“Tell me what you mean about that silver-platter crack,” Ariel insisted, planting her hands on Mattie's desk.
“There's nothing to tell. I made a fool of myself last year after you dumped Hugh. That's all. Believe me, I learned my lesson.” The water was boiling in the hot pot. Mattie reached down to flick the switch and noticed her fingers were trembling. Stress, she thought. She was shaking from the stress. She must be sure to get to her lunch-hour aerobics class today. The exercise would help deal with the anxiety.
“How did you make a fool of yourself? What happened between the two of you? Were you seeing him while I was engaged to him?” Ariel yelled in fury.
“No, of course not. Your men never notice me until after you've finished with them. You ought to know that. They're all much too dazzled by you.”
“What happened? How did you make a fool of yourself?”
“Let it go, will you, Ariel?”
“No, I will not let it go. I want to know. Tell me what happened.”
Mattie exhaled heavily. “This is so embarrassing. The night before Hugh was scheduled to fly back to St. Gabriel, I called him. Told him he could spend the night at my apartment. Made some idiotic excuse about my place being cheaper than an airport hotel, which is where he was planning to stay.”
“Oh, Mattie.”
“I know. It sounded just as lame then as it does now. But he showed up on my doorstep around dinnertime. He was not in a good mood. He was angry and restless, like a caged wolf. He'd already had a couple of drinks. I made the mistake of giving him a couple more along with dinner.”
“My God. You were playing with fire.”
“Umm, yes. It was a new experience for me,” Mattie admitted dryly. “I'm sure you can imagine the outcome of the evening. Hugh downed a good deal of very expensive after-dinner brandy and then he more or less fell into bed with me. I confess I gave him a small shove.”
“What did you think you were going to accomplish?” Ariel demanded tightly. “Were you trying to prove you could seduce him?”
“No. Not exactly.” Mattie fiddled with a pen on her desk. “I wanted him to take me with him when he left town on the flight to St. Gabriel the next morning.”
Ariel stared at her sister in amazement. “You wanted to run off to the islands with him? You? I can't believe it.”
“What can I say? I went a little crazy. Believe me, it won't happen again.”
“But he claims he's engaged to you. He's staying with you at your apartment.”
“He's the one talking about marriage. I'm thinking of our present arrangement as an affair.” Mattie smiled bleakly. “Don't worry, Ariel, it won't last. One of these days Hugh will get on another flight back to St. Gabriel.”
“Poor Hugh.”
Mattie scowled. “Poor Hugh?”
But Ariel had already made one of her lightning-swift mood swings. “And poor Emery. You know, lately, I've begun to wonder why I always seem to attract losers. It's awkward, you know, because people think I'm the one who ruined them, but the truth is that they carry the seeds of their own destruction within them. I'm like a catalyst or something that speeds up the process.”
“For Pete's sake, Ariel.”
“I'm not responsible for Emery and Hugh ruining their lives.”
“Of course you aren't. And their lives aren't exactly ruined. They've both got plenty of big plans for the future, I promise you.”
But Ariel was off on a new dramatic tangent. “Last night I felt so guilty when I saw you with the three of them out there on the sidewalk.”
“There's absolutely no need for you to feel guilty.” Mattie was used to this role, too. She had spent years soothing Ariel and everyone else in the household.
“Maybe it is my fault, somehow. Maybe I do something to destroy them.”
“Ariel, stop it. That's not true and you know it.” Mattie was getting alarmed now. Ariel's emotions could be unpredictable. “For heaven's sake, don't start wallowing in a lot of unearned guilt. It's not your style and it will take days for you to get back out of it so that you can paint.”
“It doesn't matter. I haven't painted in weeks. I'm too frightened by what's happening between me and Flynn.”
“Afraid of what?”
“That I'll do to him whatever I did to Emery and Hugh.” With a sob, Ariel fled to the door.
