Blood Ties by Warren Adler Read Free Book Online Page B

his red face. Albert grimaced briefly, then forced a
smile at his approaching brother.
    Rudi tucked a hand under Albert's arm, as if the touching
might symbolize a bond to the eyes of the family observers.
    "A dramatic change for the worse, don't you
think?" Rudi said shaking his head. Albert looked at him. Siegfried noted
a brief flash of anger. A tiny nerve palpitated in Albert's jaw.
    "Since you saw him last?" Albert asked. Rudi
flushed, the blood filling his face. He removed his arm.
    "So he told you," Rudi said.
    "Of course."
    "It had to be said." Rudi seemed unusually cocky.
"We have a basic conflict. The matter must be resolved."
    "It will be," Albert said. "One way or
another."
    Siegfried watched the brief encounter, puzzled. He searched
for common ground.
    "Odd that she should show up after all these
years," Siegfried said, returning to the subject of the Russian woman.
"But the son is an authentic von Kassel. In the end old Uncle Wolfgang did
his duty. Blood is blood." He looked at Heather, who turned away in
embarrassment. When they had married, she had no knowledge of what he had done
to himself. She had never forgiven him for that.
    "And money is money," Rudi snapped. "I can't
see how the old man could be taken in. Her motives are obvious. Uncle Wolfgang
had been content to disown us. All those years of being a good comrade while
the Baron sweated to rebuild the family interests. Where was he when he was
needed? Now she thinks that all she has to do is present herself. It is
insulting to the rest of the family."
    His voice sputtered to a halt. Adolph waddled toward them.
    "It's so wonderful, all of us together again," he
said. Siegfried watched his eyes wash over the body of the young waiter who
passed drinks. Siegfried reached for another martini, hesitated, then with a
glance at Heather replaced it on the tray. Adolph's chubby fingers plucked a
glass of champagne off the tray.
    "How wonderful. Positively marvelous champagne. I'd
say '66. Am I correct about that, waiter?" He winked. The young waiter's
eyelids fluttered. "Yes, I believe it is." Adolph lifted a ringed
forefinger, waving it in front of him. "You see. It is one of my
specialities." He paused, holding his eyes steady, peering into those of
the waiter, "...among others."
    "Really, Adolph," Siegfried said, chuckling.
    "A darling boy. Don't you think?"
    "Smashing," said Siegfried.
    The others had ignored the interchange. Albert looked at
his wristwatch, turning anxiously toward the entrance. Siegfried moved a few
steps from his brothers, as if the physical separation was somehow symbolic. He
reveled in such inference. Thankfully, Heather went off to the ladies' room.
Anything to avoid the others.
    When she had gone, he felt free to take another martini
from one of the passed trays. Another hand reached out beside his.
    "May I?" The voice was soft, the flesh fragrant.
Dawn lifted the glass from the tray, stirring the toothpicked olive, then
darting it between full pink lips.
    "It's a martini night," she whispered. He was the
only von Kassel that she had met on another occasion. That night in New York, she had held hands with Albert all evening, as if any space between them was
unbearable. He noted the difference now, a subtlety to be sure, but he did have
this benefit of comparison. He smiled at her, more than a simple social mask of
ingratiation.
    "One must survive it somehow," Siegfried said,
lifting his chin to expel the smoke from his cigarette. "For me it's
obligatory. One assumes you had a choice." He was searching her face for
signs. Her eyes were deep and moist, hazel specks on a green field.
    "I thought it would amuse me." She sipped her
martini, but the fingers shook lightly, betraying the anxiety. She was frightened.
    "Think of it all as an eccentricity, all the genetic
posturing, as if there was something special about all those von Kassel cells
swimming in these." He lifted a wrist and showed her the ridged veins.
"Our ancestors were actually