"That's my privilege," Cain said as she kissed her forehead.

"Just remember that I'll follow, but like Emma, I don't want to be left behind."

"That's a deal I can live with."

Chapter Forty-Nine.

The house was quiet when Remi got back, and she slowly walked up the stairs, telling Emil good night as he kept going toward the guest room Dallas had pointed out to him earlier. Dallas was in the other bedroom, and Remi hesitated in the hall. What she'd done that night had set Dallas free of everything and everyone that had been a part of her life. And standing there she realized that includedherself .

"Are you all right?" Dallas asked as she put her hand around Remi's elbow and led her into the master bedroom. "Do you need me to help you?"

"I'm fine, just thinking."

"If you got a chance to talk to Bob, I'm sure he gave you plenty to think about." In front of the bed she let Remi go and stepped back.

"If you want me to go downstairs and sleep on the couch, that won't be a problem for me."

"What I want is to get in that bed and hold you. I'm not in great shape, but I can manage that if you're up for it."

They left the door to the balcony open to let the cool night air in and enjoyed the feel of each other with no barriers between them.

Dallas had draped herself over Remi's uninjured side with her head resting on her shoulder and ran her fingers softly over her skin, not wanting to press down on the bruise that dominated Remi's chest.

They didn't start talking right away, so Dallas was content to watch the rise and fall of Remi's chest as she breathed. It was like a miracle.

"Where'd you run off to?" Remi asked as she scratched Dallas's back.

"Just wishing silly things."

"I find that hard to believe. Since we've met you've never asked me for anything, so tell me what you're hoping for and I'll do my best to give it to you."

"I want you, Remington," Dallas whispered so softly she figured Remi hadn't heard her.

"You have me."

"No, I want" Remi pressed two of her fingers against her lips.

"You have me, Dallas, and not just here." She fanned her arm around the bed. Remi sat up a bit to lean against the carved headboard of the bed, taking Dallas with her. She settled Dallas across her legs.

"I want you to understand something. I've never allowed anyone but my family and close friends to know me this well. No woman has ever come close to owning my heart, but you're the difference I've been waiting for, and I want nothing more than to stand up for you."

"I can't ask you to do that."

"You can't force someone to do that, just like you can't force someone to love you. You're more than my bed-warmer. If you decide to stay with me, I'll keep you safe and give you room to grow into the incredible woman I know you can be, and that doesn't apply only to your career. I'll hold you up so you can achieve your dreams and be there to catch you when you fail. I want nothing from you in return."

"Is that all you want?" Dallas asked. She'd moved so she could see Remi's face as she spoke.

"You're free now, Dallas, maybe for the first time in your life. No one's waiting in the wings to make you do something you don't choose. If you want to explore that freedom, don't feel you're bound to me."

Dallas moved so she straddled Remi's legs and was close enough to see those unique eyes. She placed her hands on Remi's cheeks and spoke from her heart. "If Iam truly free, then nothing's stopping me from loving you. Nothing's stopping me from wanting to be the last woman in your life."

"I love you," Remi said softly but with meaning.

Dallas leaned her forehead against Remi's. She didn't want to say anything yet, so the echo of Remi's declaration could resonate in her head until it sunk in.

She moved back enough to kiss Remi. "I love you and for once I'm feeling selfish. I don't want to share you with anyone. I want to be free to take care of you and to expect certain things from you. I want you, Remi, but I won't settle for anything but your all. Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?"

"That's what you have," Remi said as she moved to kiss Dallas's palms.

"No more models?"

"No more women of any kind."

The kiss that followed erased any reservations Dallas had. "Can I ask you one more thing? If you can't answer, then don't."

"Just ask."

"Remember, if you don't want to tell me, you don't have to."

"If you don't ask me I'll have a hard time answering."

"Did you kill Bob?" Dallas's good sense was telling her she shouldn't ask the question, but she had to know.

"No, I didn't, but I won't lie and tell you I made it easy for him to survive. It's a wait-and-see situation," Remi answered truthfully.

"What do you mean?"

"I hurt him pretty badly. Let's just say I broke him of his smug att.i.tude, and then I dropped him somewhere. It's up to him, with some divine intervention, to swim back without something eating him. Maybe that's not what you wanted, but when he talked about you and showed no remorse, I snapped."

