Sacrifice (24 page)

“
Because you can tell him that your price for going along with the forgeries is getting rid of Simon. If Caston does not go for it, then tell him Simon is using these new David Alexander paintings to trap him.”

I raised my eyebrows at him “So I expose Simon to Greg instead of David doing it?”

He nodded. “You tell him Simon forced you to do it. Once he knows Simon is out to get him…”

“
You think that will make Greg want to go after Simon?” I inquired, trying to read his thoughts. “I mean I know he hates Simon, but will that be enough to push him over the edge.”

Dallas shrugged. “From what I know about Caston, probably. And that way we can make sure David never has to appear. We’ve got to try and keep David’s resurrection a secret for as long as we can. We don’t need the added headache of trying to explain where he has been for the past three years to anyone.” Dallas moved back to the entrance of the living room. “In the meantime, I suggest that you pack up a few things. In case you and David need to quickly disappear.”

“
What do you mean me and David? What about you?”

“
I’ll be fine. You don’t need to worry about me.” He took a breath and shook his head. “Look, no matter what happens, you and David will probably have to get out of the city until everything calms down. If David’s existence were discovered, Simon’s organization would be exposed. And then a lot of innocent people associated with that organization could be hurt or even killed.”

I felt my heart sink. “So David has to stay dead?”

“
David Alexander does, but not Dan Goldvarg.” Dallas paused as the lights from a passing car danced in the front street window. “He knows that, Nicci, and he’s prepared to live his life as someone else.” Dallas turned to me. “Are you willing to accept that fact?” he inquired.

“
Do I have a choice?”

The weight of the unfolding events was beginning to make my body feel like a heavy anchor at the bottom of a vast dark ocean.

“
I’m juggling so many dangerous secrets. I don’t know how much more I can take before everything comes falling down around me.” I paused and glanced over at Dallas. “Was it like this for you when you worked for Simon?” I asked, wondering about his life as a purveyor of secrets.

He shrugged. “Sometimes. The position that we are in now is much more difficult because we have to deal with Simon La Roy and Greg Caston.”

“
And what if Greg doesn’t go for it?” I reflected back to the time I had spent in New York with Dallas several months before. “You once told me the affluent and powerful who seek out Simon’s services are only interested in money and not revenge. What if Greg only wants money? Then what do we do?”

“
I believe Caston will want to eliminate Simon for both revenge and money. With Simon out of the way, Caston’s organization will be the biggest on the East Coast, making him a very powerful man. His hatred for Simon is well known and has been growing stronger throughout the years. I think the time is right to use that hatred to our advantage.” He watched me fidgeting nervously in front of him, “You’ll have to go to Caston and inform him of your decision. You’ll have to tell him you will agree to anything to be free of Simon. You’re going to have to be very convincing otherwise this could all blow up in our faces.”

“
I don’t know if I can go to another person and ask them to kill someone for me, Dallas. That’s almost like pulling the trigger myself,” I said, wrapping my arms around my body.

“
Just close your eyes and think of all the things Simon has done to you and David,” Dallas suggested. “Better yet, think of Simon and how nice he will look with a bullet hole in the middle of his forehead.”

Chapter
Sixteen

As I lay in my bed, images of David, Dallas, and Greg Caston kept swirling around in my mind. I threw off the covers and blew out an exasperated sigh. I debated the prospect of getting out of bed and making myself a drink, but I knew that was a poor substitute for what I really wanted. Ever since I had run out on him earlier in the day, my thoughts had kept returning to David. I climbed out of the four-poster bed and let my feet settle on the cool oak hardwood floor. I looked over at the clock on the bedside table. There was only one place I wanted to be right now. But two o’clock in the morning wasn’t exactly the best time to go knocking on doors.

I dressed quickly and picked up the silver key David had given me from the top of my bedside table. I shoved the key in the pocket of my jeans then slipped out my bedroom and down the back stairs to the kitchen. I snuck out the back door and ran across the courtyard to the gate facing the street. As I looked up and down a darkened Royal Street, I could not spot a single soul traveling along the sidewalk. The porch lights from the adjacent residences cast eerie shadows all around me. Only the occasional sound of footsteps filled the night and the unsettling quiet of the usually busy street unnerved me. I knew the French Quarter streets were dangerous to navigate alone at night, but with my good judgment being blinded by desperate need, I decided to run to David’s. At least then, I reasoned, anyone wanting to mug me would have to really work for it.

Less than ten minutes later, I stood gasping for breath as I used my key to open the gate to George’s courtyard entrance. I looked up and down both sides of the street to make sure no one was around before I entered the wrought iron gate. As I stepped out into the courtyard, strips of bright moonlight were shimmering down from between the rooftops on either side of the garden walls. I dashed across the courtyard and soon found myself standing in front of David’s carriage house door.

I was about to begin lightly rapping on the front door when I realized I had placed myself in a rather precarious position. David’s hearing loss, combined with what I remembered about his ability to sleep deeply, could soon make my banging on the door to his little cottage an event loud enough to awaken the entire neighborhood.

I walked over to one of the windows and peeked inside, hoping to find some way to get in without being detected. As I was about to turn away from the window, I saw a figure walk by.

I was gently tapping on the window when the front door opened beside me and David came rushing outside. He was wearing a blue robe over his jeans and holding a mug in his hand. He had flecks of paint in his hair and on his face.

“
Nicci?” He walked up to me. “What are you doing out here?”

I looked into his face and felt a swarm of butterflies take to flight inside of my stomach. “I wanted to see you,” I said, trying to sound casual.

“
At two in the morning?” He moved closer to me. “How in the hell did you get here? Did Dallas drive you?”

“
Dallas is probably still asleep in his bed. I ran from Val’s. It’s only a few blocks.”

