Parisian Affair (12 page)

'Oh, yes,' Allegra said. 'So you're looking
for somebody to bid for you,' she said.

'That's right,' he said, 'and I think you're
the perfect person.'

'But why not Sylvie?' she asked. She looked
over but saw that Sylvie had quietly disappeared from her position
behind the desk.

'Sylvie's known in the auction houses,' he
said. 'She's bid for me before. Plus, I don't want to send just
anybody into that auction.'

'Why's that?'

'I want somebody who really knows stones,' he
said. 'I want you to go to the preview and study the ring to make
certain you're getting the right one.'

'Don't you trust Dufour to deliver the goods?
My God, you're talking about one of the world's most respected
auction houses. They're over two hundred years old.'

'I know,' he said. 'I know. But we both know
that so-called experts goof up all the time.'

'That's for sure.'

'Anyway, you know your stones, so you can
make sure that the ring you get is the ring that Princess Karima is
selling.'

'Yes,' she said with certainty, 'I'm sure I
could do that.'

'Then would you be willing to do this for
me?' he asked, looking at her hopefully.

'I... I think so,' she said. 'I have to give
it some thought.'

'I'm willing to pay you handsomely,' he said,
smiling.

'It's not just a matter of money,' she said.
'There's my business to consider, and quite frankly I'm having a
really tough time right now.' She looked him in the eye. 'I'm close
to going under,' she admitted, 'so it's not a good time for me to
leave.'

'I'm sorry to hear that,' he said. She heard
the genuine concern in his voice. 'But this wouldn't take long. You
would have my personal jet, to take you to Paris, see the preview,
bid the next day, and fly straight back with the ring. What've you
got to lose? A couple of days at the most. Plus, an extra paycheck
might help you save your business.'

'How much did you have in mind?' she
asked.

'I'm willing to pay you twenty-five thousand
dollars and expenses,' he said.

Allegra kept her face devoid of expression,
though her heart leaped at his figure.

'My Gulfstream V, a suite at the Ritz or
wherever you prefer to stay, and all your meals with a credit card
I'll give you. You'll have permission to sign on it. What do you
say? Fair?' He was staring into her eyes questioningly.

She managed to retain her composure while
returning his gaze, but she was performing mental calculations at
the same time. The rent. The gem- stone dealer. The gold and silver
and platinum dealers. Jason's salary. Also, she had to figure in
what Whitehead was going to get out of her services. She knew that
he needed her.

'What do you say?' he repeated.

'I can't do it for twenty-five thousand
dollars.'

'You can't?'

'I'll need fifty,' she said, her voice
unwavering and her eye contact unbroken. 'In advance. I've got to
pay some bills, and that'll do it.'

'Fifty thousand dollars for a couple of days'
work?' he said with a laugh. 'In advance?'

'Take it or leave it,' Allegra said. She made
movements in her chair as if she were going to get up.

'No, no,' he said, waving her down with his
hand. 'Wait just a minute there. Just a minute.'

'Okay,' she said. 'I'll wait. But just a
minute. I've got a business to run, you know. It may not be a
multibillion-dollar multinational, but it's my life.'

'You're something else, Allegra Sheridan,' he
said. He sat staring at her, his lips spread in a smile. Finally,
he offered her his hand. 'You've got yourself a deal.'

Allegra shook his hand, trying to slow the
wildly beating heart within her chest.

Sylvie, who had quietly reentered the office,
began clapping her hands together lightly. 'Hooray!' she exclaimed.
'Now we must celebrate.' On the desk, she had placed a tray that
held a bottle of champagne in a silver ice bucket and three crystal
flutes. 'Shall I do the honors?' she asked, looking toward Hilton
Whitehead.

'Certainly,' he said. 'You will stay and have
a glass of champagne with us, Allegra?'

Her stomach did a turn. After last night's
drinking and the excitement of the moment, a drink was the last
thing she really wanted. 'Sure,' she said. 'I'd love a glass of
champagne. But just one quick one. I really do need to get back
downtown to the atelier.'

'Good,' Hilton said as Sylvie popped the
cork.

Sylvie filled the three flutes and handed
Allegra and Hilton theirs.

Hilton raised his in a toast. 'To a
successful venture together,' he said.

'Bonne chance,' Sylvie chimed in.

