Janna moistened her hands again and ran her thumb around the top of the sculpture, smoothing out the clay. She already had it completed in her mind, and now it was just a matter of transferring what she had in her mind into the clay. She took another wad of clay, rolling into a long cylinder and began attaching it to the sculpture, wrapping it around the long spiral in the center. Some of the artists she knew would use neon tubing to highlight the spiral, but she preferred what paint could do rather than a glitzy move. She still had the bronze sheets that she needed to cut into thin strips and attach to the top of the sculpture to give it almost a fountain effect, but that was going to have to wait until it got out of the kiln.

The chime of the doorbell startled her out of her concentration. She blinked a couple of times to come back to reality. It was so easy to get lost in what she was doing. Sculpting wasn't as bad, but when she painted, it was like she was a tiny figure in the painting, directing all of the action. She had been known to ignore the phone right beside her, her pager, and loud music…all at once. She was expecting a delivery today, and that was exactly why she didn't want to paint. She needed to be conscious enough to get the door when it came so that she could finish another project she was working on.

Janna jogged from her studio to the front door quickly, wiping some of the excess clay onto a towel as she ran. For once she didn't have to worry about Liz freaking out that she was getting clay all over the Persian rug. That had only happened once, and Janna had gotten it cleaned. It wouldn't have happened if Liz wasn't dogsitting at the time and the mutt had tripped Janna. Well, he was the one that flipped up the edge of the rug and she had tripped over it. Stupid dog. She should have used him for a towel.

She flung open the door, reminding herself to clean the clay off of the handle later. It better be the paint that she had ordered. It was this iridescent wash that she was going to use to go over the painting she had just finished. It made it seem hazy, like out of a fantasy story, which went well since it was a scene from Swan Lake. The painting was Taylor's Christmas gift, Swan Lake being her first major production that she had starred in, and the figures in it looked suspiciously like Taylor and Sasha, and…and…and…

Her delivery was there. That was good. It was just that Antonio was holding the box. He was smiling at her; amused by how huge her eyes got and the way her jaw hit the floor. He was less amused when she slammed the door shut in his face.

Janna backed away from the door, barely able to keep the scream down. How the hell? What was he doing here? No. This was not happening. This was impossible. After the other night, she hadn't ever expected to see him ever again. Granted, it had been one hell of a night once he stopped trying to get her to admit that her "clients" had stolen the necklace, but this was not exactly a repeat dating thing. She couldn't tell him her real name for crying out loud! But he was at her house. Oh God. He was at her house.

And the other night had been fabulous. She had so regretted it when he took her back to the hotel at some point near dawn. Actually, she didn't regret him taking her back so much as him not staying. Not that she would sleep with a guy on the first date, and as a matter of fact, all he did was kiss her hand, but she did wish just a tiny little bit that he would stay. The evening had been so wonderful. They went to the movies and he bought her popcorn to her heart's content. He was waiting for her to slip out of the French accent, and she had taken the challenge to not lose it, even when she laughed, and she thought he was a little amused that she didn't miss a beat.

He had tried one last tactic, and switched to French and didn't say another word in English for the rest of the evening. That was nothing. She lived in France; her command of the language was excellent. They talked about the movies during dinner, and she was pleased that he didn't try to pry personal information out of her. Instead they talked about likes and interests. She admitted that she wasn't into sports when he said that he liked to play tennis and polo, but she did golf when she was in a bad mood. There was something about whacking little balls with a club that made her feel better. Then he mentioned the ballet that was going to be near his home soon, but said that he wasn't into it like his sister was unless Tahlia was dancing. Janna almost choked. Tahlia was Taylor's stage name. Janna had laughed and said that she enjoyed the ballet in general, but Tahlia was one of her favorite dancers.

It had been such a wonderful night. They had quoted Monty Python at each other until Janna thought she was going to pass out from laughing. She had scored the best line timing of the night though when Antonio had made a little comment about punishment, and there was no way Janna could resist. She leaned forward over the table a bit, grinned, and said in a low voice just as Antonio took a bite of food "A spanking? And after the spanking…" He almost choked to death laughing at that.

He had taken her back to the hotel soon after that, and then it was over. Sweet, and she so wished she could have him call her later, but common sense prevailed. It was over. It was supposed to be over at least. She had known it was over. As the front door swung back open, revealing him once again, Janna realized that nobody had told Antonio that it was a one- night deal. Oh God. Now what?

He held up the box. "There was a young man about to deliver this to a…" he glanced at the name on it "J.C. I took the liberty of signing for it for you." His irritation at having the door slammed in his face was quickly being dispelled by her obvious shock. The other night she was cool and in control. Even when he had managed to rock her a few times, it had been brief, and she hadn't wavered. Seeing her now, casually dressed in jeans and a paint-smeared tank top with her hair in a loose pony tail and clay up to her elbows, he had a feeling this was the real Jaqui, or whatever the J really meant. This Jaqui was one he might be able to get a few answers out of.

