I apologize for some of the long scenes and chapters. I wrote this a long time ago, but couldn't think of an epilogue and so it was remained unfinished until recently. It's been sitting on my hard drive for years waiting for me to do that epilogue. Please read and review!

Liana took a deep breath and got out of her car. She couldn't believe she'd let her best friend talk her into this. Brigid had insisted that David Rossi would have the answers she required. She had been on her own ever since her mother had been murdered when she was 12 years old. She had lived on the street for years, finally she had come up with the idea of taking something really valuable that people would never miss and selling it. She became an expert on jewelry and took small things that most people who could afford such things just assumed they had been misplaced. It wasn't a job she enjoyed, but she had to survive someway. She was always careful and read the character of the person that she was stealing from to predict how they would react. It was a talent that she had been born with. She had been born a witch a powerful one, which is why she suspected that whoever had killed her mother were after her. It had taken her a long time to afford a concealing charm, so that whoever had murdered her mother couldn't find her. Still, she had to be careful and she knew it.

Her friend Brigid was a seer, a powerful one. She had absolutely refused to tell her what she had seen, just said locating this David Rossi would solve all her problems. Alright, those hadn't been Brigid's exact words but they had been implied. All her friend had said was if she could locate David Rossi then all of her questions would be answered.

Locating David Rossi hadn't been all that difficult really, as his family had been jewelers for generations, so all she'd had to do really was a quick search on the Internet. There were many rumors about the Rossi family. For one thing, they had been a prominent family for a very long time, as the rumors stretched back hundreds of years. That was a very long time, even though supernaturals had been around even longer. There were also rumors that nobody ever saw one of the families wives if they ever married in the first place, but really, they had to in order to have children who could keep their store running generation after generation, right?

Liana supposed that it was possible the Rossis just adopted instead of actually getting married or had children out of wedlock. Liana could not imagine that, because many old families objected to adopting an orphan, since they wouldn't have a drop of the family blood or their magic. Of course, it wasn't a sure thing that any child would have the same magic as their parents instead of different talents, but still, it did happen quite often. It was also very possible that whatever wives they took just didn't come out in public much, or if they did they never mentioned who they were married too. There were ways to get married very privately. Of course, it was entirely possible that generations of Rossis had just taken lovers and then took in the child, possibly paying off whatever woman had carried them in their womb. There were so many possibilities that Liana knew she would never think of them all and even if she could none of them might be true.

She took another deep breath and finally opened the door to her car. Why did Brigid have to be so dang mysterious? Why couldn't she just tell her whatever she had seen straight out? It seemed to go against some kind of code just to tell someone something not even her best friend. Liana walked confidently to the sidewalk and opened the door to the jewelry store that had been in operation for a long time, much longer than most places were able to maintain. She had no fear that this was a trap, as she knew Brigid was a true friend.

"Can I help you, miss?" asked a low cultured voice, one with a very faint accent.

Liana spun around not even having heard someone come up behind her, which should've been impossible, as she was usually hyperaware, due to the fact that her life had been in danger ever since her mother's murder when she was 12. Just because she now had a masking charm didn't mean that she didn't need to be careful.

"I'm sorry I startled you, I didn't mean to," the man apologized, sincerely. He had actually been expecting the visit from Liana for the last several weeks. Brigid had warned him. She had also said that her friend would likely waffle about coming, but would eventually do so as a favor to her. What no one knew was that Brigid had been an orphan and he had taken her in. She had practically been left on his doorstep, abandoned like so much trash and so he had taken her into his home. He had wanted to go after whoever had done so, as it went against his grain, but by the time he had found her, they were long gone.

He had named her Brigid, although he knew it was a rather unusual name and raised her, as if she was his own. He had discovered that she was a powerful seer by the time she was eight and had trained her in her talent. The two of them were quite close and she often visited him making sure that she wasn't followed. However, no one knew that they were family, because they had always been careful since he had many enemies.

"It's okay, it's just that that nobody is usually able to sneak up on me," Liana said, her heart going triple time.

Liana opened herself up to sense this guy's intentions, but all she got was a solid wall. It was rare for anybody to be able to block her out so completely. It was like this guy didn't have any emotions at all

"So what can I do for you? Everybody comes to my shop for a reason, whether that's to buy an exquisite piece of jewelry, just to look around or even to case the place," Dave said.

