Can't Get Enough (24 page)

USH-HOUR TRAFFIC WAS horrible, and it was a full hour after leaving Noah’s place before Barbara pulled up in front of Veronique’s mansion. The butler opened the front door, took Barbara’s fox coat, then escorted her to a sitting room that Barbara had never been in before. As with all the other rooms in Veronique’s home, this one was beautifully decorated with European antiques.

Barbara paced up and down the antique carpet in her Gucci boots and jeans as she waited for the baroness. In her mind she went over and over what she would say. Why had Veronique done this to her? Weren’t they friends?

All the questions flew out of her mind the minute she heard the door open.

“Barbara, how nice to see you,” Veronique said. She was wearing a stunning red silk suit and her face was all smiles, as if nothing had changed between them.

Barbara took a step toward her, and the baroness froze.

“What’s wrong, Barbara?” Veronique asked as she shut the door behind her.

“Bradford told me everything.”

Veronique raised a brow. “What exactly did he tell you?”

“He told me that you asked him to meet you at the Hilton that night when you knew I would be there with Noah.”

Veronique squared her shoulders, and her warm eyes hardened like steel.

“How could you, Veronique?” Barbara said. “I don’t understand. Bradford doesn’t either, really.”

“Hmm. I’m surprised Bradford didn’t figure it all out, as smart as he is.”

“He thinks you’re getting revenge for his calling in a loan he made to your husband five years ago.”

“I see.” Veronique gestured toward a chair in the salon. “Sit down, Barbara. There’s more to what happened back then than Bradford is admitting.”

As uneasy feeling came over Barbara, but she sat down in an armchair anyway as the baroness sat on a couch across from her.

Veronique smiled thinly. “I suspect that Bradford left out a few important details about that whole sorry episode.”

Barbara said nothing. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to like what was coming.

Veronique let out a deep breath. “Where should I begin? Bradford loaned Guy a large sum of money to expand his business, and we used the software company as collateral. Then the bottom fell out of the technology sector. When Guy realized that he wouldn’t be able to pay it back on time, he went to Bradford and asked for more time, not much, a few months if I remember correctly. But Bradford insisted that he be paid promptly.”

“He told me that.”

“Just a minute,” Veronique said firmly. “I’m sure he didn’t tell you
this
, nor did he expect that I would tell you, probably. There was a time when I was too ashamed to talk about it to anyone, and he knows that. But my bitterness over the years has slowly replaced my shame.”

Barbara squirmed.

“When it began to look like we were going to lose the company to Bradford, I went to his hotel suite and begged him to reconsider. I offered to do anything if he would give us just a little more time. Bradford had always flirted with me but nothing more than that, until that day.”

Veronique paused and Barbara caught her breath. Oh, God. She knew where this was going and she didn’t like it. She stood abruptly.

Veronique jumped up and glared at Barbara. “Wait,” she shouted. “Don’t you want to hear the rest? We made love right there in his room. Bradford got what he wanted all along—me.”

Veronique paused to regain control of her voice. It was the first time Barbara had ever heard her raise it.

“And then . . . then he double-crossed me,” Veronique said, her hands clenched into fists at her side. “He still insisted that we pay the loan back on time. I begged, Barbara, but he wouldn’t listen. He practically threw me out of his room. When Guy found out what I had done—”

“How did Guy find out?” Barbara asked, interrupting.

“To this day I don’t know. I certainly didn’t tell him. But it was the end of our marriage, and I blame Bradford for that. I’ll never forget that as long as I live.”

Barbara backed away at the venom she heard in Veronique’s tone. If this was true, Bradford had behaved horribly. Barbara knew Bradford, and it probably was true. A part of her wanted to apologize to Veronique, but another part of her blamed the baroness. It was a stupid thing she had done.

“So to pay Bradford back, you decided to try to ruin our marriage. You had this planned from the beginning, didn’t you? That’s why you moved to Silver Lake.”

Veronique shook her head. “Not exactly. I’ll admit that one of the reasons I came back to the States and moved here was to see what had happened to Bradford. But I had no idea you had this huge crush on Noah when I arrived. I just waited and watched and seized the opportunity when it came along. You have no idea how good I felt as I watched the drama unfold between you and Bradford at the Hilton that night.”

“You saw it? Where were you?”

“In a rented sedan parked across the street. You looked right through the window when you drove by, but I managed to duck before you saw me.”

Barbara swallowed. “How did . . . ?” She paused. “How did you get Noah involved?”

Veronique frowned deeply. “What do you mean? Noah wasn’t involved.”

Barbara stared at Veronique with wide eyes. “You mean Noah had no idea you were there that night or that . . .” Barbara paused to catch her breath.

“No, he had nothing to do with it.”

Barbara closed her eyes. Thank God, she had been totally wrong about that. She opened them again. “I still don’t understand you, though, Veronique. You have everything. Money, palatial houses, jewels, and a new husband who you say loves you dearly. All that couldn’t make you forget something that happened years ago?”

“Those things are nice, no question. But they don’t make up for losing your dignity.”

WHEN NOAH ANSWERED his door late that evening, he was holding Barbara’s note in his hand. He stepped aside quietly to let her pass. She entered and turned to face him as he shut the door behind her.

“I’m sorry,” she said, speaking barely above a whisper. “I . . . I acted rashly. I—”

“What the hell does all this mean?” he asked, his voice filled with bitterness as he interrupted her. He held the note up and began to read from it. “ ‘You have really hurt me with what you’ve done. I thought I could trust you. I thought you cared about me. Now I’m not so sure.’ ”

Noah looked up at her, his brown face filled with pain and confusion and more than a little anger.

