Christine Feehan by The Scarletti Curse

Author:The Scarletti Curse [Curse, The Scarletti]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

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There was complete silence in the room. A cold draft seemed to come out of the very walls and swirl around Nicoletta. She shivered, and deep within her heart, she heard her own cry of unspoken protest. There was evil walking in the palazzo. She stared up at Don Scarletti, her gaze locked with his. Fierce. Intense. Soul to soul.

She couldn’t even feel Maria Pia’s hand in hers. She and the don were the only two people in existence. He was watching her closely, his mind in hers. She felt him there. He was waiting in silence for her to condemn him.

Unbidden came the image of his scraped knuckles, the incriminating droplet of blood on his otherwise immaculate clothing. Nicoletta felt her heart pound uncomfortably. His gaze continued to bore straight into hers, and she couldn’t turn away from him. She knew he was waiting for it, knew he expected her to denounce him. Don Scarletti, Il Demonio of the palazzo. The curse. The whispers. The rumors.

Giovanni stood tall and straight, his black eyes fathomless, his features carefully expressionless. Nicoletta took a breath and let it out slowly. “Will you send your men to search the entire maze for him? Perhaps Cristano could not find his way out.”

He bowed slightly. “At once, piccola. And I will send them into the hills to see if the boy was injured on his way home,” he added deliberately to remind her of the numerous other travelers who had fallen victim to wild animals, the terrain, or even to robbers. His voice was incredibly gentle. A warmth brushed at the walls of her mind so that she felt somewhat comforted.

Nicoletta swallowed the hard knot in her throat. It was difficult to think straight with the don watching her so intently. She could feel Maria Pia’s eyes on her now, as accusing as they had been on Don Scarletti.

“You were the last person to see Cristano alive, Don Scarletti.” Maria Pia said what Nicoletta would not. Her very tone was a declaration of his guilt.

“We do not know that he is dead, Signorina Sigmora,” Giovanni pointed out softly. His voice held a thread of menace, as if his patience was fast wearing thin. “If the young man met his demise in the maze, the scavengers would be present overhead.”

Relief swept through Nicoletta. “That is true, Maria Pia,” she said. But a terrible dread was creeping into her mind and heart and soul like a dark shadow. She would know if someone was hurt, would she not? She always knew.

Maria Pia faced the don bravely. “The wedding should be postponed until the young man is found,” she challenged. If you are exonerated. The words were left unspoken, but they shimmered there in the room, as vividly as if Maria Pia had uttered them aloud in condemnation.

The black eyes gleamed ominously. “Nothing will stop the wedding, Signorina Sigmora. Not you, not this errant young man. For all I know, he disappeared with every intention of bringing a halt to the wedding plans.

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