Page 60 of Secrets & Desires
“Hell, yes! But I do have onesuggestion.”
“What’sthat?”
She touched his face. “We should do it in your mother’s name. TheGabriella RenaudFoundation.”
Nox felt his throat close. “She would have loved that. And I love you forsuggestingit.”
Livia smiled, kissing him softly. “But first, Nox, we need to get this thing at home dealt with. Then we can truly move on to betterthings.”
“Iagree.”
Liv sat up. “We should start to make a plan of how we’re going toapproachthis.”
Nox laughed and pulled her back into his arms. “After this vacation,” he said firmly. “Until then…this is all thatmatters.
Roan Saintmarc buriedhis head in his hands. He had heard Odelle take the call that had damned him, and he knew the police would haul him in, arrest him for assaulting Livia as well as killing Pia. He was a dead man. He walked out of Odelle’s house with nothing in his hands, nothing in theworld.
He withdrew as much cash from his checking account as he could and, after debating, he went to Nox’s mansion, breaking into the basement. He knew Nox and Livia were away and that the mansion was empty. He also knew he could live down in Nox’s wine cellar, that at least he would have food, drink, and shelter. It didn’t take him long to find his way down there; he and Nox had found the hidden entrance from the garden when they were kids. He had dumped his cellphone in the city, purchased a bus ticket with his credit card to throw the police off his trail. Hopefully, they would think he waslonggone.
He found his way into the wine cellar and dumped his bag. Jeez, he’d forgotten how goddamn cold it was down here in the winter. Cold and dark…he grabbed an extra torch but just as he lit it, he heard the step behind him. Whirling around, he only caught the shape of another human as something heavy connected with his head and everythingwentdark.
Chapter Twenty-Three
On the lastnight of their vacation—their blissful, relaxing, sensual vacation—Nox and Livia shared a bath in the huge tub. The window overlooked the snow, and they’d lit a bunch of candles to make the room softer, more romantic. Livia didn’t know how this vacation, this place, this man could be any more romantic, but the candles were a nice touch. She kissed Nox’s temple. “Can we stay hereforever?”
Nox laughed. “It would be nice, huh? But I think eventually, you’d get bored. Besides, it’ll be nice to have somewhere we can always guarantee to be stress-free, a safe haven to go when thingsgetbad.”
Livia stroked her hands down his chest as he laid his head back against her breasts. “Talking ofwhich…”
“Yeah.”
“Back to the real worldtomorrow.”
“Ugh.”
Livia laughed. “But, we have a purpose now, baby. We’re finally going to lay every single ghost to rest, however painful it is. I gotyourback.”
Nox wound his fingers through hers. “Couldn’t do itwithoutyou.”
“You know whatsurprisesme?”
“What’sthat?”
“That none of your friends have ever suggested doing it. Really looking into the case, seeing if there’s a link between Ariel’s murder and what happened to your family. It seems to me that if they are linked, then you are at the heart of it. How come Sandor or Roan or Amber never said to you, ‘Come on, let’s find out what’s really going on here.’” She sighed and leaned her head against his. “Maybe they thought they wereprotectingyou.”
“Maybe.”
“It’s a pity Sandor’s dad couldn’t throw some light on what was going on with your dad. I know they wereclose.”
Nox looked surprised. “They were business associates, but I wouldn’t say they were close. Dad was weirdly protective of Sandor, and it seemed to me that he was shielding him from things Sandor’s father did. What, Idon’tknow.”
“This is gettingcomplicated.”
“Well, that’s kind of why we left things so long. Too many questions, not enoughanswers.”
“Was Sandor’s dad a bad man? I should say, is he a bad man,sorry?”
Nox considered. “He’s not someone I would have chosen to hangoutwith.”
