WHEN SHE heard the knock on her door the next morning, for a moment Lana thought it might be him. But Daniel still didn’t know where she lived. After their coffee, she had allowed Daniel to find her a cab and she went home alone.
Lana ran a fingertip back and forth over her lips, wishing she could recapture the sensation of his mouth on hers. Daniel had kissed her, knowing what she was. Just a brush of the lips and the world tilted off its axis and the stars realigned in the heavens. She had dreamed of it all night. Or had she really slept at all?
The knock sounded again, louder this time. Lana roused herself, put on her dressing gown, went to the door, and opened it. Dom was frowning.
Resigned, Lana stepped back to allow him to enter. “Bonjour, Happy. I’ll make coffee.”
“Stop calling me that!” Dom ordered. “Late night?”
The miniscule kitchen, consisting of a sink and two burners, was squeezed into a niche. A tiny refrigerator nestled under the stainless steel countertop. Lana got busy grinding the coffee beans. “You ought to know. You were there.”
“You saw us?”
“You’re pretty good, but it probably wasn’t wise to use Dopey’s car. I know his license plate.”
“Speaking of stuff you ought to know,” Dom started in grim triumph, “I’ve been doing a little research on Mr. Daniel Hunter. He’s not safe for you to know.”
“And how do you know that?” Lana turned on him.
“Did you not just hear me? I looked him up. He’s got quite a shady past.”
“So do I, if you want to get technical.” Lana winced at the edge in her voice, but her sarcasm didn’t seem to deter Dom. Her buoyant mood melted away in the face of Dom’s words.
“But you’re our friend. Let his friends look out for him, if he has any. We don’t care if you hurt him, only if he hurts you.”
“He knows about me,” Lana said. “I told him. He won’t hurt me.”
“He’s a con man, Lana.”
The rush of disappointment revealed just how much she’d hoped that Daniel was telling the truth. She couldn’t let even Dom see how much this hurt. And Dom was hurting her, for God’s sake, implying that no one would ever want her for her.
“Didn’t you hear me, Lana? That’s his gig. Get a rich woman to trust him and then take her for all she’s got.”
“So he’ll learn not to fuck with a working girl. We have a lot less to lose.” Lana forced a smile. Her face hurt with the effort. She waved a hand to indicate the tiny kitchen. “I don’t have enough money to make blackmail a worthwhile risk.”
“Your family has a lot more to lose.”
Stunned, Lana stared at Dom. “He doesn’t know about them. I changed my name, remember? There’s no link between us.”
“Don’t be naive. I bet I could track you down on the Internet and make the connection, and if I could, he could too. He probably found out all about you before he asked you out. Why else would he keep coming after you like he did?”
Lana slammed her hand on the counter. “Did it ever occur to you he might actually like me? He wouldn’t get a shilling from my family. If he sent a ransom letter and threatened to dispose of me, they’d probably write back and thank him.”
“But what if he threatened to publicize who you are now and who you were. Your family would pay to prevent that little scandal, wouldn’t they?”
The roaring in her ears somehow couldn’t prevent Dom’s words from sinking in.
“Your father, the MP, is trying to make gay marriage illegal in Britain again, and his career is very important to him.”
“I know. I saw him on TV. But he doesn’t know where I am.”
“But Daniel does. How’s it going to make MP Reynolds look if voters found out his own son is gay? And not only gay, you like to dress like a woman. When you were attacked, he jumped at the chance to unload a liability. Ever wonder why he allowed you to change your name?”
“I knew he didn’t want anyone to know we were related, but hell, neither did I,” Lana said.
“When you were in hospital, dear old Dad held a press conference to announce that you were murdered by a pervert homosexual out to seduce children to the dark side. Barrett Reynolds built his entire career on your supposed death. Whenever anyone slightly left of center looked as if they were gaining ground, why he could just trot out the ghost of his son Roland, martyred in the great crusade to keep Britain white and pure and heterosexual, and whip up some handy outrage.
“Don’t you think if Hunter showed up and threatened to reveal where the press could find his son, who dresses and lives like a woman, that it would be worth the money to MP Reynolds to make sure you never show up to embarrass him again?”
