Adam's Daughter (63 page)

He paused again, choosing his words carefully. “I know you don’t want to hurt Stephen,” he said. “But sooner or later, you’re going to have to make a decision. I love you. And though you won’t admit it yet, I know you love me.”

She stared at him, surprised by his vehemence. “I have to have some time, Garrett. Please. You’ve got to give me that.”

He turned back to the window. The plane was circling toward the airport. After a moment, he reached for Kellen’s hand again.

“All right,” he said. “I can wait for a while.”

He looked back out the window, down at the Strip’s silent lights then back at Kellen. “I guess I’m more of a gambler than I thought,” he said.

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR

Ian lit his cigarette and looked around the Big Four dining room. The lunch crowd was the usual mix of well-known faces, and Ian felt a glow of self-satisfaction over the prime placement of his table.

He caught the eye of a pretty young woman and allowed himself a flirtatious half smile. Why shouldn’t he? He knew what she saw. At forty-six, he was a man worthy of admiration
—handsome, well-dressed, confident. Especially confident today because he was about to close the biggest deal of his life, one that would provide him, Clarisse, his son Robert and new baby Hillary with permanent financial security. He looked across the table and conferred a smile on Lilith.

“That’s an attractive suit, Mother,” he said, feeling magnanimous. “Is it new?”

She ignored him, her eyes trained on the entrance. “Where is he?” she asked. “He’s late.”

“Richardson will be here, Mother. Stop worrying.”

“Well, I just don’t understand what’s taking him so long,” she said with a frown. “He’s kept us dangling for months and now suddenly he’s interested again.”

“He’s shrewd. He knows how badly we want to sell and he waited us out. When I called him yesterday and lowered the price again, he finally had an offer he couldn’t pass up.”

“Three hundred and thirty million...we’re giving it away,” Lilith said. She glanced around the room. “God, I’ll be glad when this is finished. At least I don’t have to deal with that detective anymore. Dreadful man. Did you read the report he sent?”

Ian nodded
, taking a drink of his martini.

Lilith shook her head. “I always suspected Tyler was, well, not normal.”

“You didn’t have to send me those pictures,” Ian said. “They were disgusting.”

“They may be useful when the time comes.” She glanced to the door. “He’s here,” she
said.

Garrett came up to the table. “Sorry I’m late,” he said, giving Ian a cursory handshake and Lilith a nod.

“Would you like a drink?” Ian asked.

“No, nothing.”

“Mother?”

“A martini would be nice.” She turned to Garrett. “It’s a shame you couldn’t come to dinner last week. It must be quite tiresome, all this flying back and forth to New York.”

“I don’t mind it,” Garrett said. “I spend the week in New York then come out here on the weekends to relax.”

“Yes,” she said with a smile. “It must be so nice over in Tiburon. Close to the city yet so secluded, so far from the madding crowd
, all by yourself.”

Ian leaned back, allowing Lilith to handle the small talk, marveling at her audacity. He could see that her innuendo about Kellen had not been lost on Garrett. Ian glanced around at the nearby tables, noting the other diners eyeing him and Garrett. He wondered if anyone else suspected, as he and Lilith did, that Garrett and Kellen were having an affair. Ian looked at Garrett and felt a grudging spurt of respect for his ability to carry on with Kellen while deceiving her again about the sale.

He wondered idly if Stephen knew. Probably not, he thought. Serves him right for marrying the crazy bitch in the first place.

“Do try the salmon, Garrett,” Lilith
said.

“I won’t be staying long,” Garrett said.

Ian and Lilith exchanged glances. “Well,” Ian said quickly. “Then perhaps we should get on with what we came here for. You’ve had time to consider our latest offer?”

“More than enough time,” Garrett said. He folded his hands, resting them on the tablecloth.

Ian finally prompted, “And you’ve found it enticing...”

“I found it insulting,” Garrett said.

Ian glanced quickly at Lilith.

“It’s an insult to your sister,” Garrett said, “and to your entire family, especially your father’s memory.”

Lilith nearly spilled her drink. Ian managed to keep his face impassive.

“I came here today,” Garrett said, “only to tell you that I’m not interested in buying your company.”

“I thought we were going to do business,” Ian said, his voice low. “After all these months —-”

“Once and for all,” Garrett interrupted. “I’m not interested. And I’d greatly appreciate it if you didn’t try to contact me about it again.” He glanced at Lilith. “Frankly, your persistence is becoming a bit embarrassing.”

“Well, of all the nerve,” Lilith said.

“Mother, let me handle this,” Ian said sharply. His eyes locked with Garrett’s. “Me embarrassing you? That’s truly amusing, Richardson, considering what you and Kellen have been up to. I thought you were smarter than this, allowing her to manipulate you.”

“You’re a fool,” Garrett said evenly. “You’ve exploited your corporation for short-term personal gain, mismanaged it into impotency. You’ve done all you could to undercut Kellen, when you should be grateful to her for trying to salvage it.”

