Parisian Affair (37 page)

'Hmmm,' she breathed, letting Todd pull her
robe off her shoulders. She helped by unknotting the belt about her
waist, exposing her nakedness to him.

Todd sat up on the bed and quickly pulled
down his shorts, then took them off. He was already fully aroused
and fell upon her immediately, his hands everywhere at once.
Allegra hummed with delight. She hadn't realized that her own
carnal desires had been so urgent, but now she gave herself up to
the moment entirely. As his tongue laved her nipples, they hardened
instantly, and she reached down, taking his swollen cock in her
hand, stroking it gently, savoring its throbbing power.

Todd groaned at her touch before sitting up
on his knees. With his hands on her breasts, he slid down, his
tongue moving down her torso slowly, slowly, to her thighs, where
he licked and kissed her with abandon. Allegra arched up to meet
him, and almost cried out when his tongue found her golden mound.
He teased her mercilessly until he finally entered her, licking and
kissing her, making her writhe in ecstasy.

'Ah . . . ah . . . Todd,' she moaned with
pleasure. 'Ahhh . . .'

He could wait no longer to mount her. He
reared up, then lowered himself atop her, entering her slowly, his
mouth on her lips, kissing her deeply, with an all-consuming
passion. Allegra spread her legs wide as his manhood filled her.
Then she drew them back together again, relishing the feel of him
inside her.

They began moving together, slowly at first,
in a controlled rhythm, trying to draw out the sensual pleasure,
but as desire overcame them, they began moving with lusty abandon
until Allegra felt the contractions of orgasm begin.

'Ahhhh . . . Todd,' she cried out. 'Ohhhh ...
I'm ... I'm ...'

Her orgasm propelled Todd to his own, and in
a final thrust, he moaned his pleasure as his seed burst forth. His
body momentarily stiffened, and then, as if all his tensions were
diffused, every muscle in his powerful body relaxed, seemed to melt
into her, and he began gasping for breath even as he peppered her
face with kisses.

'I... love ... you, Ally,' he rasped. 'Oh ...
God ... how I love you.'

She hugged him to her tightly, her hands on
his back. 'I . . . love you . .. too . . . Todd,' she said in a
breathy voice.

He rolled to his side, taking her with him,
still inside her and reluctant to withdraw. Looking into her eyes,
he swept her hair back, away from her face, and kissed her lips
tenderly.

The telephone rang, and they both tensed.
Then Todd laughed, and Allegra smiled. 'I'd better get that,' he
said.

She nodded.

'It had better be Marina Koutsoukou,' he
said. 'To take me away from you.'

Paul rummaged in the laundry hamper but
didn't feel the familiar cold metal of the gun. Alarmed, he picked
up the hamper and dumped its contents onto the tile bathroom
floor.

'
Merde!
' he swore. He kicked at the
heap of dirty laundry with his shoe. 'That bitch! She's stolen my
pistol.'

Sylvie rushed down the hallway from the
living room and looked into the bathroom. 'What the hell?'

'I had a pistol hidden in here,' Paul said,
his face stricken.

'What?' Sylvie exclaimed. 'It's not
there?'

Paul shook his head. 'I can't believe
this.'

Sylvie stepped into the bathroom and put a
hand on his shoulder. 'Calm down,' she said. 'We don't have to have
it.'

Paul looked as if he was going to cry. 'Do
you know how hard it was to get hold of that?' he said. 'I had to
steal it from my grandfather. He— he ... if he knew . . .'

Sylvie patted his hair with a hand. 'Don't
worry, Paul. Your grandfather will never know. He's practically
senile.'

'I have to be so careful,' Paul said,
whining. 'He gave me this building. What if he changes his mind?
What if he decides to take it away again?'

'That's not going to happen,' Sylvie replied.
'Come on. Come back to the living room with me.' She took his hand
and tugged at it. Paul left the bathroom reluctantly, as if
remaining there would somehow make the pistol reappear.

When they were seated on the sofa, Sylvie
fished around in her shoulder bag for the little Altoids tin and
extracted it with a benevolent smile. She opened it and used a
fingernail to scoop up a tiny amount. 'Here,' she said. 'Have
another little snort, Paul.'

He shook his head. 'I don't know. . . .' He
was still high from earlier and angry that he'd been unable to make
love to Sylvie. The drug had made an erection impossible. And now,
the loss of the pistol.

