He was silent. “Cara, you’re just a kid,” he said gruffly. “You have a good home with Eve and Joe now. You have your music and friends at school; it’s time to step away from me. How many times do I have to tell you? I get in your way.”
“You keep telling me that. Stop it.” She shook her head. “I’ll never step away from you. You’re my best friend. You saved my life. You know me, the way no one else does.” She looked at him. “And I’m not going to let you spoil these couple weeks by pushing me away. You’re always doing that anyway. I came here early because I wanted to be here for Eve and Michael, but you’re a plus and I’m going to enjoy it.” She grinned. “So you say it, Jock. I’m listening.”
He was silent, gazing down at her. “The older you get, the more stubborn.”
“You once told me I owned my soul and my choices. It meant a lot to me and I’ve been trying to live by it. Say it.”
He gave her that radiant smile that lit his whole face with warmth. “I’ve missed you and I’m glad to see you.” He reached out and touched her hair. “And you are my best friend.”
“Thank you.” She cleared her throat. “But you could have been more generous about it.”
“That’s what I’m trying to be.” He opened the car door for her. “You have a chance to have a good life after the hell you’ve been through. I just have to see that you take advantage of it.” He shut the door and ran around to the driver’s seat. “Now tell me about that new music teacher at your school that you e-mailed me about. Is he really that good?”
“Taldoff?” She nodded. “He was with the Sydney Symphony, and he’s wonderful. I’m lucky to have him as a teacher.”
“He’s lucky to have you. Someday he’ll brag that he taught Cara Delaney.”
“No he won’t. With him, it’s all about the music.”
“Like you.”
She nodded. “In the end, there’s nothing else. And there doesn’t have to be.”
“Not for anyone who listens to you, either. You give gifts.” He was gazing straight ahead as he pulled out of the parking lot. “You should be a little chary with those gifts. Have you heard from your grandfather lately?”
She had known this was coming. “No. But I probably will soon. He’s been very patient.”
“The hell he has. You don’t owe him anything. Koskov is head of one of the most notorious Mafia groups in Moscow. He can just keep the hell away from you. You don’t have any business being anywhere near him.”
“But I do,” she said quietly. “I asked him to help save Eve’s life when she was pregnant with Michael, and he did it. But I realized at the time that he didn’t believe anything was free. We both knew that I’d have to pay.”
“No, you won’t. It just means that I make a visit to Moscow.” He smiled recklessly. “Or you just tell him no. Make a choice.”
“It’s not as if he’s asking so much. He just wants me to spend one month a year with him, and I choose the place.”
“And you think he’d keep his word? He’s a criminal who’s made murder a way of life since the time he was a young man. You spent only a few weeks with him and yet you believe you know him?”
She shook her head. “Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don’t. I don’t know why he wants to spend that time with me. I think it has something to do with the music.” Her lips curved in the ghost of a smile. “And in spite of what you think, he was patient. He gave me time to settle in with Eve and Joe, and then these last months to get used to being at Juilliard.”
“It probably pleased his vanity that you’d been accepted there,” he said bitterly. “Just being in his circle is a danger to you. If he doesn’t get bored and decide you’re expendable, one of the heads of a rival crime syndicate might decide to punish him by killing you.”
“You told me that in New York. I won’t live in a cage, Jock. I spent my life running, but a cage is just as bad. I’ll be careful, because I want to live, but I can’t be afraid all the time.”
“A little more fear would be in order. Tell your grandfather you’ve changed your mind about this damn deal.”
“Eve would have died and so would Michael if he hadn’t helped,” she said. “How could I change my mind?” She forced herself to smile. “Don’t talk about it anymore, Jock. I haven’t heard from him yet. Who knows? Maybe I won’t.”
“And maybe you will. Will you tell me if you do?”
She didn’t want to promise him that. It was bad enough that he still thought himself the assassin who had been created when he was a boy not much older than she was now. If he believed he was protecting her, he could become very close to reverting back to that time. “No.”
He was silent a moment and she could see a subtle hardening in his face, a coldness that was frightening her. She had seen that expression before and it terrified her. “I’ll find out anyway,” he said softly. “I’ve been trained in all the paths that lead to a kill. I’m good at it. That’s why you should take that step away from me. If you tell me, we can at least talk about it. You can try to persuade me.”
And that was the only way to stop him. That hardness was knife-sharp, and he’d almost reached the point where she couldn’t reach him. But she had to reach him. “I’ll tell you.” She looked him in the eye. “And I will persuade you. You won’t do it.”
“And why not?”
“Because it would break my heart,” she said simply.
His expression flickered, changed. “Oh shit. How am I supposed to fight that?”
“You can’t. So let’s not talk about it any longer. You’ve already spoiled a perfectly beautiful drive,” she said jerkily. “Tell me, did you come to pick me up because you were as eager to see me as I was you? Or did you just want to make certain no one was going to shoot me?”
He was silent for a moment. “Well, I wouldn’t be honest with you if I didn’t tell you that I told them all that I had to go because it was my job to keep you from getting killed.”
She wished she hadn’t asked that question. “And that was why you came?”
“Absolutely.” He was silent for a moment. “What I didn’t tell them was that I couldn’t bear the thought of anyone but me being there to watch over you. Do want to know why?”
“Yes.” He was smiling, and she knew it was going to be okay. That terrible keen edge was gone and there was no way he was going to say anything that would hurt her. He was the Jock she knew now. “But it better be something good. I deserve it after all that stuff you just put me through.”
“It had to be me, because who wouldn’t want to be the one to watch over their very best friend in the world?” His voice lowered to honey gentleness. “And it had to be me because I didn’t know how I’d survive without her. That will always be the reason, Cara.”
She cleared her throat. “That was pretty good. And you wanted to see me as much as I wanted to see you. Right?” she prompted.
“Without question.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, then that’s over. Sometimes it’s like pulling teeth with you.” She leaned back in the seat. “Now, tell me all about the new lights you’ve been putting in the mist and what Jane’s been doing. And how does Michael like the lake? And all about that Lisa Ridondo that Joe was telling about.…”
CHAPTER
13
“Eve!”
Eve turned and saw Cara running down the slope toward her. She barely had time to hold out her arms before the girl reached her. She was enveloped in a huge embrace, which she returned with equal enthusiasm. Then she pushed Cara away and smiled down at her. “You could have waited for Joe. It’s not as if I was having an emergency. It’s just a wedding, Cara.”
“You might need me. I don’t know anything about weddings, but I thought I should be here.”