CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Jessica Anderson glided through the party guests, sheathed in a red satin dress cut to the bone. Her hair was swept up revealing a swan’s neck and showing off the Cartier earrings hanging from her delicate lobes. In her customary business suits she turned heads; dressed as she was to night she made jaws drop…and she knew it. A slight smile played on her lips as she moved through the crowd, acknowledging greetings from old friends and casual business acquaintances alike with a well-practiced response and a flirtatious flash of her tourmaline eyes.
She reached the bar, set up in an alcove near a potted palm, and helped herself to a freshly poured glass of champagne. She looked over the top of the glass at the rest of the room. In the corner her father was deep in conversation with a young blonde actress whose Hollywood star was in ascendancy. She could tell from their body language that they would end up in bed together later. The idea that he took lovers younger than her was something she’d had to accept all her adult life. She still found it distasteful.
She looked away and her gaze alighted on a woman, draped languorously on the grand piano just to the side of the French doors, watching the handsome young pianist hired for the night, stroking the keys and looking adoringly up at her. Celeste Toland had that effect on men, especially young men. Not bad for an old broad, Jessica thought. Celeste Toland was sixty, the same age as Carl Anderson, but looked twenty years younger. Whether her looks were the result of good genes or cosmetic surgery Jessica couldn’t say for certain, but she had a pretty good idea. Either way she was a very attractive woman. Tall and slender with a mane of fiery red hair, expertly styled to hover on the line between sophistication and wild abandon. She wasn’t conventionally beautiful, her features were too strong for that, but her liquid gray eyes were enticing beacons of seduction and few men could resist their allure, as witnessed by the piano player who was a nudge away from salivating.
Her sexuality was a powerful and dangerous tool. She used it subtly but Jessica wasn’t deceived. She knew the other, darker side of the woman. Celeste Toland was a shrewd and cunning manipulator; a predator with a ruthless streak matched only by her own.
Carl Anderson noticed his daughter’s presence in the room, peeled away from the starlet and made his way across to Jessica, a smile spreading across his face. ‘Jessica, you look stunning,’ he said, and kissed her on the cheek.
Jessica looked from her father to the actress, who was helping herself to a glass of champagne from a passing waiter’s tray, trying desperately, and failing, to look demure.
‘That little slut has only one thing on her mind,’ Jessica said. ‘You can almost see the dollar signs flashing in her eyes.’
‘Yes I know, but she rather amuses me. You’ll indulge an old man in his weaknesses, won’t you?’
‘Don’t I always? But do they always have to be so young?’
Anderson shrugged and spread out his hands in a gesture of helplessness.
Jessica glanced across the room again at Celeste Toland, who was peeling herself off the piano, eyes flashing looking for fresh diversions. She caught Jessica’s gaze and smiled warmly.
Carl Anderson followed his daughter’s gaze. ‘I didn’t realize that bitch was here,’ he said. ‘Was she invited?’
Jessica shook her head. ‘She came with Paul Forrester; she’s his escort for the night. I believe she moves in the same social circle.’
‘Yes, she does. She moves through mine too; like a shark on the lookout for an easy meal. I’ve told Forrester before to tread very carefully with her. She’d have him for a snack before breakfast, if she had a mind to. He obviously thinks he knows better.’
She laid a hand on his arm. ‘Don’t worry about Forrester, Carl. He’s a big boy. I’m sure he can handle the Celeste Tolands of this world.’
Anderson looked doubtful. ‘I can’t handle the Celeste Tolands of this world, Jess, so I don’t hold out much hope for Forrester. He’s a very shrewd banker, but absolutely clueless when it comes to women. That’s why he’s been divorced three times.’
‘Perhaps he brought her here to try to impress you.’ Jessica raised her glass to a couple walking by, uncertain quite who they were.
‘Sleeping with an old whore like Celeste Toland is not the way to gain a whole lot of credit in my eyes. I can’t see why he’d want to impress me anyway.’
Jessica laughed, almost innocent in its delight. ‘Then you’re obviously unaware of the reputation you have around town. I think a lot of men find the stories of your sexual prowess quite intimidating.’
Anderson frowned. ‘I’m not sure I should be talking about my sexual prowess with my daughter,’ he said.
‘Does it make you uncomfortable?’ Jessica teased.
‘Frankly, yes, but then you have the same knack as your mother for putting me on the back foot. She was a remarkable woman as well.’
