The Secret Heiress (24 page)

 

 

I
t was dark by the time Matt turned onto the Taconic State Parkway. Ariadne had nodded off. The long walks and the excitement of the day had exhausted her. He was grateful, but at the same time he dreaded what was soon to come. Millbrook was only an hour or so away. He only hoped that she would forgive him when she found out what was going on. She would feel betrayed by him and with good reason.

They had reached Dutchess County when she awoke. Covering her yawn with a hand, she glanced at him in the near darkness of the Jeep. “Was I asleep long?”

“Not too long.”

“Poor you,” Ariadne said. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Driving all the way down, showing me all over the city, then driving back while I nod off. It’s not fair.”

He forced a smile through gritted teeth. “I’m fine,” he lied.

“Where are we?”

“We’re in Dutchess County, in New York,” he said evasively.

“B-but why? I mean, is this some special way back?” She looked at him with curiosity, studying his features in the light reflected from the dashboard of the Jeep.

“Because . . . well, because . . .” He glanced at her, then shifted his gaze back to the road. “There’s something I’ve got to explain to you, Ariadne. I’m afraid that you’re going to hate me but—”

She laughed uneasily. “I couldn’t possibly hate you, Matt.”

“You might change your mind,” he said.

His dark tone of voice put Ariadne on alert, and her smile faded away. “What is it?”

The sign for the exit appeared on the right. “We’re going to be stopping in Millbrook,” he said. “At a friend’s house.” The exit came up, and he slowed down as he drove the Jeep downhill off the parkway.

“What friend?” she asked suspiciously as he stopped at the end of the exit ramp.

He gave the Jeep gas and sped off to the right unnecessarily fast.

“Matt, tell me what’s going on,” she said. “You’re acting . . . well, you’re not acting like yourself.”

“Everything will be explained to you once we get there,” he said. “There are some people who want to meet you. I’m not sure how much they want me to tell you. They don’t know that we’ve become . . . involved.”

She was completely baffled. “You’re not making any sense, Matt. What people want to meet me?” She gave an exasperated sigh. “Why are you being so mysterious suddenly?”

“Ariadne, I want you to know that no matter what happens . . . I . . . the way I feel about you, well . . . I’ve never felt that way about anyone else.”

Ariadne wanted to reach over and kiss him. His words sounded so heartfelt, and she believed him. Her quickening pulse attested to that. At the same time, she was completely confused by whatever it was that he
wasn’t
telling her. He was clearly keeping something from her, and that didn’t make sense.

“Matt, you’re not leveling with me,” she finally said, staring straight ahead. “I don’t know what it is that you’re afraid to tell me, but I don’t like you playing with my feelings like this.”

“I’m not . . . or I don’t mean to,” he said guiltily. A deer appeared in the Jeep’s headlights. It was directly in his path, staring at the approaching lights.

“Oh, my God,” Ariadne cried, seeing it at the same time.

Matt slammed on the brakes and turned the steering wheel toward the shoulder of the road. Ariadne braced herself against the dashboard. The deer stared in their direction a moment longer, then leaped off the road and into the woods.

“Jesus,” Matt said, turning to look at Ariadne. “We could’ve been killed. Are you okay?”

She nodded. “I’m fine, but I would’ve hated to die not knowing what it is you’re not telling me.”

Matt pulled back onto the road. “I was hired to spy on you,” he said very low.

“Spy . . . on . . . me?” she replied in a stunned voice. She stared at him, her eyes wide. “But why on earth would anybody want to spy on me? That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of.” A ripple of fear made her stiffen. She was supposed to be going back to the lovely campus at Williams College, but instead they were headed to a mysterious hideout in the woods.
What’s going on?
she wondered anxiously.

The road to the house was just ahead on the left, and Matt flipped on his blinker. After he’d made the turn, he said, “I don’t know all of the details myself, but the man who hired me is a big honcho at PPHL.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Papadaki Private Holdings Limited,” he said. “It’s a huge multinational corporation into all kinds of things. Shipping and so on.”

“Oh, right. I know of the company, of course, but not much about it. It’s privately held.”