Lana closed her eyes to prevent tears from spilling over. She would not allow Dom to see her cry. “I can’t believe Daniel would do that.” Dom touched her arm, but she recoiled.
“You don’t want to believe. I just told you that Daniel has a history as a blackmailer, so this isn’t a big reach for him, but it could be a big payoff. Finish the coffee—”
She opened her eyes and screamed at him. “I don’t want any coffee!”
“Neither do I! I care about you, Lana, and I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”
“Except you!” She opened and closed her hands like cat’s claws.
“This might cost our friendship, but we need to confront Daniel and get the truth. You need to hear his story from him. Colin and Terry are holding Mr. Daniel Hunter at his place. We’re going over to get all this out in the open.”
“You don’t have the right to fling orders at me!” Lana exclaimed.
“Lana, I’m afraid for you. No, scratch that. Terrified for you. I don’t want you to hate me, but if you don’t face this now, you’ll always wonder. Maybe you and Daniel have a future, but you can’t build it on lies and secrets.”
“I’m trying not to hate you right now, and I’m not succeeding.” Lana realized Dom’s lower lip was trembling. “I know you’re doing this… because you want to protect me, but I….”
“I hope for your sake that I’m wrong, Lana. Really I do. But how can we find out if we don’t confront him?”
GRAY CLOUDS looming low over the city were a perfect match for her mood. The only thing missing was rain. No matter how Dom tried to rouse her, Lana stayed silent for the entire walk to Daniel’s flat. Until the threat of having it all taken away, Lana hadn’t realized exactly how much she’d invested in a virtual stranger. And here she’d thought she was being careful. An inappropriate snort of laughter took her by surprise, and she gave Dom a dirty look when he dared to look questioningly at her.
She knew the dwarfs were trying to protect her, but right now Lana hated them all. If Daniel turned out to be as bad as they claimed, Lana would have to be more messed up than even she thought to keep wanting him, but she hoped Dom was wrong.
“This is it.” Dom turned at the entrance of a building that looked like an old warehouse.
Lana followed him inside and up the curved staircase. Her knees were shaking so badly she had to hang on to the banister to manage the climb.
Dom knocked on a door painted blue. Terry opened the door, a walking stick clutched in his hand, looking far more ferocious than Lana had ever seen him.
“Oh, hi. It’s you.” Terry lost the scowl and welcomed them inside as if they were there to view the property.
This was not the way she’d hoped to see Daniel’s flat for the first time. Lana was curious to see what the place revealed about him that she’d missed. With Dom bringing up the rear, Lana followed Terry into a huge room filled with light streaming in from tall industrial windows. The white plaster ceiling was crossed with aged wooden beams. A couch with modern lines stood on a vast rug in front of the fireplace. The glass coffee table was low and sleek, with several art books stacked neatly upon it. Floating bookshelves on either side of the fireplace displayed books and a few small sculptures.
Lana rotated slowly to take in the room, and then stopped short when she caught sight of a large painting hanging on the wall opposite the fireplace. On a shelf under the painting was a potted orchid with white flowers. Although the painting was framed, the brushstrokes had a sketchy, unfinished feel, as if the artist had tried to capture an impression gathered in an instant. A swirl of color and light depicted a busy Paris street. A girl looked back over her shoulder at the artist, her eyes wide and startled. The wind had caught her hair, partially obscuring her face. The blurred crowd around her was merely blocked in. Daniel’s name was scrawled in the lower right-hand corner.
She realized she was looking at her own face. To see herself through Daniel’s eyes was a revelation. Every brushstroke seemed to express love. If Daniel was in this just for the con, he could never have painted that picture.
Lana saw a self she’d never seen in the mirror. The guarded look was gone. Although she had secrets to conceal, her eyes were lit with certainty and expectation, as if something wonderful just out of sight was about to appear. The man who could see and understand her so well couldn’t want to hurt her.
Out of the corner of her eye, Lana watched Dom’s reaction to the painting. He was mesmerized and stared as if he saw what she did. Almost baffled, he shook his head slightly, but his face lost a bit of that bullish determination.
