Belladonna, page 25
“I know. And Lona was my grandmother, related by blood or not. But I still don’t understand.” Catching his lapels, she shook them slightly. “Why don’t I have feelings for Donna and Charmaine? I remember things about them, I just can’t find any feelings. Am I a horrible person, Malone?”
He drew his brows together. “Of course not. You’re just human. You probably never had strong feelings for them. They don’t exactly sound like the most lovable people in the world.”
“Hobby was nice, I think. Well, nicer, anyway. And Robert, too, although I don’t remember much about him yet.”
“You remembered the letter opener that killed him.”
Bella swayed against him, head bent. Malone had to grind his teeth to fight the desire that shot through him. “I thought it was a knife, a skinny pink knife. It’s funny, isn’t it, the things that stand out in your mind? Donna must have remembered it, too. Obviously, she kept it after our father died. So much tragedy, and all because Robert and Amanda had an affair.”
“People have murdered for less,” Malone noted darkly. “Be thankful your mind chose to block the horror out. Donna’s just snapped.”
Giving in to temptation, he pulled her closer. He was both pleased and a little unsettled when her arms tightened about his neck. But, no, it would be fine between them—nothing, God forbid, like his parents’ marriage. It would be what they made it, and they certainly had plenty of bad examples from which to learn.
“I had a mother and a twin sister for a while this afternoon,” Bella reflected. “I think I liked it better when I had only Lona.” She raised her eyes to his. “She’s being cremated tomorrow, you know.”
“I know.”
“You don’t have to come, Malone.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
He hesitated, then sighed. “Because I love you, Bella Conlan.”
“It’s Arabella, actually. And I love you, too. I love you, and I’m going to marry you.”
He stared as if he hadn’t heard her correctly. “I beg your pardon?”
“Oh, relax, will you?” She smiled for the first time since the nightmare had ended that afternoon. “We’ll go slowly. But it’s going to happen sometime, so you might as well accept it. Chen-Li said so, and I believe in him. Did you see that raven or crow or whatever it was flying around in the rafters the whole time we were in the House of Mann today? And what about the carving of the raven on top of the letter opener? Explain that if you can.”
“Coincidence, Bella, nothing more.”
She hit him. “It was destiny. Accept it, Malone. If ChenLi says we belong together, we belong together. Anyway, in spite of everything, I’m glad we met him. He’s quite a character.”
Malone grunted. “Yeah, well, you haven’t met a character until you’ve met my father.”
She brightened. “Are you going to introduce us?”
“Maybe.”
“When?”
“Next year.”
Bella started to object, then caught the humor in his eyes and followed his gaze to the far wall.
“Ten seconds,” he said. “Nine, eight…”
“Forget the countdown, Malone.” She moved suggestively against him. “Let’s start the New Year with a bang, hmm? And I don’t mean the kind we heard this afternoon.” Taking his face between her hands, she reached up and set her mouth on his.
In the very back of his mind, Malone heard Chen-Li’s voice whispering softly, “What is in the past is no more. It is to the future that we must look and in the present that we must live. The ravens of death have settled on the Birds. The poison of Belladonna is gone, and with it, I think, your own ghosts. The future lies before you…. Happy New Year.”
As the clock began to toll, Bella raised her mouth from his and smiled. “It’s over,” she promised. “The Birds are dead. So is Belladonna. Dead and gone, Malone. Just like Romaine….”
Epilogue
The storm continued, with great sheets of wind-driven rain, loud cracks of thunder and lightning bright enough to illuminate the darkest corners of Chen-Li’s apartment.
The old man stood at the window, gazing out on the Birds’ warehouse. It neither surprised nor startled him when two sleek, black ravens swooped out of the night to perch on his window ledge. Nor did it surprise him that both birds had expressions on their faces. One of them stared in an openly accusing fashion; the other studied him calmly, as if weighing the merits of his psychic abilities.
The first bird let out a coarse squawk and clawed at the glass. The vengeful sound brought a smile to Chen-Li’s lips. Sliding his folded hands into the bell of his sleeves he regarded them in turn and recited softly:
“Mirror, mirror of the soul, Evil deeds must take their toll. As you sow, so shall you reap. I shall, of course, this secret keep.”
That said, he turned from the birds and shuffled silently away into the darkness.
Epilogue
The storm continued, with great sheets of wind-driven rain, loud cracks of thunder and lightning bright enough to illuminate the darkest corners of Chen-Li’s apartment.
The old man stood at the window, gazing out on the Birds’ warehouse. It neither surprised nor startled him when two sleek, black ravens swooped out of the night to perch on his window ledge. Nor did it surprise him that both birds had expressions on their faces. One of them stared in an openly accusing fashion; the other studied him calmly, as if weighing the merits of his psychic abilities.
The first bird let out a coarse squawk and clawed at the glass. The vengeful sound brought a smile to Chen-Li’s lips. Sliding his folded hands into the bell of his sleeves he regarded them in turn and recited softly:
“Mirror, mirror of the soul,
Evil deeds must take their toll.
As you sow, so shall you reap.
I shall, of course, this secret keep.”
That said, he turned from the birds and shuffled silently away into the darkness.
eISBN 978-14592-7565-2
BELLADONNA
Copyright © 1996 by Jacqueline Goff
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Umited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters In this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly Inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks Indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
Printed In U.S.A.
Table of Contents
Cover Page
Table of Contents
Excerpt
Dear Reader
Dedication
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Epilogue
Copyright
Jenna Ryan, Belladonna
