Deadly Embrace by Jackie Collins (best 7 inch ereader .TXT) 📗

Marcie, informed him there was someone called Tina on the phone. He could tell that Marcie–who was very protective, did not want to put her through. ‘She says it’s personal,’ Marcie said, with a disbelieving curl of her lip.

‘I’ll take it,’ he said, picking up the receiver.

‘Michael?’ a female voice said.

‘Tina?’ he responded, genuinely pleased to hear from his old friend. ‘How you doing?’

‘Fine, thank you very much,’ Tina replied crisply, adding a succinct ‘Not that you care, since we never see you any more.’

‘That’s not true.’

‘Yes, it is, and Max is fine, too, in case you’re interested.’

Good old Tina, snippy as ever. ‘It’s great to hear your voice,’ he said.

‘I’m surprised you would say that.’

‘C’mon, Tina,’ he groaned. ‘It’s not my fault you don’t get along with Stella.’

‘And whose fault is it that you never see your best friend Max any more? Do you understand how hurt he is?’

Here it came, the lecture. Tina was a master at breaking a man’s balls. ‘You didn’t hear what he said about Stella,’ Michael said.

‘Whatever it was,’ she argued, ‘I’m sure it wasn’t bad enough to end a friendship.’

‘Stella’s my wife, Tina. I have to show her respect.’ God! Shades of Vito Giovanni. Had the man really had that much influence over him?

Yes.

And sometimes he still did.

‘Anyway,’ Tina continued, ‘that’s not the reason I’m calling.’

‘What is?’

‘Somebody’s looking for you.’

‘And who would that be?’

‘Remember Dani?’

Did he remember Dani? Yes, he certainly remembered Dani.

‘What about her?’ he asked, trying to sound disinterested.

‘She’s here in New York, and she called me.’

‘She did, huh?’

‘Yes. She wants to see you.’

He took a deep breath, reached for a cigarette, and lit up. ‘Dani wants to see me?’

‘Yep. I promised I’d pass the message on. In case you’re interested, she’s staying at the Plaza.’

‘Nice of you to tell me, Tina. Only aren’t you forgetting that I’m married now? So I don’t think I’ll be calling her.’

‘She said there’s something she has to talk to you about.’

He inhaled deeply. ‘Did she say what?’

‘No, but she asked me to tell you it’s important.’

‘Will you be seeing her?’

‘She might come over to the house with her son.’

‘At least you get to meet him.’

‘You mean you didn’t?’

‘No. That was one of the bones of contention between us. She didn’t want me meeting him,’ he said, placing his cigarette in a marble ashtray. ‘I guess it’s one of the reasons she took off. Who knows? She’s my past, and I’m not planning on revisiting.’

‘Are we part of your past, Michael?’ Tina asked, suddenly sounding needy.

‘No,’ he said warmly. ‘You, Max and the kids are always in my heart.’

‘That’s so sweet.’

‘I can be a nice guy when I want to,’ he joked.

‘We hear about you from Charlie. You’re Mr Big Shot now.’

‘C’mon, Tina,’ he said, embarrassed.

‘How’s Madison doing?’

‘She’s unbelievable,’ he said, picking up his cigarette and taking another deep drag. ‘Eleven years old and the smartest kid you’ve ever come across.’

‘Is Stella a good mother to her?’

‘Stella’s a wonderful woman,’ he said, exhaling smoke.

‘I’m sure,’ Tina said sarcastically. ‘When she finds the time.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘I read the society columns, Michael. Your wife is never home; she’s always out and about at some big opening or charity event.’

‘Stella gets off on doing good deeds.’

‘Sure.’

‘Anyway, Tina, we’ll get together soon. That’s a promise.’

‘Max would love to see you. Only don’t tell him I told you ’cause he’s bound to give you a hard time.’

‘I can take it.’

‘I know.’

Thoughtfully he put down the phone. Dani Castle. Seven years of silence, and now she wanted to speak to him. What could she possibly want?

In a way he was intrigued, on the other hand he knew he shouldn’t go anywhere near her, because what would happen if he did? All they had to do was look into each other’s eyes and that was it. Chemistry. They had it in spades.

Not any more. He was married, it was a whole different ballgame. Stella was Madison’s mother, and he wouldn’t mess with that.

A beat of two, and he picked up the phone. ‘Get me the number of the Plaza,’ he said to Marcie.

Jesus Christ! Aren’t you even going to think about it?

Apparently not.

Marcie gave him the number. He wrote it on a pad on his desk and stared at it for a few minutes before picking up his private line.

When the hotel operator answered, he requested Dani Castle. Even saying her name brought back a flood of memories, most of them good.

‘There’s nobody in the room at the present time,’ the operator said. ‘Would you care to leave a message?’

‘I’ll try again later,’ he said, and replaced the receiver.

Plain fact of life. He wanted to see her. He had to know why she’d dumped him.

Not that he cared.

Or did he?

That night he and Stella were due to attend another boring opera. He simply wasn’t into her social scene any more. At first it had been a kick, now it was plain work–and not the kind he enjoyed either. He wasn’t into her friends. The women were so thin they could slide through a crack in a wall. They were mean-spirited too- all they did was gossip about one another and try to outdo their best friend’s jewellery. He was well aware that the men looked down on him in spite of his success. He simply did not come from the right background.

He called Stella at home, and informed her that he wouldn’t be able to make the opera.

‘You have to,’ she said, her voice frosty.

‘No, I don’t,’ he answered evenly. ‘What I have to do is attend an urgent meeting.’

‘Oh, God, Michael, this is so aggravating,’ she said, sounding upset. ‘You know how I hate going to these things alone.’

‘Take your walker,’ he said, mentioning a gay art dealer who sometimes stood in for him when he was unable to accompany her to functions.

‘Very well,’ Stella said, in an uptight voice. ‘I’ll do that.’

He waited an hour before trying the Plaza again. Still no answer in the room.

He had no intention