Lana didn’t want to give away how much the painting moved her. “Where is he?” She barely managed to get the words out of her tight throat.
Terry pointed at the spiral staircase. “Colin’s got him upstairs in the studio. Top floor.”
Stalling, Lana took a couple of deep breaths. “This place is so big, you could fit six of my flats in here.”
“He’s taken the top three floors here,” Terry said. “Fabulous view from the studio on the top floor, and on the second a huge bedroom with a view of—”
Dom rolled his eyes. “Will you shut up and focus?”
Terry gave Lana a sly grin. “Three bathrooms.”
“A tub?” Lana whispered.
“A big old claw-foot in the one off the hallway.” Terry raised his brows. “It’s quite a—”
Dom punched Terry in the arm. “Dopey, you don’t have to prove you’re an idiot every time you open your mouth. You’re not showing a property to a pair of prospective buyers here, remember? This is serious.”
Terry’s smile disappeared. “Sorry, Dom.”
“Let’s get on with it.” Dom led the way up the stairs.
The top floor was one open space with shelves crowded with paints and brushes. A covered easel stood by the north window, and other canvases were stacked neatly against the walls.
Lana almost laughed when she saw the hostage sitting on a worn velvet couch planted at one end of the room, his feet up on a coffee table as he flipped through a magazine. Looking rather outmatched, plump little Colin sat at the opposite end with his arms crossed over his chest, watching Daniel like a hungry hawk.
When he heard them enter, Daniel dropped the magazine and stood up. A vein throbbed in his neck. Lana took an involuntary step toward him and then jerked away.
Dom took Lana’s arm. “Not so fast.”
“Lana.”
Just one word, and her palms were sweating and her pulse beat fast.
EVEN WITH her hair pulled back in a ponytail and her face bare of makeup, Lana was luminous. He’d never seen her in sneakers instead of heels, but the familiar scarf around her throat provided a burst of color to the funereal outfit.
Daniel wished he could hold Lana one last time before he confessed. Even now, when her eyes burned into his as if she’d never seen him before, how could the dwarfs deny the electricity that crackled through the air between them?
Time for Daniel to pay the piper. “After what I have to say, you’ll probably never want to speak to me again, but you shared your secret with me. It’s only fair I should tell you mine.”
Lana’s face shut down. She stared at all four men as if they were strangers.
No turning back now. “I need to get this off my chest anyway. I didn’t want to hide anything from you. They want me to tell you—”
“How you earned your living off of rich married women and then blackmailing them when the affair was over, Mr. Daniel Hunter.” Dom’s voice was quiet, in triumph or trepidation. Daniel didn’t know which. “Tell her how good you are at making women fall in love with you.”
Lana waited in icy silence.
“It’s true—” Daniel’s voice broke when Lana covered her face with both hands. “It’s true I was a con artist for a while. I wasn’t a particularly good man back then, but I’ve—”
“Just your everyday, garden-variety con man who belongs in jail,” Colin said.
“Yes, I admit I was a con man, but I’m not the same man now that I was then.” Daniel hoped he could make her understand.
“We went down to the river, baptized our sins away, oh, all in the naaaaaaaame of the Looooooooord,” Colin warbled.
“So Danny-boy, you got religion, reformed, returned all the money, and never jaywalked again a day in your life. And there really are fairies.” Dom gave Terry a fierce side-eye when he snickered. “Shut up. You know what I mean!”
“I know it sounds like a fairy tale, but I really have changed,” Daniel insisted.
“And what brought on this dramatic change?” Dom went on questioning him. Lana still hadn’t said a word.
“I almost died.” The words dropped like a rock into a pond and spread ripples of silence.
“You have to—to look at life differently after something like that.” Daniel laid a hand over his pounding heart.
“I know that.” For the first time, Lana spoke, but in a murmur.
Daniel sat down, his elbows on his thighs, head in his hands. Lana crossed the room to the windows and stared outside at the rooftops. If she’d only given him a quick glance, Daniel would have had more hope.
“I’m an artist. It’s not a high-paying profession, but eventually I made a name for myself painting portraits.”
Dom made a speed-it-up gesture. “And the other artists were jealous, called you an old-fashioned sellout, but the wealthy bought in.”
