Title: Darien's Mistress Chapter 6 Author: Ashley E-mail: Nuriko56@hotmail.com Standard Disclaimers Apply Carefully setting down the glass, Serena went to the bedroom door and softly closed it. The next moment she was at the safe, searching through it for her passport. She found it quickly enough, but as she hastily pulled it from the pile of documents in side the safe several others fell out on to the floor. Cursing, she bent to pick them up, and was surprised to find an envelope marked "Not to be shown to Mina. Destroy at appropriate time." Intrigued, Serena hesitated for only a moment before putting some water in the kettle and setting it to boil. The envelope was an old one and the gum dissolved easily. What it contained was dynamite. Her mouth falling open, Serena hurriedly read the contents. It was an agreement signed by some man who was being paid a considerable sum to stay clear of Mina, and was dated six years ago, when Mina would have been at college. The agreement was signed by the man---and by Andrew! Afraid that Darien might wake, Serena hid the document in a drawer in the kitchen, between the pages of a booklet telling you how to work the washing machine, knowing that Darien would never find it there. She would read it through properly the next time she was alone. What, if anything, she was going to do with it Serena as yet had no idea. But just to have the knowledge gave her a great advantage over Mina, and maybe over Andrew and Darien. Going through the bedroom door again, Serena opened a crack to check that Darien was still asleep. Back at the safe, she had a closer look at its contents. There was a ward of money. With that and her passport she could go anywhere in the world and start a new life. But the temptation only crossed her mind for a moment; the passport was rightfully hers, but not Darien's money. There was a lot of business documents in the safe, the lease for the flat, which she saw belonged to the Brodey company rather than Darien, and a bundle of letters, most of them in female handwriting and addressed them to Darien and Andrew. From ex-girlfriends, she presumed, and strangely felt no desire to read the ones for Darien but a great curiosity to read those for his cousin. Putting her eye to the crack in the door, she saw Darien stir and roll over. Serena hesitated, longing to read the letters. Would he notice if she took them out? If he found her passport gone he would; he'd inevitably check everything in the safe. She bit her lip, saw him move again. Instantly making up her mind, she took the letters addressed to Andrew from the safe but put her passport back, then hid the letters away, picked up her glass of water and crept back into the bedroom and across to the bathroom. With a sigh of relief she closed the door and would have locked it if there had been a key, but Darien, objecting to being locked out, had removed long ago. She drank down the water thirstily, then ran a bath. A few minutes later she heard Darien moving about, then he came into the bathroom. Lying back in the bath, deep, with expensively scented foam, Serena closed her eyes and ignored him as he showered. When he came out, he said, "Want your back scrubbed?" "No." He laughed. "Maybe I'd better not at that. Otherwise I'll never get any work done." But even so he swept aside some of the bubbles then bent to kiss her nipples as they peeped, rosy and tantalizing, above the water. "God, that's so damn sexy," he murmured, straightening. "You have bubbles on your nose," she told him. He grinned, wiped them off with his fingers and plonked them on her nose instead. Serena didn't go into the sitting-room again until she'd dressed to go out for dinner. She knew he would have found the safe open, would have wondered if she'd been in there, so she carefully avoided looking in its direction as she crossed the sitting-room to the kitchen to get some ice for another drink. She knew that Darien watched her as she did so, but she merely said fretfully, "I feel so hot." "Maybe you're coming down with a bug." Only then did she turn in his direction. The safe was closed now. "I hope not." "Perhaps we ought to stay in this evening." "But I'm hungry. Aren't you?" "Yes. But I' noticed there's some stuff in the fridge. It looks at if you've been catering for yourself while I've been away." "I don't like going out to eat alone." He raised a quizzical eyebrow. "And there was me thinking that you'd be out looking for a new meal ticket." Her tone sharpened at his unfairness. "I don't want to be kept. I want to be like any normal woman and have a job, be independent." "Your job is to keep me happy." She gave him a disdainful look, "Any woman could do that." Darien's mouth twisted