Across the River of Yesterday by Iris Johansen Read Free Book Online

hours. She shook her head to clear it. “Pictures?”
    “Not many. You’re fairly publicity-shy, aren’t you? The one in
Women’s Wear Daily
was pretty good though.” His fingers reached up to touch her hair, drawn back in a neat chignon. “This is pretty, but I like it better down. All this sophistication kind of intimidates me.” He shook his head. “Funny. It never bothered me with any other woman, but in you, it scares the hell out of me.”
    She found herself smiling involuntarily at the boyish admission. “I’m not particularly sophisticated. I live a very simple life in a cottage in upstate New York. Most of the time I wear jeans and a ponytail. Your lifestyle is probably more sophisticated than mine.” Her smile faded as she remembered the Dior-garbed sex symbol Gideon had just escorted to the limousine. She stepped back. “In every way.” She met his eyes and said crisply, “Now what the hell is going on here?”
    A flicker of disappointment crossed his face. “Wouldn’t you rather discuss it over dinner? I have a French chef now.” He smiled teasingly. “Or I can make you another omelet?”
    She shook her head. “Now,” she said crisply. “Right now.”
    He shrugged. “I was afraid you’d be a little upset. Okay, I wanted you here on Castellano. Well, that’s not exactly true. I wanted you anywhere I could get you, but I figured on Castellano we’d have a better chance to get to know each other.”
    She stared at him, stunned. She spoke with great deliberation. “And may I ask what you did to get me here?”
    He made a face. “You’re not going to like it.”
    “I’m sure I’m not. I haven’t liked one thing that’s happened to me since I arrived here.”
    His expression betrayed mischievous thoughts. “I could work at changing that impression. I’m always ready to oblige a lady.”
    Then, as he saw her expression darken stormily, he sighed. “Oh, all right, I lured your brother from Monte Carlo to Mariba, and bribed the local
guardia
to arrest him on fake drug charges. It was the only way I could think to get you here.”
    “Is that all?”
    “Well, I did make sure you wouldn’t be able to leave by air or sea until I gave the word.” He smiled crookedly. “The officials here are very easy to impress with bills of high denominations.”
    “I can’t believe this. It’s utterly outrageous.
Why
, for heaven’s sake?”
    “I didn’t think you’d come if I invited you,” he said simply. “I didn’t find you until two years ago, but you could have found me anytime.” He paused. “If you’d wanted to find me. But you didn’t want to see me again, did you, Serena? Even after your husband died five years ago, you still didn’t come back to me.”
    She felt an unreasonable surge of guilt. “There was no reason to come back. We were strangers, ships passing in the night. There was nothing to come back for.”
    He nodded. “And you would have given me that same bull if I’d come up to New York. It would have been a hell of a lot harder for me to pry you out of the pretty little foxhole you’d dug for yourselfon your home ground.” He smiled gently. “And I’ve always been one for the easy way.”
    “You won’t find this way easy.” Her eyes were blazing. “What makes you think you can do something like this? Did you grow bored with your little island chickadees and decide you wanted something new?”
    “You’re not new.” His brown eyes twinkled. “Our relationship is over a decade old.”
    “This is
not
funny.”
    “I didn’t say it was.” He shook his head. “Sorry, but I can’t seem to stop smiling. I’m so damn happy to see you.”
    She felt a melting sensation deep within her and instinctively braced against it, letting her exasperation and frustration smother it before it could damage the barriers she was frantically erecting between them. “I’m not glad to see you. I was grateful for your help that night but …”
    “Easy,” he said