Dark Journey Read Online Free PDF Page B

spoke for the first time, his voice low and cool.
    Cynthia cast an amused glance over her shoulder. "Yes, go away, dear Laura, and shut the door behind you. Alex and I—"
    "No." His voice was implacable.
"You
go away. Laura stays."
    Both women looked startled. Cynthia summoned up an airy smile. "Well," she said, "I suppose I can take a hint. Don't let me interrupt you." She moved toward the door in a sexy glide that left Alex totally unmoved. She put her hand on Laura's shoulder as she stood there, and a faint shadow crossed Laura's face.
    "I'd be careful if I were you, my girl," Cynthia warned her in a cool, mocking voice. "He's a bit too much for someone like you to handle." And she walked past, her lush hips swaying.
    The blank expression on Laura's face began to fade, and she looked embarrassed, uncomfortable, disturbed. "I didn't mean to interrupt anything. I just..."
    "Close the door," he said.
    Confusion joined the myriad of emotions that played over her face, and she started to step back. "Of course. I didn't mean to bother you."
    "With you inside."
    He wondered whether she would do it. He could see the flash of defiance in her warm eyes. "I don't like to be told what to do," she said in a calm voice. "Too many people try to run my life for me. I don't like it. And I'm not sure if I like you."
    He didn't smile, even though he was tempted. "Close the door," he said. "And come here."
    She did, of course. He almost told her to lock it, but he knew there was no need. He wasn't ready yet. Even though his body was still responding to Cynthia's blatant sexuality, Alex had no intention of slaking his temporary lust with Laura. He would take her when he chose to. Now was too soon.
    She was carrying a pile of white towels, and she set them on the bed beside the down comforter Cynthia had brought him. She glanced at it with a startled expression.
    "It's not really that cold out," she murmured. "I don't know why Cynthia thought you might want that."
    "Cynthia was looking for an excuse."
    She smiled then, a faint, honest grin. "Well, I suppose I should have warned you about Cynthia. She's a bit…overwhelming. She and Jeremy are in the midst of a divorce, but they decided not to tell Father about it. He wouldn't approve, and he'll be dead soon enough. There's no need to make his last few weeks even more difficult."
    "And you agree with that?"
    She looked up, as if startled at his perception. "No," she said. "I don't like lies."
    "And you don't like your sister-in-law?"
    "I feel sorry for her. She's a very unhappy woman, and she and Jeremy were never well suited."
    "Then why did they marry?"
    Laura shrugged, wandering past him, moving over to stare out at the windy night. "Family pressure. Father thought they'd be a good match. Jeremy was the son of his first wife, not a blood relation, and Father didn't like that. Cynthia is a second cousin—he wanted that connection. The Fitzpatricks put family ahead of everything."
    "Do you?"
    She turned to glance at him. "To some extent, I suppose I do. I'm lucky, though. No one could develop any great dynasty-founding plans with me. I was pretty much left on my own. As long as I behaved, I could spend my time as I pleased."
    "Why is that?"
    Her smile was bright, calm and totally devoid of self-pity. "Because I'm going to die. I've been living on borrowed time since I was about five years old. I have a bad heart and an unfortunate allergy to most drugs. There was never any question of a transplant, even though I'm sure my father could have bought me a hundred hearts. I wasn't supposed to make it past my twelfth birthday, but here I am."
    "Here you are," he echoed softly.
    "I was frightened in the woods, you know," she continued, in a deliberately casual voice that didn't fool him for a minute. "When you found me, I'd passed out. Too much stress, I suppose. Too much worry. But right before I lost consciousness, I was afraid I was dying. It seemed to me that my heart stopped. And it scared