Janna went to say something, anything really, but she only managed to make an odd noise, something that a hamster would make when caught in a blender, but louder. Run go move get out run hide he's here so get out and RUN YOU FOOL! The cacophony of orders her mind was screaming finally got a set of instructions down to her legs. Unfortunately, they didn't give specific detail, so Janna was suddenly trying to accelerate backwards away from Antonio. She might have made it had there not been a highly obtrusive piece of lint on the carpet. Her bare foot tangled in it, and she was suddenly sprawled on the floor, flat on her butt.

Her eyes closed for a moment, and she prayed that when they opened, this would all be a very, very bad dream. Her eyes flicked open, and obviously prayer was not working. Maybe God was a little pissed over breaking a few of those ten commandment thingies. Instead of being gone, Antonio was crouched beside where she was splayed out on the floor, an amused grin curving the lines of his mouth. "Are you injured?" he asked in a tone that made her so want to hit him. "I did not mean to distress you."

"I am quite well," she replied, some part of her mind obviously thinking since the words came out with a French accent. She didn't notice his flicker of disappointment at her calmness. "If I seem distressed, it is because I got clay on the rug, and it is very expensive and difficult to clean as I have learned from painful experience in the past and my cousin is going to be quite upset that I did it again after swearing to not take clay near it ever again and YOU ARE IN MY FUCKING LIVING ROOM!" Her words, having started evenly and almost casual, suddenly rose into a hysterical scream.

Antonio flinched back for a moment, not expecting that scream. He wanted to surprise her, not make her come unglued on him. For a moment the absolute fury in her eyes made him regret showing up like this. If she had a weapon within hand's reach, he had a feeling that he would not have an easy time getting it from her. Showing up had seemed like a really good idea, but now he was starting to think maybe a phone call would have been safer. Oh well. Too late to do anything about it. He had just better keep his groin clear of her knee at all times.

A little primal scream had actually helped Janna get back some of her equilibrium. That and seeing Antonio flinch back a little when she did. She got back to her feet, still feeling a little unsteady. Should she get him out, and then call the twins? They couldn't stay here any longer. Security had been seriously compromised. Maybe Jaqui should now retire and have Cameron take over as the point man. Maybe they should just retire in general. This was so not good. Antonio was smart. It wasn't going to take much for him to start putting things together and figure out whom the clients really were.

"Excuse me," she said calmly, getting up and stalking back into her studio. He was following her. Was that good? She could suppose it was better than him poking around the place. True, he couldn't get to the staging area downstairs unless he could figure out the six-digit security code, but if he looked around, he would see a lot more personal information than he should. Who was she kidding? He knew where she lived. That was too much information right then and there.

Janna grabbed her sculpting tools and threw them in the large sink in her studio. She had to do something to keep her hands busy or else they were going to be aiming for Antonio's neck. Who the hell did he think he was following her and stalking her back to her home? She heard him come in as she cleaned the clay off of her knives and other carving tools.

"I take it that you do not have many visitors here," he said, looking around the room. An art studio was the last thing he was expecting from Jaqui, but somehow, she seemed more like she belonged here than in that hotel the other day. Although, if she scrubbed her hands and arms any more, she might start removing skin.

She stopped cleaning for a moment and shot him a cold glare over her shoulder. "It is very important to me to keep my personal and professional lives separate. My clients depend on me to keep them anonymous. The only way for me to do that is to keep myself private from contractors. I thought I made that clear the other night."

"I must have been thinking about the movie when you said that," he replied lightly. She didn't answer or lose the glare. He wandered over to a picture on an easel. It was an abstract, not his favorite kind of art, but the light blue greens trailing lines into deep red tones had a certain something to it that appealed to him. It was simply signed "J.J.C" in an elegant twisting script. Pity. It would have been nice to get her name somehow. "I like this one," he commented. "Does it have a title?"

"Creation," she muttered, her eyes still focused on her tools. As much as she wanted to stay pissed at him, her artistic ego enjoyed the praise.

"Of Heaven and Hell?"

"Humans and squirrels."

The laughter was more startled out of Antonio than anything. He was not expecting that from her. He had nothing against squirrels himself, but obviously this young lady didn't hold them in the highest regards. It was like Luisa and seagulls. She didn't merely hate them. She loathed them. And just for a moment, he caught a tiny smile on Jaqui's lips. Most of the artists that he knew would have thrown a fit for laughing at something about their work. She had correctly interpreted that he wasn't laughing at her work, but found amusing the parallel that she was trying to express in the painting.