“One day a client’s wife made it clear she wanted more than her portrait painted.” Daniel rolled his head to ease the tension in his neck. “I guess my morals were more flexible than they should have been. Easy enough to take a few dollars for an afternoon in the sack. I got to paint and eat. That’s all there was to it.”
“Not quite all,” Dom said. “What about the Montagues?”
Daniel rubbed his eyes in dismay. He was ashamed to talk about what he’d done, especially with the dwarfs listening, but Lana deserved honesty in return for hers. “You know about the Montagues.”
“I’m a good researcher, so don’t bother trying to minimize.” Dom crossed his arms over his chest.
“Mrs. Montague wasn’t the first—”
“More like the last.” Terry’s face twisted with contempt.
“At first I just slept with them. Then I got the idea to earn a little severance package when an affair ended. Just a little good-bye payment to guarantee that I walk away without spilling the beans. Without coming right out and saying so, I got the idea across that their husbands would never hear certain facts from me after we split. The first time was an impulse because—let’s just say it was an impulse. But it worked out well for me. It got easier every time, and the women were more than willing to pay up.”
“What a guy,” Terry said.
“I had an affair with Mrs. Montague. When it was over, I put the squeeze on her, but she was the first one who balked.” Daniel flinched when Lana turned to look at him. The disgust on her face lanced through him like an icepick.
“Blackmail is worse than murder. Instead of killing the body, you’re killing hope.” Lana turned away from him to stare out the window again.
Daniel hung his head in shame.
“Then what happened?” Dom prodded.
“It got complicated.”
“Complicated how?” Colin asked harshly.
“I called her bluff,” Daniel said.
“Mr. Montague was not pleased to learn about the affair,” Dom told Lana.
Hating the contempt in their eyes and yet knowing he’d earned it, Daniel soldiered on with his confession. “He called and said his wife told him about my demands and he’d pay.”
“Disgusting.” The echo of hysteria in Lana’s voice made Daniel wince.
She seemed ready to bolt. Daniel put out a hand as if he could stop her, but he didn’t dare approach her. Not now, not here. “I was disgusting. I’m telling the absolute truth here. I’m not proud of it. I can’t even figure—”
“But you took the money from these women.” The relentless way Dom pressed for answers gave Daniel a new respect for his abilities.
“Yeah. I did.”
“But why?” Lana put her hand to her throat. “Why would you do that to a woman you loved?”
“I never loved any of them!” Daniel pressed his knuckles to his temples to ease the headache. Nothing could ease the ache in his heart. “I liked some of them. I liked the sex, they liked the sex. I did it because I needed the money.”
“No empathy for a single one of them?” Lana was skeptical. “Not a hint of remorse?”
“You didn’t know them. The money I asked for was nothing to them. I never felt much of anything until I saw—”
“Don’t say it.” Lana’s face contorted with pain and he stopped speaking.
“Go on with Mr. Montague,” Dom reminded Daniel.
“Right. Montague was rich and powerful. Used to getting his own way. First he asked about a birthmark that you wouldn’t see when she was dressed. Then he set conditions. I had to go to his office to collect. He wanted to see me in person.”
“Why?” That was Colin.
Daniel squirmed in embarrassment. “Wanted to compare notes with the guy his wife went to bed with. Even for a tough guy like me, that was pretty hard to take.”
“So he paid you after?”
Daniel laughed, although it wasn’t funny then or now. “Yeah, but he outsmarted me. I walked in expecting a big score. The way he talked about his wife, I realized when I walked out with the dough, it wouldn’t be over for her. Then I started to realize how much damage I’d done. But as soon I had the cash in my hand, three thugs came in and grabbed me. Montague told them to take out the trash. They forced me out the back way into a car. I knew I was in trouble. I was a small-time con artist. I didn’t have a gun. Hell, I’d never even been in a fight.”
“What happened then?” Dom wasn’t showing much mercy.
