The Fifth Avenue Series Boxed Set (49 page)

“He’s responsible for those pipes bursting.”

“We have to talk, Eric,” she said, sitting in the chair opposite him and arranging the mugs on an end table.
 
“Things aren’t adding up.”

“What things?”

She poured the coffee, handed him one of the steaming mugs and took a sip from her own.
 
She seemed very tired when she said, “You’ve been lying to me.”

Eric was about to speak, but Diana held up a hand, silencing him.
 
“Right now I’m going to do the talking.
 
You’re going to shut up and listen.
 
When I ask you a question, you’ll answer it and you’ll answer it honestly.
 
If you lie to me, Eric, I’ll know.
 
It’s what I do.
 
It’s that special gift that I get paid so much for.
 
And if you do lie to me, that will be a mistake you will regret, because as far as I see it, you need me now—and I’ve just about had it with you.”

She eased back in her chair.

In the window behind her, Manhattan was cloaked in a blanket of haze and smog.
 
There was only the slightest hint of the sun behind the screen of clouds.
 
She reached into the pocket of her robe and pulled out a rectangular black velvet box.
 
She handed it to Eric and waited for him to open it.
 
With the parting of velvet came a brilliant flash of diamonds and sapphires and rubies.

He looked at her.

“You can have your jewelry back,” she said.
 
“I saw Celina at the Fondaras party and she recognized the necklace I was wearing as one that used to belong to her.
 
She said you bought it for her in Milan, I think, and that the stones were perfect.
 
She said she sent it back to you along with the others that are in that box.”
 
Her voice dropped a note.
 
“She said the sapphires brought out the blue in my eyes.
 
Wasn’t that nice of her?”

She sipped her coffee.
 
“Actually, it wasn’t.
 
In fact, it was embarrassing.
 
I can’t tell you how many people overheard the conversation, but even if one person overheard it on that ship and at that party, all of Manhattan knows by now and I’m probably a laughingstock—something I never deserved.”

“Diana—”

“Shut up, Eric.
 
Just shut up.
 
Are you as tired of your voice as I am?
 
After all I’ve done for you, you at least owe me the courtesy of sitting there and listening.”

He decided to stay quiet.

“You said you bought that jewelry for me because you loved me.
 
How do you think it makes me feel knowing that your love is a farce?”
 
She didn’t wait for an answer because she didn’t want another lie.
 
She moved to the next subject.
 
“You told me that you quit Redman International.
 
You told me that because you were no longer seeing Celina, it was too difficult for you to continue working there and so you quit.
 
Quit.
 
I believed you because I always considered you an honest man.
 
But you’re not.
 
An hour ago, Sam Mitchell said that George terminated you.
 
I want to know why.”

“That’s none of your business.”

She willed herself to remain calm.
 
“If you lied to me, then it is my business.
 
I’ve invested a lot of time and concern and love in you.
 
I was beaten in your apartment by two men who wanted to hurt you for a reason you somehow can’t explain.
 
If it wasn’t for me, you’d probably still be lying in your own blood.
 
If I hadn’t called in a number of favors, your name still would be at the top of the tabloids.
 
You owe me the truth and you’re going to spill it.
 
If you don’t, you can get out of here and out of my life.
 
It’s really that simple.”

Eric reached for his crutches, struggled to his feet and moved to the windows that were at the opposite end of the room.
 
He looked out at the city while she looked at him.

She deserved the truth.
 
But how could he tell her that what began as a terrible mistake during the night of Redman International’s opening had snowballed into a nightmare he couldn’t let go of until Leana Redman paid for what she did to him?

The doctors still were not sure if he would regain full use of his leg.
 
The damage done to his muscles and nerves was more severe than they originally thought.
 
It was only right that Leana pay and he planned on going forward with that.
 
Still, he had to tell Diana something.
 
She now was the only person he could count on.
 
Without an apartment or an income, how would he survive? Lawsuits were coming.
 
At the very least, he needed her guidance.

He moved in her direction.
 
“It’s true,” he said.
 
“I was fired from Redman International.”

“Why?”

“Because I was stupid.”

“What a surprise.
 
How stupid?”

“I almost slept with Leana the night of Redman International’s opening.
 
We would have gone through with it, but I was so drunk, I couldn’t get it up.”
 
He reclaimed his seat.
 
“Is that frank enough for you?
 
