“You’re going to have to try, Jane,” he said in a firm tone. “We all do.”
“Maybe. Except… I’ve just thought of something else.”
“What?”
Her eyes stung suddenly. “Someone is going to have to notify that poor girl’s family.”
4
“Next of kin. Next of kin.” Gabriel shook his head as he shut the desk drawer. “Sorry, Jane, I still can’t find anything with Heidi’s name on it.”
“Neither can I,” Otto said as he leafed through the banged-up old notebook in his hand.
Jane chewed her bottom lip apprehensively. Tracking down the maid’s family was the right thing to do, no matter how painful it was going to be. The problem was that none of the castle staff knew much about her family, and searching through the study for contact details was proving futile. “How is that possible? How can nobody know how to locate her family?”
Otto started to pace up and down the room as he continued his search through the notebook. “The truth is, many servants in privately owned castles such as this live there for years. The owner becomes their family in a sense. In some cases, the servants never had much family to start with.”
“What about her cell phone?” Jane asked. “There’s got to be contact details on it.”
“We have not been able to find her cell phone,” Otto said.
Jane’s mouth fell open. “What? Seriously?”
“It is likely somewhere in her room, but since the battery appears to have died calling it has not helped the manservant find it,” Otto explained. “No matter. We shall find it soon enough, and whatever contacts she had will be located. Unfortunately, I suspect we will be no closer to finding her family. Heidi likely had very few people in her life.”
She could understand coming from a broken family. After all, her father had abandoned her and her mother. What she couldn’t understand was why poor Heidi had to die so young and so horribly. “What if there’s nobody out there to plan her funeral?”
The solicitor paused. “Then we will plan it. We were her friends. And if it turns out that we were also her family, we will give her the funeral she deserves.”
That thought comforted her, but only a little. The manservant and the groundskeeper had taken the maid’s body out into the snow half an hour ago, and thinking about it was still so unsettling.
A small clock on the desk started to chime softly.
Otto yawned and took off his glasses to rub at his eyes. “Friends, it is now midnight. While I will keep looking for another quarter-hour, I suggest you adjourn for the night. We will resume our search when we’re more alert tomorrow morning.”
“You’re right,” Gabriel said, heading for the door. “Come on, Jane, I can show you your room.”
She stood up to cross the room. After saying goodnight to the solicitor, they both left the study and headed out into the dimly lit corridor.
Jane followed Gabriel, the two of them walking in silence except for the sound of their footsteps on the stone floors. The corridors and stairs seemed to go on forever, and she was soon out of breath.
“Wow, you sure know your way around the castle,” she said as they walked down a large hall that led to several rooms.
“I told you, I took the grand tour yesterday,” he reminded her.
“How do you even know the way to my room?”
“Because.” He suddenly stopped in front of a large oak door, turned its brass knob, and let the door swing open with an ominous creak. “It’s right across from mine.”
Jane looked around in amazement as she stepped into her room. It was huge, with a large window on one side of the room and a crackling fireplace on the other. There were still-life paintings of fruits, and tapestries depicting medieval battles on the walls. The furnishings were all obviously antiques, with a four-poster bed, ornately carved wardrobe, dressing table, and a vanity complete with a mirror. There was plush red carpeting that looked as luxurious as velvet on the floor and several gold candelabras on the vanity. Despite the modern lighting and an adjoining bathroom that was probably added more recently, she could tell that the room itself was hundreds of years old.
As she walked up to the bed she noticed her suitcase had been placed beside it, and her heart squeezed. “The maid cleaned my room.”
She heard Gabriel walk up to her, his strides so forceful no amount of carpeting could muffle the sound. He paused, and even without turning around she could still feel his presence towering over her. His pine-scented cologne gave away his close proximity. So did the length of the shadow he cast over her. Suddenly she felt his strong hands on her upper arms, and heat burned through all the layers she had on.
“There’s nothing wrong with what you’re feeling,” he said as he turned her around to face him. “Everything you’re going through right now is normal.”
How did he seem to have exactly the right words to say to her? If she didn’t know any better, she’d say he had experience with this level of trauma and grief. Her chest tightened at that and she gazed up at him, searching his green eyes for a sign. Any kind of clue that there was more to him than arrogant elegance.
There were whole words in the depths of his eyes. Whatever untold tactics he’d used to win legal battles. All the women he must have seduced with his potent masculinity. Every vulnerable moment in his life that he never wore on his sleeve for even a moment. Plus the secrets. There were secrets behind those eyes. The same private truths she kept locked away.
A tremor of fear went through her. What if, in gazing at Gabriel, she was silently giving up her own secrets? Nobody in her life knew who and what she really was. A killer’s daughter. For all she knew, the same bloodlust that ran through her father also ran through her. Long ago, she had gone to therapy and psychiatrists to make sure, but they didn’t know everything. None of them had been able to catch on to her own father’s capacity for manic violence.
But even if she wasn’t capable of that kind of brutality, she still had appetites of her own. Right now, she craved Gabriel. Ached to feel the sensation of his arrogantly cruel mouth on hers.
“You think it’s normal to want to kiss you?” she finally blurted out, a heady mix of shame and sensual curiosity spiraling through her.