wryly. "No, not any woman." "But why me?" He got to his feet and stood looking down at her. She looked particularly good tonight, fair hair like golden silk, her petite but perfect figure enclosed in a cream sheath-dress with a gold belt, her leg and delicious ankles shown off to their best advantage by her high-heeled shoes, and her blue eyes looking at him from under finely arched brows, with such puzzlement in their depths. He shook his head in wonder. "You really don't know, do you?" "So tell me." For a moment he seemed to hesitate, but then gave a short laugh. "Because you hate me, of course. Because it amuses me to make you do what you keep telling yourself you don't want to do." She gave him a look of contempt. "Well, that figures. I always thought it was because I ignored you when we first met, that I was more interested in Andrew." He shrugged and she said tauntingly, "If he'd made me the offer you did, I'd jump at it immediately." "Tut-tut." He shook his head at her. "And who said just now she wanted to be independent." "Independent to you, yes. When are you going to let me go?" "You know when. We agreed--when I tire of you." "And when will that be?" she demanded petulantly. Darien didn't answer, and her eyes suddenly widened. "Why, when I stop hating you. That's is, isn't it? If I fawned all over you, got possessive and demanding, you'd get rid of me like a shot." Not answering the question direction, Darien said, "Does that mean you're going to change your attitude towards me?" "It's a temptation. A very great one. But somehow, even to gain my freedom from you, I don't think I could bring myself to be that hypocritical. It would be too nauseating." For a moment Darien's face grew grim, but then he shrugged and said sardonically, "That's what I love about you---your sweet and charming manner." Serena gave a mocking smile in return. "Well, that's good because I'm never going to change." "That's what I thought." He stood up and pulled on his jacket. "Let's go and eat." They went out to the nearest restaurant, a French bistro-type place where they were becoming known, but when they sat down and looked at the menu Serena found that her appetite had gone. She ordered just a small salad but left most of that. "The air-conditioning in here must be fierce," she said, shivering, putting her hands up to rub her hear arms. "No, it's no cooler than usual. Are you sure you feel OK?" "Yes, of course." But Serena refused coffee, which she usually liked to linger over, and made no objection when Darien suggested they go straight back to the apartment. Then he put his hand in her forehead and said, "You're burning up. I'd better call a doctor." "No, it's probably a cold or something. I'll take some aspirins and I'll probably be fine in the morning." Darien tried to argue but she was insistent and snapped him not to make a fuss, so he eventually said, "All right, all right. We'll see how you are in the morning." Serena took the pills and got thankfully into bed, and was even more relieved when Darien got his stuff and said he'd sleep in the spare room. "I'll leave the door open so call me if you need me." "I won't need you. Just go away and leave me alone." He gave her an exasperated look but did as she asked. Serena fell into a restless sleep, pushing the covers aside as she became unbearably hot, troubled by a dream about her mother that she's so often in the past but not for some time now. She woke with a cry and put a hand up to her throat. Almost immediately Darien came into the room, belting his rope around him. "What is it? Hey, you're soaking wet. You must be running temperature." "No, it was just a bad dream. But I'd like a drink." He bought her a glass of water and she drank it down thirstily, her throat feeling tight and sore. "Thanks. I'm OK now." She lay back on the pillows but he stayed beside her, gently stroking the damp hair back from her forehead, a frown between his eyes. "What was the dream about?" "I've forgotten", she said, so quickly he knew it was a lie. "Won't you share it with me?" "No. I don't want to share anything with you." "You live with me," Darien pointed out. She was silent for a moment then said tiredly, "But I'm not a part of you--and I never will be." She fell asleep again, but in the morning was so obviously unwell that Darien called the doctor without even asking her. The man came promptly, looked her over and told them that she'd caught a particularly nasty flu bug that was doing the rounds. "Stay in bed for a week and don't take any other medication while you're taking the antibiotics I'm prescribing for you," he ordered. Turning to Darien, he said, "Will you be able to take care of your--er---?" "Girlfriend," Darien