Tomorrow Will Be Too Late (26 page)

‘Actually, yes, you can help me, dear.’
There it was, the total stillness right before her strike. The smile
vanished
,
replaced with
a
cold glare that was cold enough to send shivers down
Kate’s
spine. ‘How about you stop sleeping with my ex
-
husband? That would definitely help.’

‘Don’t bother denying it, Kate.’ Walking past her, Vic marched straight into the small living room
, her high heels clicking against the hardwood floor. ‘I’ve heard you’re an item. Well, as far as you can be an item with Justin
,
anyway.’ She laughed bitterly, not waiting for
a
reply. ‘Apparently you’re all over him, now that you got a chance to sink you
r
tiny little claws into the best investment piece of a man on the
w
est coast.’

‘
I’m not sure who told you that, Victoria, but you’re wrong.’ She regretted letting her in already. But did she really have a chance to
control
this human hurricane, destructive and
unstoppable
?

‘
It’s
a really small world
at
the top, darling.’ Unfazed, Vic look
ed
at her with an analytical interest
usually
reserved for studying an interesting but not
particularly
nice bug. ‘
Let
it be one of the little
life
lessons for you, if you’re planning to
continue
on this path. I might be divorced from Justin, but we still have common friends
. Some of them still
feel
I was
the one shortchanged with his rather stingy attitude.’

‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’ Kate sighed, a beginning of a migraine starting to build in her temples. She didn’t need any of this, she thought resentfully as she ra
c
ked her
brain for
how to get rid of her
uninvited guest.

‘I think you do,
Katie
.’ A
malicious smirk spreading on her face, Victoria walked over to the window, leaning against the white frame as she added
,
‘
Or
is this your attempt to take my place? If so
,
let me tell you, you don’t stand a chance. Not only did Justin say he wasn’t interested in marrying ever again, but you…’ she wrinkled her little nose in a gesture that couldn’t be interpreted as anything but disdain, ‘you don’t have what it takes to
be
his girlfriend,
let
alone wife.’

‘I wasn’t applying
.
’
T
he words slipped out before she had a chance to think them through
,
and she regretted her total honesty instantly, a dawning understanding making Vic look even meaner.

‘Oh, it’s just a fling
,
then? Little
Miss U
ntouchable suddenly decided to gain some experience? Well,
high time for that,
I’d
say.’ A peal of laughter followed, her eyes merry with malice. ‘But
,
somehow I doubt it. You’ve never been that… adventurous, darling.’

‘What’s all that to you
,
anyway?’
Kate
shook her head, still clueless what had brought on this inquisition. ‘
You’ve been
divorced for over two years, for god’s sake! I thought
you were
living with
Jacques
, Vic.’

‘I was, until recently.’ A small nod and an even smaller smile made it clear how out of touch
Kate
really was. ‘
We
couldn’t really make sense together
, you know.’

‘Ho
w
…’ Kate swallowed
,
the constriction in her throat making it difficult to speak. ‘I mean, who did you talk to?’

‘Well, Justin didn’t really make it a secret, Kate.’
Vic’s
mouth hardened as she spoke, all traces of
a
smile wiped away. ‘
Apparently
he bragged about it to Lucas
—h
ow he met this wonderful girl and plans to bring her to the yearly meeting.’

She must have noticed Kate’s surprise because she smiled again, her eyebrows raised mockingly.

‘What? Did you think I didn’t know about this? I’ve been his wife for long enough to be a part of it, you know
.’ She sighed delicately, her eyes challenging. ‘So
,
Lucas mentioned it to his lovely wife, Marcy. As you can imagine she is just dying to meet you, Kate.’ The irony was thick enough to literally drip,
Kate
thought as she tried to remain calm.

‘I didn’t know you two were friends,’ she ventured finally, satisfied as she saw Victoria’s smile vanish. Obviously it was a touchy topic.

‘We aren’t.’
Bitingly
cold, she shook her head, her long, wavy hair rippling like a river of black silk.

‘Still, there is a saying I believe: nothing can unite people better than a common enemy.’ Victoria regained her composure, her slim shoulders shrugging off whatever annoyed her before.

‘I
wouldn’t
think you’d consider me that
.
’
Kate
couldn’t help it, the careless remark shaking her to the core. ‘I remember being useful for your purpose
s
,
Vic. And the next thing I remember is being fired under some measly
pretense
that certainly didn’t justify it. You got rid of me faster than I could count to ten, once you didn’t need me.’

‘You weren’t reliable, Kate.’ Another shrug followed, dark eyebrows pulled together in one straight line. ‘
You
came back all starry
-
eyed and miserable, babbling about me manipulating you and this horrid husband of mine. I knew you fell for him, right away.

