'What's Lenore got to do with this?' Celeste demanded, though she had a feeling she already knew. The bitch was going to deliver a whole lot of lies to whitewash Nathan.
'Lenore thinks she knows what Gemma overheard between Nathan and herself the other day. She says it would have sounded bad but is perfectly explainable.'
'Is that so?'
'She only just found out this afternoon what happened between Gemma and Nathan. Apparently, Nathan's totally shattered. Can't work. Can't do anything.'
'I'm so sorry for him.' Celeste's words dripped with an acid sarcasm.
Byron sighed. 'I do realize a man would never get your sympathy, Celeste, but we do have feelings too, you know.'
'Only below the waist.'
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell Byron what that appalling boy he'd so nobly adopted had done to his wife this afternoon, but she bit her tongue. Gemma's amazing understanding of that bastard's vile actions meant she was sure to want to keep the 'incident' a secret. Celeste herself could not imagine such understanding, but she had to admire the girl for her stance and would not dream of betraying her trust simply to gain a petty victory over Byron.
'Well, are you coming or not?' Byron asked curtly. 'I would suggest you send Gemma over in a taxi but I don't have any faith in her turning up.'
'You honestly expect me to bring that poor child over to have a face-to- face meeting with a lying adulterous whore?'
'People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, Celeste,' Byron bit out.
'I do not sleep with married men,' Celeste snapped before she realized what she'd said.
'You mean not any more, don't you?' came the inevitable remark, delivered in a bitterly cutting tone.
'That's right.'
'How very fortunate that I'm widowed, then. I wouldn't like to be the one to spoil your wonderful moral standards. But we digress,' he went on with crushing coolness. 'Will you bring Gemma here or not? I suppose I could always wait till Lenore arrives and bring her over there, but that's a lot of time wasted, isn't it?'
'When do you expect her?' Celeste asked sharply.
'Around nine.'
'I don't drive these days. I'll have to take a taxi.'
'Gemma can drive. And she knows the way. Do you have a car she can use?'
Celeste thought of Damian's Ferrari and dismissed it. And the Rolls was too big. 'We'll come in a taxi,' she decided aloud.
'Whatever you prefer. Just come. It's important.'
'Ok, I'll come, Byron. I wouldn't miss the chance of seeing you again.'
'There won't be any of that tonight, Celeste. And definitely not here.'
'We'll see, Byron. We'll see.'
Celeste hung up, aware that she was shaking. That man, she decided angrily, needed taking down a peg or two. He also needed a salutary lesson on who was running this affair. Did he honestly think he could control his desire for her any more than she could control hers for him? If she wanted Byron to make love to her tonight-at Belleview or any other damned place- then that was what was going to happen.
Muttering her frustrations to herself, she was about to flounce off back down the hall when the reason for Byron's call in the first place flooded back into her mind. Her groan was full of guilt and dismay. What was the matter with her? God, but she was a selfish bitch.
A severe mental lecture followed, after which she forced her thinking processes back on to the serious matter at hand: Gemma's happiness. What if Lenore could genuinely whitewash what Gemma had heard or seen that day? What then? Would she go back to that bastard? Celeste did not feel at all confident that she wouldn't.
But I suppose that's up to her, she realized with a resigned sigh. We all have to do what we have to do. And how can I sit in judgement? When it comes to matters of love, I've made the biggest mess of my life. I'm still making the biggest mess of my life!
Love, she thought savagely, has a lot to answer for! Gathering herself, Celeste strode back down the hall and into the living room, knowing in her heart that she wouldn't have much trouble convincing Gemma to go with her to Belleview. That girl was as much in love as she was. This meant she was doomed to make stupid decisions and do stupid things!
CHAPTER ELEVEN
'I really will have to start driving again,' Celeste muttered under her breath when the taxi lurched into the adjacent lane and accelerated with hair- raising speed up the next hill, only to have to brake madly when the lights ahead changed to red.