"Can I confess a deep, dark secret and not have youthink any less of me?"

"Nothing you tell me will change how I feel about you."

"From the time Bob came into my life I've had a list of ways I'd like to see him die. The day you and I met I was well into five thousand, and all mine included lots of suffering."

"That should be incentive for me to behave."

"I'm sorry if I put you in a position you didn't want to be in."

"Bob is one of those people you'd like to kill more than once."

Remi ran her fingers along Dallas's hips, obviously being careful because of the pain. "I'm glad I was the one who helped you get this idiot out of your life."

Remi's words made Dallas cry. "I know why you love those adventure books. You're like a knight defending my honornot that I have much left, if any at all." Dallas wiped away her angry tears.

"Listen to me. Everyone makes mistakes, but sometimes it's because of circ.u.mstance, not free will. You had a sister to care for, and you could've taken the easy way out, but you didn't."

"It's good to know that if you keep praying, eventually someone hears you. I'm not sure what I finally did right to be this well rewarded, and at this point I don't care. You're here and you're mine." Dallas kissed Remi and ma.s.saged the skin behind her neck.

"If we went slowly, do you think we could make love?"

Before Dallas could change her mind and take the question back, Remi put her right hand between her legs, keeping the other one on Dallas's hip. She wentslow , using tender, soft touches that made Dallas let her head fall back and close her eyes. Perhaps the world didn't a.s.sociate tenderness with Remi, but Dallas knew no other kind of touch from her.

Remi's touch branded her heart with a totally new sense of love and permanence. As long as Dallas lived, Remi would be the only one to move her to such heights. Salvation sometimes had nothing to do with churches and religious faith, but rather someone willing to find what was left in you worth saving.

Any other thought had to wait as Dallas gave in to her o.r.g.a.s.m.Tomorrow she'd tell Remi the rest of her secrets. For years she wouldn't have readily shared them with anyone except Kristen, but her days of hiding were over. In Remi she'd found someone not only to love, but to help carry the weight of her past.

"When I took Kristen and ran, most nights before I went to sleep, I prayed to my mom to send me something to make things better,"

Dallas said as soon as she caught her breath. "Maybe it wouldn't have taken so long if I'd prayed fora someone instead. I love you."

"I love you too." Remi scooted down and kissed the top of Dallas's head when she reclaimed her spot on her shoulder. "It's a good thing you're no stranger to prayer," Remi said in a teasing voice. "Once you've met my mother, she'll tell you that to love us is to learn to pray for patience."

"I can't wait to meet your mother, but right now I'd like to talk about something else." Dallas touched her and smiled when she found the abundant wetness. "Let's start right here." She moved down so she could use her mouth and be mindful of Remi's injuries.

Dallas knew they should've waited, but for her this was more than just making love. It was a celebration of life and living it in the warmth of the sun out of the shadows.

"Is it time?" Kim Stegal asked Nunzio. They were back in New Orleans to attend Remi's funeral.

"Not until Remi's in the ground. I'm not completely heartless. Let Ramon and his family have their time to mourn, then we'll move to close the deal."

"Your father called again last night while you were on the casino floor."

Nunzio put his menu down and his fists on the table. "Why'd he call you?"

The waiter arrived with the orange juice they'd ordered, and Kim took a sip before answering. "You're either going to trust me or I'm walking. I've been with you too long for you to put me through this s.h.i.t every time I talk to your father."

"You aren't about to walk away from me."

Kim stared at his hand on her wrist in a test of will. "Let's get something else straight. I work for you. A paycheck doesn't const.i.tute owning me. Try and remember that."

"Last night when I was deep inside you, it sure felt like I owned you." He laughed but let her go when Kim didn't join him. "I'm playing with you, so relax. What did my father want?"

"He's stonewalled Rodolfo as long as he can, but Rodolfo's demanded his money or his product back. Junior wants us to meet with him while we're here and see if we can reason with him."

The waiter brought out a basket of biscuits next, and Nunzio took his time slathering b.u.t.ter on one. "How does he expect us to reason with him?"

"Do you want to play twenty questions or have you forgotten how your father operates?"

