Yesterday's Sins (11 page)

He stroked a finger down her cheek. "St Christopher has kept me safe. Perhaps you're should have it?"

"No." Her voice cracked with anguish as he went to pull off the medallion and hand it to her. "Don't take it off."

"I won't. As long you promise to eat so you'll get better. Will you?"

"Why?"

Luke caught the echo of sorrow in her voice but Alex didn't appear to take any notice. He was one cold, unfeeling bastard.

"We need you, Catriona," Alex said as her eyes closed, the dark lashes forming dusky crescents on her pale cheeks. "Do I have your promise?"

"I promise," she whispered, drowsy. The hand holding the gold medallion slackened and it dropped from her grasp as she fell asleep.

Jeff Hart moved beside the bed laying his fingers on the slower, steadier pulse at the side of her neck. He gave a satisfied nod and smiled at the anxious man holding his patient.

"She needs sleep."

Alex held Kate for a few more moments, kissing her cheek before relinquishing her back amongst the pillows.

He stood up and stayed motionless looking down at her before giving a small nod, allowing the doctor to precede him out of the room.

Luke, a silent observer, was struck by Jeff's earlier words. There was no mistaking the strength of the bond between Kate and Alex. He'd never seen Alex display any sign of the tenderness he had shown Kate, and she had responded to the mere sound of his voice.

Had she actually called him a pussy cat? The idea made him smile. Any one less like a pussy cat than his autocratic elder brother, he had yet to see.

"I have coffee prepared," Emily Harder glanced around the three grim faces. "How is she?"

"She'll do now." Jeff looked at Luke and Alex. "We need to talk."

Emily hovered, pouring coffee and Luke watched the old doctor, distrusting his expression. It was too bland.

"Shouldn't Catriona be in hospital or a top flight medical clinic?" Alex demanded. "I want her to have the best of care."

"It's in her best interests to be in familiar surroundings. She's being well cared for here." The old doctor pulled out his pipe, ignoring Alex's glare. "She's in no danger, now she's decided to fight."

"I demand another opinion," Alex snapped, putting his mug down with a decided click. "I'm not at all satisfied with the way things are."

"You have no moral right to demand anything, Mr. Korda." Jeff Hart met Alex's grey gaze steadily.

"Meaning?" A small muscle clenched at the side of Alex's jaw.

"This is Catriona's home and she's my patient. It's the only place where she's safe from your influence. Even that's debatable with Luke living here."

Luke went to answer, but the old doctor held up his hand stopping his hot words with an imperious gesture. Alex dropped his eyes and gave a shrug, clearly not happy but neither did he argue.

"I would suggest that you move out, Luke."

"I intend to. Kate's already accused me of being her jailer."
 

Alex went ashen beneath his tan, his jaw clenched. Luke wished he had the nerve to ask what lay behind Kate's comment. He glanced at his mother and caught her worried expression. "What about my mother?"

"Kate won't be able to care for herself for quite some time. She'll need the presence of a sympathetic woman as she convalesces." Dr. Hart glanced at Emily before darting a shrewd look at Alex. "She needs to be free of stress, without you hovering like a black angel, Mr Korda."

Alex pushed back his chair and stood up, hands clenched deep in his pockets. "Point taken, Dr Hart."

"I hope so," Jeff Hart stood up and faced him. "Because unless you do back off, Doug Carmichael and I will go to court to have it enforced on her behalf."

"Be prepared to be laughed out of court."

"I think not. Carmichael has a signed affidavit from Fraser Howard. I brought that young woman into the world and I'm damned if I'll stand by and watch you hound her into her grave."

"On that I'm in complete agreement." Luke eyed his brother with a fulminating look. "Had I known your intentions I would never have agreed to go to New Zealand and see her."

"You know nothing of my intentions, Catriona needed to be shaken out of the rut she was in." Alex turned on his heel and strode across to the window, standing with his back to the room for several minutes.

"She did need to return," Jeff said quietly. "But she doesn't need you, or your brother, anywhere near her until she decides for herself what she wants to do."

"If you thought that, why ask me to come?" Alex asked in a clipped tone.

"You're the only person who could pull her out of her lethargy."

"Thanks for that grudging praise." Alex's sardonic laugh was devoid of amusement. "I assure you that my—" he broke off, frowning blackly "—Catriona will come to no harm at my hands. So why all the fuss?"

"Forgive me for being blunt," Jeff replied. "If you want to salvage anything from this tragic mess, you owe her time and space. She's carrying a fearsome burden of unresolved grief."

"And guilt," Alex said, quietly. "Once I'd traced her, I couldn't let her continue as she was." He gave a philosophical shrug. "I hoped seeing Luke would shake her up enough to make her return. Unfortunately I had to take a more direct approach."

