by Day Leclaire
Kiley shrugged. “You know what I was thinking. And FYI, my plans haven’t changed just because of a bruised cheek.”
“What happened to the necklace?” he asked. “Where are the rest of the diamonds?”
Lacey jumped in before Kiley could respond. “She grew a conscience, that’s what.” She shot a sour look at Nicolò. “Your bad influence, no doubt.”
“I gather the necklace originally belonged to Cameron O’Dell?” At Lacey’s nod, he held out his hand. “Do you mind?”
“Not much left of it.” A wistful expression slipped through her gaze. “You should have seen it before Kiley broke it up. It was spectacular.”
He scrutinized the remaining diamonds. There were three of them, two single carat diamonds as well as a gorgeous five-carat stone that had to be one of the most exquisite fire diamonds he’d ever seen. “Magnificent.”
“It was.”
Unable to last another second without touching some part of Kiley, he drew her to the bed, and urged her down on the edge. Then he lifted her chin and tilted her face into the light. “That’s quite a shiner you have there. I was right, wasn’t I? Ferrell did this?”
“He didn’t hit me on purpose,” she conceded. “He and Lacey were fighting to get their hands on the necklace and my cheekbone got in the way of his elbow.”
“Ouch.” He glanced at Lacey and jerked his head toward the door. “Why don’t you get your daughter some ice.”
“Oh, of course. Right away.” Not a trace of sarcasm rippled through her words, yet she managed to make her displeasure heard loud and clear. Quite a feat. “Only too happy to help.”
As soon as she left the room, he asked, “What’s going on, Kiley? How did you end up with the necklace?”
She shrugged. “I figured out how to open the locket.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “And the necklace was inside?”
That won him a brief, endearingly lopsided smile. “No, but the key to a safety deposit box was. It took me a while to track down the right bank. But once I had, I found the necklace.”
His eyes narrowed at that telling piece of information. Did she even realize what she’d said? By admitting she didn’t know how to open the locket or where she’d stashed the necklace, she’d just confirmed she still had amnesia. He let it pass for now. “And after you found the necklace? What did you do then?”
“I used the list, the list from the file I found on your desk.”
“What did you use it for?” he asked gently.
She focused on a spot over his shoulder, her face set in determined lines. “I gave the diamonds to the people I—” Her voice broke for an instant before she regained control over it. “To the people I scammed. Ferrell was the last one. I didn’t realize you’d already paid him off or I’d never have contacted him.”
“I gather he wasn’t satisfied with a single diamond?”
“Even the little one was worth twice what I took from him. But he felt he deserved more for his pain and suffering. He wanted all three. Then Lacey arrived and . . .” She shrugged.
“Then I jumped into the fray. Got it.”
Her gaze drifted to his face again. Clung. “How did you find me?”
The Inferno called to him, urging him to lean in and take her mouth, to drink her in like a man lost and parched and desperate for relief. He fought the sensation. Not yet. Not until they’d resolved all the remaining issues. “I’ve been searching for you almost from the moment you left.”
“Almost,” she repeated.
“Well, I had to come to my senses first,” he admitted. “When I couldn’t find you, I elicited some help from my family.”
“Your family?” She shook her head in disbelief. “They were willing to help you find me?”
“Every last one of them,” he confirmed.
She stared in wonder. “But why would they do that? Didn’t they know what was in the file?”
“They knew.”
“I don’t understand any of this.”
Before she could ask any more questions, Lacey returned with a bucket of ice. Playing the role of the concerned parent, she filled a washcloth with the cubes and offered it to Kiley. “There you go, sweetheart. This should help.”
“Now it’s your turn,” Nicolò warned.
Lacey released a gusty sigh. “I had a feeling I wasn’t going to get out of this unscathed.”
“I’m surprised you came back. I half expected you to take off.”
“Thought about it,” she admitted.
“Why didn’t you?”