"He wants me to lean on Rodolfo?" Nunzio laughed but his question sounded sarcastic to Kim. Half the biscuit disappeared into his mouth. "Does he want to just throw away our plans?"

"Maybe it's time to a.s.sert yourself a little more and tell him that, because you're right. If Rodolfo cuts you off, you won't have a chance with the Delarosas." Kim felt as if she were dealing with a skittish deer. Nunzio was usually aggressive, but acted like a perpetual five-year-old when it came to Junior.

"Let's call Rodolfo but we'll go easy on him."

"Whatever you want," Kim said, lifting her coffee cup in an effort to hide her smirk.

"You think I'm weak when it comes to Junior, don't you?"

"I wouldn't be with you if I thought that," Kim said. She reached across the table and took his hand, but she didn't plan to console him like this forever. "You want me to call Rodolfo?" After that she'd move on. Maybe something in Florida, as long as it was away from Nunzio and his family.

"Whatever you want," Nunzio said, pushing his plate away, his appet.i.te apparently gone.

Carlos Santiago stood silently watching the numbers on the elevator go down. Standing next to him, Rodolfo could almost feel the bad mood rolling off Carlos as they left the sanctuary of the Piquant suite to go someplace where Carlos felt he couldn't protect him. Not that Rodolfo had gotten where he had by being a trusting man, but he didn't think twice about accepting Cain's invitation.

"When you were a boy, you pouted the same way when I didn't bring back the caramels you loved so much," Rodolfo said, trying to cajole Carlos out of his bad mood.

"This is different than when I was helping my mother in your kitchen. I'm only trying to do my job."

As much as Rodolfo had invested in Juan, a special bond existed between him and Carlos. He'd watched him grow up, and the attention he'd lavished on him as a child had cemented Carlos's loyalty to him, so much so that Rodolfo had built a house for Carlos and his mother to share in her retirement. She had been one of Rodolfo's many mistresses, but he'd lost interest in her s.e.xually as she grew older. It had been Carlos who had kept her in Rodolfo's life.

"You do your job well enough that no matter what the day holds, we'll be fine," Rodolfo said and put his hand on Carlos's back. "If this were a meeting with someone like Hector or Nunzio Luca, we'd be downstairs in the outdoor restaurant, no matter who was listening in or watching."

"But because it's Casey you go in alone?"

"I'll have you there," Rodolfo reminded him. "Cain isn't interested in us or our business. If she wanted me dead, I'd be lying next to my parents in the small cemetery in the yard by now. She wants something else entirely."

"If she's not interested in doing business with you, why do you care?"

"Because of all the idiots we've dealt with up to now, Casey stands alone."

Carlos held the door for him and pressed thedown b.u.t.ton on the next set of elevators that would take them to street level. "So you do think she's an idiot?"

"Just the opposite.Cain is one of that rare breed of people for whom the world hides very little."

A car was waiting at the Piquant, and Carlos opened the back door and got in behind Rodolfo. "I don't understand."

"She's a good strategist, which I understand was something of a pa.s.sion for her father, but you can teach only so much. With Juan I tried to do the same thing, but without the same results. Cain took what her father gave her and added that vicioustwist, that makes her someone we have to study carefully." Rodolfo watched the buildings they were pa.s.sing, as he often did when he was in New Orleans.

He'd bet his future on the city because of what he saw the first time he visited. New Orleans was full of history and not like any other American city he'd ever visited, but mixed in with the spice of what made it unique was an edgy side that allowed people like him and Cain a chance to prosper.

"I can accept that she doesn't want to do business with me, but I won't allow her to interfere again. Up to now I've been lenient, but one more move against me for whateverreason, and I'll come after her with everything we have here." Rodolfo spoke softly and placed his hand on Carlos's knee. "People may consider Cain harsh, but we can teach her the meaning of pain, if she desires."

They turned at the warehouse where Cain's offices were located, and Rodolfo closed his mouth and focused his attention, in case knowing the layout would come in handy in the future. They didn't stop at the front but drove straight into the building, and when Cain opened the car door from the outside, Rodolfo tried to keep his face blank.

"Thanks for coming," Cain said, holding her hand out in greeting.