Barbara Gale

Picking Up the Pieces


Скачать книгу

let me ask you this, sweetie. How do you feel about Los Angeles?”

      “And that was that!” Althea said, as she finished describing the nightmare interview, her eyes flashing. “You would think my name in the papers would please Connie but it seems that Ambassador Daniel Boylan’s black shadow hovers over me like a shroud. His stature in the African-American community cannot be ‘besmirched’—Connie’s word. At least, that’s how the agency expects I’m going to be painted when the press gets wind of the story. And because Connie herself is active in the African-American community, she is not going to make waves.”

      Harry lay there, shaken, unsure what to say. “Divorced? Wow, that’s the one thing I never would have guessed. Ah, jeez, Allie, I’m sorry, I really am.”

      Althea closed her eyes against the sympathy in Harry’s voice. “Thanks, but don’t be. It was a mutual decision. My first alimony check is already deposited in my bank account and Daniel will continue to make deposits so long as ‘I don’t cause any scandal.’ Real diplomatic of an ambassador, don’t you think? The size of the check is his insurance—and it’s substantial, to say the least. Not that he can’t afford it. Even given that he has the power of his family and the authority of his position to rise above a scandal, he wants to be absolutely certain there won’t be any. And that, my friend, is why Connie Niles is not about to risk the wrath of the Boylan family by hiring me.”

      “They would come after you?”

      “With all six barrels blasting.” Althea laughed bitterly. “Not that they would find anything. My life is so boring it would please a nun. But the answer is yes, they would come after me. All his life, Daniel has been groomed for big things, and now that he has become a power broker, they aren’t going to let anything or anyone spoil it, certainly not an ex-wife. They would look until they found something. Daniel would never know, of course, but a discreet word was dropped in my ear by the family’s attorney the day I signed the divorce papers. ‘Rumors, my dear, so easily begun, almost impossible to set right….’ Don’t I know it.”

      “My God. There’s a nasty setup, if ever I heard one. But the Althea Almott I used to know was a pretty tough lady. I can’t imagine you taking this lying down. Are you really so worried? The press adores you, if those nasty tabloids I never read are any indication. It’s you who can’t do anything wrong, not Daniel Boylan.”

      Althea was thoughtful. Her amber eyes, carefully shielded by her long lashes, refused to meet his. “I handled things all wrong.”

