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Natalie draped her arirl

For the first tiuards had to stand between his world and hers Never before had she regretted breaking her way into so

"Did he just run off with that redhead?" Gabrielle said, sidling up to Kat and taking a big bite of shrimp "And answer to the name of Scooter?"

"Come on, Gabs It’s time for us to leave"

The woods see walk back to the car, and Kat couldn’t shake the feeling that she was forgetting so Then she stopped and looked at the house

Someone

"Hello, miss"

Kat couldn’t help but smile when she saw the unifor black limousine

"Marcus!" Kat cried "I haven’t seen you since--"

"I was very sorry about Buenos Aires It was " He looked at Gabrielle, tipped his hat "Miss Gabrielle, it’s nice to see you If you don’t ," Gabrielle said

"Well, I ondering if I could perhaps drive your cousin back to the city myself"

"You don’t have to do that, Marcus," Kat said "I know it’s probably a difficult ti for the li"

Kat understood For a girl as used to adrenaline and fear, there was no feeling in the world she hatedhelpless, so she asked her cousin, "Gab, you mind?"

"Oh, please" Gabrielle rolled her eyes, then looked at Marcus "You can have her"

A second later, her cousin was cli aithout as much as a tire mark to prove she’d been there at all Uncle Eddie would have been incredibly proud

"If you will,open the li in the front, but Marcus was a man for whom tradition and decorum mattered And so Kat slid into the backseat without another word

Sitting on the soft leather, Kat couldn’t help but wonder howat the back of the valet’s head He was always there Never far fro fro house

"I didn’t see you inside, Marcus"

"Yes I wasn’t able to attend, but I was hoping to see you"

"You were?"

"Yes," he said, but didn’t offer anything randreat woman"

"Was Hale close to her?"

Marcus nodded "He was"

"I didn’t know" Kat stared out the"He never mentioned her to s that are the most precious to us are sometimes the ht Her fa around the globe like a storm Hale’s fa under the surface like a sleeping volcano

"Marcus," she said, bolting upright when the car steered off the main road and onto a narrow path "Marcus, I don’t think this goes to the highway"

"No, etful He wasn’t the sort of ht the lane, Kat kneas absolutely not an error

"We’re not going to Brooklyn, are we, Marcus?"

"No,"We aren’t"

They didn’t go far By Kat’s estimation they weren’t more than a half a mile from the main road when the car stopped She could still see the s house hidden behind the trees, and yet it felt a world away froe with the white picket fence and perfectly pruned roses that stood before her There were black shutters and flower boxes on everyAn ornate railing ran along a cozy porch, and the whole place looked alerbread

"Marcus, where are we? Who lives here?"

He turned off the car and reached for the door "I do"

Chapter 6

"I never knew you had a house"

Kat crawled from the backseat of the car and looked up at the ination, but she could have sworn he didn’t stand quite as straight, there in his own driveway He looked at her a little more squarely He wasn’t a servant then, she realized He was aher into his home

"Oh, it’s not entirely mine I share it with--"

"Marcus? Marcus, is that…"

A wo in the doorway, a dish towel in her hands She had steel gray hair and the sa eyes that Kat had seen reflected in the rearview mirror for years

"Miss Katarina Bishop," Marcus said, "please allow me to introduce ht about the way Hale’s mother had said the name, almost with a snarl "It’s nice to aped at Marcus

"Oh, brother What have you done?"