So Tempting (23 page)
Authors: Jean Brashear
Jace saw the faintest stir of the curtain behind Simon. The police? She glanced at Dante, but his attention was intently focused on Simon and Cassie.
Markos spoke again. "The girl has nothing to do with this. Let her go."
Simon swiveled the weapon to him. "Your daughter...isn't that rich? Who would have ever thought a mere girl could bring Markos Petrakis to beg?"
Markos shifted forward.
"Don't move another step or I'll shoot her, then kill you."
Markos held his hands out to his sides. "This is pointless, Simon. I don't believe what Dante says. She's his sister—I have no child. I don't care what you do with her. She's a silly little girl with a penchant for trouble."
Antonia sneered. "You heard him before, Simon. Don't listen to his lies."
Simon's gaze darted between the two of them, the gun in his hand wavering. "I don't know..."
Dante glanced toward Jace.
Now
.
"Simon!" Jace called out, rising on the marble.
Simon wheeled toward the sound.
Everything exploded into motion, strobe-quick images pelting Jace's brain.
Dante charged Simon, knocked the weapon from his hand as they fell.
Cassie scrambled across the floor, headed for Jace.
The faithful shrieked. Stampeded.
Jace slid from the marble, shoved Cassie behind her, and crouched, eyeing the distance to the pistol.
Before she could act, Markos broke free and grabbed it. He whirled and pointed it toward Dante's unprotected back, his face a twisted mask of hate.
No one else seemed to see him. His finger tightened on the trigger.
Jace yelled. Leaped to shove Dante—
Dark shapes burst through the curtains—
Shots. Screams—
Hot agony tore through her—
Jace crashed to the floor.
Darkness swallowed her.
* * *
The man who had once believed himself a healer fell to his knees beside the woman who had broken through all his carefully-constructed barriers.
In the midst of chaos, time slowed to a crawl. Silence closed like fog around them.
Nearby lay the brother who had hated him. The amulet lay inert at Markos's throat, mocking Dante.
Papa, tell me again about The Eye of the Magos.
"...can heal when honor defeats hate, when love vanquishes lies," he murmured.
Cassie was safe. Justine was not. He drew her into his arms, so terribly still.
You are not ready. You are not strong enough to protect it yet. But one day you will be.
Oh, God, Papa. I need to be ready now.
It is yours. Take it and wear it. You have the gift. I sense that you will be one of the few Guardians who will attain full power when you find the one whose heart speaks to yours.
Dante eyed the amulet as one might a viper.
Then he looked again at Justine.
With a hand that trembled, he tore the amulet from his brother's throat. The world cracked open as he held both the Eye and his Prism. Clasping the amulet tightly, he curved himself over her body. "The Eye of the
Magos
," he began softly. "Heals when honor defeats hate, when love vanquishes lies—"
He heard the Song of the Soul Star.
Come to me. Please come. She needs you.
Ribbons of color spooled out, and he selected the green one that meant healing and unconditional love. With careful steps, he began walking it, chanting. "Love breeds Light. Lights grants Power. Only in darkness—" His voice cracked. "Does the Eye lose the True Path."
Amulet raised toward the heavens, he threw back his head. "I will leave her alone, pay whatever price I must—but please...please..."
Between his white-knuckled fingers, green light began to pulse. Heat warmed his palm.
"Love breeds Light," he repeated, faster. Stronger. "Light breeds power."
Please. I love her. Please, Papa, help me.
He placed the amulet over her heart. From his throat burst a cry born of years of longing. "Heal her...please do not forsake me."
The glow heightened. A shudder ran through him.
Power sang down his arm.
Suddenly, like stars colliding, light blasted forth—
Justine's body jolted—
Her eyes popped open—
And...she breathed.
* * *
In that first second, Jace saw only Dante, surrounded by light, crackling with power. In days to come, she would remember the safety she'd felt in that instant, the sense of rightness. Wholeness. The song that had surrounded them.
She smiled at him, and he smiled back. Everything, in that moment, was as it should be.
Then, weary to the bone, she closed her eyes, just for a second—
When she next opened them—
He was gone.
The bell jar burst.
Noise flooded in, shouts and screams, hands lifting her with rough haste—
Shutter-quick glimpses.
Earl's worried eyes. Gabriel's chastened ones.
Ambulance siren wailing.