      Some things, in any case. Guilt by omission. Only, she would not share that part of her story. But from day one Daniel believed she had trapped him into marriage with the oldest trick in the book—a pregnancy. As if she’d needed to lower herself to that level. It had been the press that had started the rumor, and once begun, it could not be stopped. She had been used to rumors. Models, actors, anyone in the limelight, it was all the same, rumors were always a threat, Daniel should have known that from his own experience. Unfortunately, he seemed not to have thought things out, had mistaken her amusement for confirmation and, diplomat that he was, had never bothered to ask her outright if she was pregnant. Loving him, she had not bothered to deny it. When their marriage was quickly arranged by the Boylan family, she had sat back and let it happen. Okay, a big mistake, but her only one. She had gone along with the marriage because she thought he loved her. He hadn’t. It was over the moment he realized that she wasn’t pregnant. Courtesy stopped him from requesting a divorce, but his distaste for the situation became untenable. She stayed until she could no longer bear it. Learning that Daniel had not loved her was a wound that would take a long time to heal.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgEBLAEsAAD/4RiPRXhpZgAATU0AKgAAAAgABwESAAMAAAABAAEAAAEaAAUA AAABAAAAYgEbAAUAAAABAAAAagEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAExAAIAAAAcAAAAcgEyAAIAAAAUAAAAjodp AAQAAAABAAAApAAAANAALcbAAAAnEAAtxsAAACcQQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIENTMiBXaW5kb3dz ADIwMTM6MTI6MTkgMjA6MDU6MTIAAAAAA6ABAAMAAAABAAEAAKACAAQAAAABAAAFeKADAAQAAAAB AAAIzAAAAAAAAAAGAQMAAwAAAAEABgAAARoABQAAAAEAAAEeARsABQAAAAEAAAEmASgAAwAAAAEA AgAAAgEABAAAAAEAAAEuAgIABAAAAAEAABdZAAAAAAAAAEgAAAABAAAASAAAAAH/2P/gABBKRklG AAECAABIAEgAAP/tAAxBZG9iZV9DTQAB/+4ADkFkb2JlAGSAAAAAAf/bAIQADAgICAkIDAkJDBEL CgsRFQ8MDA8VGBMTFRMTGBEMDAwMDAwRDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAENCwsN Dg0QDg4QFA4ODhQUDg4ODhQRDAwMDAwREQwMDAwMDBEMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwM DAwM/8AAEQgAoABjAwEiAAIRAQMRAf/dAAQAB//EAT8AAAEFAQEBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAMAAQIEBQYH CAkKCwEAAQUBAQEBAQEAAAAAAAAAAQACAwQFBgcICQoLEAABBAEDAgQCBQcGCAUDDDMBAAIRAwQh EjEFQVFhEyJxgTIGFJGhsUIjJBVSwWIzNHKC0UMHJZJT8OHxY3M1FqKygyZEk1RkRcKjdDYX0lXi ZfKzhMPTdePzRieUpIW0lcTU5PSltcXV5fVWZnaGlqa2xtbm9jdHV2d3h5ent8fX5/cRAAICAQIE BAMEBQYHBwYFNQEAAhEDITESBEFRYXEiEwUygZEUobFCI8FS0fAzJGLhcoKSQ1MVY3M08SUGFqKy gwcmNcLSRJNUoxdkRVU2dGXi8rOEw9N14/NGlKSFtJXE1OT0pbXF1eX1VmZ2hpamtsbW5vYnN0dX Z3eHl6e3x//aAAwDAQACEQMRAD8Az8sA4tw8WO/IsfEbFVhJAa8j0weSeS7+q1beQAaLA7UFjgfm FQxum76XW+u1jK3VtaxzdCSX7jrH0G+72pnMmyB4PQfFR64ntD85IacvNpsFdNzw15ggulpB09zX fvfuKzT1rMxNpJr2Q07XMETB/k1t3/8AT/7b2Iud0q/Bdi30Wuyje72N2hhgEH3u3O9r9yP1PFwe hODLLqm3MAdk3XNFtocRu+yYWN9H/jrX+z/h1WvY/T0/MXMIBJA7X6torj62ZV5ZY2locTrbW0+m Nv5nG3/pb1af13BySMjOwmOFZIc8Mc0H+Tulte5T6Z9b6n0ts6j6LKgIrqua5tm0+0ObbsZhbdv8 56f81/o0svM6R1AV+lY30w8mmuom15d+5j17aMd1bPz7GP8AT/8APKfHmpxNEHh29Xq/FgnyGGWo 9MieLih6CgZ1i67qVdeEBiU2QC2z3NH9WnVzP89dJS7qeKW3FvqNnV+M4z/225cX1XpPVMLbmW0M qpsJ2uZa17pH0vV2F22z9/Z7FaxM/Jaa92Ra0ACNh2hoj9xx9ylGeAFyG9/L4MMuUnYGMgACjx76 /wBZ7ZluM6z9GXs3fm2ja6fzldqrMyNFz2DnZeQfTtY3JGwPY9/cE7WBn0PpOW30vJF79gY6gAe4 D3N3Ax9F30dqcMsTt+KY8rk1kem/DqHXoB2mTMwiKYr2gefyUSFICxEUskkkkp//0KOUHDFtMEe0 6hZLRda+yBAaANdANVubA8+meHaFEPSg6i8uA9QtG3X3/IqLm5cEoir0virbV6fn8IyEEyo8Og/e 9TndAyKGdZryL3l1OF+kOu4BwHsLGuO3dvWT1XKGRnW2NA3Pe6zeTuILvznSDuerNmJdjHIprJbL WvsIJBA+lL9w3bf5KycsD7RspBNhjcAJ90brG/1tf7CiFSl3oOPIGINije38FVHa/wBRziTt5e48 HzXVdI6BlZdf7TxLPTtawxY9+4gTyyqv6Gz8xm//ALdsXKU0WW3MqMuc4wK9Z3fywV3HRnW4WOGX 2MpYAQSTprrt/lO/qpuVfhFnbQfm1aeg5Ty/GvyWu3t3MeQ5xO0/zYb/AGlYt6W5j5LRDwJY8+9p Al/saHN9ux301o9Ivq6h1CqzGBNNdm19rw5jCGh3rVVfvv8Aa9v+jWz1zqXR+j4TrstjQ207