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me. She looked up at me, her eyes dry, but there was a gentle sorrow in them — a compassion I never knew she was capable of. "Was there any pain?" she asked.
    "No," I answered. "It was quick. A stroke. One minute he was as big as life and roaring like a lion, and the next— " I snapped my fingers. "It was like that."
    Her eyes were still on mine. "I'm glad for his sake," she said softly. "I wouldn't have wanted him to suffer."
    She got to her feet slowly. The veil came down over her eyes again. "I think you'd better go now," she said.
    This was the familiar Rina, the one I wanted to take apart. The distant one, the unattainable one, the calculating one. "No," I said. "I haven't finished yet."
    She started past me. "What is there to finish?"
    I seized her arm and pulled her back toward me. "We're not finished," I said into her upturned face. "You and me. I brought you home one night because I wanted you. But you chose my father because he represented a quicker return for you. I think I've waited long enough!"
    She stared back at me. She wasn't afraid now. This was the ground she was used to fighting on. "You wouldn't dare!"
    For an answer, I pulled the towel from her. She turned to run from the room but I caught her arm and pulled her back to me. With my other hand, I caught her hair and pulled her head back so that her face turned up to mine. "No?"
    "I'll scream," she gasped hoarsely. "The servants will come running!"
    I grinned. "No, they won't. They'll only think it a cry of grief. Robair's got them in the kitchen and not one will come up unless I send for her."
    "Wait!" she begged. "Please wait. For your father's sake?"
    "Why should I?" I asked. "He didn't wait for me." I picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. Her fists and hands scratched at my face and beat against my chest.
    I threw her on the bed, the white satin cover still on it. She tried to roll off on the other side. I grabbed her shoulder and spun her back. She bit my hand and tried to scramble away when I pulled it back. I placed my knee across her thighs and slapped viciously at her face. The blow knocked her back on the pillow. I could see the white marks left by my fingers.
    She closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, they were clouded and there was a wildness in them that I had never seen before. She smiled and her arms went up around my neck, pulling me down to her. Her mouth fastened against mine. I could feel her body begin to move under me.
    "Do it to me, Jonas!" she breathed into my mouth. "Now! I can't wait any more. I've waited so long." Her searching fingers ran down my hip and found my core. She turned her face into the pillow, her movements becoming more frenetic. I could hardly hear her fierce, urgent whisper. "Hurry, Jonas. Hurry!"
    I started to get up but she couldn't wait for me to get my clothing off. She pulled me down again and took me inside her. She was like a burning bed of coals. She drew my head down to her neck.
    "Make me pregnant, Jonas," she whispered into my ear. "Make me pregnant like you did to those three girls in Los Angeles. Put your life into me!"
    I looked into her face. Her eyes were clear and there was a taunting triumph in them. They reflected none of the passion of the body beneath me. Her arms and legs tightened around me.
    She smiled, her eyes looking into mine. "Make me pregnant, Jonas," she whispered. "Like your father never would. He was afraid someone would take something away from you!"
    "What— what?" I tried to get up but she was like a bottomless well that I couldn't get out of.
    "Yes, Jonas," she said, still smiling, her body devouring me. "Your father never took any chances. That's why he made me sign that agreement before we got married. He wanted everything for his precious son!"
    I tried to get up but she had moved her legs in some mysterious manner. Laughing, triumphant, she said, "But you'll make me pregnant, won't you, Jonas? Who will know but us? You will share your fortune