The Wishing Stone Read Online Free Page B

melt.”
    Margaret eyed her companion thoughtfully. “You will one of these days, my girl, and I am sure he won’t be like any other.”
    Shivering at the premonition, Lara rubbed her arms to dispel the mood that had descended upon the kitchen. Finishing her salad, Lara asked Margaret how long she had worked for Mr. Saint.
    “Oh my, it’s going on ten years this Christmas. I was a very lucky woman to have met him.” Margaret’s face softened as she recalled the past.
    “I had nowhere to go after my George died. You see, George had to go into the hospital. To pay the bills, I had to use our mortgage payments. Well, you can imagine how long you have until the bank takes the house away from you when you don’t pay what you owe.” A soft sigh accompanied her words. “My George never made it out of that hospital, and I had to find myself someplace else to live then. That’s when I met Mr. Saint.”
    A smile brightened her clouded eyes. “That man sure is special. He gave me this job. To a woman he didn’t even know!” Margaret carried their dishes over to the sink. “He told me to consider this my home for as long as I wanted.”
    “What do you know about him?” Lara rose to help her but was shooed quickly back to her seat.
    Turning, Margaret gave Lara a surprised look. “I know he has the heart of an angel.”
    Embarrassed by her seemingly rude question, Lara could only say, “He really sounds too good to be true.”
    Asking Margaret to show her the way back to her room, they left the kitchen. On their way back down the hall, they passed the locked double doors. Lara gestured to them. “I noticed that these doors are locked. Is there any reason I should be made aware of?”
    “Oh, Lord, no. That’s Mr. Saint’s suite. No one is allowed in there while he is in residence, that’s why the doors are locked.” Margaret continued down the hallway.
    Lara stopped short and glanced back over her shoulder at the locked doors before she followed Margaret. “He’s here now?”
    “Yes, he is,” Margaret answered with a wide smile, “although we hardly ever see him due to all of his business meetings and such. But he is indeed currently here on the island.”
    Storing that little tidbit of information away, Lara entered her room and bade Margaret a goodnight then began to prepare for bed. Turning into the private bath, she flipped on the light switch. The brilliance shone off the gold fixtures as she began to fully take in her surroundings. It contained anything and everything a person could ever wish for from the glass-block enclosed shower, the sunken whirlpool bathtub, to the discreetly placed toilet and bidet.
    Leaving the spacious bathroom, she headed toward the sliding glass doors that opened off of the bedroom’s sitting area and onto a large private patio with its own outdoor furniture. The tropical foliage that surrounded two sides of the patio gave a secluded effect that lulled Lara as she reclined on the padded lounge chair that faced the night-shrouded ocean.
    ****
    Off to the far side of the patio, Lucien watched Lara with a yearning of a man long deprived of love. Quietly, he turned, retracing the path to his suite, leaving behind the one true thing he most wanted but could not have.
    The rooms looked identical to the master suites of all his homes, with one entire wall of windows that had the special built-in window coverings. As he stood watching the night unfold, his need for a hospital was becoming urgent. This sickening need was something Lucien kept in firm control. And with Lara staying in his home, it would be up to him to keep her safe from Marissa and all of her blood-drinking companions.
    This included him.
    Concentrating on his destination, Lucien traced away, leaving the room empty.
    ****
    The emergency room in London, England, overflowed with the victims of a bombing that had taken place at one of the popular local night spots. As he made his way among the moaning and bleeding people,