Diamonds are Forever

Diamonds are Forever By Rebecca Winters



CHAPTER ONE




“HOW much is still owing to satisfy the creditors, Mr. Watkins?”

The aging attorney raised his shaggy gray eyebrows. “Twelve million dollars.”

Alex’s heart plunged to her feet. That much? She felt the worst about Manny Horowitz. Her mother’s agent was a good man who’d done everything to further her mother’s career all these years. He was still owed close to two million dollars. How could her mother not have paid him?

“I’ve auctioned everything except my mother’s diamonds. They’ve got to cover it!”

Jewelry was the only thing remaining for Alex to sell from her mother’s Beverly Hills estate. If she couldn’t meet the sum, then the tabloids would hear of it and trash her mother’s blighted reputation even more than they’d already done by exploiting her drug-related death. Some whispered that after her last divorce from Sheik Mustafah Tahar, Kathryn Carlisle had committed suicide, but nothing had been proved conclusively. Alex didn’t know what to believe.

“I’m sorry it’s come to this, Alexandra. A child shouldn’t have to be burdened this way.”

“Thank you, Mr. Watkins, but I haven’t been a child for a long time.” In fact, she’d been through so much already as the unwanted offspring of the world’s most beautiful woman that Alex felt ancient, but she supposed twenty-five still sounded young to him.

Since her mother’s death on Christmas morning five months ago, Mr. Watkins had bent over backward to help her find ways to pay off her mother’s debts. Furthermore he’d never once said a bad thing about her narcissistic parent who’d been married and divorced six times. As Kathryn’s attorney from the beginning of her career, he’d had more right than anyone to castigate the willful, infamous Hollywood phenomenon of the film world who’d disregarded his advice and had run through money like she did alcohol.

At only forty-five years of age Kathryn Carlisle had come to a shockingly ugly end with nothing to show for it but a history of disastrous marriages, explosive divorces, unpaid bills despite her millions and a criminally neglected child from her first failed union  . “Where would you suggest I go to get the best price for her jewelry?”

“The House of Savoy on Fifth Avenue in New York.”

“My father gave her a diamond bracelet from there on their wedding night.”

It was the only thing Alex remembered her mother telling her about her father. As Alex had matured she had learned for herself that her father, Oleg Grigory, had owned one of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas. When she’d grown old enough to understand, she’d heard rumors that he had ties to the Russian mafia, but no one knew for sure. His early death in an airplane crash was purported to be the work of a rivaling mob family.

Mr. Watkins nodded. “Without question they’re the world’s expert on diamonds.”

Alex frowned because it meant paying for an airline ticket to the East Coast. She would have to juggle her bills to come up with the money, but Alex’s mother had claimed she possessed a king’s ransom in diamonds from her various husbands. If that were true, maybe all her debts would be satisfied. Only then could Alex bury the past and try to get on with her life.

“I’ll call you as soon as I’ve booked my flight.”

“Good. Considering we’re talking about your mother’s collection, I feel they’re the one company that will be totally honest in their dealings with you. And … discreet.”

Ah, yes. Discreet. For this last, financial transaction, maybe it would be best to get away from Hollywood and the scandalmongers.

Oh, Mother … Why couldn’t you have been a mother instead of Kathryn Carlisle?

Mr. Watkins eyed her with compassion. “Once you know your flight, I’ll make the appointment for you with the head jeweler. Drop by the bank on your way to the airport, and I’ll arrange for them to hand over the jewel case from her strongbox.”

With a nod she left his office and headed for her job as a makeup artist on a studio lot. She would have to talk to her boss, Michelle, about getting some time off. The older woman who headed the department had always been good to her and would certainly let Alex take the time she needed, but this was the last favor she intended to ask of her.

A few days later Alex stepped out of a New York taxi into unseasonable June heat and humidity. She checked her watch. It was 10:20 a.m. That gave her ten more minutes. Alex imagined the temperature would soar by the afternoon and congratulated Mr. Watkins for getting her an early appointment at the House of Savoy.

