Stone, Katherine (24 page)
Authors: Pearl Moon
"No. Thank you."
"All right. Go ahead, then. Tell me."
John Wu used more words than he needed to, as if somehow the
excess verbiage would cushion the shock and attenuate the taipan's rage. He
recounted first the normal events of Monday morning, Lady Lloyd-Ashton's
arrival at the hospital and the four hours spent with the children on Ward
Three. Then, as if it were normal, he described her retreat into the hospital
lobby ladies' room and her emergence moments later lavishly disguised. He gave
details of her outfit and with matching thoroughness chronicled her
street-by-street journey from Wanchai to the Mid Levels.
The long-winded description gave Geoffrey the chance to anticipate
what was coming and to reflect on the obvious fact that it hadn't started only
two days before. Since having Eve followed, he'd made a habit of asking about
her days away from the castle. Only twice had she mentioned having lunch with
Allison, and although she described weekly visits to Pearl Moon, she recounted
dining with Juliana just once. Geoffrey had reconciled the discrepancies
between Eve's words and John Wu's reports by assuming it was Eve who'd lied,
hiding from him her friendship with both women—especially the American pilot.
But as Geoffrey saw where John Wu's meandering words were leading, he realized
it was the reports that had been false.
By the time he learned the name of the man for whom his wife had
gone through such an elaborate charade, he was in complete control. In fact, he
was smiling.
"Well, old chap, it's about time." His grin became
sheepish. "I'm afraid you've been the unwitting victim of a wager between
a husband and wife."
"A wager?"
"My princess may not be Chinese, but she loves to gamble. She
bet me she could become invisible in Hong Kong, that even if I hired the best
people to follow her, she could elude detection. I didn't believe it was possible,
but decided to humor her. She did very well, didn't she?"
"Very well," John Wu murmured.
Geoffrey laughed. "She's had a grand time. She's been to the
airport twice, and no one noticed her at the Temple of Ten Thousand Buddhas,
and this isn't even the first time Tyler's been in on the joke. Don't worry, my
friend! Your secret is safe with me. Your men are still the best in Hong Kong.
I won't tell a soul my pampered princess tricked them. I
will
have to
buy her a particular sapphire necklace she's been wanting." Geoffrey waved
a dismissive hand. "Well, why not? She's earned it."
"You certainly don't have to pay me, Sir Geoffrey."
"Nonsense!" Geoffrey withdrew his checkbook and wrote a
check. As he handed it over, he said, "Thank you, John. This adventure was
really very important to Lady Lloyd-Ashton and therefore to me. She's spoiled,
but who wouldn't spoil her? Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to call my
mistress of disguise to tell her the gig's up—and that I'm on my way to buy her
necklace."
***
As soon as John Wu was gone, all vestiges of humor left Geoffrey's
face. He unlocked the armoire, punched a button and zoomed in when she was
found. She stood on a terrace, looking at the rooftops of high-rises in the
city below.
Was she staring at the building where she and Tyler met? The place
where she committed her unforgivable acts of betrayal?
What a mistake you've made, my princess.
The first authentic smile of the afternoon touched Geoffrey's
face. He'd take such pleasure in her pain. And, of course, he'd find a way for
Eve to watch Tyler die. Better yet—
much
better—he'd have Eve pull the
trigger herself.
The image filled Geoffrey with desire. Very soon, he'd return to
Peak Castle, startling Eve from her traitorous reverie and ravaging her with
such passion she'd never suspect he knew the truth.
It was too bad Eve would also have to die. It would have been
amusing to watch her suffer after Tyler's death. He'd learned, quite by
accident, how entertaining such grief could be.
But Eve was going to die. She'd simply have to do her suffering in
advance. Well, that was easy. There was plenty of time to savor her pain. His
hopelessly compassionate wife would never break the promise she'd made to the
little Chinese girl. He'd always felt contempt for such compassion.
Now it made him smile.
Because of Lily Kai's damaged heart, he had six weeks in which to
inflict damage on his unfaithful wife. And, if he did it right, she'd hold on
to the glimmer of hope—the fantasy of escape—until the very end.
