Hidden Cove by Meg Tilly

Author:Meg Tilly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2019-09-30T16:00:00+00:00

Thirty-two

HE PACED BESIDE her inert body, his hands fluttering anxiously. Once his two burly crew members had deposited his “new carpet purchase” on the floor of the master bedroom, they’d departed. He’d hastily scampered to the door and locked it behind them. Pulled down the blinds in case another boat was passing and the occupants happened to gaze in. Then he quickly unrolled his present. He didn’t want her to suffocate. Didn’t want her fragile lungs to have to breathe musty carpet air a second longer than necessary. It might aggravate her asthma.

She’d been breathing normally, which was a relief. There had been none of the discoloration around the nose and mouth that sometimes occurred during her bad asthma bouts. However, she’d appeared to be sleeping. Maybe her brain had to shut down to accommodate the shock of seeing me after all these years, he’d thought. Let her rest. We can talk later.

But here it was several hours later, and still she wouldn’t wake up.

“I’d only meant to disable you briefly,” he said as he knelt beside her. The purloined carpet under his knees was a jarring note of color that clashed with the serene decor in the master suite of his yacht. “If only you had agreed to deliver the painting, I wouldn’t have had to take such drastic measures,” he explained softly as he gently placed two fingers against her carotid artery.

Her pulse was still steady and strong. He smoothed her hair back from her face. It was Tati. He knew it. She might have been hiding, but he had seen past her disguise. Had clocked the tilt of her nose the second he’d caught sight of her standing in the gallery like a long-lost dream. And then, when she’d approached him, looking cautious and wary—and rightfully so, because she didn’t know the whole story—when she approached, he could see the familiar cornflower-blue eyes of their ancestors hiding behind the dark frames of her glasses. Once she was standing before him, he could see with his keen artist’s eye that the mousy brown color that covered the bulk of her hair was due to cheap hair dye. The beginning roots of natural blond were just starting to show. That was when he knew for sure. No woman would voluntarily cover glorious Scandinavian blond for mousy brown unless she was on the run.

He squeezed his eyes shut, overcome with emotion. She didn’t die in the fire. Thank God. He felt like the weight he’d been carrying for the last fifteen years had been lifted, but another sorrow had quickly taken its place. A pain had lodged itself in his chest with the knowledge that his beloved sister, Tati, had been running from him for all these years. Only one explanation for that: she must think him a monster. Hadn’t heard his side of the story. Didn’t know how their mother had mocked and belittled him when she’d discovered the portrait of her he’d spent months refining. She’d flipped into crazy mode.

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