at an obtuse child. You cannot break me, without breaking Christy
Marine and yourself. You are in it, Chantelle, much much deeper than I
am. You have everything every penny, this house, that emerald on your
finger, the future of your brat - all of it is riding on Golden Dawn..
No. She closed her eyes very tightly, and there was no colour in her
cheeks now.
Yes. I'm afraid it's yes/ he contradicted. I didn't plan it that way.
I saw a profit of 200 millions in it, but we have been caught up in
circumstances, I'm afraid./ They were both silent, and Chantelle swayed
slightly as the full enormity of it overwhelmed her.
If you whistle up your hounds now, if you call in your axemen, there
will be plenty for them to work on/ he laughed again, buckets of dung
for us all to wallow in.
And my backers will line up to cancel out, Golden Dawn will never run
down her ways - she is not fully covered, as I explained to you.
It all hangs on a single thread, Chantelle. If the launching of Golden
Dawn is delayed now, delayed by a month - no, by a week even, it will
all come tumbling down., I'm going to be sick/ she whispered thickly.
No, you are not. He stood up and crossed quickly to her. Coldly he
slapped her face, two hard open-handed back and forth blows, that
snapped her head from side to side, leaving the livid marks of his
fingers on her pale cheeks. it was the first time ever that a man had
struck her, but she could not find the indignation to protest. She
merely stared at him.
Pull yourself together/ he snarled at her, and gripped her shoulders
fiercely, shaking her as he went on. Listen to me. I have told you the
worst that can happen Now, I will tell you the best. If we stand
together now, if you obey me implicitly, without question, I will pull
off one of the greatest financial coups of the century for you. All it
needs is one successful voyage by Golden Dawn and we are home free - a
single voyage, a few short weeks, and I will have doubled your fortune.
She was staring at him, sickened and shaken to the core of her
existence. I have signed an agreement of charter with Orient Amex, that
will pull us out from under a single voyage, and the day Golden Dawn
anchors in Galveston roads and sends in her tank pods to discharge, I
will have a dozen buyers for her. He stepped back, and straightened the
lapels of his jacket. They are going to remember my name. In future
when they talk of tankers, they are going to talk of Duncan Alexander. I
hate you/ she said softly. I truly hate you.
'That is not important. He waved it away. When it is over, I can
afford to walk away - and you can afford to let me go. But not a moment
before. How much will you make from this, if it succeeds? she asked,
and she was recovering, her voice firmer.
A great deal. A very great deal of money - but my real reward will be
in reputation and achievement. After this, I will be a man who can
write his own ticket. For once, you will be able to stand comparison
with Nicholas Berg. Is that it? She saw she had scored immediately,
and she pressed harder, trying to wound and destroy.
But you and I both know it is not true. Golden Dawn was Nicholas
