Cursed (7 page)

Tess experienced a perverse
pleasure in knowing that he had been surprised, maybe even hurt by her words.
She straightened in her chair and pulled the hem of her white cashmere sweater
down over the waistband of her matching slacks. “I want to talk to you about my
pendant that was stolen.”  She was intent upon remaining calm even as her
anger threatened to burst. “I’m assuming Hope told you about it.”

He nodded. “Yeah, she did. I’m
sorry. What about it?”

She pressed her lips together in
an effort to hold back her fury. It was easy for her to do that with other
people, but not with Cullinan. He plucked ruthlessly at her emotions, emotions
she’d thought she had buried. “That pendant was Quinn’s last gift to me. It was
also my nest egg.”

Cullinan’s brows rose up his
forehead. “Your nest egg?  Why would you need a nest egg?”

She didn’t want to tell him the
truth but she had to. Tess had to make him understand how despicable his
actions had been. She looked him straight in the eye, ready to catch him at the
first sign he might try to weasel out. “I plan to start my own jewelry design business.
I have a job, but it will take time to save the money for my new
venture.”  She sighed. “I never really intended to sell the pendant, but I
liked knowing it was there in case I needed it.”

“In case you needed it?
 Surely Quinn left you set for life.”  Surprise colored his voice.
“The man was worth millions. Besides, what about all the funds that were set up
for the victims’ families?”

Tess stared at the six-carat
diamond wedding set on her left hand. Whatever happened, she never wanted to sell
her ring. It had belonged to Quinn’s mother. She raised her head and looked at
Cullinan. “After Quinn’s death, I met with the accountants and discovered the
truth that Quinn had been hiding from me.”  She paused and thought about
how ashamed Quinn would be if he knew she was about to reveal his secret. He
had never wanted anyone to know, not even her.

Tess groaned inwardly at how so
many dirty little secrets had affected her life. “He was heavily in debt and I
didn’t have a clue,” she continued in a hollow tone. “Quinn took care of all
our finances. After I paid off the debts, the only money I had left was a small
savings account. Thankfully, I had squirreled that money away during our
marriage. And of course I had the pendant.”

An understanding seemed to dawn
on his face along with a flicker of hurt. The comprehension she understood, but
not the hurt. Why should he be hurt?  She was the injured party here.

Then he grinned at her. That same
Cullinan smile had harmed her, had made her fall head over heels in love with
him and had lured her into his bed on their second date. “The shop did very
well last year. I’ll be glad to loan you some money.”

Shocked at his statement, Tess’s
mouth dropped open. “You think I came here for money?”

“You mean you didn’t?”

All those years of learning how
to control her irritation dissolved into thin air. Quinn hadn’t been a
demonstrative man. He held his emotions in check and he’d taught her to do the
same. Somehow, Cullinan yanked her indignation out from its hiding place. Anger
bubbled to the surface like lava. She shot up from her chair and clenched her
hands into tight fists at her sides. “Don’t play games with me,
Cullinan.”  She didn’t bother to keep the harsh tone out of her voice. “I
want to know why you stole my pendant!”

His expression hardened as if his
face had turned into marble. Slowly, he stood from his position against the
edge of the desk, drew himself up to his full height and glared at her. “What
did you say?”  His voice was dangerously soft.

“You heard me!”

He shook his head and laughed in
a bitter, mocking sound. “I can’t believe you said that!”

“I never thought you capable of
hurting anyone, but you must have been really desperate when you got caught and
hurt that poor man,” she said, ignoring his statement.

With one long stride, he stood
next to her, toe to toe. His breath blew over her lips and for one second she
remembered vividly what it was like to have him kiss her. Her heart thudded
erratically in her chest and her pulse pounded through her veins at the sheer
anger she saw emanating from his eyes.

“First of all, I didn’t steal
your damn pendant or hurt that man.” He ground out the words between clenched
teeth. “Second, I’ve never been ashamed that I stole for a living. I always saw
my ability as a God-given talent, one that shouldn’t be wasted. Besides, I
stole from only the ultra rich just as Dad taught me and donated a portion of
the profits to charity.”