CHAPTER
Eleven
Mattie got off the elevator on the twenty-sixth floor of the downtown highrise and walked along a wide, carpeted hallway. She took several deep breaths to force back the familiar tension and realized she had a death grip on the paper bag she was holding as well as on her purse strap. It had been a long ride up and the elevator had been very crowded.
Memories of the caves of Purgatory had started to nibble around the edges of her thoughts by the twelfth floor, when five more large specimens of corporate humanity had gotten on board. Real anxiety had set in by the twentieth, when the doors had stuck shut for a moment. She had literally leaped off the elevator when it had finally arrived at the twenty-sixth floor.
She always had some problem in elevators, but this last experience had been especially difficult. The fact was, she was having more trouble than usual handling the normal stresses in her life these days. Perhaps that was because she was experiencing more than the usual amount, she reminded herself grimly. Living with Hugh Abbott under the same roof was not exactly conducive to serenity. It was like having a large beast underfoot, one who was just waiting for the day when he would go back to the wild. Dragging her with him, of course. She knew that was always in the back of his mind, no matter how often he reassured her that he was willing to stay in Seattle indefinitely.
Indefinitely, hah. She knew Hugh Abbott better than that. The man was extremely low on patience.
Perhaps she should start doubling up on her vitamin B and niacin tablets in the mornings, Mattie thought. They were good for stress.
There were several excellent paintings hanging on the walls of the twenty-sixth floor of the Vailcourt building. It was one of the three management floors. Mattie had chosen the art for the offices at her aunt's request, and she was pleased to see that it still looked as good now as it had the day the pictures were hung. Some art did not wear well, even though it looked terrific when it first went up. It was a fact of life in the business. Only the truly good stuff looked terrific five, ten, or a hundred years later.
Mattie halted at the open door of one of the offices and glanced inside. Two people were seated at two large desks, a young man and a woman of about fifty. There was a desktop computer on each desk. Around the room was an array of state-of-the-art office equipment: Fax machines, exotic telephones, laser printers, and assorted computer peripherals. There was also a lot of paper stacked up on various surfaces. Modern machines seemed to generate more paper than the old ones.
The attractive, well-groomed young man at the first desk looked up and saw Mattie standing in the doorway.
“May I help you?” he inquired in plumy accents.
“I just dropped by to see Hugh, that is, uh, Mr. Abbott, if he's in,” Mattie said, moving slowly into the office. She felt oddly ill at ease and realized it was because it was very difficult to imagine Hugh working in such sophisticated surroundings. It just wasn't him, somehow.
“Mr. Abbott is very busy,” the young man said smoothly. “Did you have an appointment?”
“No, no, that's all right,” Mattie said quickly. “If he's busy, don't bother him. I happened to be in the building, and I thought I'd say hello while I was here.”
“I'll be glad to give him your name and see if he can find time for you,” the young man offered.
“Mattie Sharpe. But, really, it's okay. Don't worry about it. I'll just run along. Here, you can give him this, if you will.” She held out the paper bag she was holding in one hand. “He forgot it this morning. On purpose, I suspect.”
“Miss Sharpe.” The name obviously clicked immediately. The young man, who had been
reaching out to take the paper bag, dropped his hand and smiled. “One moment please.” The secretary pressed the intercom button on his desk and started to speak into it.
At that moment the door of the inner office was yanked open, and Hugh stuck his head out. “Gary or Jenny, one of you bring me that report on the Rome office, will you? And make it quick, I haven't got all day.”
“I've got it right here, Mr. Abbott,” the woman said calmly, reaching for a thick folder on her desk.
“Great. Thanks.” Hugh held out his hand as the secretary got to her feet.
“Excuse me, Mr. Abbott,” Gary said. “You have a visitor.”
“Not now, Gary, I'm busy.” Hugh started to flip through the folder. “I told you I don't have time to see anyone until this afternoon.” He looked up and spotted Mattie standing near the secretary's desk. “Hey, it's you, babe. Didn't see you there.”
