Читать книгу The Duchess Diaries - Merline Lovelace - Страница 19

Ten

Everything Gina had ever learned or heard or read about self-defense coalesced into a single, instinctive act. Whipping her purse off her shoulder, she swung it with everything she had in her.

“Hé!” The intruder flung up his arm and blocked the savage blow. “Várj!”

“Várj yourself, you bastard!”

Gina swung again. This time his arm whipped out and caught the purse strap. One swift tug yanked it out of her hands.

“If you’ve hurt my grandmother...”

She lunged past him into the kitchen. Her fingers wrapped around the hilt of the largest knife in the upright butcher-block stand.

“Jézus, Mária és József!” The stranger chopped his hand down on her wrist, pinning it to the counter. “Stop, Eugenia. Stop.”

The terse command pierced her red haze of fear but her heart still slammed against her chest as the questions tumbled out. “How do you know my name? What are you doing here? Where’s my grandmother?”

“The duchess is in her bedroom, asleep, I presume. I am here because she invited my sister and me to stay. And I know your name because we’re cousins, you and I.”

“Cousins?”

“Of a sort.”

When she tugged her wrist, he released his brutal grip. A smile softened the stark angles of his face. “I’m Dominic. Dominic St. Sebastian. I live in Budapest, but my parents came from Prádzec. Your grandmother’s home,” he added when she looked at him blankly.

It took her a moment to recognize the name of the town on the border between Austria and Hungary, in the heart of what was once the Duchy of Karlenburgh.

“I don’t understand. When did you get here?”

“This afternoon.” He gestured behind him to the coffeemaker just starting to bubble and brew on the counter. “It’s midnight in New York, but morning in Hungary. My body has yet to adjust to the time change and craves its usual dose of caffeine. Will you join me for coffee and I’ll explain how Anastazia and I come to be here, in your home.”

“No coffee,” Gina murmured, her hand fluttering to her stomach as she tried to absorb the presence of this dangerous-looking man in her grandmother’s kitchen.

He was as sleek and as dark as a panther. Black hair, black shirt, black jeans slung low on his hips. The T-shirt stretched taut across a whipcord-lean torso. The hair was thick and razored to a ragged edge, as though he didn’t have time or couldn’t be bothered with having it styled.

“Tea, then?” he asked.

“Tea would be good.” Slowly getting her wind back, Gina nodded to the cabinet behind his head. “The tea caddy is in there.”

“Yes, I know.” His smile reached his eyes. “The duchess told me to make myself to home. I took her at her word and explored the cupboards.”

Whoa! This man’s face cast in hard angles and tight lines was one thing. The same face relaxing into a lazy grin was something else again. Gina had a feeling Dominic St. Sebastian could have his pick of any woman in Budapest. Or pretty much anywhere else in the world.

The fact that he knew his way around a tea caddy only added to the enigma. While the fresh-made coffee dripped into the carafe, he brewed a pot of soothing chamomile. Moments later he and Gina were sitting across from each other with steaming mugs in hand.

“So,” he said, slanting her a curious look. “The duchess never spoke to you of me or my family?”

His speech held only a trace of an accent. A slight emphasis on different syllables that made it sound intriguing and sexy as all hell. Wondering where he’d learned to speak such excellent English, Gina shrugged.

“Grandmama told my sister and me that we had some cousins, four or five times removed.”

“At least that many times. So we could marry if we wished to, yes?”

The tea sloshed in her mug. “Excuse me?”

“We’re well outside the degree of kinship forbidden by either the church or the law. So we could marry, you and I.”

A sudden suspicion darted into Gina’s consciousness. Despite the duchess’s seeming acceptance of her granddaughter’s single-and-pregnant status, was she resorting to some Machiavellian scheming?

“Just when did my grandmother invite you and your sister to New York?”

“She didn’t. I had to come on business and since Anastazia had never been to the States, she decided to accompany me. When we phoned the duchess to arrange a visit, she invited us for tea. She was so charmed by my sister that she insisted we stay here.”