“
You did what?” he shouted and the sound reverberated throughout the patio. He quickly lowered the volume of his voice. “Are you insane? Do you know what could have happened to you? That was a stupid thing to do, Nicci.” He paused and raised one eyebrow at me. “What do you mean asleep in his bed? You and Dallas aren’t sleeping together?”

I shook my head. “He moved into another bedroom after he returned from your meeting yesterday morning. He also told me of your plans for him to go back to Simon’s organization in New York and abandon his work at his family’s boatyard in Connecticut. He made it very clear that he has pretty much tossed our relationship to the side as well. When were you going to clue me in on any of this?”

“
I have my own plans for you, which you’re already bloody well clued in on,” he said, sounding more than a bit annoyed. “I swear you’re going to be the death of me,” he whispered.

I folded my arms and frowned at him. “Well, it wouldn’t be the first time.”

He looked at me and smiled. It was the same warm, wonderful smile that I had carried with me since that tragic day three years ago.

“
Why are you here, Nicci?” he asked in a hushed tone.

I took a step closer to him. “I needed to talk to someone. I tried to sleep and I kept thinking about you, Dallas, and Greg Caston.”

“
In that order I hope,” he said, grinning.

I took another step closer to him and stared up into his face. I reached up to gently touch the scar on his face but he quickly jerked his head away from my hand. He turned from me and put his mug down on the windowsill beside him.

I placed my hand on his shoulder and gently urged him to face me.

“
You have been so afraid of what I would think of this,” I said as I touched his scar. “That you never once stopped to wonder how I feel about seeing you again. Did you ever realize that maybe this is killing me? I did this to you. If it hadn’t been for me you would never have had to suffer through any of this,” I whispered. I ran my fingers down his cheek and gently touched the tracheotomy scar on his neck.

“
Michael is the one who did this to me, Nicci, not you.”

“
Maybe…” I hesitated as I let my hand fall back to my side. “Maybe it would have been better for you if we had never met. I feel like all I’ve done is bring you nothing but pain.”

He shrugged. “Some pain mixed with a hell of a lot of happiness. I would not give up one moment I’ve spent with you to be as I was before we met. You were worth every sacrifice.”

I felt a sudden rush of sorrow fill my heart. “But I’m not worth it now. I understand.” I turned away from him.

He reached out and grabbed my hand, stopping me. “I can’t help but wonder if your time with Dallas has changed how you feel about me.”

I spun around to face him. “Do you honestly believe another man could ever possibly change what I feel for you? What I have always felt for you since the day we first met at Myra Chopin’s debutante party.”

He let go of my hand as a smug grin spread across his handsome face. “I didn’t realize you found me irresistible even then. But as you can see I’m not the same man you met at that party so long ago.” He placed his hands behind his back. “But I’m still yours if you’ll have me as I am.”

“
And what do I have to do to convince you that I want you as you are?”

He winked at me. “Use your imagination,” he whispered.

He went back through the front door without so much as a second glance.

I followed him into the small carriage house, feeling a slight ripple of excitement tweak inside my belly. I gazed around the darkened living room and found no sign of David. My eyes traveled up the spiral staircase. At the top of the staircase, the light of a single lamp shone down from the ceiling. I smiled, feeling all of my doubts suddenly stilled by my certainty. I wanted David at that moment. More than I had ever wanted anything in my life, I wanted to hold his body against mine. I wanted to smell the paint and sweat on his skin, to kiss his lips, and to feel… well, only the way David could make me feel. Emboldened by my desire, I walked over to the staircase and one by one, slowly ascended the steps to the second floor.

I found David in his bedroom studio sitting on a stool in front of an easel. Perched on the easel was an unfinished portrait of Jenny, dressed in black, sitting beneath the shade of a massive oak tree. Next to her was a small granite cross. It was the same granite cross that had marked David’s grave.

I walked slowly up to him. “I see you still like to stay up all night painting.”

“
I don’t sleep very well these days. Painting helps pass the time.”

“
Why don’t you sleep well?” I asked as I stood beside him.

“
I haven’t slept well since the shooting.” He shrugged. “The truth is I haven’t slept well since I’ve been away from you.”

He reached out for my hand as he stood from his stool.I held his hand in mine. “Do you know how much I have missed you?”

“
Show me how much you’ve missed me, Nicci,” he demanded in a low voice.

“
What can I say, David.” I leaned in closer to him. “There is nothing more I want right now than you.”

He pulled me into his arms and kissed me. I was instantly overwhelmed by the intensity of his kiss. I remembered how the same passion David had brought to his painting had carried over into our bedroom. And as his hands began to explore the hills and valleys of my body, I felt my desire for him consume me.

I anxiously pushed the robe off his shoulders, desperate to feel his warm flesh beneath my hands. He grabbed at his robe and placed it over the easel behind him. I let my fingers traverse every inch of his paint speckled broad chest, arms, and back. I laughed as I took in his paint-splattered body.

“
You always reminded me of a walking Picasso,” I said.

I kissed his scarred cheek and then let my lips travel down to the left side of his chest. I noted the long white scar over his lower ribs and tenderly kissed it. I covered his chest with kisses and when I reached his left nipple I bit down hard on the pink tender flesh. He gasped in surprise.

I closed my mouth over his and let all of the hunger inside of me free. He pulled my T-shirt over my head and tossed it away. I reveled in the feel of his hands against my flesh. I undid the buttons on the fly of his jeans. Eagerly, I pushed the jeans down and let my hands explore his firm backside. Then I reached around and gently stroked his erection. He bit into my shoulder and I could feel the blood bounding beneath his skin. He unclasped my bra and began teasing my nipples with his thumbs. I was undone by the sensations he was awakening inside of me. David unzipped my jeans and quickly eased the heavy denim fabric from around my legs.