LITMIR.BIZ

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that?”

      “YES.” Natalie studied him through narrowed eyes. She thought she understood a great deal more than what he was saying. He’d spent one night with Natalie and disappeared for three months. Then he’d spent one night with Rachel and turned all business.

      Now, he’d spent a day and a night with Calli, and he was all set to run for the hills again.

      Chance raked a hand through his hair. “We can pretend we’ve had a fight. You’ve run away to the beach and I’ve followed. That will give us an excuse to keep our distance, and tonight I’ll sleep on the couch in our room.”

      Not going to happen, she thought. This time, she was going to have something to say about it. She had a hunch all three of the women inside of her would.

      “Do you turn tail and run every time you have great sex?” she asked.

      “No.” There was shock in his eyes, followed by a frown. “What are you talking about?”

      Keeping her eyes steady on his, she leaned back against the palm tree. “Well, you spent one night with me when I was Rachel and backed off. Now, you’ve spent a day and a night with Calli and you’re ready to back off again. My cousin Natalie never said you were a coward.”

      His gaze narrowed. “I’m not. I’m concerned about the job. Don’t tell me that you aren’t having some of the same misgivings. Otherwise, why would you have run away down here to think?”

      In spite of the jitters in her stomach, she raised her brows and sent him a cool look. “Sure, I came out here to think and, yes, I find you distracting, too. But not enough to change our game plan. We’ve set up Steven and Calli as lovers who are passionately involved and just a bit unpredictable. Tonight at the masquerade ball, I figure we’re going to need an excuse to slip away together so that we can pin down the location of the safe. Sex is something that Brancotti understands, and we’ve laid the foundation for it.” She reached over to pat his hand. “Stop worrying about the sex and let’s concentrate on getting the diamond. I think I know where the safe is.”

      “He showed you his office?”

      “Twice. When he finished showing me the gardens, he let me into the house through the wing where he keeps his ‘workspace.’ He didn’t take me inside, but he made sure I saw the coded keypad.”

      “That’s where the diamond is?”

      She shook her head. “That’s where he wants me to think it is.”

      Chance frowned. “Then you think he suspects you?”

      She rolled her eyes at him. “Well, yeah. We’re in a room where we can’t even talk to one another unless we go in the bathroom and turn on the shower.” She shrugged. “But I think he suspects everyone.”

      “Okay. So why don’t you believe that the diamond is behind the door with a keypad lock?”

      “Because of a couple of things. One, he’s a man who believes that he’s smarter than anyone else and constantly likes to prove that. And two, he told me himself that he likes playing games.”

      “So?”

      “Well, I’ve been thinking. What if showing me the room with the coded keypad was just a bit of game-playing—or misdirection, if you’d rather call it that? Then because he’s so smart and his ego is enormous, he couldn’t resist showing me the room where he really keeps the things that are most precious to him.”

      “Where?” Chance asked.

      “There’s a small art gallery down the hall from the main salon where he keeps his collection of paintings. He told me he’s going to hold the auction there, and I think the diamond is in a safe in that room.”

      Chance thought for a minute. “It would be just like him to pull something like that. He’s always been a risk-taker, and I agree that he’s a game-player. In fact, he could have a diamond in both places—a fake in one safe and the Ferrante diamond in the other.” He met her eyes. “Unless we get lucky on the first try, we’ll have to break into both safes.”

      Natalie’s eyes gleamed. “Yeah. That’s the way I figure it, too.”

      “How many paintings are in the gallery?”

      “Ten.”

      “Ten paintings…I don’t suppose you have any idea which one the safe is behind?”

      Natalie smiled. “Did I say I thought it was behind a painting? I think he’s a bit trickier than that. I’m betting it’s concealed behind a panel in one of the pillars. He stood right in front of one of them, and I got this…feeling.” She rubbed the back of her neck.

      “How sure are you about this?”

      A small frown appeared on her forehead. “It’s a hunch. But I’m sure enough that I’m going to lure you into that room tonight and seduce you. You’ll have to take care of the camera. Then I want to poke around those pillars.”

      “How long will you need?” Chance asked.

      “As much time as you can get me.”

      He raised her hand and pressed his lips against her fingers. “You’re very good at this game of deception we’re playing.”

      She gave him a quick glance and caught the intent look in his eyes. For one moment, she wondered if he knew that she wasn’t Rachel Cade.

      “We’d better get back to the house,” she said.

      Chance didn’t move. He merely studied her for a moment. He might be losing his focus, but she wasn’t losing hers. He was very glad that he’d brought her to Florida with him.

      “Carlo is going to wonder if we don’t get back,” she said.

      “Let him,” Chance said as he remembered the way she’d looked when he’d first seen her here on the beach. “Let’s go wading first.”

      “Wading?”

      The surprise on her face pleased him. “You take your shoes off and walk in the water.”

      “I’m familiar with the concept. I just don’t get the purpose.”

      The dryness in her tone had him shooting her a sideways glance. “Fun. Once we go back to the house, we’re Calli and Steven. Right now, we can be whoever we want. Didn’t you ever skip school and play hooky as a kid?”

      “No.”

      Chance grinned at her. It was his Natalie who’d answered. He was certain of it. “No. Of course not.”

      Her chin lifted. “And you played hooky a lot?”

      “You might say that my early life was pretty much one long game of hooky.” He walked to the shoreline, toed his shoes off and then leaned down to take off his socks.

      “How so?” she asked, kicking off her sandals and joining him.

      “It’s a long story,” Chance said.

      “I can wade and listen at the same time,” Natalie pointed out.

      They began to walk. The sun beat down on their shoulders and arms, and the lukewarm water lapped at their ankles. “My mother moved around a lot, mostly within London and the south of England. But a few times, she followed a band to Scotland or Wales. She was what you would call in America a groupie—and she was especially fond of young groups that were just starting out. Sometimes, they’d give her work, repairing and laundering costumes or passing out flyers. I got to help with that.”

      Natalie frowned as she slipped her hand into his. “She took you with her?”

      “She was only sixteen when I was born, and she didn’t have any family. Most of the time she supported the two of us by waitressing. She thought that was the best kind of job because she could bring home food. Plus, it was something that she could do

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