Charmed by his sister? Gina didn’t think so.

“How long will you be in New York?”

“That depends on how swiftly I conclude my business. But not, I hope, before I get a chance to know you and the duchess. I’ve heard many tales of her desperate flight after the duke’s execution.”

“She doesn’t speak of those days. I think the memories still haunt her.”

“Is that why she’s never returned to Austria, or traveled to any part of what is now Hungary?”

“I think so.”

“That’s certainly understandable, but perhaps some day she will visit and allow Anastazia and me to return her gracious hospitality. She would find everything much changed.”

“I’m sure she would.”

“You must come, too. I would enjoy showing you my country, Eugenia.”

“Gina, please. Grandmama’s the only one who calls me Eugenia, and then it’s generally because I’ve screwed up.”

“And does that happen often?”

She made a face. “Far more often than either of us would like.”

The tea and the European rhythm of Dominic’s speech had combined to bring Gina the rest of the way down from the adrenaline spike of her scare. When she reached bottom, weariness hit like a baseball bat.

Her jaw cracked on a monster yawn. She barely got a hand up in time to cover it and gave Dominic a laughing apology.

“Sorry ’bout that. It’s been a long day.”

“For me, also.” His mesmerizing onyx eyes held hers. “Shall we go to bed?”

Okay, she had to stop attaching sexual innuendo to every word that came out of the man’s mouth.

They took their mugs to the sink. Dominic rinsed them while Gina emptied the coffeemaker. He flicked off the kitchen light as they passed through the swinging door, plunging them both into temporary blindness.

Gina had grown up in this apartment and was intimately familiar with every piece of furniture a mischievous girl could crawl under or hide behind. She also knew which sharp edges to avoid, blind or not. Instinctively, she angled to the left to skirt the corner of a marble-topped table.

The move brought her into contact with Dominic’s thigh, and his hand shot out to save her from what he must have assumed was a near fall.

“Careful.”

For the second time that night he’d captured her arm. Gina wasn’t quite as quick to shake off his hold this time.

“Thanks. I assume Grandmama put Anastazia in my sister’s room and you in the study?”

“Is the study the baronial hall with the oak paneling and crown molding?” he asked dryly.

“It is.” They stopped outside the double sliding doors. “Here you go. I guess I’ll see you in the morning. Correction. Make that later in the morning.”

His fingers slid from her forearm to her elbow to her wrist. Raising her hand, he bowed and dropped a kiss on it with old-world charm right out of the movies.

“Aludj jól, Gina.”

“And that means?”

“Sleep well.”

“Aludj jól, Dominic.”

She left him standing by the sliding doors and reclaimed her suitcase. No light shone from under the door to her grandmother’s room, so Gina slipped quietly into her own. She was asleep almost before her head hit the pillow.

* * *

She woke mere hours later. Grunting at what felt like a bowling ball resting atop her bladder, she rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom.

When she snuggled between the sheets again, sleep didn’t descend as swiftly. And when it did, it brought confusing dreams of a shadowy figure whose hair morphed from black to gold to black again.

* * *

Since Samuel wasn’t expecting her back from Washington for another day, possibly two, Gina didn’t feel compelled to go in to the office the next morning. Good thing, because she didn’t wake up a second time until almost nine.

She took her time in the shower, wondering if she’d dreamed that kitchen encounter last night. It was so surreal, and so unlike her grandmother to invite complete strangers to stay in their home. Maybe she was more tied to the land of her birth than she let on.

Gina followed the scent of coffee and cinnamon toast to the kitchen, where Maria was turning fresh toast onto a plate.

“There you are. Dominic told us, la duquesa and me, that you came in late last night.”

“I just about jumped out of my skin when I came in last night and bumped into him.” Dying for a cup of coffee, Gina poured a glass of apple juice instead. “I’m surprised Grandmama invited him and his sister to stay here.”

“Me, as well. But they are very nice and have made your grandmother smile. You will see,” Maria said, flipping the last of the toast onto the platter.