After gripping her purse and the small overnight bag carrying the jewel case and one change of clothes, she started across the intersection toward the exclusive store. To her surprise there was a long line of people that went from its entrance and down the street to disappear around the next corner. Security was everywhere. She approached one of the women standing there reading a book.

“Excuse me?” The other woman looked up, not particularly happy to be bothered. “What’s going on here? Why is there such a long line?”

“The Ligurian diamond is on display today,” she answered in her heavy Bronx accent before going back to her reading as if that explained everything.

Ligurian?

“I see. Thank you.”

Alex had never heard of the Ligurian diamond. She had heard of the Hope diamond and she’d seen pictures of the British crown jewels, but that was about the extent of her knowledge of the world’s most famous diamonds. As far as she was concerned, diamonds were synonymous with tragedy. The diamonds from six husbands hadn’t brought her mother any happiness. To Alex’s mind they represented the ashes of the mother-and-daughter relationship that had never happened.

She approached one of the security men at the door. When she explained that she had an appointment with the head jeweler, Mr. Defore, the guard made a quick phone call. A minute later he allowed her inside, where another guard escorted her through an installed metal detector. When the beep went off, she was asked to open her purse and overnight bag.

Once he was satisfied with the search, she was free to continue with the other guard. As they moved to the elevator past yet some other guards keeping a close eye on the orderly crowd, she glimpsed a dark, teardrop-shaped diamond on display in the center of the elegant foyer. The dazzling stone had been placed on a brilliantly lit pedestal within a closed glass casing, but she was too far away to determine its color. No doubt a diamond of such a large size would easily pay her mother’s debt.

The guard joined her inside the elevator. “Mr. Defore’s office is on the second floor,” he explained, drawing her attention back to the business at hand. When the doors opened again, he guided her to a suite on the right of the bank of elevators. A secretary in the reception area told her to sit down. Five minutes later Alex was shown in to Mr. Defore’s private office.

“Come in, Ms. Grigory. You’re right on time. I hope you had a pleasant flight from Los Angeles.”

“I did. Thank you, Mr. Defore.”

“Sit down over here.” The short, pleasant-faced jeweler held out a chair for her, then went around the desk to his swivel chair to face her. “Coffee? Tea? A soft drink?”

“No, nothing, thank you. When Mr. Watkins made this appointment for me, we didn’t realize you would have a diamond exhibit going on.”


He smiled. “Once a year the Principality of Castelmare allows it to be on loan here for a day.”

Castelmare, ruled by King Vittorio, had replaced Monaco as the favorite vacation destination on the Riviera for the world’s most rich and famous. The former city-state was located on the Mediterranean where her mother had spent part of her sixth honeymoon.

“Do you know if the diamond will be on display in California?” Alex’s boss would definitely want to see it.

Mr. Defore cocked his head. “It won’t. Except for a yearly one-day showing in New York, London, Rio, Sydney, Hong Kong and Dubai, it stays in Castelmare.”

Alex reflected that Rodeo Drive in L.A. was supposed to have some of the most exclusive shops in North America, but apparently not exclusive enough. “The House of Savoy is very fortunate to have been chosen to display it.”

His brows lifted. “I don’t think you understand, Ms. Grigory. The present day king of Castelmare is the latest Italian sovereign of the ancient House of Savoy. This store is the monarchy’s property.”

She blinked. “I had no idea.”

No wonder her mother had been so ecstatic over the diamond bracelet her father had purchased here. Alex was indebted to Mr. Watkins for directing her to this store, where she would almost certainly get the highest price for the stones to pay off her mother’s horrendous debts.

“Shall I take a look at your mother’s collection now?”

His question jerked Alex from her torturous thoughts. “Of course.” She opened the overnight bag and placed the jewel case on his desk, positioning it for Mr. Defore to open it himself. Mr. Defore nodded and got to work. Alex had never seen all her mother’s jewelry before, only heard about it. She’d put the inventory from the bank in her purse. It listed seven diamond rings, four pairs of diamond earrings, one diamond bracelet, three diamond necklaces and two diamond ankle bracelets.