supplied. "Yes, I can work from home." "No, I want a nurse," Serena said with croaky determination. The doctor looked amused. "It seems the young lady doesn't trust your nursing capabilities. "I'll take care of her," Darien repeated. He did, too. He brought her an endless supply of drinks and made her swallow her medication. When her nightdress got soaked with sweat he helped her change into a dry one, and he had the maid come in everyday to change the bed linen and cook a meal. And during the whole time she was ill he slept in the spare room. It was a long time since Serena was looked after by anyone, and she had fixed feelings about it. She didn't like having to be grateful to Darien; she'd rather it had been anyone but him. She rather suspected that he enjoyed having her dependent on him, probably because she obviously hated it so. And she thought that it must give him some kind of erotic pleasure to bathe her hot body, to brush her hair, to sit with her as she lay helpless; why else would he do it? It was over a week before she'd recovered enough for him to leave her alone in the flat, and almost a week more before he came back to her bed. When he did so he was surprisingly gentle, but this angered her; their relationship was built only on concupiscence, not tenderness. She didn't want to be held as if she might break, be stroked gently, or have him kiss her neck and throat while he murmured soft words in Portuguese that she didn't understand. Those were a kind of things a husband would do, a lover, a somebody who cared about you. But Darien was none of those things; he'd told her himself that their relationship was based on nothing more than cupidity aroused by his amusement at her open defiance and dislike of the situation in which she found herself. So she pushed his hand aside and said, brusquely,"Do you want me or not?" He did of course, taking her now in anger instead of tenderness, but still satisfying them both. The next day he went to the office early and Serena remembered the letters she'd hidden away. Taking them from their hiding place, she first looked again at the document that had bought off the man Mina had been involved with. His name was Malachite Sims. Had they been in love, but the man…? Surely he wouldn't have allowed himself to be bought off if he'd really loved her? But he's taken the Brodey pay-off, and quite a large sum at that. So maybe he had been out at what he could get. What had Mina been told? Serena wondered. It was clear that she knew nothing about the agreement. Had the man told her he'd tired of her? Had he just disappeared from her life? And had she been very upset at the sudden end to her love-affair, probably her first romance? It was intriguing, not only because Serena had reason to hate Mina, and because she was Darien's cousin, but because Mina aroused interest in everyone she met. She was the type of girl, so vital, so beautiful, so---classy. A classy bitch. Yes, those were the words that best described her. This man who had been paid off had, in Serena's opinion, been lucky. It was impossible to imagine Mina, with her love of expensive clothes and possessions, ever being happy with someone poor enough to be bribed. If she'd married him, she would have made this poor Malachite Sims' life a hell on earth with her demands. Thinking about Mina made Serena remember that she'd been due to visit New York. Had she come and gone while she, Serena, had been ill. More than likely. If she had seen or called Darien, and learnt that Serena had the flu, that would certainly have kept her away. Not that they would have met anyway. Neither girl would have wanted it, and Darien would definitely have wanted to make sure that he didn't get caught in the middle. Picking up the other letters, those addressed to Andrew, that she'd borrowed from the safe, Serena saw that she'd been right: the letters were from a woman. These too were old, dated may years ago. It was difficult at first to make sense of them, because they referred to other people by name--people whom Serena didn't know---but they were definitely love letters. The woman who wrote to Andrew pored out her heart to him, regretting they couldn't be together, longing for the day when they could meet. But they would have to wait until Simon went away. Whoever Simon was. But it didn't take long for Serena to realise that Simon must be the woman's husband. So Andrew had had and affair with a married woman. The naughty boy! Serena had picked the letters out at random, and there were gaps, but the envelope with the latest date turned out to contain a letter ending the affair. Serena read it, then sat up, goggle-eyed. From what the woman said, it was clear that she was