Page 56 of His Beautiful Revenge
“Wait.”
They watched as Tara, dressed in a conservative navy dress with a white Pilgrim collar, looked down as if she were trying to control her emotions. When she looked up into the camera, there were tears in her eyes. “I have to confess something. I feel it is my fault that this has happened.” She drew in a long breath. “Almost a year ago, when I was engaged to Mr. Conti, I had an affair with a man called Lucian Hargity. Yes, the suspect. I don’t know what I was thinking. I have regretted it ever since, but Lucian, if you are watching, please. Don’t punish Norah for my mistake. Please …bring her home. Thank you.”
Giacomo was frozen in disbelief. Zulika put a hand on his arm. “You and Tara were engaged?”
He gave a strange laugh. “No. Atnotime.”
Orlando made a disgusted noise. “What the fuck is she playing at?”
“She’s making it all abouther,” Giacomo said in a flat voice. “Cazzo cagna…”
Zulika looked between the two men. “Will it help or hinder the case?”
“I don’t know which way. If she pisses Lucian off …god.”
Giacomo was grim-faced. “If Norah dies, I’ll make Tara’s life a living hell.”
Norah could feel herself fading. The pain in her stomach—really her whole body now—was keeping her awake, and no matter how many aspirins she took, it wasn’t getting better. Lucian was beginning to notice. “You still got cramps?”
She nodded. She figured if she told him she was badly hurt, he would kill her rather than take her to the hospital.
Three days. Three days since she’d been taken, but it felt like a lifetime. Her mind was foggy and when she looked into the little mirror in the bathroom, she barely recognized herself. Her usually golden skin was a sickly yellow and there were huge dark circles under her eyes.
Now she was feeling so sick that she lay down voluntarily on the bed to sleep and closed her eyes. Sleep evaded her, but when Lucian suddenly cursed loudly at the television, she sat up and took notice.
She watched in disbelief as Tara performed for the cameras. Lucian was angry. He looked around at Norah. “Can you believe this bitch?”
She couldn’t help the words as they shot back at him, “Well,youfucked her. Surely you would have known exactly what she was like?”
For a moment, she thought he was going to lose it and regretted her words. Her body couldn’t take another attack. But then, to her surprise, he looked shamefaced.
“I don’t know what I was thinking, Norah. She can’t hold a candle to you.”
Norah felt tears in her eyes.Don’t feel badly for him, you crazy woman.She looked away. “Doesn’t matter anymore.”
She lay back down and closed her eyes, but the hot tears flooded through them anyway. Lucian obviously saw her shoulders shaking because he was at her side in a flash. He uncuffed her hand from the bed frame and cradled her in his arms.
Norah didn’t know how any coherent thought got through to her—all she could think was lLet him hold you. This is your chance to convince him, to get his guard down.She didn’t fight him as he held her against his chest.
They stayed like that for nearly an hour before Lucian’s phone rang. He let her go and sat up, sighing.
“What do you want, Tara?”
Norah was suddenly desperate for a pee, so she pointed at herself and then the bathroom. Distracted, Lucian nodded and waved his hand. Norah walked slowly, as if her brain wasn’t working at a hundred miles an hour. She peed, then as she was washing her hands, she listened to Lucian arguing with Tara.
Lucian cursed at Tara. “What the hell was that farce on the television? You think I won’t tell them about you? About what you did to that lawyer?”
Tara laughed. “Fuck you, Lucian. I told you to kill that whore and you not-so-politely declined. These are the consequences. One thing …just thought you should know …Iknowwhere you are.”
Lucian ended the call, cursing and banging on the bathroom door. “Norah, come on. We have to go.”
There was no answer. Shit, was she okay? She hadn’t been looking so hot. Lucian banged again. “Norah? Baby, you okay?”
When she didn’t answer, he opened the door to find …nothing.What the fuck?
He yanked the door wider and he saw her. He saw her in the final second before the towel rail she was holding crashed down on his skull and knocked him senseless.
Norah didn’t waste a second. She dropped the towel rail and ran. The motel room door was locked, but she knew that if she hunted for the key, Lucian might wake up and then she’d be a dead woman.