When he finally lifted the lid, the sight of the diamonds would have impressed anyone except Alex, who simply mourned the life she’d never had with her mother. Money had been her mother’s God, and Alex wondered how one person could have been so devoid of motherly instinct and could have demonstrated so much bad judgment in everything she did?

Mr. Defore said nothing as he began his examination. Because the House of Savoy dealt regularly with the world’s wealthiest people, Alex realized her mother’s possessions would cause no great stir. Certainly this jeweler had little interest in Kathryn Carlisle and simply got to work studying each piece with his loupe.

He finally lifted his head. Wearing a distinct frown he said, “Who told you these were diamonds?”

Caught off guard by the stunning question, Alex took a moment before she could recover enough to say, “Mr. Watkins, my mother’s attorney.”

The man shook his head. “These are imitations.”

What?

Alex reeled, causing her to clutch the edge of the desk for support. “But that’s impossible!”

“Perhaps she kept the real jewels in another case?”

She swallowed hard. There was no other case. “This was the only one in the bank vault,” she whispered.

“I’m very sorry, Ms. Grigory. We deal with mined diamonds, not fabrications. I’m sure there are shops in Los Angeles that would pay twenty, maybe twenty-five hundred dollars for this assortment of costume jewelry.”

“Surely you’re joking!” During the flight she’d begun to get excited about being able to pay off the last of the huge debt whose weight felt like a stone sitting in the pit of her stomach.

“I assure you I’m not. Scientists have synthesized and created diamond alternatives meant to trick the naked eye. However, when you view them through the loupe, they haven’t the fire or brilliance.”

She shot out of the chair, too shaken to sit still. “Is there someone else I could speak to about this?”

A dull red entered his cheeks. “I’m the head jeweler here.”

His rigid attitude prompted her to reach in the case and lift out a piece. “My father, Oleg Grigory, my mother’s first husband, bought this diamond bracelet here twenty-six years ago. He was the owner of one of the largest casinos in Las Vegas. Surely you have a record of it somewhere, if only so I can verify it.”

“One moment,” he said quietly. “I’ll research it on the computer.”

She was shaking so hard from shock, she could hardly sit still while she waited.

“Yes. He did make such a purchase.” His gaze switched to hers. “But I’m afraid it was not that bracelet. Perhaps your mother sold her jewels without telling anyone and had these replicas made to wear?”

Is that what you did, Mother? Did you sell your diamonds along with your soul? The possibility pierced her like a fiery metal shaft.

Taking a deep breath, she said, “I’d still like another opinion. Who’s the manager of the House of Savoy?”

“Mr. Bernard Hudson. I’m afraid he’s occupied with the showing of the Ligurian diamond.”

“Will you tell him these are Kathryn Carlisle’s jewels? When he learns of this situation, I know he’ll want to talk to me.” By now Alex was desperate enough to use her mother’s name for leverage.

“You don’t understand. He won’t be available until tomorrow. I’ll ask my secretary to make you an appointment with him.”

“Surely he can spare five minutes? I’ll wait.”

“Impossible. Now I’m very sorry, Ms. Grigory, but I’m afraid you’ll have to leave my office because I have other clients to see.” He shut the case, leaving her holding the bracelet.

Her body tautened. “Look, Mr. Defore … I flew all the way from Los Angeles for this appointment. My return flight is booked for tonight.” Her hand tightened around the bracelet, which according to him was nothing more than paste. “By tomorrow I’ll be back on the West Coast. I have to talk to him!”

She fought not to lose her temper in front of this composed jeweler, who was probably paid an indecent sum of money not to lose his.

“At the risk of repeating myself, Ms. Grigory, there’s nothing more I can do for you at present.”

“Your manager has to eat lunch sometime today. Since he’s on the premises, I can’t believe he wouldn’t take out a moment to see me.”

“I’m sorry.” The jeweler was implacable.