expecting Andrew's child but he decided to pass it off as her husband's. Wow! This was the kind of stuff the gossip columnists must dream about! The Brodeys were certainly turning out to have several skeletons tucked away in their wall safe. And yet Andrew had dared to take such a high moral tone with her. It would just teach them a lesson, she thought, if this information was used to expose them for what they really were---as human and subject to temptation as anyone else. What a great article it would make for the magazine back in Portugal that had asked her to do a piece on the family, or for any one of the more salacious gossip magazines, Serena thought with a laugh of amusement. She could almost name her price and the Brodeys would never live it down. It naturally occurred to her that she could write the article herself, but the thought crossed her mind only fleetingly; even though theirs was a business arrangement, she still felt some royal to Darien and had no intention of embarrassing him or upsetting him. So far he had kept his side of the bargain: she had a wardrobe full of clothes and he took her out to places where she could wear them. She wanted for nothing--except the freedom to leave. And a settled future--she lacked that too. She had been on the move from one place to another most of her life, and had an unspoken longing to have somewhere of her own. She hid the letters away again, realising that she would have to figure out some way of getting them back into the safe without Darien knowing. But there was no rush; they had been locked away in the family safe for years now and it was hardly likely that anyone would go looking for them after so long. The next day the telephone rang while Darien was in the shower, so Serena answered it. It was Mina. There was a short silence when Mina heard her voice, then she said, "I want to talk to Darien." "Well, hello, Mina," Serena said mockingly, adding pointedly, "I'm fine, thanking so much for asking. And how about you?" "I couldn't care less how you are," Mina retorted. "Get Darien." "Ask nicely and I might," Serena teased. "Is he there or isn't he?" "Oh, yes, he's here." "Then stop playing around and just get him." "Did it ever occur to you to say please?" Serena demanded, her voice hardening. "Not to you, I don't," the other girl returned. "Haven't you got enough out of Darien yet? Why don't you leave him alone? You’re ruining his life." "I'm ruining his life?" Serena gave a laugh of disbelief. "How dare you say that to me?" "I dare because it's true. He's obsessed with you. You're just a cheap little--" "Don't call me names, Mina," Serena broke in with warning menace in her voice. "Just don't do it." "I shall call you whatever I damn well please. Women of your type shouldn't expect anything else." Angry now, Serena said tauntingly, "What's the matter, Mina, having man trouble--trouble in finding one that you can walk all over now that Michel has ditched you?" There was a gasp on the line. "I have not been ditched. It was the other way around. Michel was very sweet, but I---" She broke off. "Why don't you mind your own business? Just get Darien." "I will when you say please." "You disgusting little tramp!" Mina shouted, and slammed down the phone. She called again half an hour later and this time Darien took the call. "Hello, Mina." His glance flicked to Serena and she knew that Mina must be talking about her. Darien frowned and said, "Yes, of course I'll meet you to say good-bye. Where and when.?" He made a note in his diary, then put down the phone. "It seems you and Mina had another row," he remarked. Serena gave a small laugh. "She seems to have a chip on her shoulder about something. Was she in love with her husband when she married him?" she asked curiously. "Why do you ask?" "Is she regretting splitting with him?" Darien went over to the drinks cabinet and a couple of Martinis. "I shouldn't think so. It was perfectly obvious after the first year or so that it wasn't going to last. She tried to make it work, tried hard, but she should never have married him." "Why did she?" He handed her a glass. "Why does anyone get married?" Because she thought she was in love with him, of course." "Could she have been on the rebound? Had she ever been in love before?" Serena asked casually, but watching closely for his reaction. Darien shrugged. "How should I know? I expect she had infatuations, the same as everybody else." An ambiguous answer that didn't tell Serena whether he knew about Mina's former lover or not. Probably not, she thought, because she was beginning to be able to read his reactions by now. Although there were still times when his features became a mask and she couldn't understand him