Immortal in Death Read Free Page A

home.”
    “Um.” Leonardo was already at his computer, using the keyboard with impressive skill. “Now this…” He brought up an image that made Eve’s blood chill.
    The dress was the color of fresh urine, ringed with flounces of mud brown from its scalloped neck to its knifepoint hem that dripped with stones the size of a child’s fist. The sleeves were so snug Eve was certain anyone wearing it would loose all feeling in their fingers.
    As the image turned, she was treated to a view of the back, dipping past the waist and trimmed in floaty feathers.
    “… is not at all for you,” Leonardo finished, and indulged in a deep belly laugh at Eve’s blanched skin. “I apologize. I couldn’t resist. For you… just a sketch, you understand. Slim, long, simple. Only a column. Not too delicate.”
    He continued to speak as he worked. On the screen, lines and shapes began to form. Sticking her hands in her pockets, Eve watched.
    It looked so easy, Eve mused. Long lines, the most subtle of accents at the bodice, sleeves that came to soft, rounded points just at the back of the hand. Still uneasy, she waited for him to start to add the gingerbread.
    “We’ll fuss with it a bit,” he said absently, and again turned the image to show a back as sleek and elegant as the front, with a slit to the knees. “You wouldn’t want a train.”
    “A train?”
    “No.” He only smiled, flicking a glance up at her. “You wouldn’t. A headdress. Your hair.”
    Used to derogatory comments, Eve ran her fingers through it. “I can cover it up if I have to.”
    “No, no, no. It suits you.”
    Her hand dropped in shock. “It does?”
    “Indeed. You need a bit of shaping. I know someone — ” He flicked that aside. “But the color, all those tones of brown and gold, and the short, not quite tamed style is very good on you. A couple of snips.” Eyes narrowed, he studied her. “No, no headdress, no veil. Your face is enough. Now, color and material. It must be silk, of a good weight.” He grimaced a little. “Mavis tells me Roarke will not be paying.”
    Eve’s back went up. “It’s my dress.”
    “She’s dug in on this one,” Mavis commented. “Like Roarke would notice a few thousand credits.”
    “That’s not the point — “
    “No, indeed not.” Leonardo smiled again. “Well, we’ll manage. Color? I don’t think white, too stark for your skin tone.”
    Pursing his lips, he went to his palette key and experimented. Fascinated despite herself, Eve watched the sketch turn from snowy white to cream, to pale blue, to vivid green and a rainbow between. Though Mavis oohed and ahed over several choices, he only shook his head.
    He settled on bronze.
    “This. Yes, oh yes. Your skin, your eyes, your hair. You’ll be radiant, majestic. A goddess. With it you’ll need a necklace, at least thirty-inch length. Better yet, two lengths, twenty-four and thirty inches. Copper, I think, with colored stones. Rubies, citrine, onyx. Yes, yes, and carnelian, perhaps some tourmaline. You’ll speak to Roarke about the accessories.”
    Clothes never meant a damn to her, but Eve caught herself yearning. “It’s beautiful,” she said cautiously and began to calculate her credit situation. “I’m just not sure. You know, silk… It’s a little out of my range.”
    “You’ll have the dress at my cost, and for a promise.” He enjoyed watching the wariness come into her eyes. “That I will be allowed to design Mavis’s dress as your attendant, and you will use my designs for your trousseau.”
    “I haven’t thought about a trousseau. I’ve got clothes.”
    “Lieutenant Dallas has clothes,” he corrected. “Roarke’s partner in marriage will need others.”
    “Maybe we can make a deal.” She wanted that damn dress, she realized. She could feel it on her.
    “Wonderful. Take off your clothes.”
    She snapped back like a spring. “Okay, asshole — “
    “For the measurements,” Leonardo said quickly. The look in her