Kingsley took another swig from the bottle of bourbon, coughed a little, and laid back on the chaise longue. He crossed his feet at the ankles and watched the light from the swimming pool dance across the ceiling. He had no idea why he still had the pool down here. No one ever swam in it. He kept the doors locked to prevent any of his inebriated houseguests from turning up facedown in it by accident. A bad sign when the only person who got anything out of the swimming pool was the pool boy. And even he wasn’t attractive enough for Kingsley to bother seducing.
But tonight he wanted to lie by the water while he drank. It was peaceful here. The pool wasn’t large or deep—ten by twenty feet across and four feet to the bottom. The f loor was Mediterranean tile, and red, yellow and gold murals of northern Italy covered the walls. The paintings reminded him of a little village in the south of France he and his family had gone to every August when he was a child. A village right on the Mediterranean. Beautiful place, restful. Water, hills, vineyards. A vintner’s wife had seduced him there when he was twentytwo and hiding out while he recovered from his first gunshot wound. He had nothing but fond memories of the place. Being near water soothed his soul. If he had a soul. Did he have one? Didn’t matter if he did or not. He and God weren’t on speaking terms right now. And that was fine. Kingsley didn’t mind. What did he and God have to talk about anyway? The only thing he wanted to ask God was why He’d called S?ren to the priesthood. Could God have played a sicker joke on him?
“Knock, knock?”
Kingsley sighed. Blaise’s gentle voice came from the door. He waved his arm tiredly at her, beckoning her in.
“He’s not here,” Kingsley said.
“I wasn’t looking for him, I promise,” Blaise said.
“Are you swimming?”
“And mess up my hair?” She tossed her honey-blond hair over her shoulder. “No, I’m checking on you.”
Blaise crawled up on the chaise longue next to him. Kingsley looked her up and down as she settled in next to him.
“You’ve outdone yourself with this ensemble,” he said. “You look like… What’s her name? That pretty blonde actress. The dead one with the hair. River? Ocean? Pool?”
“Veronica Lake. And that’s what I was going for. See?” She held up her leg to display her seamed stockings that disappeared under her pencil skirt. She had her hair coiffed in a forties peekaboo style.
“Why do you dress like this?” he asked. Every day she wore some new vintage outfit that put one in mind of old Hollywood.
“The world is sadly lacking in glamour. I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. And not all of us are as naturally gorgeous and eye-catching as you are, King,” she said, tapping the end of his nose. “Some of us have to work for it.”
“You like the attention. You’re the girl in the room who dresses like she forgot what decade she’s in.”
“I’m trying to forget what decade I’m in. The nineties need to shape up fast. You know what people are wearing now? On purpose? Flannel. I saw it on MTV.”
“I shudder.”
“Me, too. Awful. There is nothing glamorous about f lannel.”
“You don’t dress like this to be glamorous. You dress to be remembered.”
“So? What’s wrong with being memorable? Even if someone forgets my name, they still remember the girl in the seamed stockings.”
“Nothing’s wrong with being memorable. Except when someone’s trying to forget you.”
Blaise sighed and laid her head on his chest.
“I knew you were in a funk,” she said. “You always get like this when you drink.”
“I drink all the time.”
“You’re in a funk all the time. I thought it would get better when your friend turned up. Where is S?ren anyway?”
“I pissed him off. He left.”
“Well, un-piss him off. I like him.”
“The last thing we need is a priest hanging around this house.”
Blaise’s mouth fell open.
“He’s really a priest? That wasn’t a joke?”
“I wish.”
Blaise laughed so hard the chaise longue shook.
“I can’t believe I did kink with a priest. I can’t wait to tell—”
Faster than either of them expected, Kingsley rolled up, grabbed Blaise and put her f lat on her back underneath him. He grasped both her wrists and slammed them down by her head.
“King—”