Amazed at his bold statement, she
sucked in a breath of air. “Oh, and that makes committing a crime okay?”

His lips thinned in irritation.
“You never saw my profession as anything more than that, did you?”

“No!”

He raised a brow and cocked his
head to one side. “What about Hope? She’s just as guilty as I am,” he stated in
a cold, exact voice, “but your friendship has never wavered. Why?”

Tess swallowed hard and stared
into his amber eyes. “I was never in love with Hope. Besides, she got out. She
turned her life around and became an attorney.”  She poked a finger
against his chest. “Now she puts people like
you
behind bars.”

He grabbed her hand. Despite her
anger, awareness shot up her arm and into her chest. How could she still be
attracted to him after what he’d done?  Tess tried to pull her hand from
his grip, but he held on. Slowly, he rubbed the pad of his thumb over the
center of her palm, sending darts of warmth all through her body with that one
single touch.

His gaze skimmed her face and
then settled on her mouth.

“How can you believe I would do that?
 Hell, I didn’t even know you kept anything of value at Abel’s house.”

Once again, Tess tried to pull
her hand away but failed. Little tingles had begun to dance over her breasts
and stomach. “A white feather was left behind.”  Her voice was breathless
and she cursed herself for revealing just how much he affected her. “Your
father, the real Dove, is dead. That leaves you and Hope. Hope would never
steal from me. But you might.”

His thumb continued its sensual
caress causing a languid feeling to settle over her body. She tried to shake
away the stupor he was creating and focus on her own words. “You’ve obviously
decided to pick up where your father left off. The only thing I can’t figure
out is why after all these years and why my pendant?”

She watched as icy fury blanketed
his face. He dropped her hand from his grip and raked a hand through his hair,
mussing the familiar strands.

Her skin tingled from his touch
and the strokes of his thumb over her palm.

After a moment, he fixed her with
a penetrating gaze. “For the last time, I didn’t steal your damn
pendant!”  His shout echoed through the shop.

Hurt suffused her heart and body.
How could he stand there and lie to her like this?  “I don’t believe you.
The least you could do is admit what you’ve done especially after I confessed
the truth to you about my finances.”

Cullinan threw his hands up in
the air then let his arms drop to his sides. “I’m not admitting a damn thing,
especially to something I didn’t do. But right now I don’t care if you believe
me or not. The fact is I didn’t steal your pendant.”

She wanted to believe him, she
wanted to, down to the bottom of her soul, but she refused to allow his charm,
his calculated act to turn her attention in another direction. “You’re the son
of a very famous jewel thief.”  She desperately tried to calm herself.
“People like you have connections. Besides, Hope told me how your father used
to scope out certain areas. He talked to housekeepers and gardeners; he took
odd jobs working for plumbers and electricians so he could gain access to some
of these houses in order to find out where their valuables were hidden.”

“And you think I did the same
thing?”  His voice was thin and hollow.

Tess paused, taking a deep breath
then releasing it. “Maybe.”

Cullinan laughed bitterly and
waved a hand through the air. “Oh, right. I can see it now. I knock on the door
and say, ‘Hi, Mr. District Attorney, mind if I look around for any jewels you
might have hidden in the place?’”

“Hope knew I had the pendant but
she didn’t know I had it over at Abel’s.” Tess plowed ahead, ignoring his
sarcasm. “I don’t know how but you found out it was there.”

He took one step closer to her,
his gaze boring into hers. “Are you finished?”

“No.”  She stared at him, at
the man who not so long ago had filled her life with passion and joy. How had
everything that was so good and right about their relationship been twisted
into something so wrong?

“Why did you do it, Cullinan?”
 Her voice trembled. “For revenge because I walked away from you and
married Quinn?  Was that the reason?”

Cullinan abruptly turned away and
paced over to the window behind his desk. With his hands on his hips, he looked
out at the beautiful, cold day. “I was never after revenge.”

