Gates of Paradise - By Melissa de la Cruz Page 0,41

the city center when Tomi realized she had gotten too big to run. The Silver Blood began to move faster and faster, and Andreas rushed to catch up with him. But Tomi could hardly move. The child was kicking in her belly, and the dress she was wearing to hide her growing waistline was heavy and dragged her down.

She could see Andreas ahead of her, trying to decide whether to catch the Silver Blood or slow down to attend to her. "Go!" she shouted. "Do not wait for me!"

She hoped the pause had not slowed him down too much; she would hate for a Silver Blood to escape because of what she had done. But she could no longer run; she could no longer stand. She sat down on the side of the road and waited for Andreas to return, trying to think of what she would say to him.

It was nearly an hour before he returned, bruised and bloodied.

"Are you all right?" she asked. If anything she had done led to his being hurt...

"I'm fine," he said. "It is my opponent you should worry about."

Tomasia smiled with relief, but her face fell when she remembered what she had to do.

"I should ask the same of you, though," he said. "I have noticed, of late, that you seem to be a bit unwell. Distracted, perhaps. I did not want to push you to tell me something you did not wish to share, but I must ask now."

"There is something I need to tell you," Tomasia admitted. "Though I am fearful about how you will receive the news."

Andreas knelt next to her in the road and took her hand in his. "There is nothing you can say that I am unwilling to hear. Nothing can change how I feel about you. Our bond is stronger than that."

Their bond...

"While you were away," she began, "I became convinced that I had been wrong that you were my mate, that you were my Michael. I should never have doubted; I should never have believed that Lucifer could ever reside in you, but I am ashamed to admit I did. I believed it because everyone else did, and because everything I saw led me to believe it. And Gio..."

"No one could have known about Gio," Andreas said grimly.

"It was more than that, though. Gio convinced me that we were meant to be together, that he was my Michael, and not you. And I already doubted myself so much that I felt that he must be right....We became bondmates."

Andreas stood. "You...you bonded with Gio?"

"Yes. I bonded with him. And..."

"Stand up!" Andreas commanded.

"Please, Andreas - "

"I said, stand up!"

She did as he asked. She stood up straight and tall, and did not stoop forward so the folds of her dress would better hide her burgeoning stomach. It was time for Andreas to know everything.

He saw right away.

"My God," he said. "He has got you with child? How can this be?"

"I do not know," she admitted. "But I do know one thing: I cannot let you destroy it."
Chapter Twenty-Four

Schuyler

chuyler lingered over her coffee the next morning, not sure how early would be too early to show up at the Chase house. When she couldn't take the waiting anymore, she had the hotel call her a car and gave the driver the address.

He whistled. "Going to Sunny Dunes, are you? Nice spread."

She could only imagine what kind of house would garner that reaction in a place like Malibu. They drove down the Pacific Coast Highway, snaking through the canyons, right against the beachhead. Schuyler saw surfers in wet suits sitting on their boards, waiting for waves. There were families picnicking by the beach, and a row of colorful houses facing the water, the only clue to their immense wealth the Aston Martins and Ferraris parked in the driveway.

The Chase residence was set right on the beach, an imposing modern structure that appeared to be made almost entirely out of glass. "It's a landmark," the driver said as he dropped her off. "One of the last houses built by a really famous local architect. Don't break anything!" he joked.

"Thanks," Schuyler said. She had expected a more traditional manor, something like the Nantucket ten-bedroom "cottage" that was Cordelia's summer residence. This house reminded her of a museum, with its jagged roofline and aluminum panels. The driveway led to a double-height front door with a heavy iron handle. Through the glass panels for walls, she could see into the house - a