The Secret Heiress (44 page)

“You never do!” he snapped. “Because you don’t think!” he added, pointing at his head with a finger. “I showed you the gossip column in the newspaper about how Nikoletta Papadaki hadn’t been seen out and about because of her new ‘love,’ ” he went on, enjoying his tirade, “and you’re so stupid that you actually think this man has changed her. What a complete idiot you are!”

“I only meant that—”

“You ‘only meant,’ ” he snarled. “You don’t know the first thing about this. Nothing will change her. It’s just more camouflage. Don’t you see? She hasn’t suddenly had a personality change. No! This is all PR. She’s trying to make herself and the company look good after the bad publicity they’ve been getting.”

Tears had welled up in Melanie’s eyes, and she fought to hold them back as she put on the coveralls she always wore.

Kees sat glaring at her, his fingers beating a steady tattoo on the tabletop. “If you’re going to cry, Melanie, then get your things and get out of here. And don’t come back. I don’t need some sniveling wimp in my way.”

When she didn’t immediately respond, his fury was rekindled. “I suspected from the beginning that you weren’t a true believer. You’re just a hanger-on, aren’t you?”

Melanie’s body shook as she cried, and she repeatedly wiped away the tears with the bottom of her T-shirt. Tossing her few possessions into a well-worn backpack, she could hardly wait to get out of the tiny, dark basement apartment.

“So you’re packing,” he said. “Well, good riddance. I don’t need you, and the group doesn’t need you. And, believe me, I’m going to tell them. I don’t think you can be trusted, and you know what happens to people like you who don’t really belong, don’t you?”

Melanie heaved the backpack on her shoulders and started toward the door.

“They end up floaters, Melanie. That’s what happens to them. And you don’t want that happening to you, do you?”

She shook her head.

“So you’ll keep your mouth shut, won’t you?”

“Yes,” she murmured.

Melanie went to the door and unlocked the three dead bolts up and down its length. She didn’t look back when she closed the door behind her.

Kees went to the door, locking it behind her. He didn’t have to worry about her keys, because he’d never given her a set. Returning to his chair, he picked up the pages of newspaper that he’d thrown down, and placed them on the table. He sat down and brooded, but not about Melanie. She was just another in a long line of acolytes who meant nothing to him.

It was Nikoletta Papadaki who bothered him. Part of PPHL’s latest publicity blitz was her seclusion with her new boyfriend. That meant she was staying out of the public eye, making herself a hard target. Since the night of the opening of the new PPHL headquarters, he’d hardly managed to get more than a glimpse of her, even though he’d trailed her almost constantly. Her security had been beefed up, and lately, she seldom left her penthouse atop the new building. When she did, he could detect no pattern in her movements.

Kees smiled.
Just another challenge,
he thought,
because Nikoletta Papadaki will not escape me.
He was certain that she couldn’t keep up this new facade much longer. Despite the publicity, she would be out and about. And he would be waiting for her.

He stood up and stretched. In the meantime, he had business to tend to. He would be leaving this basement apartment tonight, moving to another apartment much like it. He began to pack his belongings for the trip to Hell’s Kitchen. The apartment was a dump, but it was a mere three blocks from the penthouse in the sky where Nikoletta Papadaki lived. No one else in the New York cell of Mother Earth’s Children knew about it, and he’d been saving it for just this sort of occasion. A new countdown had begun. He could feel it in every fiber of his body.

She would be close by, and soon she would be
his.

W
eeks passed by, and Ariadne faced test after test, always proving herself capable of running PPHL and impersonating Nikoletta to the outside world. The publicity campaign that centered on PPHL’s new business image and Nikoletta Papadaki’s personal philanthropy was a great help, but it also created endless fodder for the gossip mills. NIKOLETTA PAPADAKI HAS RELIGIOUS CONVERSION, one tabloid touted, and the same variation on the theme was printed in story after story in various publications. Because Ariadne kept a low profile, the tabloids were forced to use file photographs, and they invariably juxtaposed pictures of Nikoletta in the briefest bikinis along with the articles about her conversion. Ariadne didn’t respond to any of them, but remained aloof and pretended no interest.

“Niki’s fallen under the spell of a Svengali” went the gist of the confidences exchanged among former friends and acquaintances after repeated calls weren’t taken and invitations were turned down. Ariadne quickly discovered that none of the so-called friends and acquaintances were persistent or seemed particularly concerned. Nikoletta was in truth close to no one. She had been surrounded by a host of rich partygoers like herself, and they lost interest when the parties stopped. The telephone quit ringing, and the invitations stopped arriving in the mail. Nikoletta was not especially missed.

The dawning reality of the superficial world in which her twin sister had lived deeply disturbed Ariadne, even though Adrian and the others had tried to prepare her for what to expect. “She won’t allow anyone to love her,” Adrian had told her. “No one. She doesn’t want anyone too close.”

“But I thought she had loads of friends,” Ariadne replied. “I’ve seen tons of video footage and pictures from parties all over the world.”

Adrian shook his head sadly. “Ariadne, you will quickly discover that her world is almost completely artificial. Those people are brought together because of their money, and they love publicity. Most of them are hungry for the photographers, no matter what they say.” He sighed. “It’s almost as if they didn’t exist unless they saw themselves written up in the gossip columns.”

That set Ariadne to thinking about the love her foster parents had given her, both in Greece and Connecticut. And now, with the love that she and Matt shared, she felt a keen compassion toward the sister she’d never known. What if the lack of love had made her the way she was? Maybe, Ariadne decided, she deserved another chance. The guilt she felt over keeping her sister locked away began to eat at her constantly, and she finally decided to broach the subject with Matt.