His words were soft and quiet.
“You made your choice and I had to live with it. We both moved on with our
lives. Besides, I have better things to do than steal jewelry from my old
lovers. It’s not my style.”

“Why won’t you just tell me the
truth?”  She choked on her words.

He turned and looked at her. “I
am telling you the truth; you just don’t want to believe me.”  His voice
was tired and resigned. “Now, I want you to get something through your thick
skull. I quit after Dad died. Later on I opened this shop.”  He moved one
of his shoulders in a half shrug. “I admit I’ve lifted a few things now and
again just to keep my skills sharp, but everything you see in here is legit.”

When she started to speak, he
held up his hand. “Hope went to law school and now she’s a respected attorney
in the D.A.’s office.”  He glared at her, shoving his hands into his
pockets. “I would do nothing to jeopardize her reputation, least of all steal
from you,” he finished in a scornful tone.

Tess lifted her chin and licked
her dry lips. “I know you would never do anything to hurt your sister, but
every time you went out under the cover of darkness and stole something you
hurt me. You hurt me repeatedly. You knew how I felt about honesty and
integrity.”  A sob tried to shove its way into her throat but she pushed
it down. “The worst part of it was that I didn’t even know you were doing it.” 
Her voice trailed away in a husky whisper.

“Until Hope told you.”

Tess inhaled a deep breath in an
effort to ease her shuddering heart and spent emotions. “If it weren’t for your
father’s death, I would never have known. As sorry as I am for what happened
I’m glad I found out.”

His eyes filled with challenge.
“Are you, Tess?  Are you really glad that you found out?”

He moved toward her.

She waited until he stood next to
her so she could look him in the eye and drink in his handsome face one last time.
After today, she never expected to see him again. Whenever she and Hope got
together, Tess made sure Cullinan was never around and to spare her feelings,
Hope didn’t mention him. “Yes, because if she hadn’t I would have married you.
We might have even had children before I found out. But you never had any
intention of telling me, did you?”

He shook his head and studied her
for a moment. “No.”  His voice was firm and she knew he meant it. “At
least not until I was sure you were truly mine. Mine forever. Then no matter
what, I would never have let you go.”

“You wouldn’t have had a choice.”

“There’s always a choice,
Tess.”  His low, confident tone made her pulse jump erratically.

She stepped away, away from his
powerful presence and the profound affect he had on her as a woman. Tess held
out her hand. “Give me back my pendant and I’ll never breathe a word to anyone.
I’ll tell the police the pendant was mailed to me anonymously.”

With one fluid stride, he yanked
her almost violently against him. Tess’s breath trembled in her lungs; her
heart throbbed in breathless anticipation. She felt his muscles, his bones and
his body heat press hard and rough over her breasts, stomach and thighs. She
tried to pull away when she saw the intent in his eyes but he held her fast and
firm. She gave her head a slight shake. “Cullinan, don’t.”

His focused gaze flicked
momentarily from her mouth up to her eyes. “Don’t what?  Don’t say I never
stole from you?  Don’t say I never betrayed you?  Don’t say I still
care about you?”  He grasped her chin in one hand and tilted her head
upward so she had no choice but to stare into his eyes. His fingers bit into
her delicate skin. “Maybe
this
will convince you I don’t have your
precious pendant.”

He drove his lips over hers,
subduing any chance she might have had to resist him. His lips and tongue
explored, punished and persuaded. Despite her anger and the shock of his
unexpected kiss, a fiery tumult of need careened through her blood. His other
hand slipped beneath the hem of her sweater then pushed inside her slacks to
squeeze her fanny. Warmth from his blatant caress sent hot ribbons of arousal
burning deep inside her core. And then just as quickly the spiral of ecstasy
Cullinan created ended when he rudely pushed her from his arms. She stood
before him with unsatisfied want zipping through her body and buzzing in her
ears. Her lips pulsed from his hard, uncompromising kiss while a fog of desire
clouded her brain.