Dead Reckoning. Sandra K. Moore

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СКАЧАТЬ “Rome is so gorgeous. I’d love for you to see it.”

      Chris hesitated a beat. Natalie typically spoke her mind, no dancing around the subject. Did her avoidance of the question mean she couldn’t talk about it? Was she afraid of something?

      An old protective instinct flared in Chris. “Tell me more.”

      “It’s a place you’d have to see for yourself. In person.”

      Meaning Natalie wanted her to come to Rome?

      The silence was filled only by a rush, like holding a seashell to the ear. Natalie finally said, “This connection is crap. Let me call you another time.”

      The phone died. What the hell? Chris stared at the flashing numbers onscreen for a moment. The connection had been fine, so why had Natalie hung up on her? She put the phone down. With no caller ID, with no number to call, Chris couldn’t call her back.

      Her cell trilled again and Chris snatched it up. “Natalie?”

      “Yeah, it’s me. I had to switch phones, get outside.” Behind her voice, faint road noise: a car engine growling up a hill, tires hissing on wet pavement.

      “What’s going on?”

      “I guess I didn’t really know Jerome when I married him,” Natalie confessed, her voice now at normal volume. “You hear about men changing after they get married, and he’s one of them.”

      “Changing how?” Chris rose from her deck chair, too keyed up to sit.

      “He used to be proud of other men looking at me and making comments, but now…” Natalie sniffed. “At first it was just little things. We’d be at a friend’s party and he’d smart off to another man when the guy said something about how I looked. Just a compliment, nothing out of line. I told Jerome he was being silly. I married him because I wanted to be with him. Period. That would usually settle him down, but then after a while it didn’t.”

      “Why didn’t you tell me about this when it was happening?” Chris asked, trying not to sound accusing.

      “Because it’s a drag. I know you, Chris. You’d just worry about me and it wasn’t that bad.”

      “And now?”

      “It’s worse,” Natalie admitted, her voice quavering a little. “He got into a fight last month, nearly got arrested for punching out the party host. He’d been drinking, which never helps. Now we don’t go to any parties at all. A bunch of his friends who were traveling with us left last week and went off on their own trip.”

      “Is he treating you badly?” Chris paced to the railing, stared unseeing over the boatyard.

      “He won’t let me go anywhere without either him or one of his bodyguards. I have to take a bodyguard with me when I go shopping and the whole time the guy’s watching to make sure no one even looks at me the wrong way. I can’t even go pee without asking his permission.” Natalie sniffed again. “I used to think having a bodyguard would be fun. You know, a status thing. But it’s more like being in prison.”

      Chris scrubbed her face with her hand. Yes, Natalie would think having a bodyguard would be “a status thing.” She’d directly inherited their grandfather’s penchant for power, except now she was seeing firsthand what that kind of power, misused, could do.

      “Have you talked to him about it?” Chris asked. “Told him you don’t like having a guard?”

      “He won’t listen. I can’t get through to him.”

      Just like their grandfather. “What are your plans?” Chris asked.

      “We’re spending another three weeks or so in Europe, then flying to some private island one of his business associates owns.”

      “Private island? Where?”

      “I don’t know. Somewhere south of Florida. I don’t really care about it. Just a bunch of guys drinking and fishing.”

      “Visit me instead, then. It feels like forever since I’ve seen you. Let Jerome go to his buddy’s private island and you come here.”

      “I can’t. I mean, I want to, but Jerome…he has plans and we have to keep to his schedule. He’s doing a lot of business and I need to be with him. You know.”

      No, I don’t, Chris thought, annoyed with this man she’d only ever seen at a distance. Why did they have to get married in London? Without family present? Why would he care if Natalie saw her sister? “Can’t he give you a couple of days to see me? It’s not much time. And it’s not like it’s a horde of people. Just me.”

      “You don’t know Jerome very well.” Then the connection echo was so bad Chris heard her say, “Neither did I” twice.

      Chris suppressed a sharp retort. Yes, Natalie had acted, as usual, on impulse. Last year, it was the Jaguar. The year before that, the high-priced condo. In both cases, Chris had managed to get Natalie out of the deal during the three-day grace period. But buyer’s remorse wasn’t so easy to remedy when you suddenly realized you were married to the wrong man. And bitching Natalie out about it now wouldn’t help.

      “Listen,” she said instead, “why don’t you and Jerome stop here before going to the island?”

      “That’s not a good idea.” The strained note was back.

      “Why not?” When Natalie didn’t answer, Chris’s stomach felt heavy. “Why not?” she asked again.

      “I told him I wanted to see you and he…didn’t like it.”

      Chris took a deep breath. “What do you mean?”

      Silence.

      “Talk to me, Natalie.”

      After a moment, she said, “He…really…didn’t like it. Look, it’s nothing.”

      “Nat,” and Chris’s breath curled with dread as she forced herself to say the words, “is he hitting you?”

      “I—I should get off the phone.”

      Fighting down the rage threatening to boil up in her chest, Chris made an effort to speak calmly. “Listen to me. Are you listening?”

      “Y-yes.”

      “Is he hitting you?”

      Natalie’s indrawn breath shuddered over the line. “Just that once.”

      “Goddammit!”

      “It was just one time, Chris,” she cried, her voice high, rattled. “He didn’t mean it. And it’s not like he broke anything—”

      “There’s no excuse. None.” Chris gripped the mahogany railing so tightly her finger bones ached. “Do you want to come home?”

      “He’d never—”

      “I don’t care about him. I’m asking about you. Do you want to СКАЧАТЬ