"You are rather talented," he commented quite honestly, going to the sculpture she had obviously been working on before he came in. "It is hard to believe that you spend so much time setting up thefts for your clients to perform rather than spend it here creating these works of hard."

She blew out a disgusted breath. "Must we get into this conversation again?"

"We can wait for a bit while you show me some of your other work," he replied. "Then we can talk later about what you are going to do for me." One hand reached out to touch the sculpture on the table.

Janna whipped around violently, gripping her sculpting knife, her sudden movement making Antonio pause for a moment, his fingers almost touching the clay. "That is it!" she hissed. "You invaded my privacy and destroyed the sweet anonymity of my home. You've made one accusation after the next and demanded information that I have refused over and over. I can forgive all that. But if you lay a hand on my art, I swear I will stab you in the head."

Antonio slowly drew back his hand. "You are serious," he said wonderingly. She hadn't seemed at all like a violent person the other night, and except for that one moment when he came in, he didn't think she was at all physically dangerous. But now, he didn't want to put anything past her.

"There are two things that I will always be serious about," she replied, taking her tools out of the sink and placing them on the towel lying on the counter beside the sink. She patted them dry as she continued. "My art and the safety of my clients. Both are of utmost importance to me. And right now, you are endangering them both." She went to her sculpture and carefully picked it up, shooting him a dirty look for daring to touch it. She gently placed the sculpture in a special plastic cabinet that had a humidifier in it to keep the clay damp and pliable until she was ready to work on it again.

"Maybe you should call the police and have me removed," he said with a smirk.

"If I wanted you removed, I know whom I would call," she replied menacingly. At least she was trying to be menacing. She was succeeding in looking adorable to him. Then again, he had no idea of what would happen to him if she called her favorite uncle, Zane, and said he was threatening her. Zane would believe Janna's story that he was a psycho stalker. And since it was doubtful that a body would be found, there wouldn't be many questions asked.

"How long have you been in here today?" he asked suddenly.

She looked at him suspiciously. There wasn't a clock in this room for a reason. The only way she knew that it was still daytime was from the window. "Since this morning," she replied cautiously.

"Ah, that makes sense," he said with that smile that she wanted to punch. "You have obviously been breathing paint fumes for far too long." He ignored the little squeak of outrage she made and continued. "And I am willing to blame the bitchiness on your lack of food, so why don't you put on some clothes that will not scare children into having nightmares about demented clowns, and then I can feed you."

Janna glanced down at her clothes. Okay, so the paint streaked jeans and tank top might be reminiscent of a clown, but gorgeous or not, he was so not getting away with that one. "GET OUT!" she screamed at him, pointing to the door. "Get out of my house! Get out of my life! Do not contact me in any way, shape or form ever again. Do not try to get information or threaten me or…"

Her words were effectively cut off sharply when he grabbed her arm, yanking her to him, his lips meeting hers firmly. Janna tried to jerk back, but he already had his arms around her, holding her against him tightly…and holy hell, after a second, she was glad he did because she wasn't sure if she would be able to stand if he let her go.

Antonio hadn't meant to kiss her. It was one of those things that were completely unplanned, but once in progress suddenly seemed like the best thing to have done at the time. It had cut off her rant, and he would be a liar if he had tried to claim he wasn't enjoying the feel of her against him. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and somewhere from far away he dimly realized that he was just as caught up in that incredible kiss as she was. And that was the exact moment that there was a sudden explosion of pain.

Janna took a step back, her knee coming down as Antonio crumbled to his knees. He was so not getting to her like that. She smirked down at him. "You're right," she announced. "I do need to change my clothes. I'll go change. You decide where you are taking me to eat." She sauntered out of the room.

Antonio watched her go, a mix of irritation and admiration on his face. Why was she not acting like a normal girl? Normal girls do not kiss a man like that and then injure them. And she thought he was going to take her to dinner after that like nothing had happened? Not likely. He was going to…going to…a small smile touched the edge of his lips. He was going to admit that she evened the score and then take her out and see where the night went from there.

*********

It still wasn't fair; Janna thought as Antonio's fingers were tangled with hers as he walked her to her front door. He was just being so wonderful in order to find out where the necklace was. Maybe. He did seem like he honestly liked her. Oddly enough, he seemed like he liked her more for kneeing him earlier than just acquiescing to his kiss. It still so sucked that the best two dates in her life were under so many pretensions and lies and…and he didn't even know her real name. Damn it! He was funny and charming and a good listener and had the sexiest smile that she had ever seen gracing a human face.

