In spite of her viciousness, Desmond felt pity for Trin. He didn’t have much use for the poor-little-rich-girl attitude, but she was a strange, damaged creature, at once hard and harsh and yet vulnerable enough to share her most awful thoughts with a stranger. He’d been abused by his stepfather, a man who beat him mercilessly and forbade him to cry out. Trin’s abuse hadn’t been physical, but the scars her own father had marked her with were evident.
“That’s a terrible thing for a man to do to his daughter.” Desmond’s voice was quiet.
She studied the diamond on her index finger again. “My father loved horses, you know. He didn’t like people at all, but he treated them like horses, in a way.”
“What about you?”
She frowned. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Do you treat humans like horses? Do you have someone put down after he’s served his purpose?”
“You think I had Gary murdered?” For the first time in their meeting, Desmond had managed to surprise her.
“I’m wondering if you hired a man named Max to do it.”
She shook her head emphatically. “No. I was going to get rid of Gary, that’s true, but I was going to make sure he had nothing left first. I wanted him to suffer.”
“You were going to divorce him? Wouldn’t you have to pay him a lot of money to do that?”
“Oh, no, not at all. Zachary—my father’s lawyer—drew up the perfect prenuptial agreement. Gary would be left with nothing. The only downside was that I was going to have to get married again.”
“Trinity!”
Both Desmond and Trin turned their heads. Costa was standing in the doorway, but he hadn’t spoken. Just behind him was a tall, lean man in a dark gray pinstripe suit. His skin was lightly tanned, as if he’d recently sat on a beach in St. Tropez. He was in his late fifties or early sixties, with graying hair cut close to his skull. What Desmond noticed most were his eyes. They were a magnetic blue, steady and sharp. They were the eyes of a man who didn’t miss a trick.
“Hello, Zachary,” Trin said. “What do you want?”
“I was concerned about you, after that scare you had on the weekend. Why didn’t you call me, or at least tell me what hotel you holed up at?”
“I didn’t need anything from you,” Trin said. “It’s not as if I enjoy having you around.”
“Dear Trinity, you are always so amusing.” Those calculating blue eyes took in Desmond’s face. “I believe my timing is impeccable. My name is Zachary Amberson. I’m counsel to the Lytton-Jones family.”
“Desmond Edgars.” He got to his feet and extended his hand.
Amberson came forward and shook it. His grasp was cold but firm. “In future, if you have any desire to contact Miss Lytton-Jones, you may do so through me.”
“He wasn’t bothering me, Zachary,” Trin said. “We were having a most entertaining chat.”
“Actually, I’ve been hoping to talk to you,” Desmond said. “I went to your office yesterday, but your secretary wouldn’t let me upstairs. I wanted to find out what you were working on with my sister, Dominique Monaghan, and why she went to meet you at your office a couple of times.”
“Your sister?” Amberson’s mouth had a slight twist to it, as if sweetness had just turned sour.
“You were in touch with that woman? You were talking to her behind my back?” Trinity’s fury exploded, as if it were too great to house in her tiny frame.
Amberson didn’t lose his calm, assured manner. “I didn’t get in touch with her, Trinity.”
Trin pointed her cigarette at Desmond. “Are you saying he’s lying?”
Amberson sighed. “She got in touch with me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Trinity screeched, her voice losing all pretense of refinement.
“It hardly seemed important.”
“You work for me. You report to me. You don’t get to decide what’s important and what isn’t. You’re fired, Zachary!”
Amberson’s mouth pulled back slightly in wry amusement. “Trinity, dear, please be reasonable. You know you can’t fire me.”
“Get out, traitor!”
“You know your father left things in my hands, because he knew you didn’t want the responsibility of running a company.”
“My father left things in your hands because he was a sexist, chauvinist pig!” Trinity threw a ceramic box at him, but her pitch went wide and it hit the floor and shattered. “Get out!”
“You won’t throw so many pieces of bric-a-brac at me if I stop giving you the money to replace them.” Zachary’s unflappability was remarkable. He sounded like a parent lecturing a naughty child.
“I hate you! Leave me alone!” Trin rushed out of the room. From down the hallway, there was the sound of a door slamming.
“Please go after her. Make sure she doesn’t hurt herself,” Amberson said to Costa. In a motion so slick Desmond almost missed it, Amberson’s hand went from his pocket to Costa’s palm.
“Thank you, sir, but I—” Costa was distinctly uncomfortable.
“Talk her down,” Amberson said. “Otherwise, she might fling herself out a window.”
“Yes, sir.” Costa looked over at Desmond. “Will you be okay letting yourself out?”
“No problem.”
“Thank you again. For everything,” he said to Desmond before vanishing down the hall, following in Trin’s shaky footsteps.
Amberson turned to Desmond. The expression on his face could have turned water to ice in a heartbeat. “I’d be more than pleased to speak with you at my office. In fact, I think we should make an appointment to talk. But if you turn up here again, the police will arrest you for trespassing.”
“I just heard her fire you. You’re not exactly in a position to make threats.”
“Trinity has always been a dramatic child.” Amberson’s tone was carelessly dismissive. “Of course, your sister was like that, too.”
“My sister was nothing like that woman.”
“Trinity is an original,” Amberson allowed. “I don’t mean to suggest Dominique was over the top. But they’re both spoiled