Geoffrey would do it right. This time.
You will pay for disloyalty, my princess... my rose.
How you will pay.
Trade Winds Hotel
Wednesday, October 27, 1993
"You
're limping!"
Allison smiled at Maylene. "Nothing a little rest won't cure."
She gestured to the living room couch where they'd enjoy the dinner room
service would provide. "I plan to be a couch potato all evening."
"Beginning when?" Maylene teased as Allison limped past
the couch toward the kitchen.
"We need tea, don't we?"
"I'll make it. Sit."
"In a minute. There's something I want to show you first— in my
bedroom."
Maylene would have sent her a look of fond exasperation had
Allison's expression not become so serious. "Why don't I go get whatever
it is?"
"No. Let's go together."
Allison led the way, trying not to limp yet limping nonetheless—a
faltering gait that was trivial compared to the stumbling uneasiness of her
heart.
The evening gown was on the bed, where she'd left it in
anticipation of this moment. An exquisite creation of jade silk, its slender
bodice was adorned with emerald-and-silver beaded butterflies. More silver
beads dotted its flowing skirt, tiny sparkles that glittered like stars in a
jade-green sky.
"Do you remember the gown I wore to the party at Peak
Castle?" Allison prayed Maylene wouldn't cast a furtive glance toward the
closet where the gown had been shredded. She didn't. Maylene merely nodded, her
gaze never leaving the gown on the bed. "It was made by a Hong Kong
designer. Over the past two months, the same designer has made this for me."
"How did that happen?" Had her mother been so eager to
meet Garrett's beloved daughter she'd orchestrated a meeting with Allison?
"Eve arranged it for me. I wanted something, by the same
designer, for the grand opening of the hotel. What about you, Maylene? Have you
decided what you're going to wear that night?"
"Black satin," Maylene murmured. "Chanel."
"I'm sure that would be stunning, but why don't you ask Pearl
Moon's designer to make something for you, too? There's time, and it would be
nice, wouldn't it, to wear something designed in Hong Kong? I know she'd be
delighted. Maylene? She's your mother, isn't she?"
Maylene lifted her head. "Did she tell you?"
Allison wanted to lie. Maylene looked so hopeful. But... "Not
in words, no. Yet from the moment we met, I sensed she was searching for you,
trying to get to
you
through
me.
I know you said you're
estranged, and that it's best for both of you, but I guess I don't agree. Don't
you want to see her, Maylene? I know she wants to see you."
"You
don't
know that, Allison. You said she's never
even admitted our relationship."
"But she's always so interested when I mention your name. I
thought we could have tea together, the three of us—or, better yet, just you
two. A leisurely tea at the Peninsula... wouldn't that be nice?"
Allison was blissfully oblivious to the devastating truth of what
had happened twenty-eight years before at the stately hotel.
Leaving Allison's hopeful gaze, Maylene touched a sparkle of
silver on the gown Juliana had made. After a moment, Allison followed suit,
touching another, more distant bead. As the sisters talked, their hands
journeyed from star to star across the jade-green sky... becoming closer with
every small move.
"You have time for afternoon tea now, don't you?"
Allison asked. "I dropped by the construction site yesterday. The illusion
is going to work beautifully—
perfectly."
"It's
probably
going to work. We won't know for sure
until the netting's removed."
"But you have time for tea. Your mother's wonderful, Maylene.
You're so lucky."
Lucky. Maylene's hand froze on a sparkling bead. In truth, she'd
never felt luckier. Over the past two months, she'd shared a magical friendship
with Allison—and there'd been magic, too, during the long hours spent working
with Sam.
Maylene felt lucky. But because she believed herself undeserving
of such good fortune, she felt precarious as well.
"You
are
going to see her, aren't you? Sometime?"
"I don't know, Allison. Maybe when the Jade Palace is
finished, and successful."
"Oh, Maylene! She doesn't care about that. You don't have to
prove yourself to your mother."