The last was said in a smug tone, and Liana got the impression that this particular jewelry store had never been robbed successfully. This guy seemed like the type that would be able to stop any such attempts without too much trouble.

She wasn't entirely sure why she got that impression, as the guy standing before her couldn't be more than five eleven in height and couldn't weigh more than 175 pounds. She got the impression of immense strength that told Liana that he could be deadly when pressed.

What kind of supernatural was he? Liana wondered. Why was she so attracted to him? She felt incredibly drawn to this man for some reason and really didn't look much older than she was. A lot of supernaturals looked younger than they really were though. According to the data she had been able to dig up he had never married or at least there was no legal marriage on record. That wasn't to say that he couldn't have a woman somewhere that was either his fiancée or just a girlfriend and even if he didn't, that didn't mean he didn't have at least one child somewhere.

"I heard from a friend of mine that you bought jewelry," Liana explained. "The real deal."

"What you heard is correct," Dave said, as he studied the woman before him. "I pay a fair price for normal jewelry or enchanted. Enchanted jewelry of course, is worth much more depending on what type of enchantment is on it."

"What about liberated?" Liana asked boldly, somehow knowing that she could trust him not to turn her in. She wasn't sure how she sensed she could trust him actually since this guy's emotions were still blocked from her empathic ability.

"If you mean stolen, I do occasionally buy that type of thing, but it depends on several factors," Dave said his amusement clear.

"Like what?" Liana asked.

"Well, like if it was stolen from someone who can well afford the loss and probably won't even notice it's missing or if they do they'll just write it off. Of course, if it was stolen from someone who's likely to want to come after the thief...Well, I don't mind that necessarily, as I'm well able to protect myself...The thief on the other hand might not survive, depending on their smarts, their cunning and how persistent the one hunting me is."

"I was always very careful," Liana said not mentioning her empathic ability. "I was always careful to never leave anything of myself behind for some blood sorceress to trace."

"Well then, why don't you show me this piece of jewelry you have and I'll tell you how much it's worth. I'll give you a more than fair price, as I'm not one to cheat my customers. I have a reputation to maintain after all. I'm sure you've done some research and know at least generally how much whatever you have brought is worth. That would be the smart thing to do."

"I did," Liana agreed, trying not to blush as the jeweler was a handsome man. To handsome for Liana's peace of mind.

"So we never did introduce ourselves," Dave said with a slight smile.

"I'm Liana Shultz."

"David Rossi, at your service. Now that we have introduced ourselves just let me get my loupe."

The jeweler disappeared behind the counter and Liana watched him go her seemingly irresistible attraction to him fading once he was out of sight.

Liana was puzzled at her intense attraction to this David Rossi, who was reputed to be much older than he looked.

There were many rumors about the Rossi family and some were so wild that they couldn't possibly be true, not even in the supernatural world.

"Here we go," Dave said cheerfully, as he emerged from the back with the loupe in his hand.

Liana reached into her pocket and placed a gorgeous necklace on the counter a moment later.

"Wow! You're telling me that nobody will notice this is missing? This is exquisite," Dave said, as he examined it.

"I doubt anybody will notice as the lady it belonged to died fairly recently and no, I had nothing to do with her death. She was an older lady and it was just her time. I managed to sneak in before anybody really knew, as she lived alone. I believe she committed suicide, because from what I could discover she was in severe financial straits."

"So what was this lady name?" Dave asked.

Liana told him and he nodded somberly.

"You're right nobodies likely to know if one or two pieces of jewelry are missing, because from what I know she had a lot of it. She would've done well to sell a few pieces and most reputable jewelers would've given a reasonable amount of money for them. I won't say that they would've given her what they were truly worth, but they wouldn't have cheated her too much. Put a piece like this up at auction and somebody would've snapped it up and might even have paid much more than it was actually worth, as that happens a lot at auction houses. You could even have sold it in the regular world so long as it wasn't enchanted and nobody would have known its origin. It just would've been another piece of fine jewelry of unknown origin."

"I suppose I could have, but while I grew up until I was 12 in the normal world, I don't know a thing about auction houses there or even jewelers, as I was still a kid after all," Liana shrugged.

"I understand that you didn't have time to learn how a lot of things were done in the normal world, but mostly they operate the same with some major differences of course," said Dave.

"Maybe," Liana conceded shrugging.

"Well, let me just say that this is a very fine piece of jewelry. Those emeralds and diamonds are very real, the gold 24 karats, the work is very fine and I would actually say superior to many pieces that I see. I would give you a very good price for this piece."