Monstrous, clawing pain—
Then...the blessed refuge of sleep. Kindness. Caring.
But never Dante.
No matter how often she asked for him.
Epilogue
Jace sat by Jimmy's grave, hand resting on the freshly-scarred dirt. Lying in the hospital, she had missed the funeral.
At her request, her mother had left the day after. Her mother's new boyfriend could help her more than Jace would ever be able to do. There might be hope for Jace and her mother yet; only time would tell. Christine was talking rehab, and Jace hoped she meant it. She would give encouragement and support; her mother was the only family she had left, after all. But it was up to Christine how this would play out. Jace could live with that.
She might even be able to live with losing Jimmy someday—but not yet. That wound wasn't nearly healed. A scab had formed, but the flesh was still raw beneath. She had a long road ahead to come to terms with how she'd failed her brother.
All you can control is how you go on from here, Jace.
Myra's words rang in her head. Nothing to be done about the past, no way to reconcile her shattered illusions about who she was.
She'd learned some hard lessons. That control could be a front for fear. That she was anything but bulletproof. That she was a woman who could love a man deeply.
Even if he didn't love her back.
She hadn't seen Dante since that night when everyone said she'd been dying, only no one could seem to agree on what had happened next. Each story had become more fantastic than the last.
Jace wasn't sure what to think about any of it, but maybe she knew all she needed to. Dante had saved her. Maybe how didn't matter.
Especially since he was leaving Santa Fe forever.
It had been Gabriel who had told her when he'd come to the hospital to eat crow. He'd caught her up on what had happened: Markos dead; Simon to stand trial for murder, Antonia as his accomplice. Dante had been cleared. She'd gotten the full story, how Dante had badgered his way into the raid by pointing out that they needed someone on the inside, that he'd been conducting his own undercover investigation after hearing rumors of Simon's perversion of the legend Dante had taught him. Gabriel had even admitted that the loss of life could have been much worse without Dante.
The squad had turned out in full force at the hospital. Even unsmiling Capt. Gonzales had come to visit. She was on probation, she'd lost rank, but she was not off the force. She would have another chance at the job she'd fought so hard to get. Earl had been by every day, and he and Myra had become fast, if improbable, friends.
The world that had spun out of control the day she met Dante Sabanne was slipping back into place.
Unfortunately, it was no longer the world she wanted.
That couldn't matter. A zillionaire and a cop didn't belong together, except in the movies. He was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, too rich for a simple cop's blood. They were polar opposites in every way. If she woke each morning from dreams of his hands on her body, that was her problem. There were too many tangled memories...so many conflicting emotions. She had no logical explanation for all that had passed between them.
But logic hadn't saved her.
Dante had.
She'd discovered that he'd also flown in experts to oversee her care. She'd wished for a chance to thank him in person, but so far she hadn't summoned the courage to approach him. To see rejection in his eyes or worse yet, pity, was more than she thought she could bear.
Ready or not, though, it was time. Past time. She would do the right thing. Say thank you before it was too late.
And then goodbye, knowing that the rest of her life would be lonely beyond anything she'd ever imagined.
She kissed her fingertips and pressed them to the dirt of her brother's grave. "Goodbye, Jimmy. I'll be back. I won't leave you on your own again."
Tears shimmering, she rose, dusted off her jeans, and stared out into the distance. Then she squared her shoulders and turned to go.
And saw him standing beneath a tree, as though she'd conjured him from her heart's deepest longings.
He stepped away from the trunk where he'd been leaning. Far enough to give her privacy, near enough to watch over her.
Tall and straight, long black hair ruffled by the same cool mountain breeze whispering over her skin, Dante stood very still, as if waiting for her to choose, one more time.
You want to trust, but you are afraid no one is strong enough.
She'd felt his strength before. Had known, in a moment surrounded by starburst and singing, what it was to be safe. She wanted that feeling again. Wanted to trust it for the first time since a young girl's world shattered.
But for one treacherous second, her heart did a slow roll in her chest, hope squeezed hard against fear.
When did you ever open your heart and stop looking for the sucker punch, Sis?
Jimmy's words echoed in her head as she looked at Dante.
Then, deep inside her, something eased.
Heart in her throat, she took that first, terrifying step toward the unknown, the illogical.
Dante smiled.
And opened his arms in welcome.
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