“They drove me down to the docks to a deserted alley. One of them supervised while the other two kicked the crap out of me. When it was over, I figured I’ve taken my beating. Win some, lose some. So I’m grunting in pain on the ground. After they leave, I’m lying there trying to figure out how many days it’ll take me to make it to my feet, walk out of there, and find a taxi when the supervisor came back for the money. I guess he left with the others because he didn’t want a three-way split. Montague didn’t even care enough to take it back before he turned me over to the help, that’s how small change I was to him. While the thug was searching me, I must have made a sound, because he said, ‘I thought you weren’t as hurt as you made out.’ Then he tried to kill me.”
“So how did you get away?” Even Dom was caught up in the story now. He sat down.
Lana had turned around again and was watching Daniel.
“Played dead.” Daniel laughed again. “Funny how some people just can’t resist a good con. They accused me of conning women, which was absolutely true, and two seconds later the guy believes whatever I say. Although technically I didn’t say much of anything. I was too busy bleeding out at the time, so he had some evidence to support the theory that I was dead.”
“He shot you?”
“He—he stabbed me.” Slowly, Daniel lifted his shirt to reveal two scars on his torso. “Until then, I was always the smart guy. I never let anyone get close enough to hurt me, physically or emotionally.”
Lana raised her hand to her throat and swallowed audibly.
“Imagine my shock to be the idiot left for dead in some alley, knowing there wasn’t a soul on earth who cared if I died.” Daniel couldn’t help writhing with the shame and humiliation of being a victim. A tide of pain washed over him again, clawing holes in his chest just like the knife had. The visceral fear of that moment still made him feel like puking.
He looked up and found Lana watching him. Her face had changed from disgust to empathy, giving him a wisp of hope to cling to.
Colin broke the moment with a bit of sarcasm. “You look like you work out, Hunter. Why didn’t you vanquish the villains before they led you out by the nose?”
“Maybe I should have tried, but it’s not a great plan when one guy is holding a gun on you. The irony, which I completely appreciate, is that by almost killing me, they saved my life.”
“Explain that,” Colin said.
“I had a lot of time to think over my sins while recuperating. I didn’t like where I ended up or how I got there. Or who I’d become.” Daniel clamped his lips shut. Almost dying held a universal appeal in that everyone was driven to study the misfortune of the victim in hope of avoiding it themselves. His remorse was still too sharp to pour out into the maw of their curiosity. But he had to give them something to chew on.
“Artists are worth more dead than alive. You die, no more paintings, so all your work goes up in price,” Daniel explained. “While I was in the hospital, my agent made a killing selling off my work. He rolled the dice and gambled I wouldn’t make it. Then he’d get to keep the proceeds for himself.”
“That was not very nice,” Terry said in a mild tone. Dom rolled his eyes.
Daniel felt like rolling his eyes as well. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t exactly holding the moral high ground myself. When I disappointed him by recovering, he had to fork over. I have enough to live on for the rest of my life.”
“At first I thought this was the usual, that you would eventually find out about Lana, lose your shit, and try to beat her up.” Dom got up and started to pace. “Then I dug into your past and decided you were trying to blackmail her.”
“Over what?” Although Daniel had to convince them he was on the level, he really didn’t have a clue here.
“Lana’s done a good job of creating a new identity, but you could probably find out who her family is and put the screws to her. Or more likely them.”
Daniel stared at the floor in defeat. “And I’ve admitted that’s my modus operandi, right? But I never thought of it. I have no idea who her family is. And I have enough money, even if I never paint again. My blackmail career is over.”
“Not even for kicks?” Terry asked.
“So you had no idea her father was an MP?” Sarcasm dripped off Dom’s tongue.
Daniel frowned. “Military police? What’s that got to do with anything?”
“Member of parliament, you moron. In England.” The sharpness was gone from Dom’s voice and he looked as though he was trying not to laugh.
“Oh, sorry. No, had no idea. American politics are confusing enough. I don’t have the stamina to take on the British.”
“How do we know you’re not conning us now?” Terry demanded.
Daniel opened his mouth, but Dom cut him off. “Matches the info I got from New York. Even the bit about the money and the agent.”
“And dear old Dad?” Colin avoided looking at Lana.
With a knowing smirk, Dom shook his head. “Doesn’t seem to be ringing any bells with him, and I would be able to tell. I interview a lot of people. I can smell a lie like a fart.”
