Page 14 of Ice Cold Christmas

Sebastian’s lips parted. He didn’t speak.

“When I questioned her, she said she didn’t know about your illness. That it wasn’t in the news.”

“Well, of course, it’s not in the news,” Dario muttered. He slammed down a shot glass. It clinked when it hit the mantel top. No more wine for him. He’d advanced to the whiskey. “We’re keeping it secret from the Press. Had mergers to deal with. Millions of dollars were on the line. Can’t let the info leak because then you’ll have panicked investors and?—”

Victor just stared at him.

“Oh.” Dario nodded. Cleared his throat. “She should know. Right. Yes. Understood. Check.”

Considering that Melody was the one who’d first noticed the small signs that indicated Sebastian’s condition, yes, she should know.

But she didn’t.

Just as she didn’t seem to know that she and Victor had been lovers.

Just as she didn’t know the meaning of strawberries. That had been their codeword. If they’d been at a party or a company meeting and she’d wanted to leave, she’d brush by him and whisper, “Strawberries.”

Or, if others had been present and she’d been in the mood to torment him, she’d make up some vague statement and say it right in front of everyone. Something like… “You know what would make this dessert extra decadent?” She’d stare at him with her incredible eyes. “Strawberries.” And he’d known she wanted to get away with him. That she wanted to be in private with him so they could close out the rest of the world.

So that they could fuck like animals and get lost to pleasure.

But the woman upstairs had seemed clueless when he uttered the one word that Melody had relished using so often with him. Their private codeword.

She hadn’t known what the word truly meant.

She hadn’t known her father was sick.

She hadn’t known that she and Victor were lovers.

Not Melody. Not Melody. Not Melody. The refrain blasted through his head. Made the hope he’d felt earlier taste bitter on his tongue. She is not my Melody.

And that posed another big question. If the woman currently in the guest room right above him wasn’t Melody Mage, then who the hell was she?

Chapter Four

She’d made a tactical mistake. Melody could feel it in her bones. She’d heard Victor open his bedroom door and then storm downstairs. It wasn’t as if the man had quiet footsteps. He just pounded and pounded down the steps with an angry stomp.

She’d tiptoed out after him. Not like she wanted to alert the man to her presence, but she knew trouble when she heard it. Especially when that trouble stomped so furiously.

So she ditched her boots and socks and slipped down the stairs barefoot. She crept toward the den. Stayed out of sight and quite clearly heard the words that chilled her.

“We need a DNA test. Immediately.” Victor’s rough, angry voice.

Followed by Dario’s, “I told you, I told you all! I don’t think that’s Melody. She looks different. She acts different.”

Her heart nearly jumped from her chest. The very first night, and already, they were ready to kick her out of their world. What were they going to do? Toss her into the snow? Let her freeze in the darkness?

She’d hired a driver to bring her to the mansion. A deliberate choice because, well, one, she didn’t have a car. And, two, because she hadn’t wanted the people in the mansion tracking her back to where she’d been staying before tonight. No sense in them learning I arrived in Richmond three days ago and have been staying at the shadiest no-tell-motel imaginable. At night, she dragged the old chair beneath the door in her motel room and lodged it in place for a bit of extra security.

Now, though, she was at Mage Mansion and left with a big problem. If they kicked her out?—

No, no, that can’t happen.

She had to stay. She had a job to do. A mission. And she wasn’t going to be thrown off or out. Her original plan had been tricky, yes, but she could change gears. She could do this.

She just had to figure out her next step.

Except, in that instant, her next step came charging toward her. Victor rushed out of the den and stormed straight toward her.