Barbara glanced away and swallowed hard. “This morning I learned that Veronique set us up at the Hilton. She told Bradford we would be there and that was why he showed up. I thought you were involved. I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

A deep frown spread across Noah’s face. “Jesus. Why would Veronique do that?”

“It’s a long story. She was getting revenge for something Bradford did years ago.”

“And you thought I was in on it with her? I can’t believe you thought I’d do something as despicable as that. Isn’t it obvious how I feel about you?”

Barbara touched her forehead. “I thought so, but this is all so confusing. I didn’t know what to think until Veronique told me you had nothing to do with it.”

He shook his head sadly. “I thought you trusted me.”

“I do, but . . .”

“No, obviously you don’t.”

Barbara sighed deeply. “That’s more a reflection of me than you. I have a hard time trusting men. I’m sorry I doubted you.”

“Don’t keep apologizing.”

“OK, OK. I should go. I just wanted to stop by and clear things up about the note.”

“You also took your things.”

“I need some time to think, Noah.”

“I thought we had something special.” He shook his head. “How wrong I was.”

“It
was
special, Noah. But right now, I’m confused.”

“Are you going back to him?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that we moved so fast, you and I. Too fast for me.”

“Given how little trust you have in me, I can’t argue with that.”

Barbara placed her hand on the doorknob and looked back at him. “You meant a lot to me, Noah. You still do. You helped me regain confidence in myself as a woman.” She touched his arm. “I’ll never forget that.”

He smiled weakly and gently brushed her cheek. “Whatever it is you’re looking for, Barbara, I hope you find it. I mean that.”

Barbara left the house and walked slowly to her Benz. What
was
she looking for? she wondered as she climbed into the driver’s seat. Bradford showered her with expensive gifts. They lived in a beautiful home with every creature comfort imaginable. They were admired and respected in the community, largely because of Bradford. He was unable or unwilling to fulfill her needs emotionally, but for the longest time, Barbara had let herself believe that what she had with Bradford was all she needed.

Then she met Noah, and he had made her feel loved and desired. In a way, Noah reminded Barbara of Bradford when they were first married, before all of his success went to his head. Now she realized that all the things she had with Bradford simply weren’t enough.

JOLENE PACED THE floor of her lawyer’s office and listened to the end of the tape recording of her last conversation with Brian Watson.

“If you had followed my instructions instead of doing it yourself and
screwing up, we wouldn’t be in this jam. But someone might have seen you,
and it’s too risky for us to have contact now. Maybe in a few more months if
nothing—”

“A few more months shit. And fuck your fucking instructions. It got
done, didn’t it? Pay me now or I’m calling the cops on your ass.”

“Well, that would be pretty damn smart, since you’re the one who broke
in and and tried to rob Pearl’s place.”

“Rob? It wasn’t no robbery and you know it. You asked me to bust it up
and I did. Now I want my money or I’m going to the cops.”

“Go ahead then, stupid asshole. I’ll tell them I had nothing to do with
it. It was a botched robbery for all I know. Who do you think they’re going
to believe? An ex-con or me?”

Slam!

Brian was obviously not as dumb as he looked. Jolene couldn’t believe he had recorded their last phone conversations and that when the police closed in and arrested him he had handed over the tape.

“Bastard,” she muttered under her breath.

“Excuse me?” her lawyer said as he shut off the recorder.

Jolene stopped pacing and cleared her throat. “What does all of this mean, Monte?”

He cleared his throat and ran his hands through his gray hair. “It means they’ve got a pretty strong case against you, Jolene—what with this tape, the fact that Pearl Jackson is involved with Patrick, and that Brian once worked in your office. Not to mention that several people saw Brian run away from the salon and drive off.”

Jolene sighed and sat down in front of Monte. “Let me make sure I understand this. You want me to accept a plea bargain?” Jolene didn’t like the idea of admitting she was guilty. But the tapes were devastating. There was no way she could explain them away. “What will that mean in terms of a sentence? Will I have to go to jail?”

He shook his head. “Since this is your first offense, they’re offering a PBJ with restitution and—”

“What the hell is that, Monte?”

“Probation with payment of Pearl Jackson’s business losses. About three-quarters of a million.”

Jolene shot back up out of her seat. “That’s not acceptable. I am not giving that woman one dime of my money. I just won it! I would have to go back to work. Hell, no. You’re going to have to come up with something better than that.”

“Didn’t you win five million in the lottery last spring?”

“I had to pay taxes. And bills. I only have about a million and a half left.”

Monte’s eyes widened. “So you spent, like, a million dollars in less than a year?”

“It’s my damn money. I’ll do whatever the hell I want with it.”

He held his hands out. “All right, calm down, Jolene. Considering the evidence, I’d advise you to take the deal. This case is not winnable and you could end up doing time in jail. With the plea bargain, you’ll only have to do a hundred hours of community service, and maybe find a job after you pay Pearl.”

Jolene stared at him. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“I’m afraid this is the best I can do, Jolene. The evidence against you is—”

“Don’t keep saying that! What the hell am I paying you for?”

“I’m an attorney, Jolene, not a miracle worker.”

Jolene touched her forehead. “What are the charges again?”

“Destruction of property, vandalism, conspiracy, and accessory to a crime.”

Dammit. As horrible as this stinking plea bargain sounded, a trial could be a hundred times worse. It would drag things out and she might even be sentenced to prison. How would she ever face Juliette or her mother or anyone else for that matter? She slumped down. “I’ll take the plea bargain.”