Daniel hoped Lana could believe him. “To answer your question, you don’t know if I’m telling the truth. I have no credibility. There’s not a thing I can say to convince you.”
Dom’s expression softened and his lips twitched. “That was the right answer.”
“Do you still work?” The bitter disgust had left Lana’s voice.
“I couldn’t paint for a long time. Not until I saw you.” Daniel looked directly at Lana, and this time she met his gaze. “I’ve started again, and I think I’m painting better than before.”
He went to the covered easel and pulled off the drape. The painting he revealed was an abstract, but in contrast to the dark, stabby paintings leaning against the wall, this one was serene, giving an impression of water flowing in a river, all shades of blue, aqua, and green.
“It’s beautiful.” Lana left the window for the first time since she’d retreated there.
“That’s how you make me feel.”
Lana stood so close Daniel could smell her. Her lips curved into a smile as she examined the painting.
Maybe there was still some hope. Daniel turned to face the dwarfs. “Well? I know you have no reason to trust me, but I don’t want her money or—”
“Good luck getting any money from her!” Colin snickered. “She spends everything on her clothes.”
Lana ignored him and continued to drink in the painting.
“Money isn’t what I’m after,” Daniel repeated to Lana. “I just want you.”
The three dwarfs looked at one another. “Dom, you’re the grand, high assessor of truth. What do you think?” Terry asked.
Dom’s sigh was audible to all. His eyes pleading, he looked at Lana like a puppy dog begging for a bone. “We’ve done what we can to dig up the dirt on Daniel. But I have to admit I sort of believe that he’s on the up—”
Terry cut in. “And that’s saying something, coming from Dom. Suspicious is his middle name.”
Daniel ignored the dwarfs and spoke as if only Lana could hear him. “You have no reason in the world to believe in me, I know—but I’ve changed. I’m not the same man I was then.”
“It’s up to you, Lana. After all is said and done, it’s your decision.” Dom shifted from one foot to the other.
LANA LOOKED around at each of her friends, studying their faces. Anxiety, resignation, and even a bit of dawning happiness. For her.
Her anger at Dom drained away when she saw how he was shaking. However overbearing he could be, she knew he cared about her. Perhaps more than anyone else in the world.
“That was the right answer, Dom. It is up to me.” Purposely, Lana repeated Dom’s words. She looked directly at him and smiled. “I appreciate everything you all have done for me.”
Relief washed over his face. “Are we still friends?”
Lana went to hug him. “Always, Happy. No matter what.” She released him and then hugged Colin and Terry before turning back to Dom. “But don’t think your name gives you the right to order me around.”
“Happy? What’s that got to do with the price of tea in China?” Dom’s grin was sly but apologetic.
“Shut up, Dom.” Lana laughed. “You dwarfs screw off.” She jerked her thumb at the door.
“You want us to hang around outside for a while?” Colin asked.
“If he gets fresh, I’ll kick him in the nuts,” Lana said.
“Where’s the element of surprise if you warn him beforehand what you’re going to do?” Terry wondered aloud.
“Listen, Hunter, now that you’ve revealed your sinful past, I think it’s only fair you should know the worst about Lana.” Colin paused a couple of beats to heighten the anticipation. “She can’t cook to save her life.”
Terry started to laugh, but Dom’s smile was faint.
Lana shook her head and sighed. “Thank you for sharing that, Bashful. Listen, boys, I appreciate you arranging this intervention, but I think we can take it from here.”
Lana put her arms around Dom again to reassure him that she really had forgiven him. “Thanks, Dom. I know you’re the brains of this ungodly operation.”
“Stay safe, Lana.” Dom squeezed Lana tight before letting go. “Love you.”
“Love you too.”
LANA WATCHED the three men go down the stairs. She listened for the sound of the latch when the flat door shut behind them.
“Think they have their ears pressed to the door?” Daniel asked.
“Probably,” Lana said. “I shouldn’t complain. They’re why I’m still alive.”
“So where do we go from here?” Daniel asked.