'Come on,' she cajoled. 'What's the harm?
There's plenty more in your apartment downstairs. I'm going to have
some. You have to keep up with me, don't you?'

Paul looked at her, and Sylvie smiled.
'Okay,' he said. He took her hand and carefully lowered a nostril
to her fingernail, snorting all of the powder. 'Hmmm,' he said,
leaning back against the sofa.

Sylvie scooped up some more in her fingernail
and quickly snorted it, then replaced the Altoids tin in her bag,
this time putting it in the little zippered compartment. When she
was done, she reached over and gave Paul a kiss on his cheek.
'Cheer up,' she said. 'It's not the end of the world. We don't want
the gun anyway. We don't want to get into that kind of
trouble.'

'God, no!' Paul exclaimed. 'I had no
intention of using it, Sylvie. It's just that. . . well, I had it
in case, you know.'

'In case of what?' she asked.

'You know. If some dealer got out of hand or
. . . who knows?'

'Oh, don't be paranoid,' she said. 'Nothing's
going to happen to you or me.' She lit a cigarette from the pack on
the coffee table. 'I think we should go get your car and take a
ride over to the Ritz.'

'Fine,' he said, 'but what are we going to do
there?'

'Wait for Allegra and her stupid boyfriend to
come out,' Sylvie said, blowing smoke through her nostrils.

'I guess so,' Paul said. 'But what're we
going to do if we do see them?'

'I have an idea,' Sylvie replied, 'that will
get the ring into our hands.'

When Todd picked up the telephone, he wasn't
prepared for the reality of Marina Koutsoukou's deep and throaty
voice. The gravelly rumble was tempered by years of liquor and
cigarettes, and one of her most valuable assets.

'Meester Hall,' she said.

'Yes,' he replied. 'Thank you very much for
getting back to me, Ms. Koutsoukou.'

'My houseman, Dimitri, said that you'd spoken
to Arianna Stephanides,' she said.

'Yes,' he replied. 'I'm doing an article on
important jewels, emeralds specifically, and I've been trying to
track down the emerald brooch that her father gave you. I'm
following several pieces of jewelry. Where they came from and where
they are now.'

He heard a deep and heavy sigh, as if her
entire body's strength had been summoned up to heave its
world-weary and sad sound. 'I don't have the brooch, Meester
Hall.'

'Oh, I see,' Todd said. 'Do you mind my
asking what's happened to it?'

'I sold it,' she said. 'After Costas died, I
needed some cash to tide me over until I could get work. He helped
me spend the money I'd made from films, then left me with
nothing.'

'How awful,' Todd said.

'It wasn't awful at all,' she replied
dramatically. 'I expected exactly what I got.
Nothing
. We
had a marvelous time together while he was alive, and that's what
counted, Meester Hall. Who cares about emeralds? It is the heart
that matters. But that is not why you asked me to call, is it?'

'Well, no,' he said truthfully. 'I'm trying
to trace the emerald, as I told you.'

'Christie's,' she said. 'It was auctioned off
at Christie's. In Geneva.' She burst into laughter. 'As 'property
of a lady.' Is that not ridiculous?'

'Was that for anonymity?' he asked.

'Of course,' she said. 'I couldn't let the
studios know I needed money, or they would've tried to take
advantage of me.'

She paused, and Todd heard her take a long
draw on a cigarette. 'That sexy young Arab bought it,' she went on,
her voice suddenly full of innuendo. 'The one Costas bought it
from. I don't remember his name. He came from that famous jewelry
store in Paris. He came down to Mykonos. To the house in Aghios
Stephanos. If I hadn't been so happy with Costas, I would've
seduced him then and there.' She erupted into deep, throaty
laughter, then coughed. 'Anyway, he bought it back. What he's done
with it, I don't know.'

'I really appreciate your getting back to
me,' Todd said. 'You've been very helpful.'

'I don't know how I've been helpful,' she
replied, 'but you're welcome, Meester Hall.'

She hung up.

'Tell me what she said,' Allegra asked
anxiously, although she was certain she already knew pretty much
what Marina Koutsoukou had said.

Todd smiled. 'Exactly what we expected. She
sold the brooch at Christie's in Geneva, and 'that sexy Arab'
bought it.'

'She said that?'

Todd nodded and told her about the
conversation.

'I bet we're going to hear the same story
from the general and the guy in New York,' Allegra said.