at all. Sitting down next to her on the sofa, Darien put an arm along the back and said, "Why so interested?" It was her turn to shrug. "She just seemed to fly off the handle very easily, that's all." Tilting her head, she gave him an assessing look, wondering what secrets about him the safe contained. "Have you been infatuated then?" "Of course. Loads of time. Haven't you?" But she said, "Have you ever been in love? Really in love?" He looked down at his glass, twisted between his fingers and didn't answer. "Well?" Serena insisted, beginning to get curious. He looked up, gave one of his rueful grins. "I thought I was once, but she married someone else." "Really? Who did she marry?" "My cousin." Serena stared. "Andrew?" "No, of course not. Taiki." "Oh, you mean your cousin who lives in Madeira. The one who's married to Lita, the girl who's pregnant," she said, remembering Lita's radiant happiness in her marriage and forthcoming child. "That's the one. Only I ended up bringing them together. And she isn't pregnant any longer. She had her baby a couple of weeks ago." Serena was instantly diverted. "Oh, you didn't tell me. What did she have?" "A boy of course." She laughed. "Why of course?" "Lita always get her priorities right." Serena laughed again at that, her face lighting up as it always did when she was amused and happy. But it was something she seldom did when they were alone together like this. Darien let his hand drop a little and touched her hair lightly. "How about you--have you ever been in love?" A closed look immediately came over her face. "No, of course not." "There's no, 'of course' about it. Why haven't you? Haven't you ever met anyone?" Moving away from his hand, she leant back against the sofa. "Falling in love is a mistake." "That sounds as if you speak from experience." "Yes, I do." "But you just said that you've never been in love," he pointed out. "Perhaps it would be more accurate to say I speak from observation. I've seen what it can do to---people." "To anyone in particular?" But he was getting too close, and she got lightly to her feet. "I feel like seeing a film tonight. How about you?" But for once he wasn't going to be put off, and said, "Why won't you ever tell me anything about yourself? We've been leaving together for nearly three months and I know very little about you than I did on the day we met." "I didn't know you had to submit a c.v. for this kind of job," Serena returned tartly. "It isn't a job, its' a relationship." She was walking through to the bedroom to get her back, but stopped in the doorway and turned to look at him. Mina's voice, telling her that Darien was obsessed with her, came into her mind but was immediately dismissed. Darien was merely piqued because she hadn't fallen for him. He expected her to change, but when he finally became convinced that she wouldn't then he would let her go. And she would still retain some pride. So her chin came up and there was a cool defiance in her eyes as she said, "Not to me it isn't." Darien got to his feet, came over and put his hand on the door-jamb. "Not at the moment, perhaps. But when we're in bed together, when we make love, then it becomes a relationship---because you can't help yourself. You like it too much." "You're wrong. It isn't making love, it's just having sex. And to me it will never be anything more than a job--a job I can't wait to leave." Darien's mouth thinned and he put a hand on her arm. She felt it tighten and thought that her denial might have turned him on, that it was what his libido fed on. She waited, feeling the tension in him, expecting him to pull her into the bedroom, to undress her or order her to take off her clothes. For a moment it looked as if he was going to, but then he turned abruptly away and said, "If you want to take in a film, then let's go." "I'll get my bag." But Serena didn't move straight away, instead looking at his broad back in puzzlement, and with a feeling that was bordering on disappointment. During the next couple of days, Serena felt strangely low and unsettled. When Darien was out she looked it again at the document that had bought Mina's boyfriend off. Was she being unfair to them? She wondered. After all, Mina had been very young, and the bot too, probably, and he would have had immense pressure brought to bear on him to give Mina up. The money might just have been to move him geographically away from her, to put him through a different college or something. In her imagination, Serena had this Malachite Sims pining for Mina still, and perhaps the break-up of the latter's marriage had been because she was still in love with him. There was an address in Connecticut on the document. Impulsively Serena looked