with fame and fortune—different lovers every week, failed marriages, children who were ignored.
“I don’t care for publicity,” she said simply.
He didn’t refute her. And she found herself watching him as he watched her. And remembering. All the things she had cared about so much. The way he locked his jaw and dug his thumbs into his pockets when he was determined. The way his eyes could change from a glistening silver to a deep, dusky charcoal. The way his hair fell across his forehead and the way he could push it back impatiently.
The sound of his voice, the way he laughed, and even the way he could rage in righteous fury. The way that he could talk about the worl d, the past and the future…
The way that he whispered when he made love to her, to uching her, enchanting her…
He is seven years older, she thought. And so am I.
She should have forgotten him completely, but that had been impossible. The Limelights had broken up for that year in which Jesse and Leif had been at total odds.
But they had gotten back together, and for the next three years their work had topped the charts. There had been videos and music scores—and no matter where she had traveled, she had seen him on television and in newspapers. When Celia had died, the event had been covered in newspapers and magazines the world over; not even in grief had he received any privacy from the media. One of the major weeklies had carried a haunting picture of Leif and his son at the church, the little boy gripping his father’s hands—a little boy with his father’s glistening gray eyes—placing a rose upon his mother’s coffin.
“I’m very sorry about Celia,” she said suddenly, remembering that picture.
“Thank you.”
“How could you have traveled with Jamie? Where’s your little boy?”
He smiled suddenly—the rakish smile that had stirred the imaginations of many a lonely heart.
“Blake is coming in later. He’s been with my sister at home in Connecticut. They’re coming in for the final show—I promised him that he could see Jamie’s last show.”
Tracy nodded. She suddenly wanted to run from the room and from Leif. She didn’t want to see the sensuous smile that had captured her teenage heart so long ago.
“You’ll meet him tonight.”
“Oh, no. I’m not going to the concert.”
“You have to. Jamie will be terribly hurt if you don’t go . ”
She lowered her eyes instantly, wishing she had never decided it mandatory to seek her brother out and crawl from balcony to balcony in an attempt to meet him alone. It hadn’t worked. She had drawn him into a murder investigation but he was inadvertently drawing her into a nightmare.
“It’s not so bad—just stay in the wings,” Leif told her. “Well, I’ve got to make those phone calls. Why don’t you tell Jamie that it’s safe to come out?”
“Is it?” she asked him.
He hesitated. For a second she thought he was going to come to her again. He didn’t.
“Tracy, if you really want the truth, you’ll do as I ask you.”
“You’re brutal.”
“I don’t mean to be. It’s just that you want to open a Pandora’s box. If you’re going to do that, you have to be willing to accept the consequences. You think I’m wrong. I’ve no set decisions made. Prove to me that I’m wrong. I had to say what I did to your family. It was the only way to make sure that we would have a full house—and a full house is necessary.”
He didn’t wait for her answer; he turned around and headed for his room. Tracy watched him, then on impulse started after him, surprising herself when she caught his arm and spun him around to stare down at her once more.
“Leif, you’re not telling me everything and that isn’t fair. You want to use me to trap my family, but there’s more to this, isn’t there? You know something that—”
“I don’t ‘know’ anything, Tracy.”
“But—”
“There’s more to this, yes.”
“What?” she begged him.
He stared
“I don’t care for publicity,” she said simply.
He didn’t refute her. And she found herself watching him as he watched her. And remembering. All the things she had cared about so much. The way he locked his jaw and dug his thumbs into his pockets when he was determined. The way his eyes could change from a glistening silver to a deep, dusky charcoal. The way his hair fell across his forehead and the way he could push it back impatiently.
The sound of his voice, the way he laughed, and even the way he could rage in righteous fury. The way that he could talk about the worl d, the past and the future…
The way that he whispered when he made love to her, to uching her, enchanting her…
He is seven years older, she thought. And so am I.
She should have forgotten him completely, but that had been impossible. The Limelights had broken up for that year in which Jesse and Leif had been at total odds.
But they had gotten back together, and for the next three years their work had topped the charts. There had been videos and music scores—and no matter where she had traveled, she had seen him on television and in newspapers. When Celia had died, the event had been covered in newspapers and magazines the world over; not even in grief had he received any privacy from the media. One of the major weeklies had carried a haunting picture of Leif and his son at the church, the little boy gripping his father’s hands—a little boy with his father’s glistening gray eyes—placing a rose upon his mother’s coffin.
“I’m very sorry about Celia,” she said suddenly, remembering that picture.
“Thank you.”
“How could you have traveled with Jamie? Where’s your little boy?”
He smiled suddenly—the rakish smile that had stirred the imaginations of many a lonely heart.
“Blake is coming in later. He’s been with my sister at home in Connecticut. They’re coming in for the final show—I promised him that he could see Jamie’s last show.”
Tracy nodded. She suddenly wanted to run from the room and from Leif. She didn’t want to see the sensuous smile that had captured her teenage heart so long ago.
“You’ll meet him tonight.”
“Oh, no. I’m not going to the concert.”
“You have to. Jamie will be terribly hurt if you don’t go . ”
She lowered her eyes instantly, wishing she had never decided it mandatory to seek her brother out and crawl from balcony to balcony in an attempt to meet him alone. It hadn’t worked. She had drawn him into a murder investigation but he was inadvertently drawing her into a nightmare.
“It’s not so bad—just stay in the wings,” Leif told her. “Well, I’ve got to make those phone calls. Why don’t you tell Jamie that it’s safe to come out?”
“Is it?” she asked him.
He hesitated. For a second she thought he was going to come to her again. He didn’t.
“Tracy, if you really want the truth, you’ll do as I ask you.”
“You’re brutal.”
“I don’t mean to be. It’s just that you want to open a Pandora’s box. If you’re going to do that, you have to be willing to accept the consequences. You think I’m wrong. I’ve no set decisions made. Prove to me that I’m wrong. I had to say what I did to your family. It was the only way to make sure that we would have a full house—and a full house is necessary.”
He didn’t wait for her answer; he turned around and headed for his room. Tracy watched him, then on impulse started after him, surprising herself when she caught his arm and spun him around to stare down at her once more.
“Leif, you’re not telling me everything and that isn’t fair. You want to use me to trap my family, but there’s more to this, isn’t there? You know something that—”
“I don’t ‘know’ anything, Tracy.”
“But—”
“There’s more to this, yes.”
“What?” she begged him.
He stared
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