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!	
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