Excerpt from The Giuliana Legacy by Alexis Masters, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"I never said anything before. There's a difference. Besides, you're gonna need a new look. For your new life."

"New what?" Her stomach tightened, and she all but choked.

"You heard me."

"I don't want a new life." She'd never fit in with her fast-track generation. Building something that worked for her had not been easy.

"That's what you say now, but believe me, a Giardani Heiress can't run around Tuscany looking like a scruffy tomboy."

Heiress, with a capital H. There was no mistaking that, or the challenge in his eyes. Nudging his glasses down his nose, he glared at her over their rim. There was no mistaking the Tuscany bit, either. She stared into his eyes, her alarm changing to astonishment. "Dream on, Dad. I can't drop everything here-the shelter, my work with the kids-and head for Tuscany. I just can't do it."

"Maybe you can't today, Lady Bug, but soon you must."

Lady Bug? Another silly childhood nickname. He seemed to be dredging them up from some fathomless pit of parental memory. He caught her gaze and held it by the sheer power of his unabashed hopefulness.

How could anyone so thoroughly lovable be so exasperating? She clamped her mouth shut, bit down hard on her lower lip. "I promise you, Julia, your legacy will become your greatest passion. It's immensely valuable-for your life and for the world. You'll understand later, but for now, just imagine a power passed down through the women of our family for three thousand years-think how special that is."

"If it's so special, why haven't I known or felt something before?"

"I know it doesn't make sense. All I can say is, my mother dropped the ball, and now, as the Giardani Heiress, retrieving the legacy and saving it for future generations falls on you."

The Giardani Heiress. Beneath her resistance, Julia was fascinated, had been since his first hints of this. "I'm ready to learn more, but it all sounds so foreign-so bizarre-I'll need your help to sort it out."

He looked away. "I'm afraid I might not be around to help."

Her stomach took a dive. "Why on earth would you say that?" She grabbed his arm, searched his eyes. He seemed at war with himself, wouldn't answer her, but the look on his face sent icy chills down her spine. Squeezing his cold hand in both of her own, she had the distinct impression he was withholding things to protect her, that he knew men who would kill for what he knew. Power-hungry, evil men. "Listen, Dad, if you're in some kind of danger, you can forget about sending me away-to Tuscany or anywhere else."

"Fine. Be stubborn, like the Taurus you are." Seeming undaunted, he pulled his hand away and headed for the living room. "Stubborn runs in the family and will serve you well . . ."

At the doorway, he turned back and beamed her his most enigmatic smile, his eyes dancing with mirth and mystery. "Just as long as you change your mind by May Eve.

Excerpted from The Giuliana Legacy by Alexis Masters. Copyright 2001. Reproduced with the permission of the author. All rights reserved.