The Spellbinder Read Online Free Page B

past two months. I suppose it’s natural that you have to surround yourself with guards and walls, but it’s sad too. Take Disney World, for example. You would have enjoyed that so—”
    “Two months?”
    She nodded. “That’s when Louis and I came here from Paris. When I realized I wouldn’t be able to see you by the usual means, I decided I’d have to find another way to do it. So I’ve been following you from city to city and getting to know all about you.”
    He leaned back in his chair, his face unreadable. “How interesting. You must be a determined young lady.”
    She nodded. “Very determined.”
    “And just what do you think you know about me?”
    “Do you mean the surface things?” A tiny frown wrinkled her brow. “Well, of course, everyone knows you’re a great actor. Your mother was Elise Merton, a bit actress who died when you were eleven. Your father and mine, Raymond Devlin, was also an actor. You spent most of your childhood in private boarding schools in London and Switzerland. You’re not married, but have had many affairs.” She paused. “But most of those happened when you were in your twenties. Lately you preferto patronize very expensive call-girl services like Marceline’s when you want a woman.”
    “I may think twice about that from now on,” he murmured. “It seems to involve unexpected hazards.”
    She grinned. “Me? I’m no hazard. You’ll see, I’ll be very good for you.”
    A faint smile hovered on his lips. “Oh, you will, will you?”
    “Yes, that was another reason I studied you so carefully. I want to be able to help you.” She moved nearer, her face flushed with eagerness. “I’ve never had anyone of my own before, but I’ve always been very good with people. I’m sure I can be a wonderful sister to you.”
    Lord, the intensity she was generating was both mesmerizing and poignant. “You’re planning on making that your full-time occupation?”
    “No, that won’t be possible. I have no money, and I have to—” She broke off as she caught the slight stiffening in Brody’s demeanor and then shook her head sadly. “Don’t pull away from me. I’m not going to ask you for money. I would never take anything from you. I just want to know what it’s like to belong to someone, to belong to you. Family. I’ve wanted that since I was a little girl.”
    “Look, I’m not your brother,” Brody said gently. “My father may have been a womanizer, but he wasn’t a bastard who would have ignored the existence of his child.”
    “But he didn’t know,” Sacha said. Her fingers rose to rub absently at a spot behind her left ear.“My mother was a gypsy singer in a cafe in Budapest. Raymond Devlin was there with a touring company for only a month and then returned to America. When she found she was pregnant, she was afraid to tell her father she was to have a
gajo
’s child. She would have been in disgrace with her tribe, and my grandfather hated
gajos.
She refused to tell anyone who my father was.” She moistened her lips. “But she died when I was seven and left a letter telling me the truth.”
    “She named my father?”
    Sacha shook her head. “She was still afraid my grandfather would hurt him. She only said he was a wonderful American actor.”
    “That covers a hell of a lot of territory.”
    “Not so much. There were only a handful of American actors in Budapest during that month.”
    His gaze narrowed on her face. “How do you know?”
    “I had a friend check the immigration records.”
    “Evidently a very influential friend,” he said softly. “I imagine it would be quite difficult to obtain that information after all these years.”
    Her gaze slid away from him. “He had certain … contacts.” She made an impatient gesture with her hand. “But that’s not important. Raymond Devlin was in Budapest during that month.”
    “And why did you single him out?”
    “I saw a picture of the two of you together in a