'Probably,' Todd agreed. 'If they've been
forced to sell.'

'Through death or divorce or . . . whatever,'
Allegra added. She looked at him thoughtfully. 'I hope we can get
hold of the general. He might be difficult, living in exile in
Miami. There might be old enemies after him. The man in New York.
What's his name?'

Todd looked down at the list. 'Hutchison.
William Cosgrove Hutchison.'

'He shouldn't be too much of a problem,'
Allegra said. 'At least I don't think so.'

'Want me to try him?' Todd asked.

'I'll do it,' she said. 'We can take turns.
How's that?'

'Fine,' he said. 'As long as we get some
dinner in a while. Are you getting hungry?'

'Yes. I think sex makes me hungry.'

'We don't want you getting too fat,' he
joked, 'so maybe we better cut it out. What do you think?'

'I think I would be a very happy fat woman,'
she said.

Todd leaned over and kissed her.

'Wait,' she said, drawing away and laughing.
'Let me try Hutchison in New York. Okay?'

'Sure,' Todd said amiably. 'I think I'll jump
in the shower.'

'Maybe I'll join you,' she said, 'if this
doesn't take too long.'

'This might be a very long shower.'

'Go,' she said, laughing.

He kissed her cheek and hopped off the bed.
Allegra picked up the list. She dialed the switchboard and gave the
operator the instructions.

After a while, the operator came back on. 'I
have three W. C. or William C. Hutchisons,' she said in barely
accented English. 'Do you know the address?'

'No,' Allegra replied. 'Can you tell me what
addresses you have?'

'One on West Ninety-fifth Street,' she
replied. 'One on Moore Street, and one on Park Avenue.'

'Let's try the Park Avenue number,' Allegra
said, considering it the most likely bet.

Moments later, the telephone was picked up.
'Hello,' a man said. His voice was that of an elderly man, and a
cranky-sounding one at that.

'Mr. Hutchison?' she asked.

'Who's asking?' he replied unpleasantly.

'My name is Allegra Sheridan, and I'm doing
an article on important emeralds. Tracing their history, that sort
of thing, and I wondered if you're the same William C. Hutchison
who bought a pair of emerald earrings at Jules Levant in Paris
several years ago.'

'Damn right I did,' he said with a chuckle,
'and it was one of the worst mistakes I ever made.'

'Oh?' Allegra replied. He sounded as if he'd
had a few drinks. She didn't know whether that boded ill, but she
ventured on. 'May I ask why?'

'She was the sweetest little thing you ever
met,' he said, 'until I put a cap on her spending. She turned into
a virago. Never saw anything like it. Those earrings were a wedding
present, and when we got divorced they went with her. No prenup.
Stupidest thing I ever did.'

'How awful,' Allegra sympathized. 'Do you
know if she still has them?'

He chuckled again. 'I know that she most
certainly does not. She may've taken me for a ride, but she didn't
take me to the cleaners. Sold the damn things because she needed
money. Which gives me no end of pleasure to contemplate. Sotheby's
in Monte Carlo. 'Property of a lady.' Should've said 'property of a
tramp,' if you ask me.'

'I see,' Allegra said. 'You don't happen to
know who bought them, do you?'

'I most certainly do,' he replied. 'The same
slick operator who sold me the damn things. Owns a jewelry store in
Paris. You know the one. . . ?'

'Jules Levant?'

'That's it,' he said. 'Convinced Lily they
were extremely important, matched the way they were, and talked
about how they were probably from Cleopatra's mines in Egypt.'

'That's fascinating,' she said.

'Umpteen thousands of dollars fascinating,'
he replied. 'So, you're doing an article?' he asked, almost as if
it were an afterthought. 'What's this for?'

'I'm a student,' Allegra replied. 'It's a
school paper.'

'Well, young lady, I'd appreciate it if you
refrained from using my name,' he said.

'Yes, sir,' she replied. 'I promise I won't
do that. Thank you very much, Mr. Hutchison. It's been a pleasure
to talk to you.'

'Good-bye,' he said.

The phone went dead in her ear, and Allegra
hung up. 'Three down and one to go,' she said aloud. From the open
bathroom door, she could hear the roar of the shower, and she
thought about Todd and the soothing hot water sluicing down his
naked body.

She got to her feet and padded to the
bathroom on bare feet. Slipping out of the bathrobe, she suddenly
felt a slick, wet hand reach out and grasp the back of her
neck.