“Probably because my suit is the same color as the carpeting,” Mattie grumbled, glancing down at her beigy-brown attire.
“Well, I'll admit you do stand out better in red,” Hugh said with a grin. “Come on in.” His easy smile changed abruptly to a scowl as he examined her more closely. “What happened to you, anyway? You look like hell.”
“Thank you. The suit isn't that bad, is it?”
“Forget the damned suit. You're white as a sheet.” Hugh closed the door behind her and waved her to a chair near the floor-to-ceiling windows. “You look the way you did when we went through those caves on Purgatory.”
“The elevator was a bit crowded,” Mattie explained as she sat down. She gazed around at the plush surroundings, taking in the polished wooden desk, the thick carpeting, and the designer chairs. “Nice office. Not a girlie calendar in sight.”
“Don't worry. I've ordered a few to put up around the room to make myself feel more at home. What are you doing here?”
“A royal summons. My aunt phoned me up this morning and said she wanted to see me. Said she could fit me in around ten o'clock.”
“This is Thursday. She always has a massage at ten o'clock downstairs in the health club on Thursdays.” Hugh sprawled in the big, elegant executive chair and put his booted feet up on the gleaming surface of the desk.
“Right. She's invited me to join her. She says we can talk while we're getting massaged.”
“What are you two going to talk about?” Hugh asked with narrowed eyes.
“You, probably. That's what most people seem to want to discuss with me lately. I just stopped off here to give you this.” Mattie opened her brown paper bag and drew out a container of thick, brightly colored juice. “You ran off and left it behind this morning.”
Hugh looked shocked. “My bug juice? After all that special effort you went to this morning to mix it up for me in the blender? I accidentally left it in the refrigerator? I can't believe I'd do a thing like that. I'm getting forgetful lately, aren't I?”
“Stress, no doubt.”
Hugh chuckled. “So what is it this morning?”
“A combination of lime, papaya, banana, and wheat grass with some bran added for texture. I told you when I was making it this morning that it's great for supplying you with plenty of midday energy. Lots of vitamins and special enzymes.”
“Gary makes a pretty good cup of coffee,” Hugh said, looking hopeful. “Lots of energy in coffee.”
“But no real nutrition,” Mattie said with an admonishing frown.
“Right. No real nutrition. Okay, stick the bug juice in that little refrigerator over there, and I'll drink it later. When are you supposed to meet Charlotte?”
“I should go on up there now,” Mattie said, opening the section of bookshelving that was humming softly on the other side of the room. “This is impressive, Hugh. Your own refrigerator. All the comforts of home.”
“Not quite,” he drawled. “I could use a couch.”
“Why would you want a couch?” she asked as she straightened, and then her eyes met his faintly mocking, very sexy gaze. She blushed. “Oh. You have a one-track mind, Hugh Abbott.”
“I'd just like to be better prepared for visits from you,” Hugh said as he took his feet down off the desk. He cast a thoughtful glance at the polished wooden surface. “Of course, there is the desk, isn't there?”
“Forget it,” she said firmly, memories of the night flooding her veins with heat. “I'm due upstairs. Got to run.”
“Some other time, maybe. Come on, I'll escort you up to Charlotte's palace.”
“That's not necessary. I know you're busy.”
“Not that busy.”
He took hold of her arm and guided her out through the office and into the hall. There was a crowd of people waiting to board the elevator that had just opened.
“Excuse me, folks,” Hugh said in a cool, commanding tone as he tugged Mattie past the small group and into the empty elevator. “Emergency security check. Next elevator will be along in a minute.”
The doors closed on a row of startled expressions, leaving Mattie and Hugh alone in the elevator. Hugh punched the button for the presidential floor.
“What was that all about?” Mattie demanded.
“Figured you'd had enough of crowded elevators today.” Hugh folded his arms and propped his shoulder against the wall. He smiled.
“So you kicked everyone off this one just so I wouldn't have to ride in a packed elevator?” Mattie began to giggle. “Honestly, Hugh.”