She gave him a cheeky grin. “You have the diamonds.”
Of course. Foolish to think she wouldn’t make a final play for them. “Explain the necklace. And Kiley’s scam with the fire diamond mine.”
She lifted an eyebrow, a calculating expression sliding into her gaze. “What do I get in return?”
“Lacey!” Kiley protested.
“The two little ones,” Nicolò offered.
“No way. I want the big one.”
“That belongs to Kiley,” he said in a voice that didn’t brook any argument. “If you want the little ones, you’re going to need to explain since Kiley can’t.”
Lacey made a face. “She really doesn’t remember, does she? If she did, she’d never have given away the diamonds.”
“I am still here, you know,” Kiley objected.
Lacey patted her shoulder. “Of course you are, dear. I assume you showed Nicolò all of Cameron O’Dell’s documentation? Birth certificate, death certificate, will?”
Nicolò waited while Kiley silently fumed, fully aware that she had no idea how to answer her mother’s question. Satisfied Lacey’s point had been made, he answered in Kiley’s place, “Yes, I saw all that. What happened to Cameron’s share of the mine?”
“He sold it to his brother before your grandfather, Primo, made his offer. He sold it in exchange—”
“For the necklace.”
“Exactly. He thought the mine was played out. As did his brother, Seamus, for that matter.”
“Got it. And you and Kiley have been using the necklace to run a series of scams. Selling and reselling it, I assume, then either substituting a fake or cutting out before the transaction was completed?”
She hesitated. “Well, not exactly.” She shot a disgruntled look toward her daughter. “I guess since there’s no more necklace, I can tell you the truth.”
Kiley braced herself. “I’m not sure I can handle much more truth right now.”
“Most of those things in the file?” Lacey shrugged. “It was me. I’m the one responsible.”
“No.” Kiley shook her head, adamant. “That’s not possible. Those people identified me by name. Ferrell even knew about my birthmark.
“Yes, well.” Lacey lowered her gaze and released a light laugh. “The others might have identified you because I was using your name and colored my hair to match. Ferrell knew about the birthmark because I have a matching one. Though, I suspect he knew damn well you weren’t me. He probably figured out the connection between us and went with it, hoping the Dantes wouldn’t figure out it was me, not you.”
“You—” Kiley took a deep breath and tried again. “You would do that to your own daughter? Why?”
Lacey waved the question aside with a sweep of her well-manicured hand. “A girl’s got to survive. And speaking of surviving . . .” She spun to face Nicolò. “Cough it up, handsome. I explained everything, now I want my diamonds.”
“What about my scamming the Dantes?” Kiley pressed.
She spared her daughter a quick look. “Sorry, sweetie. That one’s on you. I had no part in it.” She spared Nicolò a quick look and made a gimme motion with her fingers.
He removed the largest of the stones from the band and pocketed it before handing her the remaining two. “I’ll be watching to make sure that you don’t use Kiley’s name anytime in the future,” he warned.
“Not a problem. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I do believe
I’ve outstayed my welcome. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s how to make a graceful exit.” She flashed a megawatt smile at them both. “Don’t worry, I won’t be in touch.”
“I’ll see you out,” Nicolò insisted.
They didn’t speak until they’d reached the foyer. He pulled a business card from his pocket and handed it to her. “I hope you won’t need this, but just in case.”
She regarded it in surprise. “I don’t understand. Why are you giving this to me?”
“Two reasons. When all is said and done, you’re still Kiley’s mother. Family means a lot to the Dantes.”
She shrugged that off as though it didn’t count for much. Which, he supposed, it didn’t. Not for her. “And the other?” she asked.
“The other is for the lie you just told in there. Although I wouldn’t advise lying to me anytime in the future. I’ll always know.”
“That’s so sweet.” She twinkled up at him. “You’re actually thanking me.”
