Page 4 of Cursed
“An adult getaway.” Edeena sank back in her seat. “Why do I suspect this is exactly the resort that Marguerite targeted?”
Despite himself, Vince chuckled, earning him an irritated scowl from the back seat. “It’s not all that bad,” he assured her. “And you’ll be right next door if that’s any consolation.”
On cue, he turned into the graceful entryway of the estate, following Marks’s limo down a long dreamy-looking track cut into the foliage, the narrow lane once again overhung with Spanish moss that fairly dripped from enormous trees. After a few minutes, they exited the trees and approached the main house through an open park.
Vince had seen Heron’s Point many times, but it still impressed him—a three-story mansion that fanned out to either side with smaller two-story wings, as if it was embracing visitors. The place was a Southern showpiece, all yellow-painted brick and white trim, fronted by an imposing white staircase that swept up to the second floor. The ground floor was walled in stone, probably once used as stables.
“Good heavens,” Edeena said quietly, her worries apparently assuaged for the moment. “I’d say this is some consolation, you’re right. No wonder Mother loved this place.”
Vince didn’t see any reason to answer that, and he scanned the building as they neared. “That’s your cousin, standing at the top of the stairs. Have you two met?”
“We haven’t,” Edeena said. She leaned forward, her slender hand gripping his seat beside his shoulder. The scent of her perfume wafted over him, honeysuckle and lavender, and Vince grimaced as his body reacted once again. This was seriously going to become a problem.
“She’s my second cousin, twice removed, by the way,” Edeena corrected him as she took in the trim, elderly woman in the flowery pink dress, standing like a sentinel before the enormous front doors of the house. “She’s related to my mother—who usually referred to her as an aunt, instead of cousin, given their age differences—but though Mother visited here often, we never came. Father wouldn’t allow it.”
Vince digested that additional detail, lining it up with the rest. Silas Saleri seemed to rule his children with an iron fist, none of them more so than Edeena.
“Well,” she said briskly, cutting across his thoughts. “Let’s get this adventure started. If I know my sisters, they’ll be keeping you quite busy.”
Vince pulled the car behind Marks’s limo, and glanced at her. “Your sisters, but not you?” he asked, trying for levity.
Edeena’s return smile was rueful. “Oh, I won’t be here long enough to cause you any trouble.”