Deadly Embrace Jackie Collins (the reader ebook .TXT) 📖

essential part of their jobs, and they both toiled hard at it.

‘Do you believe in love?’ Dani asked, as she lifted light weights.

Gemini nodded, finishing a series of punishing sit-ups. ‘Yes. Only you must never mistake passion for love,’ she said, grabbing a towel. ‘Unfortunately passion never lasts. When I married Nando’s father, Moralis, he was the most passionate man I had ever met. I couldn’t breathe when I was with him, I found myself thinking about him day and night.’

‘That’s how I felt with Michael.’ Dani sighed, put down the weights and moved over to the treadmill.

‘I hardly think it’s the same,’ Gemini replied. ‘After all, you were only with Michael for what? One day, one night?’

‘I know, but I’ve never had feelings like that before or since,’ Dani said dreamily. ‘And the way he made love…’

‘It was your first time,’ Gemini pointed out. ‘You were hardly in a position to know whether he was a great lover or a bad one.’

‘He was great,’ Dani said, remembering every detail.

‘Here’s what you need to do,’ Gemini said. ‘Date a few different men, get some perspective.’

Dani shook her head. ‘I’d feel I was being unfaithful to Dean.’

‘Unfaithful!’ Gemini exclaimed. ‘You didn’t even accept his ring.’

‘That’s true, but I can’t see other men. It wouldn’t seem right.’

‘Then you’d better marry Dean,’ Gemini said exasperated. ‘That’s my advice.’

A few days later Dani met with the lawyer Dean had recommended. Gemini accompanied her for moral support. The lawyer’s name was Morgan Spelling Jones, and he was a flamboyant character. In his mid-fifties, he had a florid complexion, a hearty laugh, and big, smooth, well-manicured hands. A Texan with an extremely loud voice, he wore a ten-gallon cowboy hat with an off-white business suit and tooled leather boots. The look was eccentric to say the least.

‘This must be my lucky day,’ he said, beaming at the two women as they came into his office. ‘The Lord surely smiled at me this morning to have two such beauties enter my domain.’

‘Ms Castle is here about her divorce,’ Gemini said, settling into a chair opposite his desk and crossing her long legs.

‘And Ms Castle will get her divorce,’ Morgan said, his eyes lingering on Gemini’s legs. ‘That’s if I have anything to do with it.’

‘Dean King recommended that I see you,’ Dani said, sitting down in the chair next to Gemini.

‘He did indeed, and he spoke very highly of you, little lady. Now,’ he said, picking up an expensive gold pen from his massive leather-topped desk and holding it over a yellow legal pad, ‘I suggest you give me all the nasty details.’

‘What did you think of him?’ Gemini asked, the moment they left his office.

‘He seems quite interesting,’ Dani replied.

‘Interesting or capable?’

‘Both.’

‘Hmm…’ Gemini said. ‘Don’t you think that the combination of the cowboy hat and the boots lent him a certain…sensuality?’

Dani giggled. ‘You’re kidding?’

‘No,’ Gemini said, with a half smile. ‘I like a man who has…quirks.’

Gemini liked him so much that they began dating, and within six weeks they were married. It was quite a rapid courtship–and one that Dani felt very much part of since she had been responsible for them meeting.

Dean flew in for the wedding, which took place at Morgan’s large ranch a few miles outside town.

It turned out that Morgan Spelling Jones was rich, very rich indeed. A successful lawyer, he’d also inherited an old money fortune from his late parents. Gemini had not known this. She’d fallen in love with his style and couldn’t care less that he was almost thirty years her senior. She did care about Nando, and fortunately he and Morgan hit it off, which was great for Dani because it meant that Vincent got to spend time at the ranch too–riding horses, swimming, and playing lots of outdoor games. He and Nando were inseparable.

The only downside was that being out of town at Morgan’s ranch reminded Dani of her childhood and Dashell. How lucky she was to have escaped. What would her future have held if she hadn’t?

Sometimes she wondered. There were many nights when she still experienced frighteningly vivid nightmares. And often she thought about going back and searching for her mother’s grave.

She always decided that, no, it would not be a healthy thing to do. The past was just that. Letting go was the true freedom.

‘It’s your turn next,’ Gemini whispered to Dani at the wedding. ‘If I can take this step, so can you.’

Dean was pushing. She was still hesitant.

‘Sleep with him at least,’ Gemini urged. ‘See if you are compatible in bed.’

Was that what she was supposed to do?

Yes. Because that’s what everyone else did.

Sex was the big topic of conversation backstage–one girl had even slept with Frank Sinatra, making her the heroine of the week.

The truth was that sex didn’t interest Dani; she’d shut off that part of her life. Sex only led to trouble–she knew that only too well.

Morgan had spoken to Sam’s lawyer several times. ‘The man’s a shyster,’ he informed Dani. ‘Sam has made no requests to see the boy. All he wants is money, moola, big bucks.’

‘How much?’ she asked, disappointed that Sam had sunk so low.

‘They’re requesting alimony–and if not that, then a one-time payment of fifty thousand dollars.’

‘Fifty thousand!’ she said in amazement. ‘Where am I supposed to get that kind of money?’

‘It’s not necessary to pay anything, Dani,’ Morgan explained. ‘However, my dear, it is the only guaranteed way of permanently removing him from our list of annoyances.’ A beat. ‘That, or we hire a hit man.’

‘What?’ she gasped, horrified.

‘I jest, my dear, I jest.’

Dean came to the rescue. Without consulting her, he conferred with Morgan and paid the fifty thousand.

A week later she slept with him.

Sleeping with Dean wasn’t the worst thing in the world. He was kind and attentive, and took things slowly. But Dani could not get over the feeling that she was only doing this because he’d paid the money to make Sam go away.

She felt like a whore. A very