old woman stuck in her ways. Maybe

because this town is so small, it doesn"t give one enough room to be great.” She

sighed, blowing air through surprisingly full lips. “Or maybe it"s because that was

what your daddy wanted, and you were daddy"s girl.”

“What?” Sela gasped, shocked by Mrs. Marshall"s confession. “He never gave

me any indication he wanted that for me.” And he hadn"t. Before her father had

died, he"d always praised her accomplishments. He was very proud of her

intelligence.

“I know what you"re thinking. She must be mistaken. I probably shouldn"t tell

you this, but…” She sighed and walked past Sela to pull out two of the classroom

stools. “Come, Sela. Let"s talk.”

Feeling like she was standing on the precipice of something she could never

come back from if she ventured further, Sela didn"t move.

Mrs. Marshall looked up and smiled up at her with a sad smile on her face.

“You want to know a secret?”

“No.”

Mrs. Marshall"s smile broadened. “Always loyal. That was just one of the

things I liked about you, Sela. Even as a child you were steadfast. Relax. It"s not

about him.”

Fingers shaking, pulse racing, Sela reluctantly took the stool across from Mrs.

Marshall. She knew Mrs. Marshall enough to know that the topic of her father was

not closed.

“Did Rome ever tell you why I asked you to be his partner that year?”

It was worse than Sela had thought. The secret was about Rome. “No,” she

whispered, feeling her blood thicken with nervous excitement. Secretly, she

wondered about the life Rome had lived before meeting her. She knew it wasn"t a

normal thought, but Rome guarded his home life the way most secret agents

protected their identity. Whenever she had asked about his family, he pushed aside

her questions. Eventually she stopped asking.

But she had never stopped hungering to know more about the boy—and later,

man—she loved.

“He asked to be your partner for the science fair.”

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Sela sucked in a deep breath, taking in the scent of a thousand science

experiments.

Mrs. Marshall chuckled at her reaction, and for just a moment Sela was

embarrassed. And then Mrs. Marshall spoke, wiping away all traces of her

embarrassment.

“It gets better. He asked to be your science partner in the beginning of the

year. The first day of class, actually.” She gazed off into the distance, obviously

looking inward, remembering a time long gone. “I love my husband. Always will.

But I think that boy stole my heart that day. I knew then he was someone special,

that he had a warrior"s heart. In this day and age that"s hard to find.”

“Yes,” Sela said, only to be shocked by the sound of her own voice. She had

been privileged to witness the strength of Rome"s heart, the power of his heart when

they were growing up. There had been many times when their friends had tried to

pull them apart, but no matter what, Rome had stood beside her, always telling her,

“We"re friends forever, Cupcake. They can only come between us if we let them.”

He was right. The others could never come between them. Not until she and

Rome stopped believing in each other.

“You can imagine my surprise when I found him standing in front of my desk

long after class had ended. I already knew about his reputation. We all knew about

the students who spent way too much time in the principal"s office, so I was

expecting some kind of excuse about why he couldn"t read the chapter I had

assigned. Instead he asked to be your partner.”

Mrs. Marshall chuckled as she absently toyed with one of the empty beakers

still on the table. “I immediately thought, „He"s trying to piggyback on your A." He

quickly dispelled me of that thought.”

She placed the beaker back on the stone top table and looked Sela in the eye.

“Till this day I"ve never seen a young boy more determined. He told me he didn"t

want to be the boy everyone thought he was. He didn"t want to visit the principal"s

office anymore, and he needed your help.”

The thick ball in Sela"s stomach dropped, stealing away her breath. She

thought of all the times her friends and family members had tried to steer her clear

of Rome because of his reputation. She thought of all the hurt and anger he must

have felt knowing people had already condemned him at twelve.

“At first I thought he was trying to pull the wool over my eyes, but with each

word he spoke, I knew he was telling the truth. He wanted to change. Rome was

determined to be better than his father, and he knew you were the one partner who

wouldn"t take his crap and would demand he do his part. It wasn"t until years later

I realized just how wise that boy was. See, you were the one student in the class

who would force him to think. You were the one person who didn"t let his or his

family"s reputation color your actions.”

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And as much as Mrs. Marshall was telling her about Rome, she knew the older

woman was holding back. Sela looked her former teacher in the face. “Tell me

everything. Tell me all that you know.”

Mrs. Marshall sighed. “We"re going to have to make that dinner a working one,

then.”

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Chapter Fifteen

The melodic sound of Sela"s personalized ringtone sang through the air just as

a knock sounded at his door. Rome glanced at the large artistic clock on the wall

that backed his bed as he strode to the phone. He wondered if Sela"s lunch with her

family had finished early. God, he hoped so. With a smile he flipped the cellular

phone open and placed it to his ear. “Hello, Cupcake.”

“Hi,” Sela breathed out almost shyly in response. He immediately realized she

wasn"t alone.

“What are you wearing?”

She chuckled. “Are we still on for tonight?”

His smile widened. She was trying to evade his question. Thankfully, he was a

very determined man. “Are you wearing panties?”

“What kind of girl would I be if I didn"t wear…panties?” Rome got the distinct

impression she had darted a look around her before finishing her sentence. His

smile got wider.

“You"d be my girl then.” He licked his lips. “So?”

She laughed. “I hate to disappoint you, but I am wearing underwear.”

“Damn, we"re just going to have to correct that the moment you get here.”

“Really?” she purred in that seductive tone that told him she was getting

aroused. He immediately pictured her face flush with desire, her body quivering

with need. Tonight suddenly seemed too far away.

The individual at his suite door knocked again, this time more insistently.

Rome had forgotten there was someone at his door the moment he"d picked up the

phone. “Give me a moment, Cupcake.” Rome lowered the phone and opened the

door.

“Damn,” he cursed softly but savagely when he saw who was standing on the

other side of his door. He lifted the cellular phone to his ear. “Got to go, Sela. I"ll

talk to you later.”

“Sure. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything is fine. I"ll see you tonight.”

“Okay, I"ll see you later.”

“Good-bye, love.” He hung up the phone and gave his undivided attention to

the young man in front of him. “Hi, Turin. What are you doing here? Is everything

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okay?” Then Rome noticed the suitcase the younger Vicenza held. “I see you

changed your mind.”

“He changed it for me.” Turin took a step forward, moving deeper into the

light. Rome sucked in a deep breath at what he saw. Someone had taken his anger

out on Turin"s face. His eye was swollen and bruised. The color of the flesh was

already changing, attesting to the fact that he was hit days ago. “What the hell

happened?”

Turin shrugged. The move was deceptively nonchalant. It angered Rome that

he could be so complacent about his own abuse.

“What happened?”

Turin lifted his gaze. “He wanted to know where Mom was. I told him I didn"t

know. Then he wanted to know where you were staying. I told him to go to hell.” He

looked to the side. “I was going to go straight to Mom"s, but I didn"t have enough bus