Black Jack Read Online Free PDF

stopped.
    Lilly tried to look everywhere but at her mother, before she was finally forced to meet
    Angelica’s dark brown gaze. The anger was still there, but also a hint of fearful confusion.
    Lilly well understood. Perhaps Angelica truly had lost her daughter.
    “Lilly,” Angelica finally said softly then, staring back at her as though she saw more than
    even Lilly could guess at. “That’s what your grandmother called you, you know.”
    No, she hadn’t known that. Her grandmother had died when Lilly was no more than a child.
    As though by silent accord they turned and began moving down the sidewalk again. There
    was a silence between them now that wasn’t exactly comfortable.
    “I don’t remember her calling me Lilly,” she said, trying to calm her racing heart and to
    ease the tension.
    “You were very young,” her mother said. “It doesn’t surprise me that when you disappeared
    you chose that name to use. Your grandmother always claimed you were more a Lilly than a
    Victoria. But your father insisted on Victoria.”
    She had been Victoria six years before. She had been the belle of every ball. She had been
    powerful in her own right. She had had lunch with the Queen more than once, she’d known
    the Prime Minister, she had danced with many members of Parliament. She had conspired—
    The memory slammed shut, just that quickly. It was there, then gone as though it had never
    been. Frustration ate at her. The memories were there, just out of reach, haunting her, daring
    her to do what, she wasn’t certain.
    “You know, there’s the nicest little antiques store just ahead.” Her mother changed the
    subject with forced brightness as they passed a small café whose tempting scents wafted out
    to her. “I thought it would be nice to see what they have. I found several flatware pieces there
    the last time I visited. It was quite unique.”
    Coffee. She would kill for a cup of hot coffee.
    She would kill . . .
    For the barest second the sight and scent of blood filled her senses, and it wasn’t the first
    time. She didn’t freeze this time. She barely paused at the memory, and, like the first time, it
    disappeared just as quickly as it had come.
    She didn’t stumble, she continued walking, balancing perfectly on the high heels even as
    she thought that if she had to run, it would take precious seconds to shed the impractical
    footwear.
    “Desmond usually comes on these little forays with me.” Her mother continued chatting.
    “It’s too bad he had that meeting this afternoon in D.C. He could have accompanied us.”
    Lilly had breathed a sigh of relief when Desmond had announced he couldn’t take the trip
    with them. For some reason, she no longer felt as though she could trust the uncle she had
    once cherished. That feeling left her off balance as if she couldn’t trust anyone anymore.
    It was locked in her memories. All the answers she needed were locked behind the veil of
    shadows that had wiped out the past six years of her life.
    What had happened the night her father’s car had gone over that cliff with her in it? Had
    they argued? Had they been in danger? Why had they left the party that night without telling
    anyone or making their excuses?
    None of the explanations she had been given when she awoke in the hospital nearly four
    months ago made sense. She had lost more than just memories. Lilly felt as though she had
    lost herself as well.
    She had lost her life, her father. Her mother and uncle felt like strangers, and where was the
    brother who had always tried to protect her? When he had come to see her in the hospital, he
    had disowned her as a lying, scheming tramp attempting to steal his sister’s identity.
    And perhaps that hurt most of all. She had idolized Jared. To have him turn on her had
    broken her heart in ways she feared would never heal.
    “You’re too quiet, Lilly. How do you hope to ever acclimate if you refuse to try?” Her
    mother’s voice was hard now, censorious.