One Saturday night after making love, she chose to discuss it with him. “I know we’ve been over and over this,” she said, “but I can’t put my worries to rest. Nikoletta has been away for several months now, and from what the doctors at the clinic say she’s been an angel.”

“Of course she has, sweetheart,” Matt replied. “She’s hoping for a reprieve, so she’s on her best behavior.”

“Maybe. But could she keep up a front for such a long time? Don’t you think that she might have changed?”

Matt shook his head. “That’s one of the things I love about you,” he replied. “You’ll give anybody the benefit of the doubt. But I don’t think your sister has changed one iota.” He didn’t want to discuss the evil he had witnessed during his stint in the CIA, but he firmly believed that some people were born evil, and Nikoletta was one of them.

“She might have,” Ariadne said, “and I’ll never know unless I go see her for myself.”

“But how would you know?” Matt asked. “You don’t know her at all.”

“I realize that,” Ariadne responded, “but what if we made her some kind of offer?” Her fingers began to sketch her ideas as she spoke. “What if we put together a plan that would allow her to live in the outside world? Offered her a huge sum of money to keep quiet?”

Matt shook his head vigorously. “I don’t think it would ever work, Ariadne.”

“We’ll never know unless we try,” she replied.

“No.”

“I think I’ll talk to the advisers about it,” she said. “I’d like to see what they think.”

“If you say so.” Matt kissed her. “I myself certainly wouldn’t ask you not to, but I think you’re headed for a big disappointment.”

“Maybe,” she agreed, “but I’ll never know unless I try.”

 

Ariadne occupied the seat at the head of the boardroom table that Nikoletta had always sat in. On one side of the table sat Adrian and Honor, who now knew about the switch, and Sugar, and on the other were Angelo and Yves.

“I’m grateful to all of you for responding to my request for a special meeting of the advisers today,” she said, “and I wouldn’t have troubled you unless I thought it was an urgent matter.” She glanced at everyone present and smiled. “I know that some of you feel guilty about keeping my sister locked away in the clinic—”

“I am certainly not one of those individuals,” Angelo blurted out.

“I’m well aware of that, Angelo,” Ariadne said, holding up a hand to placate him, “and I’m well aware of your reasons for feeling that way. In any case, I personally feel a great responsibility for what has been done to her. In the months since she’s been there, the reports from the doctors have been nothing if not glowing—”

“Not in the beginning,” Sugar said defiantly. “They said she tried to seduce every male on staff and—”

Ariadne held up a hand again. “Please allow me to finish,” she said. “I’ll be glad to hear your comments after I’m done.”

“Sorry,” Sugar said, annoyed.

Ariadne continued. “Since the first couple of weeks of her confinement there, the reports have been very positive. She’s even quit claiming that she’s Nikoletta Papadaki, the doctors say, although she hasn’t said that she’s Ariadne. In any case, the doctors believe that she’s responded extremely well to their intensive therapy. I know some of you have your doubts about that, but in any case I’ve thought about this long and hard and am asking for your advice. What I would like to do to put my mind at ease once and for all is go to visit her.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sugar grab Adrian’s arm.

“I would like to take a statement with me for her to sign. The statement would be an ironclad agreement in which she would give up all claims to the PPHL empire and promise to live in quiet obscurity for a substantial cash settlement.”

The group began talking all at once, and Ariadne asked for their attention. “Please,” she said. “One at a time. Angelo?”

“Never!” Angelo Coveri cried, slamming a fist on the table.

“You would be making a terrible mistake,” Yves Carre said. “She would never live up to her end of the agreement.”

“Even if she signed such an agreement and took the money,” Sugar pointed out in an exasperated voice, “how do we know she’ll live in quiet obscurity? Niki’s never done anything quietly. She wouldn’t know how! Where’s she going to go? What’s she going to do? With the kind of money it would take to buy her off, she’d be so rich she could do anything she pleased.”

“You’re very well-intentioned,” Honor said softly, “but it would never work, Ariadne. Sugar’s right. Niki couldn’t live quietly. No matter where she went, she would create a stir. Besides, you are twins. A lot of people would immediately recognize her, and some of them might take her side if she decided to break the agreement and go public.”

“All of you have good arguments,” Adrian said at last. “But we all have the distinct advantage of having known Niki all her life.” He opened his arms in a shrug. “We can’t stop you if you decide to do this, Ariadne, but I have to agree with everyone else. I don’t think this is a wise plan. Even if she was forced to live in disguise in some place like Cape Town and the money was doled out in installments, guaranteeing us some kind of control over her, it would be extremely risky. As much as I hate to say it, Niki is a born troublemaker, and I don’t believe she’s changed. However,” he added, “I’ll back you up if you decide to go through with this. If you have to do something to assuage your conscience, and this is what it takes, then do it.”

Ariadne felt as if she would burst into tears when he had finished speaking, but she restrained herself. “Thank you,” she managed. “I appreciate your vote of confidence.”

“If you want me to, I’ll go with you,” Adrian offered.

“I really appreciate your offer,” Ariadne said, “but this is something that I want to do alone. Matt insists on going along because of security.”

“Thank God,” Adrian said. “You shouldn’t even think about taking a trip like this without security, but is he the only security you’re going to have?” He was obviously uncomfortable with the idea.

“Matt has it all planned,” she replied with a smile. “So I don’t think you need to be concerned at all. We’ll be taking a company jet with a couple of extra security men on board. Then we’ll helicopter to the clinic with them along.”

“That ought to do it,” Adrian said, “but I still think it’s awfully dangerous.”

“You know Matt. He wouldn’t even think of doing this if he didn’t think I was going to be safe.”