“Here, I’ll take that.”

The scene in the sunny, green-and-white breakfast room certainly seemed to give credence to Maria’s comment. The duchess was holding court, her snowy hair in a crown of braids, her chin feathered by the high lace collar of her favorite lavender silk blouse. Her smile was far from regal, though. Wide and lively, it transformed her face as she carried on an animated conversation with her guests in their native language.

But it was those guests who stopped Gina in her tracks. In the bright light of day, Dominic appeared every bit as dangerous as he had last night. Must be that European, unshaved whisker thing. Or his preference for black shirts. This one was starched cotton and open-collared, showing just a hint of a silver chain at his throat.

The woman seated across from him was almost as riveting. Her hair fell well past her shoulders, as lustrous and raven-black as her brother’s. Her cheekbones were high and sharp, her mouth a glistening red. Thick lashes framed dark eyes with just the hint of a slant. If the rest of her was as striking as that sculpted face, the woman could walk into any modeling agency in New York and sign a high six-figure contract within minutes.

All of a sudden Gina felt fat and dumpy and just a tad jealous of the way these two outsiders seemed to have glommed on to her grandmother. That lasted only until the duchess spotted her. Her lined face lit up with love.

“You’re awake at last. Come and join us, dearest.”

Dominic pushed back his chair and took the platter of toast so Gina could bend to give her grandmother a kiss. The look he gave her banished any lingering nasty thoughts. Fat and dumpy wouldn’t have put such an admiring gleam in his eyes.

“Good morning, cousin. Did you sleep well?”

“Very.”

“You must let me introduce my sister. Anastazia, this is...”

“Eugenia Amalia Therése,” the brunette said in an accent noticeably heavier than her brother’s.

She, too, pushed back her chair and came around the table. Holding out both hands, she kissed Gina’s cheeks. “I have been so eager to meet you, cousin. I, too, was named for the Archduchess Maria Amalia of Parma.” She wrinkled her perfect nose. “I am Anastazia Amalia Julianna. Such long names we have, yes?”

Despite her cover-model looks, she was open and friendly and engaging. Gina couldn’t help but smile back.

“We do indeed.”

“You must call me Zia. And I will call you Gina.”

That thorny matter settled, they joined the others at the table. Gina helped herself to two slices of cinnamon toast while her grandmother gave them all a rare glimpse into the family archives.

“Poor Archduchess Maria Amalia,” she said with a wry smile. “Married against her will to a mere duke while two of her sisters became queens. Marie Antoinette of France and Marie Caroline of Naples and Sicily.”

Charlotte took a sip of her tea and shared another historical tidbit.

“The three sisters were reportedly very close. They often exchanged letters and portraits and gifts. One of the last letters Marie Antoinette smuggled out of her prison was to Amalia.”

“I’m told there’s a miniature of their mother, the Empress Marie Therese of Austria, in your Metropolitan Museum of Art,” Zia said eagerly. “It is one of the places I hope to visit while I am here.”

“You must get Eugenia to take you. She spent many hours at the Met as a child.”

“Oh, but I must not impose.” The brunette turned her brilliant smile on Gina. “From what your grandmother has told us, you’re very busy with your work.”

“Actually, I’m off today. We can go this afternoon, if you like.”

“I would! And you, Dom. You must come, too, to see this long-dead ancestor of ours.”

His gaze met and held Gina’s. His mouth curled in a slow smile. “I’ll have to see if I can reschedule my afternoon appointment.”

* * *

Gina didn’t get a chance to corner her grandmother until midmorning. Zia had gone out onto the terrace to check her phone for voice messages and emails. Dominic retreated to the study to make some calls. As soon as he was out of the room, Gina pounced.

“Okay, Grandmama, ’fess up. What’s behind this sudden spurt of hospitality to distant relatives you’ve never met.”

“Really, Eugenia! I should hope I’m not so lacking in generosity as to let two young and very charming relations stay in a hotel when we have plenty of room here.”