“What's so funny?”
“Watching you throw your weight around. You're very good at it, you know. It must come naturally.”
“You don't get what you want in this world unless you go after it.” He reached for her, pulling her close and kissing her fiercely just as the elevator doors opened. “I learned that a long time ago, babe.”
“This feels incredible, Aunt Charlotte. Absolutely incredible.” Mattie was lying facedown on the massage table while a white-jacketed woman with amazingly strong hands worked on her bare back. She was being kneaded, punched and pounded, and it felt wonderful. “You say you do this once a week?”
“At least,” Charlotte Vailcourt said from the next table. “Sometimes more frequently if I'm under an unusual amount of stress.”
Another woman in white was working earnestly on Charlotte. Mattie opened her eyes and glanced over at her aunt. Charlotte Vailcourt had always been a beautiful woman. She was nearly sixty now, but she still managed to draw every eye whenever she walked into a room. It was not just a case of physical beauty, although she had plenty of that left thanks to a fine bone structure and a great deal of money; it was also a matter of grace and style.
Charlotte Vailcourt was loaded with grace and style. Those qualities had been the hallmark of her career as an actress, and they had carried her safely through the deep, dangerous waters of the international business world after she had taken control of Vailcourt Industries upon the death of her husband. It was Charlotte who had expanded the firm into the international realm of operations. The business had thrived under her leadership.
“I'm going to have to try this on a routine basis myself,” Mattie said languidly as she felt tension dissolve throughout her body. “So relaxing.”
“I had a hunch you'd enjoy it. You've been under an unusually high level of stress yourself, lately. Hugh gave me a full report on what you went through on Purgatory. I was absolutely shocked. Poor Mr. Cormier.”
“I have to tell you, it certainly made me wonder if there wasn't some truth to the old legend surrounding that sword, Aunt Charlotte.”
“You mean that bit about ‘Death to all who dare claim the blade until it's been taken up by the avenger and cleansed in the blood of the betrayer’? Typical medieval nonsense. All first-class ancient swords like Valor have legends and curses attached to them. Part of what makes them interesting. No, I'm afraid Mr. Cormier's problem was a combination of the usual, bad luck and bad timing.”
“It was bad, all right,” Mattie agreed with a small shiver of memory.
“Y
ou needn't have stumbled into the middle of it, you know. Why on earth didn't you stop at St. Gabriel, the way you were supposed to? You could have avoided that nasty little scene on Purgatory altogether. Hugh would never have walked into that sort of thing with you. He has an instinct for trouble.”
“You know why I changed my reservations.”
Charlotte sighed. “So much for my attempt at playing matchmaker. Still, on the whole, I didn't do too badly, did I? Hugh tells me you're engaged.”
“Don't look so satisfied, Aunt Charlotte. I don't think I'd go quite so far as to call our present arrangement an engagement.”
“That's what Hugh's calling it, so that's what I'll call it.”
“I see. You two took a vote and I've been outvoted, is that it?”
“Now, don't go getting tense again, Mattie. You'll undo all the good work these nice women are accomplishing. When do you think you'll move out to St. Gabriel?”
Mattie stiffened and her masseuse responded by digging her thumbs into a pressure point. “Ouch. I'm not moving out to St. Gabriel. Didn't Hugh explain that part? He's decided to move to Seattle.”
“Not permanently.”
Mattie smiled grimly. “Then you'll have to ask him when he's leaving.”
“Mattie, you know you can't keep him here long. Hugh Abbott will never be happy in the city. He's like a wild animal. He'll never become completely civilized, no matter how much sushi and white wine he consumes. All his hopes and dreams are waiting for him back on his island.”
“I know. I'm waiting for him to admit that and go back to St. Gabriel.”
“He won't go back without you.”
“Then he'll wait until hell freezes over.”
“You're tensing up again, ma'am,” the masseuse said, sounding annoyed.