He was still holding on to her upper arms, and she felt his grip tighten infinitesimally the moment the question left her mouth. For a split second Jane contemplated taking the words back, but his lips were on hers and her doubts melted away. Though he covered her mouth with his own, he didn’t push further. All he did was groan when their lips met, as if he was desperately waiting for her to make the next move. Restraining himself against what he actually wanted to do to her.
Eager for more Jane parted her lips, inviting him in with a contended sigh. His tongue swept into her mouth, circling as he explored her. Scorching heat followed, starting where their lips met and ending in her lower belly. She moaned, the wanton sound of her own aching need penetrating her mind’s lust-filled fog.
She tore her mouth away from his and wrenched out of his grasp. “What are you up to?”
Suspicion tugged painfully in her stomach. She had been such a fool to fall for his act. From the second he had started being nice to her at dinner to the moment he kissed her, Jane should have been able to spot the warning signs. Gabriel was one of the best lawyers in New York City. He hadn’t built that reputation by playing fair. There were probably scores of women he had seduced and discarded once he got what he wanted. She was just another conquest to him on his way to claiming the castle for his client. He was here for the same reason she was. To find dirt to bolster a legal case over Wintergarten’s rightful heir. He’d stop at nothing to crush his competition. That included making a fool of her or breaking her heart in the process.
Gabriel frowned, giving her a hard stare. “Jane, if you don’t want to kiss me you can just say so.”
“I always win, because I’ll do whatever it takes,” she said. “Remember that?”
&nbs
p; Damn it, he did remember. Because he’d said it just a few hours ago. “Yeah, I said it. So what?”
“So what? You expect me to trust you after saying something like that?” Her swollen lips curled in disdain, drawing attention to the lush softness of her mouth.
Gabriel could still feel the heat of her on his mouth. Still taste her. Sweet like honey, dark as red wine. Though they seemed to come from opposite worlds, there was so much more to Jane than met the eye. There were hidden depths to her. Maybe she was as normal as the pretty receptionist who answered phones at some run-down motel, but he doubted it. For one thing, she stood to inherit the whole castle if he wasn’t careful. She had a lineage that his parents’ snobbish social circle would kill to have. Jane’s ancestors were German nobles, for crying out loud. Which was why, even though she stumbled over the finer social graces, she was still as fierce as a warrior and as deft as a politician when it came to defending her claim to the castle. There were knights and grand duchesses in her family tree, and he was starting to see that he would be an idiot to underestimate her.
“Jane, a young woman just died. Do you really think under those circumstances that I’d be that heartless?” he demanded.
“This can’t be the first time you’ve tried to seduce someone to get what you want,” she said, crossing her arms.
“It’s not a habit, but on rare occasions, yes, I have seduced my opponents to get ahead. I seduce opposing lawyers, who are just as invested in seducing me I might add. I don’t go around bedding every woman I come in contact with just to win cases.”
“I’m basically representing myself,” she pointed out. “I can’t afford a lawyer, so I’m all I’ve got. I’ve been reading everything I can about German law, calling up the German embassy, getting translations, going to the library. All of it. I’m your opposing counsel, Gabriel, which basically makes me your number one target.”
Frustration mounted. There was no getting through to her tonight. His jaw clenched. A real pity, because he had enjoyed kissing her. More than enjoyed it. There weren’t a lot of kisses that would burn into his memory the way kissing Jane undoubtedly would. She had been all sweetness and hunger. Insatiable desire wrapped up in one curvy, delectable little package.
He held up his hands. Gabriel had never overstayed his welcome with a woman, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to start now. He’d deal with his raging hard-on in his own damn time. “Sleep well, Jane.”
She lifted her chin, casting him a withering gaze. “Goodnight, Gabriel.”
Without another word, he ducked out of her bedroom and headed into his. The only way to deal with his throbbing erection was to try to sleep it off, so he undressed and got into bed. Despite the wintery weather outside, he was feverish with lust. It took forever for him to fall asleep, and when he did his dreams were filled with Jane. His brain replayed that bone-melting kiss all night long, and only waking up to weak sunlight streaming in through the window saved him from the torment of not being able to have her.
He got out of bed, took an ice-cold shower to calm down, and started getting dressed. If he had told Jane the real reason he had kissed her, maybe she wouldn’t have thrown him out. She might even have invited him to stay the night. But he didn’t need a pity lay. If he was going to have her, he wanted Jane to be driven mad by desire the same way he was whenever she was near. Besides, the truth was too painful to share without ruining an amorous mood anyway. The hurt of reliving it would have been unbearable in the aftermath of the poor maid’s horrible death.
As he buttoned up his shirt he tried not to dwell on the past, but it was no use. Last night’s terrible events seemed to bring his memories flooding back now.
Gabriel was his parents’ second son. The spare to the heir that was his older brother, Jay. From birth his parents had put Jay on track to go to an Ivy League university and then on to an illustrious legal career. As the eldest son, Jay had been destined for greatness. Gabriel had been destined to stand in his brother’s shadow. Which had been fine by Gabriel as a kid. He hadn’t wanted the spotlight. If anything, he was happy for Jay. His older brother had been his best friend growing up, and they had been inseparable. Instead of the spotlight, what Gabriel had actually wanted was his parents to pay attention to him. To at least notice that their eldest son wasn’t actually an only child.