Matt nodded. “Hold on a second.” He brought the Jeep to a stop before a stone pillar with an intercom. Ariadne watched as he pushed a button on the intercom.

“Who is it?” a disembodied voice asked.

“It’s Matt,” he said.

Wide iron gates swung slowly open, and Matt pulled through them. There was the crunch of pea gravel under the tires, and in the headlights Ariadne could see that the drive was lined with tall pines and hemlocks.

“Before we go another foot, I want you to finish what you were saying,” Ariadne said determinedly.

Matt didn’t look at her. “It seems that you may be a Papadaki.”

“What? But I’m Ariadne Megas. I—”

“I know you’re originally from Greece,” Matt said. “You were adopted by a couple there named Megas before you were brought to this country. I know that you were brought here and raised by another couple from the time you were ten years old. I know that Adrian Single, the man who owns this estate, is going to explain everything to you.” He paused and took a deep breath. “And I also know that, no matter what you think of me after tonight, I—I think I’m in love with you.”

Despite the many questions that swirled in her mind, she felt a jolt of electric excitement rush up her spine.
He thinks he loves me.
His proclamation of love overwhelmed everything else, at least for the moment.

Matt reached for her hand and took it in his. “Please remember that,” he said. “I mean it. From the bottom of my heart.”

They kept driving until light spilling from the windows of a big colonial house bathed the driveway in its glow, and Matt pulled the Jeep to a stop. Ariadne saw the front door open, and a man step out onto the front porch. Although there were lit lanterns at either side of the door, she could see only that he was tall and slender and appeared to be middle-aged. “Is that the man you said would explain everything to me?”

“Yes,” Matt replied. “That’s Adrian Single.” He switched off the engine and turned to her. “It’ll be okay, Ariadne. I promise you. You’ll be safe here. This man is your friend.”

“I don’t even
know
this man!” she exclaimed. She was both afraid and angry and suddenly felt on the verge of tears, but she held them back. Whatever this was all about, she thought, she would get it over with, then insist that Matt take her back to Williamstown.

He squeezed her hand again. “Let’s go in. You’ll see.”

Ariadne stepped out of the Jeep and let him lead her toward the porch. The air was perfumed with the scent of the pine trees, normally a comforting fragrance, but it did not soothe her now. The man stared at her for a moment as if he’d seen a ghost. Then his face broke out into a smile. “Ariadne,” he said, recovering his composure. “I’m Adrian Single, and I’m very happy to meet you.” He extended his hand, and she shook it firmly.

“I’m happy to meet you, too, Mr. Single,” she said, and then only half jokingly added, “At least I think I am.” She was certain she had seen him before—he was a very handsome man, tall, with dark hair and a sophisticated air—but couldn’t quite place him. “Matt hasn’t told me what this is all about.”

“That’s my fault, I’m afraid,” Adrian said. “Come in, and I’ll explain everything.”

He held the door wide for her, and Ariadne stepped into the large entrance hall. She quickly took in its black-and-white checkerboard marble floor, the elegant spiral staircase, and the pale pumpkin-colored walls. They were hung with paintings, some of which were landscapes.

“If you’ll come with me,” Adrian said, “I have some friends I want you to meet.”

In the well-lit hallway, Ariadne was suddenly certain where she’d met Adrian Single, but she didn’t say anything. She let him guide her through a large living room and into a book-lined library. Three strangers were sitting on leather couches, conversing among themselves, and they stood up as she walked into the room.

“This is Ariadne, everyone,” he said, “and Ariadne, I want you to meet Sugar Rosebury, Yves Carre, and Angelo Coveri.”

Ariadne shook hands and exchanged greetings with the three strangers, noting how they stared at her the same way Adrian had.

“The resemblance is eerie, isn’t it?” Sugar said to no one in particular.

“Uncannily so,” Angelo replied uneasily. “If not for the haircut, and I didn’t know better—”

Yves smiled thinly. “I know. You would swear she was her sister.”

My sister?
Ariadne thought, more puzzled than ever.
What are they talking about? And who, exactly, are they anyway?

