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

look nice to see an old friend?’

‘Yeah, but you’re, like, all nervous, spraying on perfume and shit.’

‘Don’t use language like that, Vincent,’ she said sternly.

‘Mom,’ he said, throwing her a disgusted look, ‘I’m seventeen. If I can’t use it at home, where can I use it–school?’

‘It’s not proper,’ she said, fussing with her hair.

‘Nando says you keep too sharp a watch on me.’

‘Nando says that, does he?’ she said, irritated.

‘Yeah.’

‘Maybe it’s because Nando doesn’t have a mother to watch him. Could be he’s jealous, don’t you think?’

‘Nando? Jealous of me?’ Vincent said, hooting with laughter. ‘No way.’

‘Anyway, why don’t you watch TV? I won’t be long.’

‘Great! We fly to New York, and I gotta sit in a hotel room watching TV while you go out.’

‘I’ll be back soon.’

‘Nando’s offered me a trip to Colombia,’ he said, knowing it would piss her off.

‘What?’

‘He’s sending me a ticket.’

‘If you think I’m letting you go to Colombia by yourself, you can think again.’

‘I’m going, Mom,’ he said, challenging her. ‘You can’t stop me.’

This was not the time to get into a fight. ‘Watch TV,’ she said, grabbing her purse. ‘Don’t drive me crazy.’

Vincent was right. Why was she getting all dressed up to see an old friend? Except Michael was more than an old friend–he was the love of her life, and he always would be.

Still, she had to remember he was married, and she would respect that, even though Tina had called his wife a cold bitch.

She checked her appearance in the mirror one last time. Had she changed that much?

No, she still looked the same.

‘Order whatever you want from Room Service,’ she said, heading for the door.

‘Gee thanks, Mom,’ he answered sarcastically.

Michael took a cab from his office. He’d sent his car and driver home so that the man could drive Stella and her escort tonight. He didn’t mind taking cabs–in fact, he quite enjoyed it. Having a car and driver was not his idea–it was Stella’s. ‘This is New York,’ she’d pointed out. ‘It’s impossible to park, therefore we should have a driver.’

Why not? All her friends did.

He wondered what Dani wanted after all this time. In a way he was excited to see her, and in another way he would have been quite happy never to have heard from her again.

Dani Castle. A vision from his past.

When Dani entered the bar, men turned to stare. It was not unusual: she always had that effect on the male sex. She spotted a table in the corner, went over and sat down. After a few minutes the waiter came to take her order.

‘A glass of white wine,’ she said, realizing that her hands were shaking.

Michael was late. Was he going to turn up? She wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t.

A beat of ten and a tall man with a beard hovered by her table. ‘May I buy the beautiful lady a drink?’ he asked, the smell of his aftershave overpowering.

‘That’s very generous of you,’ she said coolly. ‘However, I don’t think my husband would appreciate it.’

‘Whoa–sorry,’ the man said, rapidly backing away.

She tapped her fingers on the glass-top table, grabbed a handful of nuts, and began stuffing them nervously into her mouth.

The waiter brought her wine. She took several gulps for courage. This was an impossible situation to be in. It was one thing telling Michael he had a son, but how was she going to tell Vincent? He was under the impression that Sam Froog was his father, a father he’d never seen much of: once Sam had got the settlement money he’d vanished out of their lives.

She glanced up, and there he was. Michael Castelli. Striding into the bar, looking more handsome than ever in a dark suit, white shirt, and pearl grey tie.

God, he always had such an incredible effect on her. The very sight of him made her feel warm all over.

His dark eyes surveyed the room until he spotted her. Then he walked towards her, threading his way purposefully through the tables until he reached her. ‘Dani,’ he said, standing by her table.

‘Hi, Michael,’ she answered.

No physical contact, not even a handshake.

He pulled up a chair and sat down. ‘What’re you drinking?’

‘White wine.’

He clicked his fingers for the waiter, who hurried over. ‘Jack Daniel’s on the rocks,’ he said. ‘And another glass of wine for the lady.’

‘Yes, sir,’ the waiter answered, responding to his authoritative manner.

‘So, Dani,’ Michael said, slightly warmer than he had been on the phone, but still cool all the same, ‘what brings you to New York?’

‘I’m here with my son,’ she said. ‘We’re checking out college campuses.’

‘How is your son?’ he asked politely.

‘Very well, thank you. And Madison?’

‘Great.’

‘She must be big.’

‘She’s eleven,’ he said, taking a very obvious look at his watch–which she noticed was an expensive gold Rolex. ‘I’ve got fifteen minutes,’ he said briskly. ‘Then I have to be somewhere.’

‘I thought that maybe we could spend the evening together,’ she said tentatively. ‘Although I quite understand if you don’t want to.’

‘You understand, huh?’ he said, his voice edgy.

‘Listen, Michael,’ she said, speaking fast, ‘I know what I did was unforgivable, but you should have been honest with me.’

‘About what?’

‘Beth.’

‘Oh,’ he said, suddenly deflated. ‘How did you find out about that?’

‘A friend of mine showed me the newspaper clippings.’

‘Some friend,’ he muttered.

‘It was very upsetting to find out that way. I thought we were close, and I…I couldn’t risk flying to New York to be with a man I obviously didn’t know.’

‘And of course you couldn’t discuss it with me, call me up and say, “Hey, Michael, why the fuck didn’t you tell me?” ’

‘It wasn’t right, Michael. You were keeping secrets.’

‘I guess you didn’t give a shit that I was acquitted?’ he said, stony-faced.

She sighed. Obviously this was going to be short and not so sweet. ‘I can see that you’re not interested in spending time with me,’ she said. ‘I don’t blame you. So I’ll come right out with what I have to tell you.’

‘Good.’

‘Prepare yourself,’ she said quietly.