Now You See Her Linda Howard(30)

"And she knows that in the bitter end she'll lose. I want her out of my life. This isn't a bluff, Gavin. I should have forced her hand months ago, but I wanted to do what I thought was right. That's over. Give her lawyer the message." He hung up and sat back, his expression grim.

In his downtown office, Gavin Welles shrugged and placed a call to Olivia Yu, Candra's attorney.

When she heard Richard's ultimatum, her responding blast nearly ruined Gavin's eardrums. "That bastard! Was he serious?"

"Serious as a heart attack," Gavin said.

"What the hell brought this on? I could have eventually convinced Candra she had the best offer she was likely to get, but she's going to hit the ceiling over this. He must have her replacement waiting in the wings."

Gavin had already thought of that possibility, but he was too discreet to say so. "Not to my knowledge."

"Bullshit. He has a little honey lined up and you know it."

"So what if he does?" Richard could have slept with a different woman every night, in the middle of Times Square, and his position wouldn't have been weakened.

Olivia knew it. Only Candra's reluctance to settle for what she thought was an unfairly minuscule amount had kept her from signing the papers before now. Olivia had tried to make her see she couldn't hope for anything more, but Candra had seemed almost desperate for more money. "All right, I'll call her. You'd better take cover under your desk."

"What?"

Contrary to Olivia's expectations, Candra's reaction was a horrified whisper, not an outraged shriek.

Olivia repeated the terms.

"He can't do that! We've already agreed—"

"You haven't signed the papers," Olivia said pointedly. "Legally, he isn't bound by his offer because you refused it. He can do anything he likes."



"But the gallery is mine. I'm the one who searched out artists, who built their reputations and made the gallery profitable. He can't take it!"

"His money bought the building. His money backed the gallery, got it started. His name is on all the checks paying all the bills. A smart lawyer—and believe me, Gavin Welles is smart—could make the argument that Richard is the driving force behind the gallery and you were little more than window dressing. You should have incorporated the gallery in your name, but that's hindsight." In Olivia's profession, she saw incredible financial stupidity every day.

"I would have if I'd had any warning," Candra said. Her voice was wretched. "One day we were fine, then we had that argument and the next day he filed for divorce. I didn't have time to do anything to protect myself."

The time to protect yourself, in Olivia's opinion, was while everything was still fine. The point was moot, the water long since passed under the bridge. She wondered what the argument had been about; Candra had never said, but it must have been total war, to have triggered such an abrupt and final break. Whatever the reason, in their meetings Richard had been cold, ruthlessly controlled, and absolutely unyielding. He hadn't compromised on a single issue, and now he was taking an even more hard-ass position.

"I'll talk to him," Candra said. She sounded on the verge of tears.

"Candra…" Olivia sighed. "What good can it do? Name one tiny detail he's budged on. Sign the papers, before you lose another ten thousand."

"I'll get him to reinstate that ten thousand. I'll— I'll promise to sign the papers if he does."

Candra hung up and closed her eyes. She felt sick to her stomach, so ill she thought she might actually throw up. A year ago ten thousand had seemed like pocket change to her, but now it was essential. She hadn't heard from Carson, but then she hadn't expected to so soon. Blackmail wasn't a sure thing, and until Carson came through with the money, she couldn't afford to let a penny slip away. After all, what could she do if he refused to pay blackmail? Making the photos public would ruin his career, perhaps even initiate a criminal investigation because of the drug use, but that wouldn't put any money in her pocket. It would, in fact, totally negate that threat. Her only hope was that he feared exposure enough to pay the money.

God, what had set Richard off? When he had come to the gallery two days before, he had been as cold and stubborn as ever, but though he had tried to convince her to sign the papers then, he hadn't issued any threats. She didn't have any choice about signing, of course, not now. Why hadn't he done this then?

He had to have a reason. Richard always had a reason. He was the least emotional, most logical person she had ever met, something that had made her feel very secure when they were married. No matter what, she had always been able to count on Richard to figure out the best way to handle any situation.

This ultimatum wasn't a bluff; he would do exactly what he, said. He wanted the papers signed and the divorce expedited. The question was: Why now? Why not two days ago, or two months ago? He could have done this at any time and the outcome would have been the same.



He had an urgent reason now, one that he hadn't had two days before. It had to be a woman. Just because she hadn't found out about any women he'd had since they separated didn't mean he'd been living like a monk. She knew Richard's sexual appetite, and she also knew women automatically gravitated to him, as if he gave off subliminal signals that said he liked it slow, and often. He also held some ridiculously old-fashioned opinions; if he had accidentally gotten some woman pregnant, he would insist on marrying her. That was another thing she knew about Richard, she thought bitterly: He didn't take a pregnancy lightly.