“But you don’t know anything about them.”

“That’s what Dominic said when I extended the invitation. He tried to refuse, but I insisted.”

“Did either of them tell you what they do for a living?”

“Dominic does some kind of security work. Anastazia just got her MD degree from Semmelweis University in Budapest.”

Gorgeous and smart and a doc. Another nasty little worm of jealousy poked its head up. Gina might have started feeling dumpy and fat again if Dominic hadn’t come back into the room.

“I’m yours for the afternoon, if you’re sure you wish to...”

He broke off and pivoted on the balls of his feet in the direction of the hall. Startled, Gina strained to hear in the sudden silence and picked up a faint buzz.

“Oh, that’s my phone. I left it in my purse on the hall table last night. Excuse me.”

The call had already gone to voice mail when she fished the phone out of her jam-packed bag. She saw the name on caller ID and stabbed the talk button just in time.

“Hello, Jack.”

“Hi, Gina. I just wanted to check and see how you’re feeling after your long odyssey last night.”

The sound of his voice stirred the usual welter of confused emotions. Despite her abrupt departure yesterday, she couldn’t believe how much she missed him. How much she ached for him.

“I’m good,” she said, “although I decided not to go in to work since I had the day off, anyway.”

“So you’re going to put your feet up and rest, right?”

“Pretty much. Although I did agree to take my cousins to the Met this afternoon.”

“Cousins?”

“Two of them. Dominic and his sister, Anastazia. Their parents came from Prádzec, which was once part of the Duchy of Karlenburgh.”

“And is now in Hungary.”

Trust an ambassador-at-large to know that. The phone to her ear, Gina wandered toward the end of the hall. Dom sat next to her grandmother’s chair and appeared to be amusing her with some anecdote.

“Did the duchess know they were coming?” Jack asked.

“They surprised her. Me, too! I thought Dom was a burglar when I came chest-to-chest with him last night.”

“They were there, in the apartment when you got home?”

“They’re staying here.”

That was met with a short silence.

“What did you say their names were again?”

“Dominic and Anastazia St. Sebastian. She’s just finished med school and he does something in security. Grandmama didn’t get the specifics.”

She caught a flash of sunlight as the terrace doors opened and Zia rejoined the group.

“Oh, there’s Anastazia. I’d better go, Jack.”

“Gina...”

“Yes?”

“About this weekend—”

“It was just me,” she interrupted quickly. She hadn’t had time to sort through everything that had happened during their days together. And the nights! Dear God, the nights.

“Chalk it up to hormones run amok. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

“Okay.”

She blew out a breath and hit the end button, but some of the emotions Jack had stirred must have shown in her face when she walked into the sitting room. She couldn’t hide them from the duchess. Her faded blue eyes locked onto to Gina’s.

“Who was that, dearest?”

“Jack.”

“Hmm.”

The odd inflection in that murmur snared the interest of both guests. They were too polite to ask, however, and the duchess left it to Gina to elaborate.

“Jack Mason. He’s an ambassador-at-large with the U.S. State Department in Washington.”

Dominic’s expression of casual interest didn’t change but just for a second she thought she saw something flicker in his dark eyes. Like the duchess, he must have sensed there was more to the call than she wanted to reveal.

Oh, hell. Might as well let it all hang out.

“He’s the father of my baby.”

* * *

After Gina disconnected, Jack spent several long moments staring at the slice of the Mall viewable through his office windows. Their brief conversation ricocheted around in his mind.

Two of them. From Hungary. They surprised her. Chest-to-chest.

He wanted to believe it was his recent showdown with the Russian Mafia thugs who’d spilled across the borders of Eastern and Central Europe that prompted him to reach for the phone. Yet he couldn’t get that chest business out of his head.

His chief of staff answered the intercom. “What’s up, boss?”

“I need you to run a check on a pair from Hungary. They say they’re siblings and are going by the names Dominic and Anastazia St. Sebastian.”