Dave named a price and Liana blinked at him in astonishment.

"That's quite a lot," Liana whistled softly.

"And that's only what I'm willing to pay if it's not enchanted," Dave smiled charmingly at her. "If it is enchanted it's worth considerably more."

"I'm not sure if it's enchanted or not," Liana admitted.

"Well, I'll just test it right here, shall I?" Dave suggested with another charming grin. "I have a place in the back where I test jewelry for enchantments. It has all the proper safety precautions since some enchantments can react violently if not used properly."

"Don't I know it," Liana muttered softly, but Dave heard her, as he had excellent hearing.

He took Liana's statement to mean that she had tried to test for enchantments herself and nearly got blown up or something similar. At least she'd probably got knocked off her feet, likely ending up with a bump on the back of her skull and possibly bruised or broken ribs. Some enchantments could be very delicate and tended to react violently unless handled by experts. Some could only be used by the true owners, as they were blood bound to that person or at least to that family's line. If that was the case, it would make it a lot less valuable, as it could be anywhere from difficult to impossible to change the enchantment to where it would work for anyone except that one specific family or person.

Dave's heart nearly stopped when he thought about what could have happened to the beautiful woman who he knew was his soulmate, his daughter Brigid, had been right about that, and he was grateful that she had warned him, so he could be prepared to control his reaction to Liana. He didn't want to frighten her off after all.

"Why don't you join me in the back. You can observe, if you like," Dave offered, something he hadn't done for anyone else, except his daughter who unfortunately, didn't have any talent for jewelry making. Brigid had tried for his sake, but she had not only shown no interest, she had absolutely no talent for it. It was a shame, but not totally unexpected.

He had a strong feeling that Liana would be different, if she ever took an interest in creating exquisite jewelry. It would take practice course, but they'd have plenty of time for that if only she would agree to join with him.

Liana was about to shake her head and tell him that she would wait out here, as she wasn't entirely sure she could trust him and she wasn't about to walk into an ambush. On the other hand, Brigid would never have sent her here if she didn't trust this David Rossi, but that didn't mean her friend couldn't be fooled. The one thing she had refused to explain exactly how she knew David Rossi and had told her that all would become clear in time.

She was about to politely decline when Dave simply smiled at her and she found herself saying yes against her will. What just happened? Liana wondered. Did she have no willpower when it came to this man, a man she knew nothing about it other than his name and that his family had been jewelers for generations. She was way too attracted to this man for her own peace of mind.

"Alright," Liana agreed smiling herself, her dimples appearing on both corners of her mouth. She forced herself to remember that she had several evil people after her, ones that wanted her for her power, as she was extremely powerful witch, much more powerful then most of them. She wasn't sure why she had been born with way more than the normal amount of power, but she could do things that others couldn't at least not without a lot of preparation and she didn't want to get him involved in her problems. She couldn't have somebody hurt or worse on her conscious

All sorts of people with evil intentions would love to get their hands on her and either make her work for them or kill her.

"This way," Dave offered while smiling at Liana again so she wouldn't change her mind.

He had seen his mate hesitate, as if she wasn't sure she could trust him and while he couldn't really blame her for that considering what he knew, it still hurt him on the deepest level of his being.

He would have his work cut out for him to get Liana to trust him, but he was certainly up to the challenge.

Liana followed the jeweler all the way back behind the counter and to a curtained off doorway. She went through and looked around with interest.

Rossi led her over to the back and she saw a counter with several tools on it.

"Why don't you stand back?" Dave requested gently. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt if something goes wrong."

The way he said it in a tender, gentle tone of voice confused Liana. Gentle she could understand, as he seemed to be the gentle sort, at least if someone wasn't trying to kill him or take advantage of him, but tenderness didn't make sense. Tenderness you saved for someone you loved or at least were close to like a spouse or a child who was in distress for some reason, even if that child was a stranger to you.

However, you did not use a tender tone of voice for someone you barely knew who was not a child or a woman in obvious distress. Liana puzzled over the mystery of David Rossi's tone, even as she stepped back far enough that when a shield sprang up between the herself and the jeweler she was back behind the shield and therefore protected. It was possible to blow right through the shield, but it would take powerful magic to do so.

Liana watched as the jeweler tested the necklace she had given him cautiously. He was doing magical testing Liana realized so apparently he was very powerful magically. It was certainly possible to test enchanted jewelry if you knew what you were doing, though it could also be dangerous. However, it appeared that the man before her knew what he was doing, as the necklace didn't react violently.

