Страница 61 из 117
“Yeah,” Mort said, meeting her gaze and nodding sadly. “I don’t remember what the wife died of, but I think she was sickly from the get-go. They couldn’t have been married for much more than a year before she got ill, and then she was gone by the time their graduation date arrived.”
His words pounded in Emma’s stu
“It’s like life is playing some kind of sick joke on him,” Emma finished dully, recalling Va
“Yeah,” Mort said, taking a sip of coffee. “There’s no fortune big enough that could ever tempt me into that young man’s shoes.”
“Amen,” Jamie agreed fervently.
Mort blinked, seeming to come to himself. He gave his daughter a fond glance and patted her hand that sat on the table. “It was just a much too spicy cheeseburger,” he reassured her under his breath. Jamie gri
“So that’s the man who now owns your apartment complex, Emma,” Mort said, dropping his hand. “I hadn’t heard he’d ventured into real estate, but with money like his, I suppose it’s smart to diversify. I’m glad he’s taken care of things so quickly at your place. That bodes well. Maybe Montand has overcome all his adversities and become a decent man. I’d like to think so, anyway. I’ve heard good things about his business dealings. And I liked him as a kid.”
“Emma?” Jamie asked, a strange expression on her face. She set down her cup and placed her hand on top of Emma’s frozen one where it rested on the table. “Are you okay? That glow I was talking about earlier seems to have made a run for it. Your fingers are freezing,” she said, concern etching her face as she chafed Emma’s hand with her own.
Emma forced a smile. “I’m fine,” she lied. “It’s just the air-conditioning.” She squeezed her friend’s hand to reassure her and changed the subject to a safer one. In her head, however, she never left the topic of what Mort had revealed about Va
That afternoon when she got home, she received a call from Dr. Parodas’s office. Neil Parodas himself was on the other line, calling to give her the test results from Va
Another barrier of intimacy between Va
She recalled what Mort had told her today about Va
She stared out the window over her kitchen sink and also remembered the other shocking information Mort had given her. Va
Surely she was a fool for not grasping at every little tidbit of protection she could get in this affair with Va
Chapter 23
Va
At least if felt like an emergency to Va
“Just smooth things over for me, won’t you? Make something up. You’re good at that,” Va
“I resent that,” Niki told him, his unconcerned, mild tone at odds with his words.
“Only because you assumed I meant making up stories to your various women,” Va
“We are talking about smoothing royal feathers here. That’ll cost you double for the favor,” Niki replied, referring to one member of the Montand French-American Grand Prix pla
“You can do it. You’re part of their family, after all.”
“I’m a tacked-on leaf of a very disreputable branch,” Niki replied dryly. “And I can think of one non-royal bird who is going to be extremely ruffled by your absence. No amount of Dellis diplomacy is going to smooth that over.”
“I have complete faith you’ll make her forget I even exist,” Va
“You must give Estelle credit,” Niki mused, and Va
“You know it’s got nothing to do with being American. It’s got everything to do with being Michael Montand’s son.”
He didn’t recognize how bitter he’d sounded until he noticed the silence on the other line. He’d seen firsthand what his father’s frequent infidelities—what the ultimate betrayal—had done to his mother. No, Va
“What is this emergency, Van?” Niki asked, his Greek accent almost disappearing with his sudden, focused concern. “Does it have to do with that lovely nurse you brought to Cristina’s funeral? I recognized what she was wearing around her neck. How did you manage to get Prisatti to give her one? Or did you mislead him somehow as to the identity of the receiver?”
“Do you think Angelo Prisatti thought it was for me?” Va
“No, not a chance,” Niki chuckled. “I’m just desperate to know what in the world you told him in order to get him to part with it. That’d be excellent knowledge for any single man.”
“Only you would use a Prisatti angel to get a woman into bed.”
“I don’t need to. But isn’t that why you used it?” Niki challenged glibly.
“Why don’t you mind your own business?”
“You sort of are my business, unfortunately. Are you sure you’re not more . . . unsettled by Aunt Cristina’s death than you’re letting on?” Niki asked.
“It has nothing to do with Cristina,” Va
“You never can sleep,” Niki said with an air of stating the obvious.
“Now it’s for a different reason, though.”
He was telling the truth. He’d hardly had a moment’s rest since landing in France. Memories of making love to Emma would pop up at the most inopportune moments—on a walking tour with the rest of the grand prix committee of the race circuit, at a luncheon hosted in Ca