up the number and called it. A woman answered, but her voice sounded middle-aged. "Is that Mrs. Sims?" "Yes, it is." "I'm trying to trace Malachite Sims. Does he still live there?" "No, he doesn't. Who's calling?" "I'm a friend of his from college," Serena improvised. "I'm in the States from Europe and I thought I'd look him up." "Well, he lives in California now. I can give you his new number if you like." "Please." Serena copied the number down, feeling that her guess had been right. "Er--could you tell me, is Malachite married yet?" there was an amusement in the woman's voice. "No, he's still single, and no mention of any marriage plans." Serena thanked her and put down the phone with a sentimental smile on her face, thinking how nice it would be if Malachite and Mina could get back together. People should be allowed to lead their own lives, make their own mistakes, but Serena was tempted to take a hand in Mina's. She had reason enough to hate the other girl but had to admit to herself that at first she had liked her. And, if she was being honest, then maybe Mina did have some excuse for her prejudice and dislike, too. But maybe, if Serena told her about Malachite Sims, the two might get back together and Mina would be grateful to her, a friend instead of an enemy. It would be nice to have a friend, even if she was a Brodey. A call to Darien's secretary at the office elicited Mina's telephone number and the time and place of his appointment with her. Then Serena rang Mina and left a message with her friend, asking her to meet Darien half an hour earlier. Mina was already at the restaurant where she had arranged to meet Darien when Serena arrived. When Mina saw her, her eyes widened in amazement. Then she said in sharp concern, "Has anything happened to Darien?" "No, he's fine. I wanted to talk to you became he came." "I suppose it was you who altered the time, then?" Mina bent to pick up her bag. "Of all the nerve! Well, I certainly don't want to talk to you." "You should stay," Serena warned. "I want to help you." "Help me!" She laughed in disbelief. "Yes. You see, I--learnt something that may be of great importance to you. I really think you ought to stay and listen." Mina eyed her narrowly, but put her bag down again. "Is this something to do with Darien?" "No, with you." Serena paused, wondering how to go about this. It had seemed an easy thing to do when she'd had the idea, but when actually facing Mina, with antagonism in every line of her face, it was somewhat harder. "Look, your marriage--did you go into it on the rebound?" "What?" Antagonism turned to outrage. "Were you in love with someone else, someone you--lost?" Mina stared at her, and for a moment Serena thought she saw a flash of remembered pain in the other girl's eyes. But then Mina said angrily, "What the hell are you talking about? And just what right do you think you have to ask me such personal questions anyway?" "I know it sound intrusive, but I do have a reason. As I said, I want to help you." "I do not need help." The words came out too quickly, with too much emphasis, almost as if she was afraid. Seeming to realise it, Mina napped out, "And I especially wouldn't need it from a tramp like you." With an impatient gesture she waved away a waiter who had come up to the table. Her face pale, she went on, "How dare you presume on your--your dirty little liaison with Darien to meddle in my life? You may have gatecrashed our party and gatecrashed Darien's life, but I'm not going to let you do it to mine." Leaning forward, she said, "I can't wait for the day when he gets over this obsession with you and see you for what you are." "Obsession? You said that before. But all it---" "Of course he's obsessed with you," Mina cut in. "He was suppose to stay in Madeira for another couple of weeks, but he cut the visit short to get back to you. And it's even affecting his work: when I got to New York his office said he hadn't been in for over a week. And he wouldn't come and see me, just made some lame excuse about you being unwell. And he's cancelled several business trips he was supposed to make during the last month." "It was true; I was ill." " I don't believe it. Darien can't stand illness. He'd run a mile rather than be with someone who's sick. It was you who deliberately kept him away from me--out of spite." Serena was getting really annoyed; she had come here for Mina's sake and all she was getting was a load of abuse she didn't deserve. But she made one last try. "It's about Malachite Sims." Mina immediately looked down, hiding the panic, the vulnerability in her eyes. When she raised her head a moment later her face was a complete blank, but Serena couldn't see her hands convulsively