Scarlet Women

‘It’s Goodwood soon, the races. Papa has a box there. Perhaps you could join us, Mrs Carter?’ asked Alberto with genuine warmth in his clear blue eyes. They didn’t snap with authority, those eyes, like his father’s did. Alberto was a much easier character to contend with.

‘I expect Mrs Carter has business to attend to,’ said his Aunt Gina coolly, mopping her lips with a napkin as if she had just tasted something bitter.

For fuck’s sake, thought Annie, half amused and half appalled at the idea of this New York Mafia clan arriving in the English countryside among the unsuspecting natives.

‘You’re right, she does have business to attend to,’ said Annie.

But Alberto was still smiling. ‘Can’t we persuade you?’ he asked.

Annie looked at Constantine, who was watching her with a slight smile. His eyes said having fun? And she knew that this was a test, this lunch, this close-up and personal brush against his family. Constantine was assessing her, seeing if she’d sink or swim in this tankful of piranhas. No, he certainly wasn’t anything like gentle young Alberto. But she liked that. She liked a man with an edge to him.

‘Come on,’ said Constantine. The meal was at an end. He stood up, saving her from the necessity of answering yes or no to Alberto’s question. ‘Let’s take our drinks out on to the terrace.’

Annie escaped outside with relief. She found his family hard to take. He had a huge amount of personal baggage, and while Constantine had had plenty of time to confront his demons over losing his wife, it was all still new and raw for Annie. They both knew it. She’d blurted Max’s name at the most disastrous time. And yet…he still wanted to pursue this.

After a little while she found herself standing alone at the edge of the terrace, close by the fountain; she glanced down and felt a swaying flicker of vertigo, the result of a little too much drink, when she usually didn’t drink at all. A strong hand grasped her upper arm. She turned her head and smiled, expecting Constantine.

‘Careful,’ said Lucco in her ear, shocking her.

His face was inches from hers.

Her throat closed.

He glanced down and then his cold dark eyes rose again, very slowly, glinting with malicious amusement as they met and held hers. ‘It’s a long way down, Mrs Carter.’

She hadn’t even heard him approach.

How long had he been standing there, right behind her? One good hard shove and she would have been over the edge, gone. Out of his hair, out of his father’s life. She didn’t doubt that was what he wanted. So why hadn’t he taken the opportunity to get rid of her?

Or—and this was a scary thought, really scary—did he want to toy with her, drag out the pleasure, make her suffer?

Annie took a breath, gulped hard. He saw the movement, and his smile grew deeper, the sadist in him satisfied by the flash of fear he had seen in her eyes, by that convulsive movement in her throat.

‘I’m not afraid of heights,’ said Annie, having to force the words out. He really had given her a fright, even though she’d rather die than admit it.

Lucco’s hand released her arm. ‘No?’ He looked at her curiously, then looked over the side of the huge building again. His eyes rose, played with hers. ‘Good. I hope you enjoyed the lunch, Mrs Carter?’

Annie nodded. For a moment she couldn’t speak. He’d scared her. She hated that. The little fucker had really scared her.

‘And are you enjoying your visit to England?’ Annie forced out, taking a gulp of her wine, trying to get her hammering pulse back under control.

‘Absolutely.’ His eyes were intent on hers. ‘I only arrived last night, you know.’

‘Did you?’ Meaning…what? She stared into his eyes, refused to look away.

‘In fact,’ said Lucco, ‘I believe you were in a meeting with my father when I arrived. It was quite late…for a meeting.’

Annie stared into his eyes. Christ, he was a rotten little turd. And he was making her uneasy. She thought of her desperation last night, of the black, horrible place she had found herself inhabiting, of how she had flown into Constantine’s arms, seeking solace, seeking comfort. Not thinking of anything except her need to get past this feeling of being frozen and alone. She thought of Constantine’s surprise at her sudden seduction of him, how the cars had still been moving outside, how she had been semi-nude before he pulled the blind down…

Oh shit.

Had Lucco seen?

Had Lucco been out there, at the front of the house, arriving, and had he seen into Constantine’s study, seen her undressed and in his father’s arms?

Oh God. Was that what his eyes were telling her? She steeled herself to blank out the thought. It made her feel sick to her stomach. ‘Nice flight?’ she asked instead.

He paused. Letting her dangle, just for a moment. ‘Yes, very pleasant. In the Gulfstream.’

‘Oh yes, Daddy’s jet,’ said Annie, hating this whole conversation, hating being anywhere near Lucco, and intending to goad.

She saw a flicker of appreciation in Lucco’s eyes.

Touche, Mrs Carter. ‘He has two,’ said Lucco.

‘That’s nice. For all of you,’ smiled Annie cattily.

‘We’re his family, Mrs Carter. Everything my father has, he shares with us.’

And this time his meaning was clear. Annie’s smile dropped in an instant.

‘Not quite everything,’ she said, and pushed roughly past him to rejoin Constantine.

After that, the lunch party was swiftly concluded and Annie was grateful for that. She made her excuses, said she had a business meeting to get to, it had been wonderful to meet them all again (like Lucco, she could lie politely when it was called for) and she looked forward to seeing them all again soon.

Yeah, shortly after hell’s frozen over, she thought.

‘I’ll walk you down to the lobby,’ said Constantine, getting in the lift with her.

‘Christ,’ sighed Annie, shutting her eyes and leaning against the back wall of the lift.

She opened them and saw that Constantine was grinning.

‘It ain’t funny. Your family are a nightmare. Cara hates me. Gina hates me. Lucco especially hates me.’

‘They’re having trouble with you because they’d have trouble with anyone after Maria,’ said Constantine.

‘They’ve had five years to get used to the idea.’

‘Yeah, but I’ve never actually dated anyone since then.’

Annie folded her arms over her body and stared at him in surprise. ‘What, nobody?’

‘Just sexual encounters. Nothing more.’

Annie bit her lip and looked at him. ‘What was she like? Maria?’

Constantine hesitated a moment.

Then he said: ‘Gentle. Maternal. Nothing like you.’

That hurt. Dug straight into all Annie’s insecurities. She thought of Layla, having to stay with Ruthie across town because it could be too dangerous for her to stay with her mother.

‘But she looked like me. Lucco told me so.’

‘She did. A little. But not that much.’

The lift glided on down. ‘So this is more? You and me? Not just sex?’

‘Don’t you think it is?’

The possibility frightened her. Made her feel treacherous, as if she was betraying Max, which was ridiculous, she wasn’t: but it was all so soon, too soon.

‘This is dangerous,’ she said.

‘Yeah, it is,’ he said, and closed the distance between them and kissed her, hard.

‘I know you’re prepared to gamble on this,’ said Annie, wrenching her mouth free. ‘Listen to me, will you? This could cause trouble. All Max’s boys…they won’t like it. This is…inappropriate.’

And I’m still not sure I can fully trust you, she thought.

But his mouth was on hers again, stopping the argument. Once again Annie pulled free.

‘I’ve got a legitimate business up and running,’ she said quickly, before he could kiss her again. ‘It’s legit, do