“What kind of a man are you?” she cried out in torment. “You can at least call him on the phone. Tell him who I am. Inform him this is a matter of life and death!” Without hesitation she grabbed the phone on his desk and held the receiver in front of him.

Maybe it was the fact that her five-foot-nine height gave her the advantage over him, or possibly it was the narrowing of her eyelids with their slightly tilted shape. Whatever the explanation, he finally took the receiver from her, but then hung it up.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw his hand move to press a button on his console. He was probably summoning security. So be it. Alex had come to New York on a mission.

Alex’s mother had once accused her of being incredibly stubborn like her father. She’d been born Alexandra Carlisle Grigory. The one picture she had of her father showed him to be a tall man who’d died when Alex was just nine months old. Like her mother’s death, the police still hadn’t determined if his was accidental or staged to look like one.


The few people who knew she was Kathryn Carlisle’s only offspring remarked that she must have inherited her father’s genes. Michelle had once told her, “Your father gave you great bones, and your eyes are exactly the same gray as Greta Garbo’s—you could be her double!” Nevertheless, Alex and her mother had been as different as apples and bananas.

Kathryn had been of medium height, and curvy. On or off the set, the platinum-blond bombshell had been the ultimate drama queen.

Alex on the other hand had unruly dark blond hair with nothing remarkable about her looks, even though Manny, like Michelle, had also insisted there was a similarity between her and Garbo. Alex had laughed off both their comments. They might think she looked like a film star, but Alex preferred to work behind the scenes where she transformed other people who acted in front of the camera.

Selfishly neglected by her mother and tragically deprived of the father she never knew, Alex had learned to function on her own from an early age. She had no extended family, but did have a few close friends that she could rely on. However, no one understood the extent of her grief, or her shame!. …

The pitiful legacy from both her parents had left a burning stain on Alex’s soul. Now the questions surrounding her mother’s death had left new scars on Alex, whose conception, according to her mother, had been a mistake from the beginning.

Kathryn Carlisle had been a film-star idol. She had been like a brilliant comet who had swept in and out of her daughter’s existence once every millennium for only brief moments without an atom of motherly love. Alex had been raised by a trail of nannies from the age of three weeks old, and there’d been no anchor in her life except for Betty, the nanny who had taken a liking to her and who had introduced her to Michelle, head of the makeup department at one of the film studios.

When Alex had been set adrift physically and financially by her mother when she turned eighteen, Betty had been instrumental in getting her her first job in the makeup department. Alex had started off just helping out at first, but then over the years she had continued to work there while she attended college and after.

Michelle had said she was a fast learner with a natural talent. In time she paid a salary that allowed Alex to get a modest apartment and take care of herself. After her apprenticeship, Michelle had asked Alex to stay on. Lately she had hinted that she planned to give Alex more responsibility and a raise.

Alex was grateful, of course, and she’d never want to hurt Michelle’s feelings, but she’d always had a dream of doing something else. Tragically it seemed out of reach now that she was saddled with her mother’s debts and needed to find a fast way to pay for them.

Surely Mr. Defore had made a mistake, or the bank hadn’t realized there were two jewel cases in the vault. One way or another Alex would straighten things out. It would be too excruciatingly painful to go home without the money.

She simply couldn’t do it.

While the thirty-four-year-old crown prince of Castelmare sat in the security room of the House of Savoy chatting quietly with Carlo, one of his bodyguards, other local security guards manned the monitors of the twenty-four-hour surveillance cameras. They’d been strategically placed around the store to watch for anything out of the ordinary.

This stop in New York represented the last leg of a long trip that had taken Lucca around the world on business for his country. Unfortunately, he had no more excuses to stay away from Castelmare. The dreaded reunion   with his parents was coming and inevitable. When he returned home this time, there’d be no escape from certain matters that would change his life forever.

Suddenly his attention was caught by the American woman he could see in the monitor. She was obviously upset, and he found himself listening intently. It seemed there was a situation developing in Defore’s office.