Before he could debate the point, his soon-to-be mother-in-law swept out the door and disappeared down the street with a jaunty hip-swinging stride. And wasn’t the idea of a familial connection with Lacey a depressing thought? He didn’t waste any further time on her. After giving Juice the money to pay for the damaged door, he sent the Dantes’ head of security on his way. Then Nicolò returned to the room where he’d left his heart and soul.
Kiley stood by the motel window, staring in the direction her mother had taken. He joined her there, taking her hand in his. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m sorry for doubting you. I’m sorry for allowing you to leave. And I’m even more sorry I didn’t find you sooner.”
“What do you want, Nicolò? I mean, really.” She lifted her gaze to his and he flinched at the wealth of sorrow he found there. “As much as I appreciate your helping me out of a tight spot, what is there left to be said?”
“Just one more thing.” He cupped her face. “I love you, Kiley O’Dell. I love you more than I believed it possible to love someone. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I’m hoping that’s what you want, too.”
“I love you, Nicolò. I do.” Her voice broke. “I always have.”
“Marry me. For real this time. No more lies. No more deception. From this day on, cards on the table.”
She shook her head, pain etched deep in her face. “Even now you’re not leveling with me. After all we’ve been through, you still haven’t put all your cards on the table.”
“What are you—”
“Stop it, Nicolò. I know she lied. I’m not the victim she made me out to be.”
He sucked in a deep breath. “How did you know?”
“I’m not a fool. I read the files. Every last word. Those men weren’t describing my mother. They were describing me. When I met with them, when I made reparations, they recognized me. They—” She fought to gather her self-control. “They despised me. Me, not her.”
“She’s no innocent in all this.”
“No, she’s not. I suppose she tried to make amends by taking the blame for all those scams.” Her mouth trembled, ripping him to shreds. “But I can’t marry you. Not ever. It wouldn’t be right.”
He fought the panic turning his insides to ice water. “Don’t do this, Kiley. The past doesn’t matter.”
“You’re wrong. If it didn’t matter, I wouldn’t have given away those diamonds. Trust me. It matters. It matters even more when you have nothing left but your honor and self-respect.”
“You’re not the person you once were.”
“I am that person,” she insisted. “I’ll always have to live with that knowledge. So will you, and so will your family. So will your friends and associates and customers. And they may not be as forgiving as you when they find out who—what—I am.”
“Was, Kiley. Was. Don’t you get it? I don’t care. I love you. We belong together.”
“Do you think I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in your arms? Oh, Nicolò. I love you so much. But I can’t be with you. I can’t marry you.”
“Why?”
The words burst out. “Because one day I’ll wake up and I’ll remember. And when that happens, I’ll turn back into her. I won’t have a choice. She’s who I really am. Who I’m meant to be. I can’t do that to you. I won’t.”
“Bullshit!” He broke off, drawing in a deep, calming breath. “Do you really believe you have no choice? Do you really believe that you can’t change? Do you want to be the woman you were before?”
“No. No.”
“Then don’t. It’s that simple. When you remember—if you remember—you can choose. You can choose a life filled with love and family. Or you can choose to go back to your old lifestyle. I’m betting you’ll like your new life far better than your old one.”
“It’s not that easy,” she protested. “It can’t be.”
“It can and it is.” He pulled her close, closing his eyes in relief when he felt the helpless give of her body. It told him he hadn’t lost her, that he only had to find the right words to win her. Honest words. Words from the heart. “If someday you remember, if it becomes a struggle, I’ll be there for you. I swear it. And so will my family. There’s only one thing that matters, Kiley. Do you love me?”
“You know I do.” Her breath shuddered from her lungs. “I don’t want to be her, Nicolò. I don’t ever want to be her.”