‘Now you’re trying to jump right in where you left off two years ago, aren’t you?’ Vic smiled mirthlessly, her eyes dark with resentment. ‘
You
asked me why do I care. Fair enough, I think.’ She walked over to the sofa and sat down, looking to
Kate
still standing stiffly in the doorway. ‘
You see, I thought it all through
—m
y life with Justin and our divorce, that is
.
It wasn’t a fairy tale exactly, but I think I might have rushed a bit with throwing in the towel.’

Was she hearing what she thought she was?
Flabbergasted,
Kate stared at this petite woman in the impossibly elegant outfit who waltzed into her living room and announced she
was reconsidering
her rather nasty split with her husband and Kate’s lover.

Her lover! She gulped, panic gripping her tightly and making breathing impossible. But wasn’t
that
exactly what they were? Lovers?

‘So
,
I got
to
thinking, Kate.’

The reason for her misery sat right
t
here, watching her with
a
little
,
speculative smile that said she knew exactly how frustrating she must have been.

‘Marcy called just to annoy me, I knew it. We never got along, not when we met at the party and definitely not when she tried to be around Justin. Now, from
a different
perspective, I do believe that her annoying clinging to him contributed to our fighting.’

Kate swallowed hard, finding the conversation impossible to digest.
If
Victoria
was
looking
for some excuse for her failed marriage, Marcy didn’t seem like a fit. She still remembered
Vic’s
heartfelt tirades about Justin and all the things that made her consider leaving him for good.
They had not included
one mention of Marcy, of that
Kate
was sure.

‘Needless to say, I decided to give it another try.’ Long eyelashes covered her eyes momentarily
. ‘
I know he loved me. He was devastated when we first started talking about going our separate ways, I remember that. So deep underneath, I know it won’t be difficult to rekindle our romance, Kate. As long as I play
my
cards
right
, that is.’

‘
And
that involves coming over and sharing it all with me?’ Kate asked, her head swirling with a million questions.

‘
Yes
, of course.’
S
he nodded
matter-of-factly
, her long diamond earrings moving
back and forth
with an almost hypnotic swing. ‘I came to see you to find out for myself how much
of a
competition you
really
are. One should never underestimate a single young woman who has suddenly discovered the joys of sex.’

‘You’re crass and rude
.
’ Kate knew her voice was shaking, but she didn’t care. Being summed up like that hurt, mostly because she knew deep down how ridiculous she must have looked to Victoria. Never in a million years could
Kate
be even remotely close to her beauty and sex appeal.

‘Maybe.
’ Her lovely head tilted to one side, Victoria smiled again, looking very much like a cat with a saucer full of milk. ‘I have an offer for you, though. If you’re smart, you’ll take it, Kate.’ She paused
,
waiting for
Kate
to say something, her expectant face serene. ‘No questions so far? Good. Well, I thought I could make it easy on both of us and save you some embarrassment, if you will
. If you cho
o
se to play along, you won’t regret it.’

‘Whoa, another promise?’
She’d
had enough, Kate decided, Victoria’s arrogance finally breaking
through
her
carefully composed mask of indifference
. ‘What will it be this time? I guess since you can’t really promote me, it must be money
. Thanks,
but no thanks.’

‘
Wrong
choice, honey
.
’
Her
tone frosty, Victoria watched her from under half
-
closed eyelids. ‘
Because
I will be there, at the weekend house. You’d be surprised if you knew how easy it was to persuade
Marcy
to change her course. I’d say that even Justin’s charm can’t stand the competition of her own modeling agency.’

‘You promised her that to
keep her
away from Justin?’
I
ncredulous, Kate blinked in surprise. ‘
You
bought her out?’

‘
O
f course.’ Nodding shamelessly, Victoria grinned. ‘
Everyone
has a price, my dear. And having her own agency had been her dream for so long, she was only too happy to jump on the chance.
I’m very surprised that Justin didn’t come up with the same idea, the savvy businessman he is. Unless…’

She
paused, her hostile gaze going over Kate’s face as if she saw her for the first time.

‘Unless what?’ Kate couldn’t help asking, her stomach tightened into a painful knot.

‘Nothing
. It
doesn’t matter
.
’
A
slender shoulder shrugged dismissively as the other woman smiled, the moment gone. ‘Back to us, though. I thought you’d be smart and
play along, Katie. I mean, one can always get sick
at
the last moment, right? Or
have
a family emergency? If any of such things happened to you
,
and Justin found himself single again, I’d make sure it was worth your while. I can still pull some strings in town, if you know what I mean.’

She did, of course. Victoria had been rather successful, her entrepreneur’s skills helping to bring her to the very top of the advertising world. Even her failed marriage to Justin seemed to have helped, the image
she projected
of a single, independent
,
and smart woman doing wonders
for
her publicity.