"It has some very powerful magic imbued into it," Dave said finally. "From what I can tell it's very ancient and how that family came by it..."

"There are several possibilities," Liana mentioned. "It could have been stolen by an ancestor of the family, it could've been made specifically for that particular family, or it could've been bought so long ago that the documentation doesn't exist anymore."

"Or the documentation does still exist somewhere," Dave said and Lena nodded, as that was a possibility to. Some families kept good records.

"Since it has a very powerful enchantment that seems entirely benign, even if we don't yet know what that enchantment does, I'll triple my price," Dave said, stepping forward as the shield came down. Liana stared at him as if he had gone insane.

"Are you absolutely crazy? That amount of money for one piece of jewelry? It can't possibly be worth the amount you're suggesting," Liana protested looking at the jeweler as if he was insane.

"To most people who buy stuff like that it's definitely not," Dave admitted with a little smile, "but then most jewelers or anybody else that deals in this kind of thing tries to cheat the customer, so they have a wider bottom line. I know very few people who deal with jewelry or small valuable objects like I do will actually give the customer a fair price for whatever they try to sale, especially for something like this. This is very, very fine work as I told you earlier, 24 karat gold is as pure as you can get it and the gems are top quality as well. Rossi's Jewelers has a reputation for being honest and not cheating their customers and I would be cheating if I didn't pay you what it was truly worth."

"But most people wouldn't even know you would cheating so long as they got what they believe was a fair price," Liana protested.

As good as it would have been to have so much money she would feel guilty for accepting so much for a single necklace, no matter how valuable Rossi believed it was. On the other hand, he was the expert and she could see him offering so much if he couldn't well afford to. His family had been jewelers for generations and she couldn't see him putting his family legacy in danger. Liana wasn't entirely sure how she knew this, just that she was sure that David Rossi could well afford to pay 250 thousand dollars for this one necklace.

"Trust me, there are some people that would pay even more then what I'm offering you," Dave said seriously.

"I would feel guilty for taking so much money for a single piece of jewelry, no matter how fine it happens to be."

"Do you know that there are some pieces of jewelry out there that are not only famous but beautiful as well and there are worth far more," Dave mentioned. "What I have offered you is a mere trifle. There is one ring that is part of a set, from a very famous actress that is worth several millions all on its own."

Liana whistled at that somehow being able to tell that the man spoke the truth. "That's a lot of money."

"Yes, it is, but it happens that this actress was very famous, one of the late great actresses that has since died. People pay quite a bit of money for a piece of their favorite movie star or their favorite baseball player or their favorite rock star. Just look at how much some of Michael Jordan's possessions are worth or Clark Gable's. People pay ridiculous prices for a piece of their possessions at auction. A dress worn by say Judy Garland would probably be worth hundreds of thousands, especially if it was something she wore in something like the Wizard of Oz, which was a very famous musical."

"Alright," Liana finally gave in. "Thank you for being so generous the money will allow me to do something I've been meaning to for sometime, but I never had the scratch."

"Start a business of your own?" Dave asked seeming to be reading Liana's thoughts, but really it was just common sense as it took a lot to start a business.

"Yes, that's what I've been wanting to do for sometime," Liana admitted.

"Well, you're quite welcome, but to tell you the truth it's only a fair price. If you happen to have anymore pieces feel free to bring them here and I'll give you what they are truly worth."

What Dave didn't say was unlike some of his fellows he would be absolutely, scrupulously honest, instead of lying, just to make more profit.

"Well, I do have a couple more things," Liana admitted. "I was going to take them other places, spread them out."

"You're welcome bring anything you want to sale when it comes to jewelry here," Dave immediately offered. "I doubt the other people you want to visit would give you what they are truly worth and if they knew it was stolen they would demand that you pay them off for their silence, which would cut into your profits."

"How do I know you won't report me Mr. Rossi?" Liana asked with a coolly raised eyebrow.

"You don't, not really. Just trust me, I'm not going to say anything to anyone, much less someone in authority," Dave offered.

And somehow, Liana believed him, so she slowly nodded.

"I'll bring you the other pieces tomorrow, as I believe I've taken up enough of your time today," Liana said.

"Tomorrow then," Dave said calmly and escorted her out like the gentleman he was.

~~~Dave and Liana~~~