He understood she didn’t just mean her past self, but the sort of woman her mother had become, as well. “You’re not. The person you are now, without the baggage from the past, that’s the true woman. Your innate sweetness and strength, your intelligence and humor, your wit. All of those things are what exist at the core of you. That’s the real you. That’s the woman I fell in love with, the Kiley you would have been if your life had taken a different turn.” His arms tightened around her and he put every ounce of grit and determination into his voice. “Well, it did make that turn, sweetheart. Call it fate. Call it divine intervention. Hell, call it The Inferno. But because of your accident, you’ve been given a chance to take your life in a new direction. With me.”
He cupped her face and kissed his way past the tears, losing himself in her passionate warmth. This was the Kiley he knew. The Kiley he’d fallen in love with. The Inferno caught fire, blazing hotter than he’d ever felt it before. It was almost as though by their breaking through the final barriers separating them, by sharing those final pieces of themselves, The Inferno rewarded them with a connection so strong, so utterly complete, that nothing could ever divide them again.
He lifted his head and gazed down at her with unfettered honesty and trust. “Marry me, Kiley. Take a chance. Create a brand-new life with me.”
“Cards on the table from now on?”
“All fifty-two of them.”
She smiled then, that beautiful, radiant, lopsided smile. “Take me home, Nicolò.”
He didn’t need any further prompting. Together they left behind the old and forgotten, the sordid and painful, and walked into a future shiny with possibility.
Epilogue
Kiley’s memory did return, but not for another twenty years.
It came back on a hot summer day while she played baseball with her husband, her four strapping sons, and their various first and second cousins. Nicolò had suggested she play centerfield, “out of harm’s way,” but she’d insisted on covering third. What she hadn’t anticipated was chasing an easy pop fly that took an unexpected curve into a nearby street.
It happened again as it had twice before in her life. She darted out into the street, her glove lifted skyward, only afterward realizing the sheer idiocy of her reckless actions. The driver of the oncoming car hit his brakes and horn at the exact same moment, skidding toward her at a frightening speed. She knew she wouldn’t be able to avoid the impact this time, just as she hadn’t on that very first occasion when she’d been struck by a cab outside of Le Premier. Ironically, this car was the same bright yellow as the cab had been all those
years ago. This time it wouldn’t miss her, just as it hadn’t then. And this time she’d fully suffer the consequences of her impulsiveness.
At the last possible instant, an arm swooped around her waist like a band of iron and yanked her clear of the oncoming car. With a final blare of the horn, it swept past, leaving her trembling within Nicolò’s embrace. Her husband growled out a string of Italian curses before kissing her senseless.
When she surfaced from the kiss, it was to find her sons grouped around her in a tight worried circle, and her husband gazing down at her with a combination of undisguised love and bone-deep terror. It felt as though time caught its breath for a brief instant, pausing just long enough for the rush of memories to finish cycling through her head, cascading over her in a dizzying flood.
In that odd timeless moment, she remembered it all. Those crazed early years with her mother. The childhood better off forgotten. The lessons she’d learned at the knee of an amoral parent more concerned with material possessions than character or soul. More concerned with money than the needs of a lonely child desperate for a proper mother. Kiley could see, as though through a thick glass, the string of scams she and her mother had pulled. Could feel the cold emptiness of that life, could feel the spirit draining out of her with each successive con.
“Mom?” Dominic, her eldest, touched her shoulder, fear evident in the deep black gaze he kept trained on her face. “You okay?
“I—”
The past tugged at her. Called to her. Tried to pull her back toward that other person. That person she’d been all those years ago. So many options opened themselves to her, options that for that long-ago Kiley would have been like hitting a multi-million dollar jackpot.
And then she began to laugh. She’d hit the jackpot long ago. She gazed up at her husband, a man she adored with all her heart and soul, a man who’d saved her from that other life. And she looked at each one of the children she’d given birth to, children she’d showered with love and attention, discipline and a strong moral character. And she laughed again, laughed for sheer joy. The diamond on her wedding ring flamed brighter than ever. It was the last diamond from Cameron O’Dell’s fire diamond necklace, a diamond that symbolized an end to the old and the opportunity for a new beginning.