“How about the Eiffel Tower?” Lana said. “If you haven’t been to the top yet—”
“I like the way you think!” Daniel chuckled, even though he was clearly still rattled. “The biggest phallic symbol in Paris. It’s very appropriate considering I pack a mean p—”
“No dick jokes,” Lana begged.
“I was going to say picnic lunch,” Daniel said.
“In drizzling rain? You have hopes.” Lana buttoned her coat and led the way down the stairs, aware of Daniel hurrying after her.
After Daniel had pulled on a trench coat, he opened the door to the flat without attempting to touch Lana.
They emerged onto the street without a dwarf sighting, but Lana suspected her friends were still hanging about nearby.
Daniel took Lana’s umbrella and held it up over her as they walked, although he kept his distance. Finally he broke the silence. “Confession is said to be good for the soul.”
“Maybe I should try it sometime. After a meeting with my boss, just drop the bombshell and stand back to watch the splash.”
“I don’t know about your boss, but after you honored me by telling me about yourself, I was planning to come clean with you. I knew I had to if I was going to get what I wanted.”
“And what do you want?” Lana fought back a sudden swell of emotion. If he answered wrong, she would have to find the strength to walk away. This might be her last chance to find a man who wanted her as she was.
“I wasn’t looking for a pretty boy in a dress. I was looking for you. It doesn’t matter what you wear. If I hadn’t found you, I would have just had to go on looking. And I think you were looking for me.”
“Kismet?” Laughter bubbled up inside her, but she managed to keep it inside. He got it after all. “Maybe I was. It’s pretty to think so.”
“I know what I did in the past was horrible. Looking back now, I can’t even understand how I could do it, but that was another life ago.”
“I had a past life too.”
“Then maybe you’ll understand. I never knew what love was until I found you. I never felt even a twinge before, but that’s how I felt when I saw you. Like we fit together perfectly.” Daniel stopped walking, and Lana turned under the umbrella to face him. “There are dark places in my soul that only you can illuminate.”
“Thank God you didn’t say that in front of the dwarfs.”
“Don’t laugh at me,” Daniel begged.
“I wasn’t really. I only meant this is something I want to keep for only us.”
Daniel’s smile was still uncertain. “The more I learn about you, the deeper I fall. I know someday I’ll hurt you through stupidity or by accident, but never on purpose. I hope you can believe that.”
“I do now. I hated Dom for forcing the issue, but perhaps it was for the best.”
“I kept putting it off. It’s hard to bare the ugly man I became. When I was a kid, I never thought I could—” Daniel broke off and shuddered.
“That’s what life does to us. We all start out bright and shiny and new and full of hope, and then….” Lana pulled down her scarf to reveal the raised scars on her throat.
Daniel clenched his jaw so tight Lana heard the snick of his teeth coming together. “So that’s why you always wear a—” His expression morphed quickly from rage to grief to understanding. His hand shook as he traced over the red lines on Lana’s throat. “If they intended to kill you, they should have cut across, not vertically. They must not have studied anatomy.”
Lana trembled at the delicate touch on the ugly marks. “I didn’t ask to see his credentials. He didn’t seem in practice, but that wasn’t much comfort at the time.”
“Why did he do it? Was it a boyfriend?”
“I told you I never dated.”
“Then why?”
“Some people are offended by what I am. But he didn’t kill me, and he didn’t win. I’m still here.”
Daniel said, “So we’re both scarred.”
“But perhaps we both can overcome them.”
“You already have,” Daniel said. “Maybe that’s what drew me to you. That incandescence in your eyes.”
“That sounds so noble. And here I thought it was my ass.” Lana raised a tragic hand to her brow.
“Don’t worry, I love your ass too.” Daniel snickered and the pain in his eyes cleared.
“Was it love at first sight?”
“Close enough. I admired your appearance when I first saw you. Then we talked and I thought you were the most exquisite creature I’d ever seen, inside and out, but I really fell head over heels when you educated me about the socks.”
Lana laughed. “I suppose my job is paying off after all.”
“Tell me how you ended up in Paris.”
“That was a long road. When I was fifteen, my parents caught me trying on my sister’s clothes. They didn’t approve of my ‘lifestyle choices.’ They threw me out or I ran away, or maybe both. It doesn’t really matter. It was a long time ago.”
