Death of a Beauty Queen Read online

  Rose nodded. “Okay,” she said, her lips feeling numb.

  “You, too, Dix,” Ethan said. “Bring the wine.”

  Dixon looked at Rose. “If it’s okay with you,” he said.

  She lifted her shoulders.

  “Okay, then,” Ethan broke in. “I’ve got to be going. I’ll see you two tonight.” And he turned and left.

  Rose stared after him. Her cousin. She rubbed the scar at her hairline. She was a Delancey, and she had a cousin. In fact, based on the website she’d seen, she had brothers, cousins, aunts and uncles—and parents. A slew of people she was about to meet for the first time.

  The safe life Maman had so carefully structured for her was nothing but a memory now.

  “Rose?” Dixon’s voice broke into her thoughts.

  She lifted her chin and met his gaze. “Why did you bring him here?”

  Dixon’s gaze faltered. “He’s my partner, and your cousin. He wanted to see you.”

  Rose shook her head. “I know all that, but that’s not why you did it.”

  “The police commissioner is keeping your identity secret for now, but it won’t last long. It will be leaked and then you’re going to be bombarded by the press. You need to be prepared.”

  “How long?” she asked, panic fluttering like butterfly wings under her breastbone.

  “Probably within twelve hours, if we’re lucky. A lot sooner, if we’re not.”

  “Oh,” she said, feeling like she’d been punched in the stomach. “What—what should I do?”

  Dixon was watching her carefully, an odd, cautious expression on his face. “Why don’t you come stay with me for a few days, until you’re ready to go home to your parents and brothers? If you stay here, you won’t be able to set foot outside without someone taking your picture or asking questions. If you come home with me, I can protect you.”

  Rose’s eyes pricked with tears. It was what he’d told her from the first moment she’d met him. He could protect her, and he had.

  “What about you?” she asked. “Isn’t your case closed now?”

  He nodded. “I just got word this morning that the second sample of blood on your robe is a match for Aron Wasabe. So, yeah, it’s closed.” He looked down at his hands. “I don’t have that excuse anymore.”

  “Excuse?” she echoed.

  “For my entire career, people have made fun of me for being so obsessed with my first case. The Beauty Queen Murder. So my excuse was that it was the only case I’d never managed to close. But that’s not why I was obsessed.”

  “No?” she said breathlessly.

  He shook his head. “No. I was obsessed with you.” He looked up and his navy blue eyes were wet with tears. “I told you, I was afraid I’d never find you. I was afraid I was doomed to spend my life in love with a dead woman.”

  Rose was stunned. She’d always hoped Maman’s romantic prophecies would come true, but she’d never dared believe it.

  “That night,” she said, “when I woke up with Maman wrapping bandages around my hands and arms, she told me that she would keep me safe until my dark angel brought my memories and my grief back to me.”

  Dixon’s brows drew down into a frown.

  “That was only one of the predictions she had for me, and as obscure as they were, I see now that they’ve all come true.”

  Dixon looked so bewildered that Rose chuckled and with her fingertip, smoothed the wrinkle between his brows. “She told me my destiny lay in the hands of the Fool. And when she was no longer here, I should watch for my dark angel. That he would protect me.”

  She touched Dixon’s hand. “Maman knew you would come,” she said, her own eyes filling with tears.

  Dixon blinked furiously against the stinging in his eyes as he shook his head. “You’ve been through a lot, Rose. Too much for anyone to bear. You need time. Time to get to know your family. Time to get past what just happened.”

  He took a deep breath. “You’re going to have to testify at Eldridge Banker’s trial. I shot him in the stomach and it looks like he’s going to survive. You don’t need any more stress right now.”

  “Dixon—” she said, her face looking stricken.

  He knew she’d come to depend on him during the past few horror-filled days. But once she’d had time to relearn who she was and to live without doubt and fear, she’d realize she no longer needed him.

  “I am so glad I found you,” he said. “I am so glad you’re okay and that you can go back to your family. They love you—”

  “Oh no, you don’t,” she snapped, pushing her index finger into his chest. “You are not walking out on me.”

  “No, of course not,” he said quickly. “I meant it when I said you could stay with me. I’ve got a guest room with its own bath. The sink drips, but I’ve been meaning to fix it.” He looked at her, then at the floor. “No. What you ought to do is stay with your parents. That’s probably better. They have resources—”

  “You listen to me, Dixon Lloyd. From the first moment I met you, you’ve been trying to run my life. You’ve been bullying me, making me do what you thought was best. Well, it’s time for a change.”

  Dixon opened his mouth to speak, but Rose held up her hand with a don’t-mess-with-me expression. “Maman told me something else. She said my dark angel would try to sacrifice himself for me. She said not to let him. She told me that the Chinese believe if you save someone’s life you’re responsible for them.” She poked him in the chest again.

  “That means you are responsible for me. So what are you going to do about me?”

  Dixon was speechless. “I…” He literally couldn’t speak. His throat was too tight.

  Rose gave a frustrated sigh and stepped up to him, lifted her head and kissed him.

  Dixon couldn’t resist. He’d lived through years of hell, afraid that he was searching in vain for a ghost. He’d spent hours of hell the day before, afraid that Wasabe had killed her. Now her very alive, very sensual mouth was on his and he couldn’t do a thing except take her in his arms and kiss her back.

  After a long time, he whispered against her lips. “I love you, Rose, more than you can ever know.”

  “Don’t you ever stop,” she whispered back.

  After another few moments, Dixon pulled back and looked into Rose’s amber eyes. “I think I’ve figured out what I need to do,” he said softly, smiling at her.

  “Oh yeah?” she responded. “This better be good.”

  “Since I’m responsible for you, it’s going to be important to keep you close. The only way I can think of to do that is to marry you.”

  Rose regarded him somberly for so long that his heart squeezed painfully. Was she going to turn him down?

  Finally she spoke. “The only way, eh?” she said. “Okay, then. I guess that’ll do,” she replied. “Don’t get the idea you can bully me, though.”

  “Never,” he laughed and held out his arms. “Now come here,” he said.

  Rose stepped into the arms of the man who had loved her for longer than she could remember.

  * * * * *

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  ISBN: 9781459230729

  Copyright © 2012 by Rickey R. Mallory

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