They talked about family, and she had finally admitted that she was an only child. He told her that he was lucky and told her about his sister Luisa and some of the problems she had caused. Janna wished that she could meet Luisa. They would probably get along rather well. Conversation had drifted all over, and she was so glad that he didn't try to pry into forbidden topics. Instead he asked her about her art, and what she liked to do the best and if she had anything for sale at a gallery. She didn't quite yet, but it did her ego a world of good to have such praise come from someone outside of her family.

Janna couldn't help but to wonder what it would be like to sketch him. Both artistic and worldly sides were intrigued with the idea, but common sense had to stomp them both flat. She needed to leave tomorrow and be gone for a while. He needed to stop coming around and get used to the idea that this whole thing that was happening between them was going to not happen at all. But she did let herself enjoy the evening. They had dinner and then went dancing, and not just that get drunk and fling yourself about to loud music dancing either. They had slow danced for a while, a little stiff at first, but by the time the song was over, it would have been difficult to fit a piece of paper in between them. And that pretty much summed up the night right there.

But it was now time for this good thing to come to an end. With more than a little regret, Janna unlocked the slide to the security panel, knowing that Antonio was watching how she got into her house. Well, he wasn't breaking in easily. The key only let her get to a numeric pad, and if he could memorize the twelve-digit code that she tapped in quickly, he deserved to get in and do whatever he wanted. Whatever he wanted. A little shiver ran through her at that thought. She unlocked the door and turned back to him, warring with herself if she should invite him in or not.

"I am still not happy that you know where I live," she said firmly, and then smiled. "But I did have a wonderful time with you tonight."

"As did I," he replied softly. He smiled at her playfully. "Does that mean I get to come in and look for a certain something?" he asked.

Janna rolled her eyes. "I can guarantee your beloved necklace is not in any room of my house. Good night Antonio."

He caught her wrist before she could leave. "Who said anything about a necklace?" he asked, the sensual undertones obvious.

Janna couldn't help the blush that colored her cheeks. It wasn't a first date. Couldn't she invite him in now? No. Be good, she ordered herself. You tend to tangle up sex and emotion, and you know it. This is one person that you cannot get involved with. Just think what the twins would do to you, and then to him.

"Good night Antonio," she repeated in a much softer tone. They both paused for a moment, and then leaned towards each other, their kiss soft and gentle this time, and if he hadn't pulled away when he did, she would have ended up a little Janna colored puddle oozing it's way through the doorway.

"Good night Jaqui," he whispered, and then she was gone. He paused at the door for a moment, a small smile still lingering. She hadn't understood what he meant a moment before. "Jaqui, my dear, when did I ever mention that it was a necklace that was stolen from me?" he murmured to the door, and then quickly walked away.

A car pulled up as Antonio walked around the corner. He got into the passenger's seat quickly, not sure what he was going to say. Marco looked at him expectantly, and then pulled back onto the street, heading into a more populated area of town. Marco was a bit surprised with the Conte. He wasn't expecting him for a few hours at least. When Antonio found out the thieves' contact was a woman, he had every confidence that he would be able to romance the location of the necklace out of her. At worst he was going to have to wait for them to steal it back before having them all arrested. After their first meeting, Antonio hadn't said much except that she was much more intriguing than he had thought. Marco assumed that meant she was going to be a bit tougher to seduce. Tonight should have been the night.

"That was quick work," Marco commented. They had been friends since they were children, and he was one of the very few people that worked for the di LiCossa family that could get away with talking to the Conte like that.

Antonio shrugged. "One minute I am convinced she knows where it is, the next I am not sure. She is…enigmatic."

Marco scowled. "I could get it out of her in five minutes."

Antonio looked at him sharply. "I will handle this myself, Marco. You will not approach her." Marco was a good man, and loyal to a fault. Antonio wasn't sure why, but for some reason, the thought of Marco interrogating Jaqui was just…nauseating. Jaqui was funny and sweet and even a little silly once the ultra-sophisticated veneer was removed from her. Antonio wanted to laugh remembering her falling when she saw him. There was no way that she was one of the thieves, he knew that for certain after seeing how uncoordinated she was, although on a dance floor she showed a great deal of grace. Maybe it was all relative. But he did not want Marco to talk to her. Marco would not be gentle in getting information out of her. And Antonio knew he would feel rather guilty for her getting badly hurt. He would come back tomorrow and try again then. This was going to be a little slower of a process, but in the end, he would have his thieves. He smiled. Once the clients were out of the way, it was quite possible that maybe, just maybe she would be more inclined to smile when he greeted her at the door and not slam it shut.

Marco noticed Antonio's smile, and he didn't like seeing it one bit. That smile was not part of the strategy. This was professional. He had known Antonio for a long time. He knew when he liked a girl. And he liked this one. Very well then. He could like her all he wanted. Marco would just have to be the one to get the job done.