Luke looked from the doctor to his half-brother, a frown knitting his black brows as he tried to fathom the unspoken communication between them.

"And now?" Jeff asked.

"I'll butt out," Alex replied with a humourless smile. He glanced at Emily. "When she's well enough, ask Cat if she wants you to stay." He glanced at Luke, shrewdly penetrating. "Give Nicolaides a ring and he'll find an apartment for you."

"Thanks." Luke gave a laconic grin.

"Don't mention it." Alex gave a shrug as he looked at Luke, a wry smile on his face. "Just a word of warning little brother, don't get any ideas about Catriona."

For a moment there was a still silence. The atmosphere so tense Luke struggled to breathe.

"The Lion's roar," he said at last, managing to smile.

"You'd better believe it."

The words were soft but the glint in his brother's eye was far from soft. As Alex turned to his mother Luke sensed he'd escaped the eye of a storm.

Alex gripped Emily's hand. "Look after her for me."

He nodded to the others then left.

Jeff Hart stayed long enough to extract a promise from Luke that he would go before Kate was well enough to leave her bed.

Chapter Six

T
he sun peeping through the branches of the pepper tree outside the window, made a pattern of dappled light and shadow on the white ceiling. Kate lay watching the movement, weak but aware of the room's haunting familiarity.

Hazy memories crystallized. She'd returned to Narrabeen and found Luke Harder ensconced in her old home. Other memories were blurred. Had Alex been here? Or had she imagined it?

"So you've woken up at last." A dainty, dark haired woman with bright blue eyes came into the room. Her soft, musical voice struck a chord in Kate's memory. "I'm Luke's mother, Emily."

"You've been looking after me?"

Emily assisted her to sit up, positioning pillows behind Kate. "With help, this is Joan. Cathy will come later."

Kate nodded at the smiling redhead. "Was Luke here?"

"He was here when you arrived, but has returned to his apartment near the hospital."

"I remember. He told me he was a doctor."

"And a brilliant one at that." The nurse handed Kate a flannel to wipe her hands. "Later we'll get you up and out of bed."

The thought made Kate weak at the knees. "Was Alex here? I seem to remember him."

She frowned watching Emily but the serene expression on the other woman's face never changed. "I haven't seen Alex for a while. As far as I know he's still in New Zealand."

The subtle tension gripping Kate eased. She finished her drink before subsiding back against the pillows, too weak to fight against overwhelming tiredness. She sank into the healing cocoon of sleep.

"So you've decided to fight back, Catriona?"

The familiar gruff voice penetrated her sleep and she opened her eyes to a craggy, well-remembered face.

"Dr Hart." She was delighted to see their old family physician.

"You're looking so much better." He picked up her wrist and checked her pulse, giving a satisfied nod. "Now, you can tell me why you've allowed yourself to get so run down?"

Kate dropped her eyes, her hand toying with the bed cover. How much did he know of the past?

"You can trust me, Kate." He pulled a chair close to the edge of the bed. "I know the details preceding your flight from Australia."

Suddenly very wary, she looked at him. "How?"

"Fraser." Jeff Hart drew his pipe out and went through the ritual of lighting it. "He wasn't well before he died in that car crash. We had a lot of time to talk."

"What did my father tell you?"

The old doctor hesitated, and she sensed he was choosing his words carefully. "I know about Alex Korda and Sarah. And the part your cousin played in it all."

Her tension eased. There wouldn't be very little he didn't understand. She slumped back against the pillows, closing her eyes.

"Fraser suffered agonies of guilt over his lack of faith in you." Jeff Hart took a couple of slow draws on his pipe. "He knew he'd failed you at the very time you needed him most. Had he believed you, would you have gone alone to see Korda?"

Kate looked into his shrewd, old eyes and shrugged, not comfortable with discussing the past. "Probably not, but I did go. And the rest, as they say, is history."

"And no one possesses the ability to change history." He picked up the thin hand lying on the counterpane. "Don't you think it's time you stopped punishing yourself?"

Did he, like Alex, think she was punishing herself?

Remembering how safe, how cherished she'd felt, being held in his strong, gentle arms, burned at her psyche. Time had not cauterized her response to him. Denied of all sustenance, the need had merely remained dormant, rising up, as strong as ever, the moment he reappeared in her life.

Her body knew no shame in Alex's presence.

It was her soul that struggled with the shame of her physical response to the man who had merely been using her.

"Has Alex been here?"

The doctor lifted his bushy brows, his shrewd grey eyes giving away nothing. "No. What reason is there for him to come here?"

Disappointment vied with relief. Surely she hadn't imagined Alex holding her, forcing her to eat. She shrugged, it wasn't important.