“Now wait a minute, Richardson
—-”

At that moment, the waiter appeared and placed salads before Lilith and Ian.

“You were handed an empire and you pillaged it,” Garrett went on, not bothering to lower his voice. “You’re an incompetent fool, Bryant. Even if I wanted your company, I wouldn’t do business with you. I don’t deal with fools.” Garrett rose. “I have a plane to catch.”

He nodded to Lilith, who sat frozen, her face white. “Enjoy your lunch.”

Ian and Lilith didn’t move. The waiter stared at Garrett’s retreating figure then turned to Lilith. “Would Madame care for some pepper?” he asked, holding out the mill.

“Go away,” Lilith said through clenched teeth.

Ian sat there, eyes trained straight ahead. His face burned with humiliation. “Now what?” he muttered to Lilith.

She picked up her fork. “Eat your salad,” she hissed.

Ian speared a piece of romaine but couldn’t bring it up to his mouth. “That fucking limey prick,” he murmured.

“You know I can’t stand that language,” Lilith said.

“Let’s get out of here,” Ian said.

“No, we will stay and have our lunch.” Lilith said, with a discreet look around. She took a bite of salad and rolled her eyes.

“Good Lord, can’t anyone make a decent Caesar anymore? This is absolutely crawling with anchovies.”

“How can you just sit there and eat after what he said to me?” Ian said. “To say nothing of the fact that we’ve lost our best chance to sell, for crissake.”

“Pull yourself together and listen to me,” she said calmly. “And eat your salad. People are staring.”

With a petulant frown, Ian began to eat.

“We don’t need him,” Lilith said. “Perhaps there’s another way. I was thinking about something Enid once told me. Must have been eight years ago. Time does fly these days. Anyway, Enid had just returned from England and had visited the Richardsons. They’re close friends, you know.”

Ian continued to eat morosely, his eyes sweeping the room, wondering who had heard Richardson.

“Well, it seems Arthur got to talking about San Francisco,” Lilith went on, “and he told Enid he tried to buy a newspaper here but the deal fell through.” She paused. “You’re not listening, you’re not hearing what I’m saying.”

“What are you saying, Mother?”

She leveled her dark eyes at him. “That perhaps we’ve been courting the wrong Richardson. That perhaps we should have been talking to the father all along.”

“Why would he
-—?”

“Enid said
Arthur was very disappointed that Garrett couldn’t close the deal. There’s no reason to think Arthur Richardson has changed his mind, especially if the price is lower than it was eight years ago.”

Ian focused on Lilith for the first time. “Do you really think
-—”

The waiter placed a salmon in dill sauce in front of Lilith. She took a bite. “London in October,” she mused. “It’s probably terribly rainy. Perhaps we can pop over to Paris when we’re finished with business. I could do with a new Chanel or two. What do you think, dear?”

Ian glanced around the room, at the sea of gray business suits. The sting of Garrett’s words was still fresh on his face. He forced himself to take a bite of the salmon.

“I think,” he said slowly, “that if you can pull this o
ff, Mother, I will buy you all the Chanel you want.”

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE

The hurdy-gurdy music rose on the breeze, mixing with the sound of children’s laughter. Sara dashed across the playground toward the carousel. Ben let go of Kellen’s hand and ran after her.

“Sara, wait for your brother!” Kellen called out. But Sara was already out of earshot, a blur of blue and dark streaming hair. By the time Kellen and Stephen caught up, she had already positioned herself on a painted horse. Ben waited patiently until Stephen hoisted him up onto a smaller one and showed him how to hang on to the brass pole.

The carousel started up, and Kellen and Stephen stood watching each time the children came around. Ben was clinging to the pole, his face reflecting his cautious excitement. Sara was standing up in the stirrups, laughing.

Kellen shaded her eyes from the bright sun. “She’s going to break her neck one of these days,” she said.

“She’ll be fine,” Stephen said.

The flat tone in his voice made Kellen turn but Stephen had already walked off to a nearby bench. He sat down, leaning his forearms on his knees, staring at the ground. Kellen went over and sat down next to him.

It was a beautiful day and Golden Gate Park was filled with people. She watched a group of men in white nearby playing a courtly game of lawn bowl
ing, the gentle thuds of the steel balls punctuating the chatter of the children in a nearby sandbox. She glanced at Stephen. All morning he had been locked in some private contemplation. He was often preoccupied about the plant these days, but today his mood had been impenetrable.

“I’m glad you could come with us today,” she said.

Stephen didn’t look at her. The carousel music carried over to them on the breeze.

“Kellen, we have to talk.”

He hadn’t moved but now his hands were clamped tightly together. She focused on his ring, glinting in the sunlight, then looked away quickly, knowing suddenly what was coming.

“I know about you and Garrett,” Stephen said.

She closed her eyes. In the last few weeks, she had thought often about this very conversation, about what she would say. But she had thought about it only from her viewpoint, of how she intended to tell Stephen.