The Devil You Know (55 page)

‘Morn,’ Poppy whispered, ‘was I adopted?’

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Daisy waited with Soren, unable to concentrate or to think until the bell finally rang. Magnus offered her a drink - ‘To calm you’ - but Daisy refused; she wanted to be able to think straight.

This was one of the most important moments of her life, assuming it wasn’t some elaborate joke, but why would Julia play one on her? Could she really be that cruel? Or that stupid? Daisy couldn’t prevent the thoughts running through her head, but on one level, the calm heart of her, she knew they weren’t true.

It would have been impossible to fake the emotion in Julia’s voice. So Daisy paced and fretted and finally, when the buzzer rang, ..she raced to the door as though she were still the fat kid in school wtten the last bell rang. .

Magnus walked behind her, hanging back a fraction, but keeping close.

Daisy wrenched open the door, looked at Rose, and then stumbled back, gasping. She felt dizzy and short of breath.

‘Are you OK?’ Soren said, catching her. He looked at the replica of Daisy standing in front of him; she, too, was looking very pale, steadying herself against the doorway. ‘Are you OK?’ He moved forward and shook the Daisy-replica girl’s hand. ‘My name is Magnus Soren,’ he said calmly, and the need for social politeness snapped lose to herself.

‘I’m lose Fiorello,’ she said.

‘So it’s true,’ Daisy said. ‘You’re my twin sister. I don’t know how this could have happened.’

‘Won’t you come in, Ms Fiorello?’ Magnus said politely.

Rose looked up at the magnificent Village townhouse. It looked like something that one of the Rothsteins would own; in fact, from what she knew of Magnus Soren, he was probably even richer than they were. She glanced curiously at her sister, wondering if they shared a genetic trait for going for rich, ruthless bastards.

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‘Thank you, Mr Soren,’ she said, just as courteously.

‘Oh, for thck’s sake,’ said Daisy, ‘all things considered, don’t you

think we should be on first-name termg?’

This time Daisy did accept a glass of Chardonnay, and so did Rose. Magnus discreetly left them to it in the drawing room, telling Daisy to call him if she needed him.

‘I was adopted in New York,’ Rose said. ‘You?’ ‘London. When do you celebrate your birthday?’ ‘June the twenty-eighth. You?’

‘May the twelfth.’ For a second Daisy was perplexed, then she

laughed. ‘Oh. Duh. I mean, that’s the day I was adopted.’

The too,’ Rose said, smiling for the first time.

‘The agency that adopted me out was in London, though. And

they disappeared, no record.’

‘Same with me.’ Rose shrugged. ‘It’s all very mysterious. I feel

very weird right now. I mean, I hardly know you, and you have my

face.’

‘I think you’ll find you have my face,’ Daisy said crisply, and Rose

cracked a tiny smile.

‘You’re looking for your ‘parents?’

‘Yes.’ Daisy leaned forward, all eagerness. ‘Do you have any information about them, where they came from, why they split us up?’

Rose shook her head. ‘And I guess we’re not all that alike, Daisy,

because I couldn’t care less. My father is dead, and my mother lives here in the city, and whatever those people did, and whoever they are, matters about as much to me as if my mother had conceived me through a sperm donor. I already asked my mother about it, but she had no records, and the agency disappeared. And, you know, it never bothered me.’

Daisy said simply, ‘I want to lay the past to rest.’

‘I think we do that by building a future,’ I

‘I want to know why they rejected me. Or if they did.’

‘I think that last part is pretty clear.’

‘Without information, we won’t know what happened. What if

our mother was raped, and couldn’t care for us? What if our father

died and our mother was destitute?’

Rose considered this for a second, then dismissed it. ‘It can hardly

make a difference now. If I were you, I’d give it up.’

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‘You’re not me,’ Daisy said, slightly resenting her off-handness. How could Rose not want details?

Rose grinned. ‘To look at us, you’d never know that.’

Daisy smiled back. At least she had some family now, if this tall beauty would think about that. ‘I never realised how pretty I was until today.’

Rose laughed. ‘Yeah, it’s better than a mirror. But I think I’d sound better with one of those English accents.’

‘They’re overrated.’ Daisy looked out to the kitchen, where

Magnus was waiting. ‘I think American accents are hot, myself.’ ‘You have to tell me about him later.’

‘I’d like to. I hope you don’t think we shouldn’t get to know each other,’ Daisy blurted out. ‘Whatever our blood parents did, I wasn’t a part of it.’

lose sighed. ‘I don’t see why we can’t be friends, but sisters …’ ‘We are sisters,’ Daisy insisted.