Lucca’s ears picked up the word Grigory, a name associated with the old Russian aristocracy. Curious, he turned to one of the computers and logged into several Web sites including the store’s archives.

When he found what he wanted to know, he moved closer to the monitor with its black-and-white screen. That’s when he heard another exchange that gave him pause. The woman battling with the head jeweler was Kathryn Carlisle’s daughter?

He was stunned because he didn’t know the Hollywood film idol even had children—he could see no physical resemblance.

Like all hot-blooded Italian males, Lucca appreciated a beautiful woman. He’d seen one of the star’s films several years ago during a flight to Asia. The tempestuous actress, whose life had come to a tragic end like all too many American A-list celebrities, did have exceptional looks with her come-hither blue eyes and champagne-blond hair. Yet it appeared the only thing she’d passed on to her offspring was her legendary, impossible temperament. Like mother, like daughter.

Defore didn’t make mistakes. For that exact reason Lucca had appointed him to be head jeweler three years ago. Naturally he couldn’t help but be fascinated by the woman’s refusal to take Defore at his word. Evidently she was as spoiled as her mother and even more naive.

How could her daughter not have known the troubled star with her uncontrollable hunger for money would have run through her own finances a long time ago and had hocked her jewels as a last resort?

When the security alarm sounded, one of the guards said he’d take care of the problem and started for the door, but Lucca moved his six-foot-three frame out of the chair and reached it ahead of him.

“I’ll deal with it.” As he left the room with Carlo, he nodded to his other bodyguard standing outside the door. The three of them walked down the hall to Defore’s office.

“Wait for me and don’t let anyone else in,” he told them both before opening the door. Once inside, he told the wide-eyed secretary she could take a long lunch, then he entered Defore’s office.

The jeweler took one look at Lucca and was so shocked to see him rather than one of the security guards, he was struck dumb. Lucca had never had reason to interfere with Defore while he was working with a client, but then, he’d never been this intrigued before.

“I’ll take over,” he murmured, freeing a worried-looking Defore so he could leave. Lucca gave a barely perceptible shake of his head, warning the jeweler not to give him away.

“Yes, yes. Of course.”

Lucca shut the door behind him before turning to face the flushed woman whose tall, willowy figure hadn’t been noticeable from watching the screen. “Signorina Grigory?” He extended his hand.

After a slight hesitation she held on in a firm grip before releasing it. “I’m embarrassed Mr. Defore had to call in security, but all I wanted was to speak to Mr. Hudson for a minute,” sounded a tearful voice she didn’t try to hide.

He in turn didn’t bother to correct her faulty assumption that he was part of the security team. In fact, he was glad of it, since it didn’t happen very often that he wasn’t recognized. The photos and lies perpetuated in the tabloids about Castelmare’s playboy prince made anonymity virtually impossible no matter the continent where he traveled to do business for the crown.

Right now he was fascinated by her slightly windblown, dark blond hair and her lack of self-awareness. To his surprise there was nothing fake about her. Somehow he hadn’t expected Kathryn Carlisle’s daughter to be her total opposite in every way.


She was dressed in a draped, smoky-blue blouse tucked into pleated beige pants, putting him in mind of a 1940s style. Only a woman of grace with long elegant legs, soft curves and square shoulders could get away with it.

This close he could see shadows beneath her pewter-gray eyes with their sweeping dark lashes. Lines caused by suffering bracketed her wide, voluptuous mouth, one of the few physical traits she’d inherited from her infamous mother.

The other familiar trait was less definable. She had a certain breathlessness bequeathed to her by her mother who’d exhibited that same quality on the screen. In person it created an air of urgency Lucca found exceptionally distracting.

“You said this was a matter of life and death?”

She tossed her head back nervously. “Yes,” she blurted, “b-but I didn’t realize our whole conversation had been captured on camera,” she stammered. “Evidently you heard every word of it.”

He shrugged. “A necessary precaution in this business.” She eventually nodded. “Why don’t we both sit down.”

