LITMIR.BIZ

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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

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