Embrace the Night

Page 196



one she'd seen in a play hung from the ceiling. The carpet beneath her feet was the same white plush that covered the hallways. White carpeting, she thought, and wondered absently how he kept it clean. Dark green drapes covered the windows.

There was no furniture in the room save for an antique oak side table, one overstuffed easy chair covered in a dark green print, and a big-screen TV.

A graceful archway opened onto an entry hall inlaid with black marble.

Gabriel studied her face as he handed her a glass filled with dark red wine. He sensed her nervousness at being alone with him in the house, and wondered what he could say to put her at ease.

Sarah murmured her thanks as she accepted the wine. She glanced around the room again, wondering why there were no pictures on the walls, no mirrors, no clocks. There was, in fact, nothing of a personal nature in the room. "Have you… have you lived here long?"

"A few months."

"It's a lovely house."

Gabriel shrugged. He had bought the mansion shortly after his arrival in Los Angeles. He had been unimpressed when the real estate agent told him it had once belonged to a very famous but reclusive movie star. He had bought the house on a whim simply because the design and the gardens had reminded him of a villa he had once owned in Italy.

"Are you married?" Sarah asked. "No."

She didn't miss the deep sadness, the loneliness, that clung to that single word. "Divorced?"

"No."

"Living with someone?"

He frowned. "No, why do you ask?"

"The bedroom… it seems… I mean… never mind, it's none of my business."
His gaze caught and held hers. "I decorated it for you."

Sarah took a step backward, frightened by the fervor in his eyes, the intensity of his voice. "For me? How? Why?"

"I knew…" He paused a moment. "That is, I hoped, that you would come here one day." "But we've only known each other a few weeks."

He shrugged. "With enough money, you can accomplish a great deal in a short time. You'll find clothes in