“Thank you.” She returned to the chair opposite the desk. “I didn’t mean to take you away from your duties when you have the responsibility of helping keep an eye on the Ligurian diamond display.”

Lucca hadn’t expected her to be this polite. Now that she was in control he found her low, husky voice incredibly attractive.

“It’s under heavy guard. I’m not worried.” He noticed she was still torturing the bracelet in her hand. “May I see it, please? Everyone hired by the House of Savoy is trained to recognize a mined diamond from a fake.” Which was true.

As she handed it to him, their fingers brushed. Strange that he would be so aware of her he could still feel the sensation while he examined the stones beneath the loupe.

After a moment he said, “I’m afraid Mr. Defore was right. This bracelet is pure imitation. Dare I say not even a good one?”

The second he saw her face lose color, he moved to the corner of the room where he switched off the camera and the audio so they would have complete privacy.

“But my fath—”

“Your father did purchase a bracelet exactly like this years ago. I checked the records. It was valued at $500,000.00 back then and would probably be worth several million today.”

Her expressive face crumpled. Alex knew that her mother had always kept certain secrets from her daughter. Yet this one had been quite a secret, since the whole collection would have brought her a nice sum of money if the stones had been genuine diamonds.

“I’m sorry, signorina.” After the sensational headlines built up in the tabloids concerning her mother’s lifestyle, he suspected the star hadn’t been in control of her spending and had been forced to sell off her diamonds upon running into dire straits. It was a story that came out of Hollywood and circulated throughout Europe all too often.

He heard a despairing cry before a shadow crossed over her features. Then she buried her face in her hands. The sound of it found its way to his gut.

“Do you know if her jewelry was ever insured?”

A minute passed. Eventually she regained her composure and lifted her head. Her creamy complexion had gone splotchy again. “If it was, her attorney didn’t know about it.”

“I realize this news has come as a blow.”

“A blow?” Her cry resonated in the room. “You have no idea—I must find a way to pay off her debts. I’d planned on this money. It was my last resort,” her voice throbbed.

“Do you have a husband who would help out?”

“No.” She looked away. “After my mother’s track record, I have no interest in marriage,” came the bitter response.

“I see.” One could hardly blame her. “What about a lover?”

Her hands gripped the arms of the chair in what looked like a death grip. “Even if I did have one and he had the funds, I would never ask that of him.”

Unaccountably moved by her vehement declaration he said, “Do you have any siblings?”

Her eyes closed for a second. “No. I’m her only child.”

An only child so well hidden Lucca hadn’t known of it. “Did she leave the diamonds to you in her will?” If Signorina Grigory had relied on this jewelry as her only hope of money after her mother’s death, it would explain her shock.

“No,” came the wooden reply. “She didn’t make a will.”

Lucca rubbed the back of his neck absently. Kathryn Carlisle with all her doomed marriages to wealthy men hadn’t had the foresight to provide for her daughter? He wasn’t able to comprehend it. “Why?”

“Why?” she repeated, staring at him through dull eyes. “That’s like asking why she didn’t abort when she found out she was pregnant with me. I came into her world unplanned and unwanted. She never publicly acknowledged me. Most of the time she forgot I was alive. It’s all right. I learned life’s lessons early, but I must admit I’m devastated about this.”

She held up the bracelet he’d given back to her. “The money from her diamonds was supposed to pay what was left owing to salvage her reputation. I wanted the slate wiped clean so the creditors would go away once and for all. It’s bad enough having to live with the terrible things people say about her, however true.

“I guess I hoped that if her bills got paid, it would be the one thing the world couldn’t castigate her for. Her agent has every right to be paid what’s owing him. I’m sick about it, that’s all.”

He inhaled heavily. “How much did she leave owing?”

“Twelve million dollars.”

Not exactly small change. “What about your father? I realize they’ve been divorced for a long time, but would he consider covering part of it, if only for your sake?” The Grigory family would still have hidden resources.

“No,” she answered without hesitation.

“Does he know about your situation?”

