Tempted by Fate Read Online Free PDF

catch her.”
    Yes. He just had to be patient a little while longer.
    “It’s a brilliant plan, darling.” Deidre slithered over to him and knelt in front of him.
    “Don’t you mean
your
plan was brilliant?”
    Smiling, Deidre rewarded him by wrapping her hand around him and squeezing. “I
did
come up with it, didn’t I?”
    Yes, she did. It annoyed him, but he only cared that it was successful. At this point, he’d use any means possible to bring Willow to his side.
    He’d recognized that Deidre was good for a lot more than her sexual talents as soon as he’d met her at a mutual acquaintance’s soirée in Milan. Her connections alone made tolerating her worthwhile.
    And so far, Deidre’s scheme seemed to be working. Willow had been lured by the prospect of information on him. The next step was to set her up so she was wanted by the police. Then he’d isolate her from everything she held dear, cut off so severely from everything and everyone that she’d have no choice but to turn to him for help.
    “I just wish I understood what this woman means to you, darling.” Deidre studied him. “Any other woman would be perturbed by the competition.”
    “But you’re not any other woman, are you?” He was surprised Deidre hadn’t bluntly asked who Willow was. It wasn’t like her to beat around the bush. However, she was smart—she knew how important catching Willow was to him. She wouldn’t jeopardize her position with something like jealousy. Deidre fancied herself the next Mrs. Rodgers-Dynes. He had no problem encouraging that—for as long as she proved helpful to him. If her plan worked, he might even reward her.
    If it didn’t…
    She eyed him as if she could read his thoughts. She sat up, reaching for another glass and the decanter on the side table next to him. She poured him a generous finger of liquor and put it in his hand. “Relax, darling. I’ll take care of you.”
    Closing his eyes, he took a sip and relaxed back against the chair, picturing the look in Lani’s eyes as he drained the life from her body. He had taken her life, and soon he’d take her daughter.

Chapter Four

    W illow woke up, feeling the pull of cypress trees. They resonated differently than other trees, like the ancient sequoias up north or the lemonwood hedges back home. Resilient and flexible, willing to adapt.
    Even though it was still dark outside, she rolled out of bed and pulled on her running clothes. She took a moment to hold her scroll like she did every morning, to feel its familiar power flow through her. In it, she could feel echoes of her mother.
    Walking out of her rent-by-the-week motel room, she let her senses stretch into the shadows. Nothing waited for her, but she knew better than to relax. She wasn’t in the worst neighborhood in San Francisco, but Broadway Street catered to a certain type of male clientele. A lone woman on the street could be taken as fair game, and she didn’t need that kind of trouble.
    Slowly she began to jog, letting her body warm up. She wasn’t entirely familiar with the city, but she knew exactly where to find the trees.
    She headed there. Around the Marina and through the Presidio.
    She ran along the bluffs, aware of the small groups of homeless people camped in the sparse copse of trees, until she found a secluded spot. She let
mù ch’i
reach out to the trees and, feeling welcomed, sat cross-legged between two large cypresses.
    Setting her hands on the ground, Willow felt the roots beneath her, grounded and bracing. She closed her eyes and let her energy flow out.
    The trees accepted her. She breathed deeply, trying to let herself meld into the ebb and flow of their energy, the way her mother had shown her. But, like always, she didn’t feel the total connection—not the way she had when her mother guided her.
    Focusing her will, she tried harder, but the trees resisted. Distantly she heard the shudder of leaves. And then she was pushed out of the flow of their life