“Right when they discovered you?”
“No, first they brought me to shrinks who told them that I couldn’t be cured because I wasn’t sick. They didn’t want to hear that, so they—invited me to leave. I started living on the streets.”
“That’s… young. I don’t have kids, but I can’t imagine just… tossing one out.”
Lana shrugged. “They had others at home. An heir and a spare. And a genuine daughter.”
“How did you survive?”
“The dwarfs helped me. They’d give me money when they could, and Dom brought me food.” Lana shivered at the memory of that terrifying time. “But they were kids too. What could they do?”
“Next time I see them I’m going to shake their hands.” Daniel stared at her bared throat. “Will you tell me how this happened?”
Lana realized she was folding the end of her scarf into progressively smaller triangles and stopped herself. She covered her throat again and knotted the scarf to keep it in place. “Maybe another time.”
Daniel reached up to rub his eyes vigorously. “But you lived.”
“If Dom hadn’t found me, I might not have. I owe him my life.”
“Okay, now I want to kiss him.”
“He might enjoy that. He’s gay too.” Lana laughed wickedly at the look of dismay on Daniel’s face.
“He’s so not my type,” Daniel said in a hurry.
“I’m glad to hear that, because I’m not sharing.”
Daniel grinned at that. “Neither am I. What happened when Dom found you?”
Lana skipped over the details. She wasn’t ready to delve into this right now. She wasn’t sure she ever would be. “Oh, he called the police. They informed my parents. After I got out of hospital, I was sent directly to private school that was a cross between an asylum and a prison. It was better than the streets. While I was there, I learned how to fight and fuck.”
“All you need for a career in fashion.” Daniel’s hand was tight around hers, but he matched Lana’s light tone. “It’s a competitive field.”
“But once I turned eighteen, I was on my own again.”
“So no one cared about you?”
“No one except for the Three Musketeers. All for one and one for all.” Lana chuckled. “When the school booted me, they were outside waiting for me. Dom gave me a dress, Colin had the shoes, and Terry brought makeup.”
“Their hearts are in the right place, at least.” Daniel laughed. “I hope it was a good outfit.”
“Hideous! A dowdy, mumsy little floral. Dom doesn’t have an artistic bone in his body.” Lana shook her head at the memory. “And don’t get me started on the granny slides, but I didn’t care. I changed into those girl clothes and never looked back.”
“Where did you go?”
“Dom took me home with him. He was at university and sharing a cheap flat with another boy. It was all he had to offer, but he helped me get a job.”
“I’m amazed that you were able to make it through that.”
“There are times I am too, but I was determined not to be held hostage to that bastard forever.” She pointed up at the Eiffel Tower, the top vanishing into gray mist. “Look. We’re in Paris. Sometimes I have to pinch myself because I can hardly believe it.”
Daniel stared at Lana rather than the building. “And you’ve kept that whole thing secret all this time? It must have been hard.”
“The dwarfs know.” Lana ducked out from under the umbrella. She raised her face to feel the rain on it and closed her eyes, knowing Daniel would be there to catch her. “I feel as light as if I’m floating on top of water.”
She opened her eyes to find him smiling at her.
“As if the weight has been lifted.” He said it not as a question but like a man who knew. “Shall we go home before you get soaked?”
“Only if you beg,” Lana teased.
“I’m begging.” Daniel held up the umbrella for her to come under. When she did, he put an arm around her. “Your face is wet.”
“Like the heavens are washing me clean.”
“I want to make love to you, Lana.”
Lana laughed. “I wanted that the first time we met. On the table, under the table, to hell with innocent bystanders.”
Daniel laughed but then suddenly snatched Lana close and kissed her.
Lana’s heart started to race, and she was instantly hard.
When the need for air became pressing, she pushed at Daniel reluctantly, and he ended the kiss but continued to hold Lana close.
“Tu m’enivres. You intoxicate me.” Lana shuddered with desire when Daniel breathed the words into her ear. “Let’s go home.”
Lana looked around. Not one innocent bystander seemed to care about them or even take notice. She smiled and slid her arm around Daniel’s waist, and they walked home pressed tightly together.