One graceful eyebrow lifted sardonically. “If he does, it’s too late. He died before I was a year old. In fact, three of her husbands are dead. I have no idea what’s happened to the other three.”

Hearing the bald facts about the six-times-divorced actress made him wish he hadn’t brought up the subject.

“Have you no extended family? Grandparents on your mother’s side perhaps?” Lucca’s world was filled with both.

“No. Mother was an orphan.”

He rubbed his lower lip with his thumb. “Is there no property left to sell?”

She smiled, but it didn’t reach her expressive eyes. “None. Except for the footage of her films, which I don’t own, there’s nothing left to prove she ever inhabited this world. The police lieutenant who investigated her death still hasn’t ruled out suicide.

“No matter how estranged my mother and I were from day one, I didn’t want to believe she was capable of taking her own life.” After a silence she whispered, “Now I’m certain she did.”

The break in her voice found a spot in Lucca’s psyche that haunted him.

In the next instant she put the bracelet inside the jewelry case and shut it. “Will you please ask Mr. Defore to dispose of this and everything in it? I don’t want to see it again and know I can rely on him for his discretion.”

Before he could countenance it, she shoved it toward him. “Thank you for being so decent about this. You could’ve had me arrested. Please tell Mr. Defore I’m sorry for having a breakdown in front of him. He was very civilized and should be given a raise for his composure.”


“I’ll convey the message.”

“I appreciate it. Though I hate to admit it, the dark side of the Carlisle in me comes out from time to time. The truth is, for good or evil I am part Carlisle. No matter how much I’d like to, I can’t run away from my destiny.”

Her words shook Lucca to the foundations. He felt like someone had just walked over his grave.

Tears dripped down her cheeks, but she didn’t seem to be aware of it. “Do you know I’ve been sitting here calculating how long it will take me to pay back her debt so that I can restore some good to the Carlisle name?” She made a little sound of despair. “I don’t know what the House of Savoy pays its security guards, but if I can eke out $500.00 a month—which is all I can afford on my present salary, it will only take me 2,000 years to wipe out the debt.”

Her pain-filled laugh bordered on hysteria, but considering her fierce disappointment, he could well understand the display of raw emotion.

She jumped up from the chair and closed her overnight bag. “I’m the world’s biggest fool not to know these jewels were as fake as the life she led. Forgive me for venting in front of you like this—I’ve probably said too much already.” Before he could countenance it, her regal-like strides had taken her halfway across the room, leaving a trail of peach scent behind.

“Come back and sit down, Signorina Grigory. I’m not through with you.” He knew his voice had sounded peremptory just now, but it was an acquired trait he couldn’t seem to help any more than he could stop breathing.

She whirled around white-faced. “So, you are going to have me charged with unruly conduct. My mistake.”

Lucca stared at her for a long moment. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” his voice grated. The sadness she’d encountered in her life made him want to shield her from any more. “You haven’t done anything wrong. What I would like to do is talk to you further about your situation.”

Even from the distance separating them he could see her body tauten. “Why? It’s no one else’s business but mine. If you were hoping for an autographed photo of my mother, I’m afraid I don’t have one and never did.”

How tragic her first assumption was all tangled up with Kathryn Carlisle’s effect on men. He got to his feet. “What I have on my mind has nothing to do with your mother. Since I was willing to listen to you, I would hope you would grant me the same courtesy.”

There was a fight going on inside of her. He’d appealed to her sense of fair play while he waited for her capitulation. “I have a solution to your problem,” he said to add weight.

She let out an incredulous laugh. “You have a solution. Does that mean you can arrange for me to win the lottery?”

“In a manner of speaking,” he came back. His response managed to erase the mocking expression from her features. “However, I’d prefer it if we were seated to discuss it. Shall we start over again?”

Caught on the horns of a dilemma, she didn’t advance or retreat. She needed help. He intended to give it to her.

“Before we go any further, let me introduce myself. My name is Lucca Umberto Schiaparelli Vittorio V.”