The A-List Collection. Victoria Fox

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СКАЧАТЬ and fixed herself a martini, plopping in a plump green olive–she had to keep eating, after all. Her appetite had vanished these past few weeks and she was finding it hard to sleep.

      Jessica tapped on the glass with a long fingernail. ‘Yes, please,’ she called, indicating the drink. Wearily Elisabeth drew out two more glasses.

      After the wedding was set she had tried to cool things, really she had, but Alberto refused to take no for an answer. So had begun a dedicated wooing campaign: flowers and jewels delivered to the house, increasingly hard to conceal; champagne cocktails beneath the stars; a candlelit dinner he had prepared himself. ‘In Sicily, we cook with love,’ he had said that night in the grounds of his mansion, feeding her dark chocolate, and then, after they had swum in silver moonlight, tasting zinging papaya sorbet from that most private of places … She shuddered now when she thought of And all of it, every moment, behind Robert’s back.

       Get your shit together, Elisabeth. You’re about to be married.

      Back on the terrace, Jessica had moved on from bridal gowns and was busily flicking through a glossy celebrity magazine, looking for pictures of herself. She snatched the martini.

      ‘Thanks,’ said Christie, taking hers.

      ‘I went to that party,’ Jessica moaned, tapping the page, ‘and I had the best dress.’ She scanned the photos. ‘They haven’t even got my picture!’

      Suddenly Christie piped up. ‘He’s so my crush right now,’ she drawled, nodding to a picture of Nate Reid looking moody outside a London bar.

      Elisabeth frowned. Nate Reid, who in some shots looked barely a day over eighteen, was possibly the furthest from Frank Bernstein she could possibly think of. She couldn’t imagine her father was ticking all the same boxes.

      ‘He’s an asshole,’ said Elisabeth. ‘Didn’t you hear about his girlfriend dumping him? Turns out he’s a cheat with bells on.’ You can talk! her inner voice screamed.

      Jessica shrugged. ‘He likes to party,’ she said smugly. ‘And I’d know. Because I’ve had him.’

      ‘Really?’ Christie’s eyes bugged.

      ‘He’s wild, all right,’ she said, giving Christie a meaningful look. ‘Very wild.’

      ‘Like how?’

      ‘Must we listen to this?’ Elisabeth interjected. ‘Get over him, Jessica.’

      Jessica bristled. ‘I’m not hung up.’

      ‘Sure you are.’

      ‘Am not.’

      ‘Are.’

      ‘Fuck you.’

      ‘Besides, I read he’s hot for Kate diLaurentis. Met her at Danielle Roman’s wedding.’

      Jessica laughed nastily. ‘Come on. Isn’t she a granny by now?’

      ‘Hardly: she’s only a few years older than me.’

      ‘Exactly.’

      ‘You’re a bitch.’

      ‘Takes one to know one.’ Jessica pouted. ‘Anyway, she’s married.’

      ‘Who?’

      ‘Kate diLaurentis.’

      ‘That hardly makes a difference.’

      Christie Carmen looked between the two like she was watching a tennis match.

      ‘Will it make a difference to you?’ Jessica’s eyes flashed.

      Elisabeth’s mouth went dry. ‘What’s that supposed to mean? ‘

      ‘Just asking.’

      ‘Well, don’t. It was a stupid question.’

      ‘Oh, sorry. I guess it can’t freak you out that for every single night for the rest of your life you’ll be sleeping with the same fucking person.’

      ‘Not if that person’s Robert,’ said Elisabeth loyally.

      ‘Bullshit.’

      ‘Get your own life, Jessica.’

      Elisabeth’s cell shrilled, ending the spat. She checked the display under the table. It was Alberto. Despite herself, her heart leapt.

      ‘Hello?’ she said as neutrally as she could, slipping back inside. Once she’d closed the patio doors, she hissed, ‘What are you doing calling me? I could have been with Robert!’

      ‘Are you?’

      ‘No.’

      ‘Then we can talk.’

      She put a hand to her head. ‘Bellini, we’ve talked before. Please. We must put a stop to this. Don’t make it harder than it already is—’

      ‘Somebody knows, bellissima!

      Elisabeth was quiet. ‘What did you say?’

      ‘Somebody knows.’

      Horror clawed at her. ‘Knows what?’ she squeaked.

      ‘Perhaps we were not so careful as we thought …’

      ‘Bellini,’ she snapped, ‘what exactly are you saying?’

      ‘I have received two anonymous phone calls,’ he explained. ‘I could not identify the voice, I think it had been–how do you say … modified. It could have been a woman or a man. Both calls came direct to me at the Desert Jewel.’

      ‘Well?’ Elisabeth demanded, panicking. ‘What did they say?’ She turned to check her sister and Christie were still safely outside.

      ‘My darling, it is not good news for us. You must tell St Louis–or they will.’

      Elisabeth clamped her hand to her mouth. What? Was it someone she knew?

      ‘I can’t,’ she spluttered. ‘Just pay them, anything it takes.’

      ‘Bellissima, I regret that it is not so easy. I cannot capitulate, I have a reputation to consider.’

      ‘And my reputation?’ Elisabeth squeezed her eyes shut. ‘Have you thought about that?’

      ‘Of course, my darling, I am always thinking of you.’

      She was shaking. They had been careful–so who the hell was it? More important, just how much had they witnessed? She felt violated.

      ‘How could this have happened?’ she whispered.

      ‘My darling, we could never have hidden our true intentions for ever. My desire СКАЧАТЬ