The Shadowed Heart. Nina Beaumont

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СКАЧАТЬ stop it.” He pressed his hands to his ears. “Just listening to you would make me guilty in the eyes of the Inquisitors.”

      “Why did you bring me here, if you did not wish me to speak the truth?” Chiara demanded. She wanted to run, but something kept her standing there, as if her feet had been planted in the ground. “Now I want the coins you promised me.” She held out her hand.

      “Sei pazza! You’re crazy!” Manelli tapped his hand against his forehead. “You may have called down the Inquisitors upon my head.” He began to pace. “The bravest man trembles at the mere thought of the dungeons in the Doge’s palace. And now you—” he pointed a meaty finger at her “—you dare to ask for money?”

      “You promised you would pay me to use the sight.” There was no petulance, no whining in her voice, only a resolute tenaciousness.

      “Listen to me!” He stopped in front of her. “Be grateful if all I do is not pay you.”

      Chiara stared up at him. Rage had lived within her since she was a child, watching her father treat her mother worse than he would treat a servant. Now it sprang to life, just as a smoldering fire springs into flame at a breath of air. Her arm brushed against the dagger at her waist, but it did not even occur to her to reach for it. She had a better weapon for this toad of a man.

      “It would not go well for you to cheat me.” Her voice lowering, she shifted closer to him. “Do you know what Gypsies do to those who cheat them?”

      Paling, Manelli retreated from her, making the sign against il malocchio, the evil eye, with forefinger and little finger of his right hand. “I—if you promise to do what you are told, I will pay you.” His gaze shifted away from her face.

      Chiara’s eyes narrowed. If he thought to cheat her, she thought, she would—

      “Leave us, Manelli. I wish to speak to the girl.”

      Like matching puppets, both whirled to face Luca.

      “B-but, signore, Signora Giulietta—”

      “Leave Signora Giulietta to me.” Although he was not aware of it, Luca’s chiseled features grew as cold as if they were carved from ice at the unaccustomed contradiction. “Out.” He tipped his head toward the door.

      Manelli felt sweat begin to dribble down his back at the icy anger in Signor Luca Zeani’s black eyes. But still he hesitated to obey, for he knew well what cruelties Signora Giulietta was capable of.

      Luca heard the door behind him open and turned to see Giulietta with Savini in tow.

      “What are you doing here, Luca?” Giulietta demanded.

      “I could ask you the same question, cara.” Even as he addressed her, his eyes skimmed over Savini. The man was staring at the Gypsy girl with undisguised lecherousness and Luca’s eyes narrowed as he returned his gaze to his mistress. “Or have you brought Savini here to take his pound of flesh from the girl for telling the truth?”

      Chiara’s eyes widened as the terrible understanding of what was happening penetrated her mind, why she had been brought to this room. She understood that this scarecrow of a man with his protuberant eyes intended to take her body. And all these people standing around her intended to let him.

      She suppressed the cry of protest and fear that rose in her throat. Like a wild animal circled by hunters, she remained perfectly still for one moment, her eyes darting from one to the other. Then she ran.

      Luca had his back to the girl, but by some instinct he was aware of her intention before she ever moved. Spinning on his heel to face her, he blocked her way so that she slammed fully into his body. Capturing her in his arms, he held her relentlessly as she began to fight like a wild thing, twisting and turning within his harsh embrace.

      Confident of his muscular body, toughened from years of seafaring life, Luca curbed his strength, not wishing to hurt her.

      Grimly determined, Chiara fought on. He was a soft fop, she assured herself, with his silks and brocades and lace. He was evil and brutal, but he was a coward. He had run from her once before, after all.

      Twisting her body around its axis, she raised her bent arm as high as she could and then drove it back, plowing her elbow into his middle.

      Luca swore as the girl’s elbow struck his midriff, but he only tightened his grip. Still she fought him. Suddenly she bent like a poplar sapling in the wind and, before he realized what she intended, she had sunk her teeth into his wrist.

      Dropping all pretense of civility, he grabbed a handful of her hair and jerked her head back. “Be still, damn it,” he growled into her ear. “I mean you no harm.”

      “No!” Her voice rose. The memory of how his eyes had glittered so demonically that night almost two years ago enabled her to fight on even though her strength was flagging. “Let me go!” She managed to free one hand and, forming her fingers into claws, gouged deep scratches into his cheek before he captured her hand again.

      His patience snapped and, unleashing his full power, Luca manacled her hands with his and twisted them behind her back, ignoring her cry of pain. Holding her wrists with one hand, he pressed his other arm against her throat, drawing her flush against him.

      As he pinned her against him, Chiara stilled, the strength flowing out of her abruptly, as if he had severed some lifeline by pressing her against his body. The light surrounded her again. And warmth. She shook her head in disbelief, as she looked for the dark apparition, but this time it eluded her.

      As she surfaced, she found herself staring directly into his eyes. They were the color of the night sky at its darkest hour, but there were tiny specks of gold strewn throughout the blackness, like points of light. She waited for the malevolent glitter, but it did not come. Then she realized that the eyes were smiling at her.

      “Well?” he asked, his smile coloring his voice. “Have you decided to surrender?”

      Because her life had taught her that it was sometimes wise to give up to be able to fight another time, she lowered her eyes in a gesture that could be taken for assent.

      “I do not surrender,” she said softly. “But I cannot fight against your strength.”

      “A wise decision. Now if I release you, will you remain still and not try to maim me?”

      She gave a jerky nod.

      “Look at me.”

      Hesitating for a long moment, Chiara felt him push her chin upward with his arm. Reluctantly she lifted her lids. As their eyes met and held, she felt the hatred within her pall. Panicking, she tried to hold it, but all she could see was the light that rose from the recesses of her mind to surround the man who held her, until he seemed enclosed in a bubble of light.

      Luca saw the panic in her eyes and felt something within himself soften.

      “I won’t hurt you.” He lowered his arm slightly so that it lay just above her breasts. Cautiously he loosened the fingers that shackled her wrists.

      When Chiara immediately tried to move away from him, his hands tightened again.

      “Stay close until I’m sure that you’re not going to run.” His tone was mild, but the command СКАЧАТЬ