The Fifth Kingdom Read Online Free PDF

she poured two glasses of wine and sauntered back to where he stood, deliberately rolling her hips. Earning another heated look from him that brought corresponding warmth deep in her center.
    She pressed the glass against the hard wall of his chest and said, “Sometimes you’ve got to ignore the rules.”
    He raised one brow, but took the glass and followed her back to the sofa and chair. This time she sat beside him and the weight of him on the soft cushions had them both dipping toward the center, the edges of their thighs pressed to each other.
    More heat seemed to blossom from that point, but rather than acknowledge it, Deanna just took a quick sip of her wine and asked, “What else can you tell me about Miranda?”
    Bill mimicked her actions, taking a small sip before responding. “It all depends on whether you’re willing to assist with the investigation.”
    “A catch-22 wouldn’t you say? How do I know what’s involved—”
    “Unless I tell you more? Let’s just say it may involve a trip to Mexico City. Possibly one of the outlying areas depending on what we discover once we’re down there,” he advised.
    “We? As in you and me?” she asked, not sure that any kind of trip with him alone made sense for her peace of mind.
    “You, me and support personnel depending on the info we ascertain about your mother and her activities.”
    Deanna took another sip of her wine and then examined him over the rim of her glass. “So where do we start?”
    A flicker of surprise erupted again before he schooled his emotions. Clearly he had not expected her to be so forthcoming with her assistance, but he didn’t delay in answering.
    “Do you still have your mother’s message?”
    With the hand that still held her wineglass, she pointed toward the hand-carved table in the foyer. “Feel free to take the answering machine, but I don’t think it will help.”
    “There may be ambient noise, other things that will provide information besides what she said,” he explained.
    “What she said is nothing new. Miranda has been looking for the tomb of Montezuma for nearly fifteen years,” Deanna advised, her tone harsh.
    “That’s why she left you? To search for the tomb?”
    Taking a bigger gulp of her wine, she then replied, “You’ve read my file, Guillermo. You know the answer to that already.”
    With a deferential nod, he continued. “I’m assuming that her message indicated that she had found what she had been searching for.”
    “It did. Miranda also asked me and my father to come down to Mexico to help her catalog whatever was inside the structure.”
     
    Bill shot a look at Deanna from the corner of his eye. It was difficult to ignore the way her thigh pressed against his and equally impossible not to notice the tension that had crept into her body at the mention of her mother’s message.
    “You don’t believe her?”
    She hunched her shoulders and peered at the glass of wine she held in her hand. “Even if I did believe her, I had no intention of going to assist.”
    Although she didn’t say it, he understood. Deanna had been the sacrificial lamb on the altar of her mother’s ambitions. Finding the tomb wouldn’t change the hurt that Miranda’s abandonment had caused.
    “Did your mother mention where the tomb might be?”
    The quick shake of her head was followed by her statement, “Until the message, I had no idea where my mother was or if she was even alive.”
    “But your father knew,” he said and her head snapped up to meet his gaze, hurt alive in her features.
    “My father knew,” she said, so softly he almost didn’t hear her. Despite the low volume, however, it was difficult not to miss the pain behind her words.
    “I’m certain he didn’t mean to upset you.”
    She swirled the wine around in the glass, seemingly needing a distraction before she asked, “You say that my father reported that Miranda was missing.”
    Bill knew there was likely more hurt to come her way during the