‘You miss her, don’t you?’ The smile had disappeared like ice in the sun.
‘Every day, Jess, every day.’ The regret in his voice was tangible. He usually hid it so well.
‘Go back to your starlet,’ she said. ‘Enjoy her.’
‘I go with your blessing,’ he said with a wry smile.
Jessica sipped her drink and stood watching Celeste. She had turned her attention back to the piano player who was coaxing a reflective ballad from the Steinway. Then the woman turned abruptly, locked eyes with Jessica, smiled and raised her champagne glass, mouthing the words, ‘Study. Five minutes.’
Jessica inclined her head to show she’d understood, drained her glass and picked up another. Without looking back she left the room.
She was sitting in a leather wing-backed chair, nonchalantly flicking through a copy of Vogue when Celeste entered the study. She watched the older woman close the door behind her and turn the key.
‘Is that really necessary?’ she said.
‘A precaution. I wouldn’t want us to be disturbed.’ Celeste Toland came towards her, moving like water flowing downhill. Jessica put down the magazine and stood to greet her. Celeste’s arms enwrapped her body and her lips pressed against Jessica’s in a crushing kiss. When the embrace ended she took Jessica’s face in her hands and looked deeply into her eyes. ‘It’s been too long,’ she said.
The kiss worked. Jessica’s body was tingling. Celeste Toland was one of the very few who could touch her on that level. ‘I agree,’ she said and kissed her again.
It seemed to last an age, lips bruising, tongues tangling, Celeste’s hands on her breasts, kneading, her pelvis thrusting against Jessica’s leg like a bitch in heat.
She peeled the dress from Jessica’s shoulders and let it drop to the floor, then reached behind her and eased down the zip of her own dress, shrugging herself out of it, letting it fall. She stood before her, naked, then brought her hand up between Jessica’s legs and stroked the small bush of pubic hair, savoring the moistness.
And then Celeste laid Jessica down on the rug in front of the fireplace and made love to her.
Jessica stepped into the pool of red silk lying on the floor and pulled it up over her body. ‘Zip me,’ she said.
‘Any news from the island?’ Celeste came up behind her and pulled up the zip, inclining her head and brushing Jessica’s naked shoulder with her lips, then she crossed to a small cabinet in the corner and poured herself a brandy. ‘Can I get you anything?’
‘Vodka. Straight.’ Jessica stood in front of the large mirror hanging above the fireplace and tidied her hair. ‘They’ve only been on Kulsay for a couple of hours. I’m waiting for Jane Talbot’s first report.’
‘What’s she like, the Talbot woman?’
‘Not your type,’ Jessica said. ‘Not my type either, for that matter. Takes life far too seriously.’
‘And you don’t?’
‘Life’s a game, Celeste; an adventure. It doesn’t pay to treat it too seriously. I learned that lesson a long time ago.’
‘As long as you’re not treating the Kulsay project as a game. The Sorority has a great deal invested in this project. As have I, personally. As your sponsor my reputation is indelibly linked with yours. You mess up and my credibility with the other women goes down the toilet.’
Jessica opened her purse and took out a compact and a silver tube of lipstick. Moving closer to the mirror she repaired her makeup. Celeste came up behind her with a glass half filled with vodka and set it down on the mantelpiece.
‘Thanks,’ Jessica said. ‘And you needn’t worry. Nor should they. No one’s invested more in this in terms of time and effort than me. Kulsay is one project that will be receiving my undivided attention.’
‘How do you think Carl will react when he realizes he’s been duped?’
‘I should imagine that he’ll be very disappointed in me. But by then it will be too late, far too late. For the moment though, he thinks he’s on top of things, acting as my safety net, and it’s better to let him think that way.’ Sliding the compact and lipstick back into her bag, she took the glass from the mantelpiece, filled her mouth with the spirit and let it swirl over her tongue. She gave a small shudder as she swallowed. She stared at Celeste’s reflection in the mirror. The woman was smiling at her, but the eyes were dead. A very dangerous woman, like the rest of the Sorority. ‘I’d better get back, before I’m missed,’ Jessica said.
‘I’ll be in touch soon,’ Celeste said, pecking her on the cheek and stroking the downy hairs at the nape of Jessica’s neck. ‘Very soon.’
Jessica tipped the glass and poured the rest of the vodka down her throat, gave a tight smile and let herself out of the study.