Page 26 of Light Me Up

He lifted up a heavy, tangled mat of ivy. The puff of rising dustmade him cough.

There was a scarred door beneath the foliage, just where he’d expected to see it.

The sudden burst of light made spiders scuttle out. Caro flicked a particularly fast crawler off her gown. In his direction. “Did your plan have to involve spiders?”she complained.

“Sorry.” Noah lifted the heavy, rusted padlock that hung from the door, and fished in the secret inside pocket of his tux for the all-purpose tool healways carried.

He scraped away rust and got to work removing the padlock and flipping the hasp, slowly pulling the stiff, groaning door open on itsrusted hinges.

He peered through to the other side. Yes. Pretty much exactly what he’d expected to see from the satellite images stored in his auxiliary memory. Excellent.

Everything under control. The door would open, if pushed from the inside. He pushed the door closed and let the heavy mat of ivy fall back into place, completely hidinghis handiwork.

He brushed off his hands. “All set,” he said. “Just in case we need to leave unobserved.”

Caro had her arms crossed over her chest, a small frown between her eyes. “Noah,” she said. “It would be nice if someday—not now, I know, not now—we could just go to a party. Not a fucking pitched battle with evil villains intent on killing us. Just saying.”

“We are going to a party,” he said, stubbornly resolute. “We’re here, right? It’s happening. I have no intention of picking a fight with anyone. There won’t be any battle, Caro. Not unless someone else starts one. In which case, we’ll run like hell, and I’ll know exactly what direction to go. That’s all. What’s wrong with that?”

He waited for a reply, but none was forthcoming.

“We need to be able to disappear,” he reiterated. “As if we were never here at all.”

“Fine.” She wouldn’t meet his eyes. “If you say so.”

Noah reached out, gently pushing a lock of hair that had tumbled over her face. “I know it’s overkill,” he said, his voice low and intense. “And paranoid. But I have to keep you safe. You’re everything to me, Caro.”

She gave him a smile that made him combust inside. “Right back atyou,” she said.

He didn’t say a word or move a muscle, but Caro’s face suddenly went hot. Her eyes dropped. “Stop that.”

“What?”

“Smoldering at me like that,” she said sternly. “Save it for later, lover boy.”

“Any time, any place.” He held out his arm. “So? Come on.Let’s do this.”

She took his arm, and they made their way back up through the bushes, over the lumpy, uneven ground to where the taxi waited. Once they were inside, he told Youssef to take them to the Palazzo’sfront entrance.

He clasped her hand, loving the way it felt in his, and concentrated on staying calm.

Touching her helped keep his AVP running steady and smooth. It minimized thestress spikes.

It was all good. Tonight, he was just a guy in a tux at a high-brow party. In a beautiful place. With the most wonderful woman he’d ever met or imagined on his arm. There was nothing not to love aboutthis scenario.

Fuck it, who knew? Maybe he could almost, well…enjoy himself.

Stranger things had happened.

Chapter 8

In less than five minutes, they were at the entrance of the Palazzo Bellocchio.Smooth as silk.

“Wow.” Other than that, Caro was speechless. With good reason.

The huge, graceful Renaissance palace overlooked rolling hills covered with picturesque vineyards. Behind it, sheltered by tall cypresses, lay a vast terraced garden. A big fountain at a rotunda at the entrance featured bronze mermaids, mermen, and other, less easily defined aquatic entities, all twined together like some sort of watery orgy. Thousands of flowers scented the warm breeze.

The setting was a honeymoon classic, guaranteed to make a new bride swoon. Caro was starry-eyed. It sucked that he couldn’t just congratulate himself for pleasing her.

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