Then it had happened. Gabriel had gotten his wish in the most harrowing way imaginable. Like they had every summer as children, Jay and Gabriel had gone to their grandfather’s home on Long Island Sound. They had both gone out on a boat together but nearly got caught in a flash storm. In their bid to escape the rough waters they had turned back. But they hadn’t been able to outrun the storm, and with poor visibility they had crashed onto some rocks.
Jay hit his head, and even though Gabriel knew in his heart that his brother was dead he’d held on to his lifeless body. Refusing to let go even when help had arrived and the rescuers had tried to pry him off.
His parents did not take Jay’s death well. No parents would, but they took it especially hard. Plus, they took it out on Gabriel. They blamed him for Jay’s death. Told him he hadn’t done enough to save his brother. The worst of it had been at his brother’s funeral when his father had lost it and said right to Gabriel’s face that the wrong son had died.
Gabriel had been twelve years old.
After Jay’s death there came some sort of unspoken decision. Gabriel would take on the dreams his parents had wanted for their eldest son. So, with so much expectation hanging over him, Gabriel had gone to Harvard, joined the best law firm in New York, and was on track to make partner at the age of thirty. All of it done to appease his brokenhearted parents. Or maybe to appease his own guilt at losing his best friend in the world.
He put on his jacket and sighed. Nope. No way he could have told Jane any of it. No way he could tell her that his own overwhelming grief had pushed him to seek a light in the darkness. To find her.
Before Gabriel could blame himself the way he always did, the sound of a woman screaming penetrated the early-morning silence.
His blood ran cold. Jane. That must have been her screaming like that. Without hesitating, Gabriel rushed to the door and stepped out into the hallway.
Agnes the housekeeper was running up the hall, screaming at the top of her lungs.
“Agnes, what’s happened?” he asked. “Are you all right?”
Her response was to hold up her arms and scream.
Gabriel’s insides churned as he glimpsed the horror. Agnes’ hands were drenched in blood.
5
Jane nearly dropped her hairbrush as a scream pierced the air. Her heart started to pound and she crept slowly towards the door.
When she reached for the doorknob, another scream sounded. This time it was closer. Like whoever was screaming was standing right outside her door. She heard footsteps and then a man’s voice. Gabriel’s voice.
Even though her instincts were begging her to stay sheltered in her room, Jane couldn’t leave him to whatever was going on outside. She had to help, even if he had tried to seduce her for his own benefit.
Taking a deep breath, she turned the knob and opened the door a crack to peer out.
Gabriel was standing outside, trying to talk to a screaming Agnes.
Jane’s heart nearly froze when she saw the blood on the housekeeper’s hands. “Oh my goodness! Agnes, are you hurt?”
The housekeeper spun around and looked at her with wild eyes. Then she lifted her hand and pointed to the open door at the end of the hall. “Herr Kramer…”
“Wait, Otto is the one who’s hurt?” Jane asked as she walked out into the hall.
“That’s Otto’s room.” Gabriel looked down the hall. “You stay back, Agnes. I’ll go check it out.”
“I’m going with you,” Jane offered.
He glanced her way, concern in his eyes as he lifted a protective arm. “Fine. Just get behind me.”
She did as she was told, walking behind him as they
made their way to the door down the hall. When she saw what had distressed Agnes, she nearly passed out from the shock. Lying on the bed was Otto, his unseeing eyes staring up at the ceiling. He was shirtless, a blanket covering him up to the waist. A dagger had been plunged hilt-deep into his heart, blood pooling across his chest.
“Fuck.” Gabriel turned to her. “We have get help.”
Jane fought the urge to scream as tears stung the back of her eyes. “I don’t think anyone can help him now.”
Timothy, the Brit with the unfortunate laugh, appeared in the doorway. “So it is true. Otto is dead.” He rushed back out of the room, shouting for help.
Jane stumbled out of the room, too horrified to stay in Otto’s room a moment longer. The manservant and the groundskeeper arrived as she edged away, both men rushing past her into Otto’s room.
“We must secure the castle,” the manservant said loudly. “Everyone to your rooms. Immediately. We must find who did this before they escape.”
Gabriel walked up to her and ushered her away from Otto’s room. “Take a deep breath, Jane,” he instructed as he walked with her.
She could barely register what he was saying, but somehow she managed to stumble back to her bedroom door. But before she could open the door, Gabriel seized her hand and pulled her into his room.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, despite already feeling more secure with his large hand over hers.
“Safety in numbers,” he responded. “We double our odds of surviving if we stick together.”
She motioned to the door. “Shouldn’t we get to the others, then?”
Gabriel let go of her hand to pick up a large key from a nearby desk. When he got to the door, he locked it with a click and turned back to her. “We can’t trust any of them.”
Fear gripped her so tightly then that she didn’t want to accept his words. Even though deep down she knew what he meant, Jane couldn’t believe it. “What are you talking about? They’re in the same boat we are.”
Wicked Love Page 40
