[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.They regarded one another.‘Don’t concern yourself, Rachel.This is not your problem.’‘The Persephone is as much my case as yours.’‘I don’t think the case is what we’re talking about, do you?’Rachel paused, then said bitterly, ‘You know, I really feel sorry for that poor, deluded girl you’re seeing.’Leo met her gaze.‘When, Rachel, will you learn to stay out of my affairs?’‘What an ironically appropriate choice of words.’ Rachel picked up her briefcase and left before Leo could say anything more.Leo stood in the empty courtroom, closing his eyes for a few seconds as he fought back his irritation.Then he gathered up his papers and went to the robing room to change.Were it not for Oliver, he could heartily wish that Rachel had gone to the States with Charles.The woman seemed to think she had a duty to act as his conscience, turning her chilly, reproachful eye on everything he did.The fact was, he had no intention of having anything other than a sociable drink with Adriana Papaposilakis.Leo turned up at Adriana’s hotel at half past seven and made his way up to her suite.She opened the door, still clad in the same dress she had been wearing that day, and greeted him with a smile.‘Come in.You’re very punctual.I like that in my lawyers.’Leo glanced round the suite, taking in the size of the place and the opulence of its furnishings, and reckoned it must be the most expensive in the hotel.How many sofas and tables and vases of flowers did one small shipping magnate need, in heaven’s name?He noticed sheaves of papers relating to the case spread out on a low table, giving every appearance that she had asked him here to discuss the case.‘A drink?’ Adriana was poised over a small array of bottles and glasses which stood on a small table.No minibars for Miss Papaposilakis, thought Leo.‘I’ll have a Scotch, thanks.Just a small one.’She poured his Scotch, mixed herself a gin and tonic, and brought the drinks over.They sat down on one of the sofas next to the table with the papers on it, maintaining a discreet distance.The context reminded Leo of a Sixties movie.Come to think of it, Adriana even had a Zsa Zsa Gabor quality about her, the way she crossed her shapely little legs and smiled at him over the rim of her drink.‘Cheers,’ said Leo.Adriana raised her glass, took a sip, and, to Leo’s surprise, launched without further social preamble into the business of the case.For three-quarters of an hour they dwelt on matters of ship vibration and stress fractures, about which Adriana displayed exhaustive knowledge, until at last Leo was moved to remark, ‘You know, I rarely say this to a client, but I think perhaps you’re worrying too much about the detail.’She put down the papers.‘It’s habit where business is concerned.I like to be in control of everything.’‘It’s only a yacht.You said yourself that you replaced it a year ago.Why invest so much of your personal time and energy in one insurance claim? Leave it to the lawyers.It’s what you pay me for.’‘It’s because I pay attention to detail that I’m so successful, Leo.That’s why I’m a wealthy woman.Anyway, there is a principle at stake here.And a boy died.’ A brief silence fell, and then she said, ‘Let’s not talk about the case any more.I am sure you have had enough of it for one day.’ Leo felt he couldn’t argue with that.‘Would you like another drink?’‘Let me do that,’ said Leo.He took her glass, and went to mix them both another drink.Adriana observed him from the sofa with a meditative smile.He was so delicious, and he had maintained such a tantalising reserve these past weeks.She liked to think that was professional discretion, but you never knew with English men – so full of inhibitions.Still, if that scandalous newspaper story about him contained a grain of truth, she suspected Leo didn’t have many of those.Leo sat down again, handing Adriana her drink.She stirred it coquettishly with one finger.‘You know I hired you because of your reputation, don’t you?’ she asked.Leo balked at the word ‘hired’, but let it pass.‘I hope I’ve lived up to it,’ he replied, wondering where this was going.‘Oh, I don’t mean your professional reputation.’ Adriana smiled.‘I hired you because I was very intrigued by that story the newspaper ran about you.’ Leo decided to say nothing to this.He sipped his drink.‘Tell me,’ Adriana went on, ‘did it do a great deal of harm?’‘Since it was entirely fabricated, I like to think it didn’t, no.’The truth was Leo had no idea what kind of fallout there had been.Possibly it was too early to tell.Work seemed steady, no one had taken their cases away, though in the immediate aftermath of the newspaper story he had detected a certain embarrassed unease in the demeanour of some clients.Which was perhaps understandable.Henry had been prepared for the worst, but even he now seemed fairly phlegmatic.Leo sipped his Scotch and added, ‘Since the story didn’t exactly portray me in the most attractive light, I can’t see why it would provide you with an incentive to instruct me.’Adriana smiled.‘I believe you are being deliberately naive, Leo.’ Her dark, soft eyes met his, and he wondered whether she was about to make her move.He still hadn’t made up his mind as to what he was going to do if and when she did.But after a few seconds Adriana simply gave a little sigh and said, ‘It must have been very hard for your family, though, to have such wicked lies spread about you.’ She settled back against the sofa cushions, even further away from him.‘You know, I only found out recently that you and Rachel were once married.I had no idea.It must be unusual to have your ex-wife instructing you in cases.’‘It has its advantages and disadvantages.’‘She’s a very beautiful girl.’‘Of a kind.’ Whatever his feelings about Rachel, he wasn’t going to give anything away to Adriana Papaposilakis.‘You have a little boy, haven’t you? Tell me about him.’Leo, bemused by her subtle change of tack, talked willingly about Oliver for a while.He found himself telling Adriana about the unsatisfactory nature of the arrangements when Oliver came to stay, how he had only the garden square in Belgravia to play in, and about his plans to buy a house which Oliver could regard as a proper home.She nodded.‘You are right.It is so important, a proper home.’‘And where do you call home?’ asked Leo.‘That is hard to say.I have too many homes, I suppose.Or too many houses.One in Marbella, on an estate which my father left me.And a chateau near Cannes, but I’m selling that – I think that Madonna woman is interested in it [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]