tightened into fists under the table. "Who?" She shrugged off the name, but her voice was unsteady as she said, "Don't try and change the subject. Just get away from Darien. And get out of our lives!" She hadn't even remembered him! So much for first love, Serena thought disgustedly. Mina was just as self-centered and uncaring as she'd suppose. Angrily she stood up, knowing that she'd waste her time. "Nothing would get me more pleasure. You and your precious family are all the same--arrogant, conceited, heartless parasites! And for your information I can't wait to get away from Darien--because I hate him as much as I hate the rest of the Brodeys!" Her voice had risen and everyone within earshot was watching them. Serena swung away from Mina's look of stunned surprise, went to stride away, and stopped short as she saw Darien standing just behind her. His face was white, a frozen mask of rage, and the glance he threw her chilled her to the bone. "Get out of here," he snapped at her, then walked across to where Mina was getting to her feet. Serena hesitated a moment, in no mood to be ordered around, but realizing that Darien was in no mood to listen to her side of it either. And, come to think of it, there was no way she could tell him why she'd come. With an angry shrug, she left the restaurant. As she strode along the street, still furious, it came to Serena that now Darien would have to let her go; he wouldn't want to keep her with him after this. She would be free. Free to make a new life for herself somewhere. But, strangely, this brought no great elation; she would rather they had parted in boredom than anger. Lifting a hand, she hailed a cab and went back to the apartment, pulled out her luggage and started packing her clothes. All she had here was clothes; she had no personal possessions. Books and souvenirs, records and ornaments would have made it into a home, not a place where she reluctantly had to stay, and she definitely hadn't wanted that. So it didn't take long to pack. Now all she needed was her passport and the thousand pounds that Darien had promised her when they parted. She'd expect Darien to follow her from the restaurant almost immediately, but he must have stayed with Mina because he didn't come. Serena strode angrily up and down for a while, waiting for him. So much for sentimentality. So much for trying to help someone, she thought with resentment. She certainly wouldn't try that again. Mina could just go ahead and ruin her life in the way she'd already started. Still feeling bitter, she sat down at Darien's computer, switched it on and, still furious, began to write a vitriolic expose of the Brodeys and their sordid affairs. She name names, quoted dates and figures, left nothing out. Writing it was therapeutic; much of Serena's anger had gone by the time she'd finished and polished the article. Reading it through, she laughed to herself, thinking what a furore it would create in the exalted circles in which the Brodeys moved. If it was ever printed. Which it wouldn't be. She had saved the piece as she'd worked, but now went to delete it; however, the sound of Darien's key turning in the lock pulled her up short and she quickly switched off the machine. She was standing in the middle of the room, prepared to take his fury, her cases at her feet, when he walked in. He saw her cases first, then looked up at her expectant face. He was still seethingly angry; she could sense it beneath the surface, see it in the cold steel of his eyes and the tautness of his features. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" he demanded with something close to a snarl. "You'll want to be rid of me now so I'm ready to go." "Is that why you did this--to make me so angry I'd kick you out?" "Does it matter, if that's what it has achieved?" Striding forward, he gripped her arm. "Yes, it damn well matters. Why did you do it?" She wasn't about to tell him the truth, ashamed now even of the sentiment that has prompted her to talk to Mina, so remained silent. Which, of course, made him even angrier. He shook her, his jaw thrust forward, his mouth a thin, menacing line. "You think you're clever, don't you, rowing with Mina in a public place, shouting my name out for everyone to hear?" Serena found that she wasn't immune to his anger. She hadn't want it to be like this, hadn't want to upset him. Trying to end it, to get away from emotions of her own that she didn't understand, she said more curtly than she'd intended, "Just give me my money and I'll go." He made a sound of disgust. "Money!" That's all you're interested in. that's the only reason you're here." "You promised me a thousand pounds when we split up," Serena insisted, not bothering