Master of the Shadows by Lynn Viehl Read Free Book Online Page A

answered it. “What is it, Sylas?”
    “An Italian lady has arrived to call on our lord,” the other man told him. “She gives her name as Contessa Salvatora Borgiana.”
    Will glanced at his master, who gave him an impatient nod. “Escort her to the reception room,” he told Sylas. “Our lord will meet with her shortly.”
    As far as Will was concerned, the interruption could not have been more timely. His master needed to forget this mortal and return his attention to more important matters. With a little luck, he would put her out of his head and forget the indignity she had caused him to suffer.
    He pressed the radio’s call switch before he asked Robin, “Were you expecting the contessa to call?”
    “I did not know she was in America.”
    “She may have been driven out of Italy by the Brethren,” Will said. “So many have, these last months. Shall I prepare rooms for her and her men?”
    “Sylas and Bergen can attend to her needs.” Robin continued dressing. “You have work to do. Go. I want to know everything you can learn about this mortal before dawn.”
     
    Reese woke to the sound of a mobile phone ringing, and reached blindly until she found it and brought it in front of her burning eyes. The display showed the time—why had Father allowed her to sleep for so long?—and a pet name: Lover boy.
    She switched it on and held it to her ear. “Hello.”
    “Did I wake you?” Lover boy had Will Scarlet’s voice.
    He is Will, you idiot. “No.” She sat up, dragging the sheet to her chin. He couldn’t see her, but she slept naked, and talking to him while she was bare-skinned made her feel exposed. She had to say something, greet him as if nothing had happened.
    Nothing had happened. Yet. “How are you?”
    “Tired. Somewhat annoyed. Very sorry for behaving like such a jackass last night.” Will sounded tentative, as if he were afraid to say more, and then went on. “Reese, I want you to know that I never meant—”
    “It’s okay. You can make it up to me when I get to Rosethorn.” She glanced at her watch; she still had enough time to prepare. “I’ll be there in a couple of hours.”
    “That is the other reason I called. I can’t meet you there tonight. Rob is attending a gallery show in town, and I must go with him. We will not be returning to the estate until later, likely after midnight.”
    He was telling her everything she needed to know, as if he knew what she intended to do. Did he know? “It sounds like a great show.”
    “You could meet us there,” Will suggested. “Rob is escorting an old friend, but I will be on my own. We could talk about what happened last night.” When she didn’t reply, he added, “Or perhaps not.”
    “I’d love to be there,” she lied. “But it’s the catalog. I have so much work to do on it.”
    He muttered something, and then said, “So the fact that I forced myself on you has nothing to do with the manner in which you’re now avoiding me.”
    “Yes. No. It wasn’t—” She stopped and rubbed her hand over her face. “It wasn’t like that. I’m not avoiding you.”
    “Prove it to me, sweetheart.” The rough tone became soft and persuasive. “Come to the show.”
    Trying to think of another excuse that would not further offend him, give away her true intentions, or jeopardize the mission made her head whirl. “You’ll be working, and I doubt Lord Locksley wants me distracting you from your duties.”
    “Hang Rob,” he said flatly. “Come anyway.”
    “Be patient, Will. We can get together later, when we can have more time for ourselves.” She would never see him again. Last night was all that they would ever have, and she’d run from him. It made this farce she was playing out into a cruel form of self-torture. “Wouldn’t you rather be alone with me?”
    “I’ve done nothing but think about that, and you,” he admitted. “All day, I’ve had no peace. I barely slept. Reese, I know we agreed in the beginning to be