‘Biologically. I had a whole childhood without you.’

‘Yes, but that wasn’t my fault.’

Rose thought about it. ‘Look, I don’t know if you’re going to want to get involved with me. I’m a workaholic, I live for my career, I don’t have a boyfriend, I think of my mom as my real family arid I can’t tell you that you’ll ever be on the same level to me. I don’t want to hurt you, but you should hear the truth.’ ‘

‘Are you at least willing to get to know me? We can take it from there, afterwards.’

Rose shrugged. She had no social life at all. No real friends. She suddenly envied Daisy her handsome boyfriend, and her probably full life. She, Rose, was a little lonely now and then. Why not admit

it? It wouldn’t hurt to be friends with this girl …

‘Sure.’ She smiled. ‘Why not?’

Daisy beamed, and it was as though her whole face lit up. ‘Magnus!’ she yelled. ‘Come back in here, would you, and bring the bottle?’

Poppy called the publisher of Daisy Markham’s book.

‘Hi,’ she said, nervously. ‘I think I’m her sister.’

‘Hold on, please,’ said a woman. There was a pause, then, ‘Julia Fine’s office.’

‘Julia Fine is Daisy Markham’s editor, right? I know this sounds crazy, but I think I’m her sister.’

‘Yes, of course, Ms Fiorello, right? That’s OK,’ said the assistant,

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mystifyingly, and put her on hold again. A second later, another female voice came on the line.

‘This is Julia Fine,’ she said. ‘Rose, I’m glad you called. How did it go with Daisy?’

‘What?’ said Poppy, utterly confused. ‘My name’s not lose. It’s Poppy, Poppy Allen. What’s going on here?’

‘There was some confusion. Another woman turned up here earlier today claiming to be Daisy Markham’s sister.’

‘That’s impossible,’ Poppy said. ‘This is all some kind of a joke. How did you get that photograph of me? And why did you put it on the back of the book cover?’

Julia Fine paused. ‘I’m not calling Daisy until I check this out for myself.’

‘You can call any record company in America,’ Poppy said coldly, ‘or you can come over to the hotel and meet me in the lobby by the checkin desk.’

Once she heard the woman was supposedly staying at the Victrix Hotel, Julia doubted it was a prank; pranksters couldn’t afford that kind of dough.

‘And how will I recognise you?’ Julia Fine demanded.

Tll be the one whose picture you stole for the back of your book,’ Poppy told her.

‘Daisy Markham is a real person,’ Julia assured her. ‘Were you adopted, by any chance?’

Poppy pressed her fingers to her temple. ‘Just get here, Ms Fine, would you, please?’

Julia Fine took one look at Poppy and burst out laughing. ‘Something’s funny?’ Poppy said, furiously.

‘I’m sorry. Nerves,’ the editor said. ‘But how many of you can there be? Are you clones?’

She handed Poppy a sheaf of bios and press releases on Daisy. ‘I have nothing for the other sister, though.’

‘What are you talkinq about?’ Poppy demanded. She was aggressive, because she was starting to feel frightened. The woman

whose picture she was holding was her identical twin. ‘I don’t think you’ll believe me if I told you.’ ‘Try me.’

‘You have two identical sisters. Daisy, and a woman named tLose Fiorello.’

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‘You were right the first time, I don’t believe you,’ Poppy snapped.

Julia looked at her. ‘Miss. If you’ll let me, I’ll take you to see your sisters. I believe they are still together right now.’

‘Here,’ Magnus Soren said to Poppy. ‘Have some wine. It’s helping your sisters.’

‘I don’t know if they are my sisters,’ Poppy muttered. ‘I suppose a DNA test …’

‘Just look at them, Ms Allen,’ Magnus said.

Rose snorted. ‘This is too much. I don’t like it. This morning I was an only child, now I’m part of a litter.’

‘You think I like it? Who gave you permission to steal my face?’ Poppy snapped. ‘This morning I knew who my parents were. Who I was. Now I’m adopted. I have no idea what’s going on. And there could be God knows how many more of us. Maybe that Julia woman was right and we are all clones and there are twenty more of me out there.’ She took a huge gulp of wine. ‘This is a fucking surreal nightmare as far as I’m concerned.’ ‘I know this is hardly my place, but if I may, I’d like to stggest something,’ Magnus said quietly.