to contradict him. He laughed unpleasantly, his anger still close to the surface. "But we're not splitting up. Because I haven't finished with you yet. If you think you can coerce me into letting you go this easily, then you're very much mistaken." Her mouth dropped open a little as she stared at him. "You mean--you want me to stay?" "Yes." His grip tightened as his eyes glinted down at her. "For this!" And, picking her up, he swung her over his shoulder and carried her into the bedroom. Afterwards, when he'd gone back to the office and she was lying alone, staring up at the ceiling, Serena remembered Darien's accusation that she cared about nothing but money. It was true that he gave her money for her everyday needs and paid for her clothes, but she'd rarely asked him for any extra, and she had enough clothes now to fill her wardrobe so hadn't bought anything much for some time. And he'd never bought her the kind of presents mistresses were supposed to get: jewelry, a sports car, that kind of thing. He was far from mean, but he'd no right to say that. How would he like it if he were in her position? She thought indignantly. Entirely dependent on someone else, having to go to bed with them whenever they wanted. Only she'd wanted it too. Serena thoughts went back to the sexual act she'd just experienced, which had started in anger but ended in overwhelming pleasure, for both of them. Was is his anger with her that had turned him on again? Was that how he got his kicks? But she knew it wasn't so, because Darien had made love to her many times without being angry, and I had been just as good. Well, almost as good; she had to admit there was a certain added excitement when his passion was aroused so wildly. Sighing, Serena turned on to her side. One thing was for sure: when Darien still got this much pleasure out of it, he wasn't going to let her go whatever she did. He came home that night looking moody, but he didn't mention Mina again. Serena was afraid that she might have remembered who Malachite Sims was, and in which case he would guess that she'd looked in the safe. She waited nervously for him to ask, but gave a sigh of relief when he suggested they send out for a pizza and have it in front of the television set because there was a football match he wanted to watch. So life went on as before, until two days later, when Serena went down to collect the mail and found a letter addressed to her, not Darien. She'd a couple of letters from Rei in Oporto, but apart from that she'd never had any mail before. Almost at once she saw that it was from the magazine she'd sent her humorous article to. Tearing open the envelope, her excitement running high, she read that article had been accepted. And enclosed was a check for five hundred dollars! Serena spent the whole morning deciding what she would do with the money. Her first thought was to buy a ticket to England, but she still hadn't got her passport. She could, however, go somewhere in America, perhaps on a train or a bus. She let her imagination run wild, but soon came back to reality; five hundred dollars wouldn't last very long and then where would she be? Maybe she could buy herself something. But she had plenty of clothes and her life had been uncluttered by possessions for so long now she couldn't think of anything to buy. A present for someone, then? But there was only Darien, and she could imagine his reaction if she gave him a gift. So what, then? What could she buy? The answer crept into her mind, filled it, and wouldn't go away. Heading for the nearest bank, Serena changed the check into dollar bills. When Darien came home that evening he found a trail of them leading to the bedroom and the bed, on which the rest of the bills were spread. Serena was sitting in a chair by the bed, fully dresses, arms folded. "What's all this?" he demanded with astonishment. "It's your pay." "My what?" "You heard me. It's your pay---for your sexual services. So don't just stand there; takes your clothes off."*********************************************************************** Thanks to all those that have e-mailed me with many nice compliment. I really appreciate it. As you've noticed "planning a revenge" chapter 6 will not be out for a while. I've been quite busy with homework and preparing for my mid-term. Also, I'm helping my best friend, Madoka's with her fic which should be out in the near future. Make you sure to check it out. You won't be disappointed. Again I'm sorry for the delay. Please be patient with me. Oh yeah, "Darien's Mistress" only have 2 more chapter left. It's almost the end. Thanks again to all those that supported and read my stories! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~