Sugar suddenly hugged Ariadne. “Oh, sweetheart, we’re embarrassing you, aren’t we? Treating you like some sort of laboratory specimen. I’m so sorry. I hope you’ll forgive us.”

“Why don’t we all get comfortable?” Adrian said. As everyone took a seat, Sugar guided Ariadne to an overstuffed leather chair and sat on its big arm, close to Ariadne as if to protect her.

“Quite frankly, I don’t know what to think,” Ariadne said. “Nobody’s given me a clue about what’s going on here yet.” She looked back through the doorway for Matt. His presence would make her feel a little safer. “Where’s Matt?” she asked in alarm.

“I’m right here,” Matt said, coming in through another doorway. He stood behind one of the couches, facing in her direction.

“I think I’m owed an explanation,” Ariadne said warily.

“This is Matt Foster, as you know,” Adrian said, indicating Matt with a gesture.

“I’m quite aware of that,” Ariadne said with a hint of sarcasm.

“Matt’s been in my employ for some time,” Adrian said. “Expressly to keep an eye on you.”

Ariadne stared at Matt with a sinking feeling, momentarily speechless.
So all that attention he lavished on me was merely because he was being paid,
she thought.
How stupid of me to have been taken in by him.

“I don’t understand,” she said, tearing her eyes away from the man she’d thought she’d known. “Why would you keep watch over me?”

“What the hell is going on here?” Sugar asked.

“I’ll explain,” Adrian said. “I’ve been trying to keep watch on you over the years because I’m partially responsible for bringing you to this country.”

“So you helped take me from the only home I knew and brought me here to strangers with no explanation.”

“Yes, I helped Nikos,” he said, “but I thought in the long run it was the best thing for you. Then several months ago, I decided it was time to find out if you were prepared for the role we have in mind. So that’s why I instructed Matt to keep a close eye on you.”

“I see,” she broke in, the calmness of her words belying the agitation that she felt. She was almost overwhelmed by the sense of betrayal she was experiencing.

“Ariadne,” Adrian said, “we don’t want to alarm you, but if word somehow got out that you’re alive, you might be in great danger. We think it’s best to have someone around all the time. A personal bodyguard. So while you’re here and perhaps later when we take you into the city—if our plan works out—you will be seeing Matt. You can trust him with your life.”

Ariadne didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Trust him with my life?
she thought.
I wouldn’t trust him with my pocketbook, not now.

“Let me get this straight,” Sugar said to Adrian. “This young man”—she pointed at Matt—“and Ariadne have met?”

Adrian nodded. “She and Matt met in Williamstown while he was watching her.”

“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do,” Sugar said.

“Indeed, you do,” Angelo added. Some of the hostility he’d shown Adrian after Bianca’s death flared again, although they’d mended the relationship at her funeral. As grief-stricken as he was, he had come to realize that Adrian didn’t know about Bianca’s new job until it was too late.

“It’s time,” Adrian said. He paused and gazed around the room. “I’ve been reluctant to tell you all of this before because I was afraid that word might leak out somehow.”

“So you don’t trust us?” Angelo said.

“I do,” Adrian said, “but I thought until it was absolutely necessary I would keep my secret.”

“So you really don’t trust us,” Sugar said tartly.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Adrian said. “I’m telling you everything now. It was so long ago it seems unreal now, as if it happened in a fairy tale, not in this life.”

Adrian shifted in his chair. His eyes took on a faraway look as his mind cast backward in time. “It started in January of 1984,” he said. “It was a terrible night. I vividly remember how the waves and wind lashed the cabin cruiser that took me to the Papadakis’ villa in the Peloponnese.”

There’s that name again,
Ariadne thought.

“Planes and helicopters couldn’t land because of the storm, and the roads had been washed out in places, but Nikos Papadaki had called me there, demanding that I come immediately.

“Anyway, Larissa had given birth,” he went on. “To twin girls.”

Everyone in the room abruptly turned to Ariadne, but she was making an effort to keep her face devoid of expression, despite her intense interest in the story.

“Nikos came rushing out onto the terrace and shoved a bundle at me.” He paused and looked at Ariadne. “It was you, Ariadne. The second born of the twins.”