'Give her the schedule,' Hilton said, looking
over at Sylvie as they sipped the champagne.

From a desk drawer, Sylvie took out a single
sheet of paper and handed it to Allegra. 'This is the proposed
schedule,' she said.

Allegra glanced down at it. The auction was a
week away. That'll give me plenty of time to get things
straightened out here before I leave. Like paying bills, she
thought. 'This will work for me,' she said, folding it and putting
it in her pocketbook.

'Is your passport current?' Hilton asked.

She nodded. 'Yes.'

'Good. One less thing to take care of. Sylvie
will handle all of the reservations for you and take care of the
details.'

'That's fine,' Allegra said. 'Is Sylvie also
going to write my check?'

Hilton laughed. 'You're too much,' he said,
'but I like that. You're one of the more straightforward people
I've met lately. You don't meet many.' He looked at Sylvie. 'Get a
check ready for me to sign,' he said, 'and Allegra can take it home
with her.'

'Thank you,' Allegra said, then took a sip of
the champagne. 'There is one thing we didn't discuss,' she
added.

'What's that?' Hilton asked.

'What if I don't place a successful bid, and
end up not getting the ring for you?'

'That's not going to happen,' he said. In the
background they could hear Sylvie typing.

'But how can you be certain of that?' she
asked. 'There're going to be a lot of rich men like you trying to
get that ring. Princess Karima's name alone is going to make it a
very hot auction. Remember the sale in Geneva a few years ago with
the Duchess of Windsor's jewels?'

'I certainly do,' he said. 'Everything went
through the roof.'

'Exactly,' Allegra said. 'Some things went
for twenty or thirty times their estimates. The same thing could
happen in Paris.'

'I'm sure that the same thing will happen in
Paris,' he said. 'It's bound to. Princess Karima's name has the
same kind of cachet that the Duchess of Windsor's had.'

'That's what I mean,' Allegra said. 'I could
lose out to somebody who's a fanatic devotee of hers. And has the
money to back it up.'

He shook his head. 'I don't think so,' he
said. 'I'm going to give you a letter of credit with the funds
deposited and immediately available in the Citibank in Paris.'

'Yes, but—'

'For a hundred million dollars,' he
added.

'A hundred million dollars,' she repeated.
She looked down into the flute of champagne, then back up at him.
'That should do it, I think.'

'I think so, too,' he said. 'The estimate is
eight to ten million.'

'How many carats?'

'Thirty-four and a half, I think. I can get
the catalogue if you want to see it.'

'No,' Allegra said. 'I can take a look when I
get home. I was just curious.'

Sylvie rose from behind the desk and went
around to Hilton. 'Here's the check,' she said. 'It only needs your
signature.' She handed him a pen and winked at Allegra.

He set his champagne flute on the desk, then
placed the check alongside it and signed his name. 'Here you go,'
he said, handing it to Allegra with a smile.

She wanted nothing more than to kiss the
check, but she took it and slipped it inside her pocketbook. She
would deposit it in her bank account as soon as she left. 'Thanks,
Mr. . . . Hilton.'

'You're welcome,' he said. 'I'm sure
everything's going to work out fine. I'll see you before you leave
for Paris. Sylvie will let you know about that. Now, I'd better get
back upstairs. I've got some things to do.' He got to his feet and
offered his hand again.

Allegra took it and shook firmly. 'It was
nice to meet you, Hilton,' she said. 'And thanks for this
opportunity.'

'Thank you, Allegra,' he said. 'We'll get
together again soon.' He turned and went to the door, thinking,
And not soon enough for me.

When he had gone, Sylvie leaned down and
air-kissed Allegra's cheeks. '
Merveilleuse, cherie.
Merveilleuse
.'

'I can hardly believe this,' Allegra said.
'When you told me I'd be glad I came up here today, I didn't dream
it would be anything like this.'

'I'm glad you're pleased,' Sylvie said. 'I
hoped you wouldn't be insulted by his proposition.'

'Insulted?' Allegra said. 'I'm thrilled,
Sylvie.'

'Well, I was worried that you might think he
was being rude. You know, by not buying a piece from you but asking
you to do him this favor.'

'Well,' Allegra said with a laugh, 'we can
work on the piece of jewelry when I've come back from Paris with
the ring.' She looked thoughtful for a moment. '
If
I come
back with it.'