Poppy stopped glaring at Rose and Daisy and looked at him. ahead. Any small ounce of sanity you can bring to the proceedings; I,

for one, would welcome.’

The too,’ Rose agreed.

‘It’s been my experience that everything has an explanation. You just don’t know what it is yet. You shouldn’t let the shock of the moment blind you to that.’

‘If you have an explanation, let’s hear it,’ Daisy pleaded. ‘When I met my family I wanted it to be a happy moment and now everybody’s all freaked out and mad at me.’

‘I’m not mad at you,’ Poppy said, relenting slightly. ‘It’s not your fault, I guess.’

‘Well, first of all, you’re not clones, because that is impossible. You’re triplets. Identical triplets.’

‘And h.ow do you know we’re not quads or quins?’ Rose demanded.

‘I don’t,’ he agreed mildly, ‘but I’m working on probabilities here, and triplets are rare enough. Most quads don’t make it, and the odds of being a triplet vastly outweigh the odds of being from a bigger litter, as Rose puts it.’

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‘Go on,’ P, ose said.

‘Furthermore, as you are all sisters, and you were all adopted in different places by different agencies, and you were all named after flowers before you were even adopted … It’s not that hard to see a pattern. Especially when you consider that all three agencies apparently disappeared without trace. I’d say this conclusively proves that something odd happened.’

All three women, his Daisy and her doubles, were leaning forward on the edge of their seats, wearing identical, fascinated expressions.

Genetics, he thought. Pretty powerful.

‘But what? What?’ Daisy pleaded.

‘That I don’t know,’ Magnus said. ‘But somebody never wanted this moment to happen. Somebody, or somebodies, took care to see you guys never met. Whether for good motives or bad, I have no idea.’

Daisy frowned. ‘I’m going to call Janus and report all this.’

‘That’s a positive idea,’ Magnus said. ‘They’re real pros, let them do the digging.’

‘Who are Janus?’ Rose asked, and Daisy filled her in.

They stayed talking until late into the night. Soren listened, intensely interested; the three women seemed relieved that their lives had followed such different paths.

‘If you’d gone into real estate I don’t think I could have handled it,’ Rose said. She felt freaked out enough that there were two identical images of herself in this room; the differences in their careers, in their attitudes, were incredibly reassuring to her. She was distinct, she was still Rose, not a carbon copy, where everything had been predetermined in the womb.

‘I hate business,’ Daisy reassured her. ‘You read much?’ ‘Fortune,’ Rose said. ‘Billboard,’ Poppy added.

‘I know one way you three are all alike,’ Soren said. ‘You’re all highly successful in your fields. Prominent.’

The girls looked at each other and smiled. ‘Tree enough,’ Rose said. ‘I don’t know if we’ll ever get to .the bottom of this, but I really don’t think you should stress about it too much. You could go mad trying to figure out stuff that happened over twenty-five years ago. We know each other now.’ She shrugged. ‘My two cents is that we should get on with our lives.’

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‘Easier said than done,’ Poppy said. ‘But I guess }ou’re right. I have, well, I have some stuff on my plate right now.’

‘I just don’t want to lose you both,’ Daisy said. ‘We’ll all go home and never see each other, .just the odd transatlantic trip …’ Her face fell.

Soren grinned. ‘Daisy, what are you talking about? You’re staying here.’

‘I can’t stay here for ever, I have a book to write.’

‘You can write wherever you can plug in a lap-top. And I have plenty of sockets.’

‘I have an apartment in London …’ ‘Hang on to it, it’ll be our pied—terre.’ ‘And my parents …’

‘We can get them a place here, or they can fly over for visits. It’s

only a five-hour flight.’

‘They’re my family.’

‘Yes, and so are your sisters. And so am I,’ Soren told her. ‘Enough games. This is your home.’

Magnus served champagne and coffee and juice while the three irls continued talking. He couldn’t stop staring at them, but that as only human. He felt an amazing sense of contentment to see Daisy’ happy; his prize, whom he had won only after years of pursuit, ar,d whatever came of this, it would give her answers and make her happier in the long run. Magnus had long held the idea that Daisy’s re.jection of him was down to her lack of self-esteem, down to some idea she had managed to give herself that her birth-parents had re.jected her, when she had no idea what the facts were. Even though her two sisters, mirror images of herself, were sitting with her, he found he had no interest in them whatsoever. His girl sounded completely different - they all did; and the other two weren’t Daisy, weren’t the woman he’d fallen so deeply in love with, so fast.