Read Swan's Grace for Free Online Page B

maddening little baggage.
    Inside, the music was louder, filling the house with a series of short, rapid notes. He headed for the sound, bypassing the office where his desk stood, his footsteps muffled and unheard beneath the music, and found Sophie playing in the library. Despite the cold air, the windows had been thrown open, the curtains flung wide. The furniture had been moved back with careless disregard, while his books lined the walls like an audience.
    He had just completed the room the week before her arrival. It was austere and dark, filled with his law volumes and a desk for his receptionist, who, he remembered, had the day off. One less issue to deal with.
    But he gave that fact little thought as he took in Sophie. She sat in the middle of it all, winter sunshine and a slight breeze filling the room as she played, her brow creased in concentration. Her hair was pulled up loosely, her skin creamy with a hint of red from exertion. But it was the cello that demanded his attention, pulled between her legs, and he felt a visceral surge between his own at the sight.
    She was stunning to watch, beautiful and captivating, her eyes closed, lost to the music.
    The two women she had brought along with her sat scattered around the room, one lounging in his fine leather, wing-backed chair, the other sitting up straight, writing as fast as her hand could go. But it was the sight of Henry that made his temper flare, certain that this man must feel the same insistent pull at the way Sophie held the instrument.
    Conrad was right about one thing. This ragtag group of hangers-on had to go.
    Once again he had the sharp, clear thought that this wasn't what he wanted—not for his wife. But then Sophie looked up and saw him. He saw her surprise. Saw that flicker of joy, however brief, before her bow pulled an uneven note and the music died a harsh, discordant death.
    Looking at her now, he felt that same inexplicable shift inside him. She filled something in him that was hard to deny.
    "Don't stop on my account," he said, heat warming his blood, his eyes never leaving hers.
    The tall woman craned her neck to see him, but she didn't bother to unhook her knees from the arm of the chair. The dowdy one dropped her pad, then fumbled around on the floor trying to gather the papers. Henry looked on with amusement. But Sophie never moved.
    "What was that you were playing?" Grayson asked, taking in the way her full lips were parted, showing a hint of pearl-white teeth and pink tongue. He felt an urge to dip his head and taste her.
    The words shook her out of whatever place she had been, and she snapped her mouth shut. "It is a piece adapted for me from
La Traviata.
"
    "The opera? I thought people sang operas."
    Her lips pulled into a brittle smile as if he had offended her. "It is not uncommon to have popular operatic pieces arranged for instrumental interpretation. Musicians do it all the time. No doubt even Pablo Casals has done it before."
    He wasn't sure where that had come from, but he sensed that the subject was a sensitive one. "No doubt. Regardless, your interpretation was lovely, and I'm impressed by how much effort it takes to play."
    The prim one groaned. The sultry one
tsked
. Sophie jerked her head around to the little man.
    "Henry, you told me I had gained perfect ease!"
    The man looked abashed. "
Ma petite
, what was I to do? We have been here only a day after traveling for many. You need time to relax."
    "I meant it as a compliment," Grayson stated, bringing four sets of angry eyes around to stare at him.
    The light caught Sophie, and he saw for the first time that she looked tired and worried, as if she hadn't slept. He felt an unwanted flare of concern.
    She sighed, seeming to rein in her frustration, then nodded her head. "Thank you, but the listener should never feel the musician is having to work hard. The listener can understand that the piece is difficult, but the musician should have mastered it so that the music seems