"I guess I feel I do. I said very cruel things to her,
Allison. Unforgivably cruel."
"She'll forgive you. I
know
she will. I'm sure she
already has. But I wonder..."
Maylene looked from the hand frozen on a silver star to her
sister's shining eyes.
"What do you wonder, Allison?" Do you wonder, since I
have no relationship with her, if Juliana could be
your
mother? If so,
the answer is yes. Yes! It's what she wants, has always wanted—a daughter loved
and cherished by Garrett Whitaker. "Tell me."
The command mirrored the sudden torment on Maylene's face. Over
the past two months, such unexpected storms had occurred less frequently, but
hadn't entirely gone away. Allison had learned to weather them with silence.
And now?
Now, Allison decided, I'm going to tell Maylene what I was
wondering.
Her hand froze, too, eight tiny stars away from Maylene. That was
as far as the hands would go. But, with Allison's gentle words, the hearts of
the sisters journeyed closer.
"I wonder, Maylene, if it's you who needs to forgive
yourself."
***
"Good morning, my love." Geoffrey's voice was wrapped
with tenderness for his awakening wife.
Eve lay naked and ravaged in their satin-sheeted bed. Geoffrey,
fully dressed, loomed over her. The world outside their bedroom was charcoal
gray, the pale rays of the dawn just beginning to mingle with the blackness of
night.
It had been the blackest of nights at Dragon's Eyes. Geoffrey had
wanted. And he had taken. He'd apologized for his need, and for his neglect of
her over the past few months.
"You look exhausted, my darling. Why don't you stay here
today? In the castle—and in bed. I won't surprise you this afternoon, I
promise. But be warned, Eve. You'll need your rest. I've discovered you again,
my princess, and I can't get enough of you. You don't have anything important
scheduled for today, do you?"
"An appointment at Pearl Moon." An entire day of love
with Tyler.
"Well, you can easily cancel that. I couldn't care less if you
ever dress again." His hand dipped beneath the sheet to cup a breast as
his mouth claimed lips swollen from his harsh possession. Then, with a promise
that felt to Eve like a warning, he whispered, "I'll see you
tonight."
***
Eve had assumed Geoffrey would want her again. It was for that
reason she'd stopped taking aspirin for her headaches. The medicine caused her
to bruise too easily, and even when Geoffrey took her between satin sheets, his
passion left marks. The bruises needed to be small and readily explainable to
Tyler—a minor stumble in the garden, the clumsy snagging of a high heel.
Nothing that would alert him to the violent truth about her marriage.
But even without aspirin, the bruises from last night were huge,
purple, everywhere. It would be a long time before they disappeared, and she
dared not make love with Tyler until they did.
Eve's body ached from all the places it had been crushed. But
those were little hurts. In September, her heart and body had joyfully
reunited, and she'd learned to feel and trust and love. Now she was torn apart
again, and the dream that was only six weeks away felt severed beyond repair.
Leave today, her ravaged body pleaded. You think you're too weak
to walk down Mount Austin Road, but you're not. Or let Tyler come and get you.
He'll drive you to Lily Kai's home, and you'll explain to her that she was
right—you
are
leaving Hong Kong and, as she'd somehow known in June, you
won't be here for her surgery in December. She'll do fine without you. The
operation will be a stunning success. You won't see her on that all-important
day, but your love will be with her. It will float to her, like her
silver-tailed kite, from wherever you are.
Lily will survive. But you may not.
I
will,
Eve vowed. And I will keep my promise to Lily.
***
It felt so strange to phone Tyler from the castle.
But she had no choice.
"I won't be able to see you today," she told him,
cringing at the flatness of her voice. She was canceling their day together as
politely as she'd cancel an appointment.
"What's wrong, Eve?"
"Nothing. I have the flu, that's all."
"Then let me take care of you. I'll come for you, and tuck
you into our bed, and make you soup, and—"
"No. Thank you. I need to be here. Geoffrey knows I'm ill and
will be calling to check on me."
"I love you, Eve."
"I love you, too."