Katrina experienced a sense of disappointment when the curtain came down at the close of the final act.
Clearing the theatre and reaching their car took a while, and afterwards Nicos drove to Double Bay where they lingered over lattes and watched the social set at play.
Katrina mused that she and Nicos had sat at this particular sidewalk café during their brief courtship, and after their marriage.
It had been a favoured way to end an evening out. Almost as if they were deliberately lengthening the anticipation of what was to come. All it used to take was a look, Nicos would settle the bill, and together they’d stroll hand-in-hand to the car. Lovemaking had been a delight, for their shared intimacy had been borne out of love, rarely lust…although she’d exulted in the occasions Nicos had barely held onto control.
‘Pleasant thoughts?’
Nicos’s voice intruded, and she cast him a solemn glance. ‘Varied,’ she responded succinctly, and watched the edges of his mouth curve into a warm smile.
‘Shall we leave?’
It was close to midnight when they arrived home, and Katrina made little protest as Nicos undressed her, then took her into his arms.
Their lovemaking was slow, almost gentle, and afterwards she curled in against him and slept until morning.
Nicos had already left when Katrina woke, and she showered, dressed, then ate a light breakfast before driving into the city office of Macbride.
She booted up the computer and got to work, frowning with vexation as the phone provided a constant interruption to the data she was intent on checking.
Consequently when it rang again she automatically reached for the receiver and intoned her usual businesslike greeting.
‘We should do lunch.’
Katrina heard the words, recognised her stepbrother’s voice, and cut straight to the chase. ‘There would be no point in it,’ she refuted evenly. ‘Besides, I have an appointment to lunch with a colleague.’ A slight stretch of the truth, and one Harry would adore.
‘I have some interesting information regarding Nicos,’ Enrique revealed.
‘Which you’ll divulge for a price?’
‘You know me well.’
Too well. ‘If I wanted an account of Nicos’s movements, I’d hire a private detective.’
‘Why hire a professional when you have me, darling,’ he responded smoothly.
‘Goodbye, Enrique,’ she concluded with resignation.
‘Nicos is in Brisbane with Georgia.’
Did a heart stop beating, then race into overdrive? She was willing to swear hers did. Nicos had said nothing at breakfast about flying interstate. Nor had he intimated he’d be late home for dinner.
‘Ring his office, if you don’t believe me.’
‘I don’t have time for this.’
‘But you’re curious.’
Curious was too tame for what she was feeling right now. Angry came close.
‘You have my cellphone number,’ Enrique taunted.
She ended the call, and endeavoured to focus her attention on a compilation of figures on the computer screen.
It didn’t work. Her concentration was shot, and after making a third mistake she pressed the save key and dialled Nicos’s private line, only to hear a recorded message refer the caller to his cellphone.
Which could, Katrina rationalised, simply mean that he was in an important meeting or out of the office.
With an effort she returned her attention to the work at hand, only to redial the number half an hour later and receive the same response.
Dammit, this was ridiculous. Phone him, then get on with the day!
Nicos answered on the second ring, and his caller ID negated the need for verbal identification.
‘Katrina. Something wrong?’
Considering she never rang him, it was a reasonable assumption.
‘Enrique is negotiating information,’ she said without preamble.
‘And you opted to go straight to the source.’
His voice was a cynical drawl that sent a shivery sensation slithering the length of her spine.
‘Yes.’
‘I took the late morning flight to Brisbane with my lawyer to personally expedite certain legal matters.’
Her stomach tightened painfully. ‘With Georgia.’ She didn’t even voice it as a query.
‘Yes.’
Had she expected him to lie to her? ‘Thank you for the clarification,’ she said with icy politeness, and cut the connection.
Seconds later the phone rang, and she refused to answer.
With cold-hearted determination she finished the day’s work, cleared her desk, caught up her laptop, and left the office ahead of her usual time, amazed that she felt so calm.
Katrina took her car up to street level, then headed towards Double Bay and checked into the Ritz-Carlton hotel.
One night alone wouldn’t contravene the terms of Kevin’s will, she concluded as she glanced around the luxuriously fitted suite. There was everything at her fingertips. She could work from her laptop, order in a meal, and screen any incoming calls on her cellphone.
There was a certain pleasure in calculating the time it would take Nicos to arrive home and discover her absence. How long before he made the first call? Seven o’clock?
Fifteen minutes past, Katrina saw with a degree of satisfaction. She’d changed out of her clothes, phoned her mother, taken a shower, donned the hotel’s courtesy bathrobe, and had eaten a light meal delivered by room service.
She ignored the insistent peal before the call switched to message-bank. His voice when she played it back was curt and controlled.
Half an hour later he called again, and this time there was a degree of anger evident.
By now he would have rung her apartment, and probably Siobhan, who on strict instructions from her daughter, would deny any knowledge of Katrina’s whereabouts.
At what point would he give up?
Not easily, she determined, as she checked the digital screen on her cellphone before taking a call from her mother.
‘Darling,’ Siobhan chided gently. ‘This is most unwise of you.’
‘A temporary lack in wisdom isn’t that big a deal,’ Katrina assured