'Oh,' Sylvie said with a shrug, 'don't be
silly,
cherie
. Of course, you'll come back with it. I'm sure
there'll be no problem there. What in the world could happen?'

Jason looked across the breakfast table at
Cameron Cummings and didn't think he'd ever seen a more handsome
man. Cameron was just out of the shower and wore nothing but a
towel around his waist. He was somewhere on the north side of
forty, but his body was magnificent, a real gym bunny's, hard,
buff, and sleek.

'So you think Allegra's really going down the
tubes?' Cameron asked him, biting into a piece of toast.

'Yes,' he replied. 'She doesn't even think
she can pay my salary or the rent, and yesterday she said she owed
all of the wholesalers. You know, the gemstone and precious-metals
dealers.'

'Ouch,' Cameron said, lifting a brow. 'Those
aren't the kind of people you want to get behind with. The landlord
may give her an inch because she's been there for a long time, but
the wholesalers? I don't think so. They'll take their money out of
her flesh if they have to.'

'I know that,' Jason said. 'That's one reason
I'm really worried. She may have a good reputation with them, but
that only counts for so much.'

'Listen,' Cameron said, 'in this business
reputation is everything, and if she gets the least little bit
behind, the word will get around so fast her head'll be spinning
like Linda Blair's in
The Exorcist
. She won't be able to
find a wholesaler anywhere that'll give her two cents' worth of
credit. And you're talking to somebody who knows. I've been around
the block a few times in this business.'

'That's why I wanted to talk to you. You're
the most successful independent jewelry designer I know.' Jason
sighed. 'I'm afraid that Ally will be ruined.'

'You don't want to be associated with a
sinking ship, do you?' Cameron said, taking a sip of coffee.

'Of course not,' Jason said. 'It's just that.
. . well, I've been with her since the beginning, and I hate to
jump ship.'

'Then you're a fool,' Cameron said. 'What do
you owe her?'

'I. . . well, nothing,' Jason said. 'It's
just that we've worked together a long time.'

'You're a bigger idiot than I thought,'
Cameron said, pointing a finger at him. 'She's been using you all
these years. Sure, she's the designer, but you're the one who's
been doing all the dirty work for her. You're the one who makes
those designs reality. And believe you me, if she hit it big, she'd
be the one taking all the credit. She'd leave you behind in the
dust.'

'But she's always promised me a percentage if
she hits it big,' Jason said defensively. 'You know, if she gets a
contract with somebody like Tiffany or something.'

'Keep dreaming,' Cameron said cynically.

'She says that if she gets backing for her
own shop, she'll give me a percentage of the business.'

Cameron set his coffee cup down with a bang.
'Shut up, Jason,' he snapped. 'You're making me ill. Allegra
Sheridan is a lying bitch, and what's worse, she's a nobody. And my
bet is, she'll stay a nobody. She operates in some kind of ivory
tower, tinkering away at her precious jewelry, treating each piece
like it's the fucking Sistine Chapel ceiling, refusing to do
mass-market. If you're smart, you'll get your feet on the
ground.'

His harsh words stung Jason. He'd always
believed that Allegra had it in her to make it big. He knew without
a doubt that she had the talent, but he also knew what Cameron said
was at least partially true. Allegra had refused several good
offers in the past, and Jason didn't think that would ever change.
She was too strong-willed to work for anybody else, and she refused
to compromise the quality of her work. But would she lie to him
about giving him a percentage? He didn't think so, but he couldn't
be sure.

Cameron sat staring at him, waiting for a
response. When one didn't come, he realized that he'd hurt the
young man. The trouble with guys like Jason was that they were so
masculine in appearance and manner that you forgot they could be
hypersensitive. Cameron had the feeling that if he took Jason under
his wing, he could inspire the kind of deep devotion that Allegra
Sheridan obviously had done. For Jason, like most people he knew,
needed to be led.

He looked over at Jason with a contrite
expression. 'I've hurt your feelings,' he said, oozing sincerity.
'I'm so sorry, Jason. I didn't mean to. I just hate . . . well, I
just hate to see you taken advantage of. You could be making a much
better living for yourself if you left Allegra's atelier and went
someplace else.'