She was putting me to bed and telling me to forget about my limp cock when Celina stepped into the room.
 
We were in George and Elizabeth’s penthouse.
 
How she found us there is obvious.
 
Someone tipped her off.”

“Well, that’s a shame,” Diana said.
 
The tone of her voice dropped the temperature in the room a good ten degrees.

“It meant nothing, Diana.
 
We were both drunk and angry at life and Celina.
 
It was a mistake.”

“A rather large one, I’d say.”
 
And the room dropped another ten degrees.

“Celina must have told George,” Eric said.
 
“And then he fired me.
 
That’s all.”

“Who attacked us that night?”

“That I don’t know.
 
It could have been anyone.
 
It could have been a burglary.”

“Oh, please,” she said—and the room started to heat up.
 
“It wasn’t a burglary and you know it.
 
Nothing was missing from your apartment.
 
I checked on that the day after you were admitted to the hospital.
 
Those men somehow slipped past security and entered your apartment, which was locked.
 
The police reports show that the door was not opened with force and that the lock wasn’t picked.
 
Whoever did it had a key.”

A silence passed.

“Tell me the truth,” she said. “Who did it?”

Friends of Leana’s.
 
“I don’t know.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Do you honestly believe I’d let whoever did this to me—to us—get away with it if I knew who they were?
 
Give me a break, for Christ’s sake.
 
If I knew who was responsible for shattering my fucking leg, Diana, I’d bypass the police and take care of them myself.”

At least that rang true.
 
“You’ve got to have some idea,” she said.

“Take your pick,” he said.
 
“I’ve pissed off a lot of people during my years at Redman International.
 
I’ve made a lot of enemies, especially while working on the deal with WestTex.
 
You know that as well as I do.
 
It could be anyone.”

She leaned back in her chair.
 
So, maybe he didn’t know.
 
Did she care?
 
She didn’t know that either and a part of her hated herself for not knowing.
 
She finished the last of her coffee and poured another cup.
 
“So, what are you going to do now?”

“What do you mean?” Eric said.
 
“I was hoping I could stay here.”

“I’ll bet you were.”

“Only until my apartment is repaired.”

“Really?” she said.
 
“That’s presumptuous.
 
And fixing your apartment will take months.
 
I don’t see it happening.
 
I don’t see you here.”
 
She nodded at the jewelry.
 
“Sell those.
 
That should put a roof over your head.”

“I need your help.”

“I know you do.”

“I’d like to stay here.”

“Tell me,” she said.
 
“How do you plan on paying for the repairs on your apartment?
 
You have hospital bills to pay, lawyer fees to pay and, if you lose the case, a ruined van Gogh, two botched Monets and destroyed Henry VIII furniture to buy.
 
I don’t see how you’re going to pay for the apartment, Eric, let alone the rest of it.”

“Looks like I’m going to have to get a job.”

She wanted to laugh.
 
“Well, God knows you’re a catch, Eric.
 
Naturally, any reasonable person will overlook the fact that George sent you packing, they’ll overlook the headlines you’ve been making, and they’ll just hire you just because you’re the great Eric Parker.”

“One man will.”

“And who is that?”

“You’ve seen the roses Louis Ryan has been sending me.
 
He obviously wants me at Manhattan Enterprises.
 
He’s also got as much money as George—and we all know how those two feel about each other.
 
If I play my cards right, I might get myself out of this mess completely.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

“Do exactly as I say and you won’t get hurt.”

His voice was unnerving.
 
Celina stood at the edge of the footbridge, a bungee cord no larger than the size of her wrist strapped to her ankles, a blindfold covering her eyes.
 
Although she couldn’t see the river twisting below her, she could sense the coolness of the water just as she could sense the sheerness of this height.

She clenched her teeth and waited for her instructions.

“I’m not comfortable with you wearing that blindfold,” the man standing behind her said.
 
His name was Steve Simpson and his company, Vertigo Fever, owned the footbridge they were standing on.
 
“No one’s worn one before—not Jack, not even myself.
 
I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Celina removed the blindfold and looked at the man.
 
Although she was nervous about jumping, a part of her even frightened, she tried to appear calm.
 
“That may be so,” she said.
 
“But you’ve told me time and again that this sport is safe.”

“It is safe,” Simpson said.

“Then what difference does wearing a blindfold make?”

“Probably none.
 
But you’re a beginner and it’s a 320-foot drop.
 
I’m not comfortable with it.”