"Tina went to Spain?"
Abby squinted at the page. "No. Apparently he's in town. At the Park Plaza." Abby handed Lissa the page. She watched Lissa stare at it for a moment. "Now you do what you think best-as of course you will, anyway, but if it were me, I'd be picking up the phone and calling the Park Plaza. I'd want to catch Mr. Torres before I bothered with Tom Acker."
"Because?"
"Well, in addition to the fact that he's the more innovative person, and the fact that your style would blend well with his approach to projects, so that you'd reinforce each other-it would be brilliant. If that isn't enough of a reason, I can think of three other reasons to talk to him." She pointed to the picture of the triplets that sat on her desk.
"Point taken, but I think you know that I've tried to contact him many times."
"Well, that was then. Now he's in your city and close enough to reach out to. Who knows what gremlins might have been lurking out there and keeping you two from communicating?"
Who knew indeed?
Abby smiled and pointed to the printout. "Why, look here, you just happen to have the phone number for his suite. Even if he blocked your calls on his cell phone, you can call his room directly."
"So I can." She held the page, not sure if she should crumple it up or make the call.
"Another thing to consider," Abby said. "This email came from his office. Tina has been hiding things from you. It isn't totally impossible that the fact that there hasn't been any communication from him might not actually be a fact at all."
"Why would Tina care about that?"
"I can't honestly say why Tina does much of anything she does. I'm just saying you can't let your pride keep you from making the call. If you want to know what's going on, I mean. And if you are interested in being on a hot team for the Milan job." She walked to the door. "I need to meet the IT guy, so I'll leave you alone with your angst."
Lissa took a long, slow breath, and when she exhaled, her body trembled. Fear? The angst Abby talked about? Whatever it was, if she intended to get involved in the Milan deal, she had to make the call. And if she could find out anything on a personal level …
Don't get your hopes up, kid.
Julio was in the middle of rereading a report on logistical issues related to the project when the phone rang. He answered with his head filled with information on duty-free zones and customs regulations. When he heard her voice, it all went out of his head. It was her voice. Lissa.
"I heard you were in town," she said simply, but he heard a tremble in her voice. "I thought we should meet."
"Meet? You are going to talk to me finally? Now?" He bounced between eagerness and anger, wanting to see her, to talk to her, and outrage that she dared act so calmly, so matter-of-factly. She sounded as if they'd just had a meeting and she wanted to follow up.
"We have a lot to discuss, but I can't even begin to address even the basics over the phone."
"A lot? Like children?" Julio said.
"You've heard."
"No thanks to you."
"To me?"
"Now you've decided you're ready to tell me about them?" He hated sounding so petty and indignant. It wouldn't help anything. And it shocked him that on hearing that musical voice again he instantly burned, absolutely ached, to talk to her. What a fool! He should refuse. He should wait for her to apologize, beg his forgiveness. The telephone shook in his hand. He stood in his room, terrified that this abrupt and tenuous connection might slip away. Again.
"I want to sit down with you, just the two of us," She said.
"Why?"
"We need to talk about the boys, and about business as well."
"Milan?" Now he understood the timing of her call. "You called me because of Milan?"
"Partly. Mostly I called because I could."
"What do you mean? You could call me any time you wanted."
"I understand you met with Tina Peters."
That surprised him. Tina Peters wasn't important at all. She certainly had nothing to do with them. "Your disgruntled ex-employee? Yes, I did. I assume all of New York knows that by now."
"It's likely."
"She's trying to position herself as a player in the Milan deal."
"I know. She's courting everyone, it seems. I don't know if she's more interested in getting the gig or cutting me out of it."
Despite himself, Julio laughed. "I'd rate that impossible on either score. She's a second-hander, as Ayn Rand called them. Her idea of innovation is to hire good people and create a genius sweatshop."
"Well put and accurate." Her voice was mellowing.
"Tomorrow? The dinner, I mean?"
"Can we do it tonight?" she asked. He heard a quiver creep back into her voice. Uncertainty. That didn't seem possible, but then this entire conversation was impossible.
"I suppose. Is it that urgent?"
"No. It took all the courage I could summon to make this call, and I'm afraid that if we don't talk right away, I'll lose my nerve and not be able to face you."
The absolute honesty of the words almost floored him. "Me too."
"You?" She sounded surprised.
Somehow he felt the need to be honest. "Yes. I'm terrified of being a coward. So how about dinner at my hotel tonight? The food is good."
"No. You have minions there. This should be private."
He remembered a restaurant she'd mentioned when they were in Switzerland. She compared it to a place they ate there, saying she thought the New York place was even better. "In Switzerland at dinner, when I raved about the food, you mentioned a place in New York that was better," he said.
"Yes. I know the place."
"Do you care to prove your claim?"
The door opened and Willa came in. He held up a hand to keep her from talking.
"I'll make reservations for seven," Lissa said.
"I'll see you there."
When he hung up, Willa looked at him curiously. "Hot date?"
"I made a dinner engagement."
"Without consulting me?"
He scowled at her. Since they'd slept together, Willa had grown more proprietary. He didn't care for that change. "Obviously."
"Who are you meeting?"
"Lissa Edwards."
"What?"
He enjoyed her look of astonishment. "She found out I was in town and called. It was amazingly amicable."
"You can't meet with her."
"I can't? I intend to, Willa."
"But after all she's done … "
Willa's intense look of distress was totally out of character, and from what he could see, out of proportion to him meeting the woman. "She wants to tell me some things. I assume we will talk about the children. If she's willing to talk to me, maybe we can avoid any kind of legal wrangling. You know I hate how readily Americans turn to those bastards. It's a waste of money, and drags things out in public."
"I have to object to you meeting her."
"No you don't. And I can't see that any harm can come from talking to her."
"After she cut you off, broke your heart, the first time she crooks her finger to beckon you to approach, you go to her like a lovesick schoolboy."
"Perhaps. But it isn't like I've never acted foolishly before. I'm willing to embarrass myself if it clears the air." It was more than that. Having heard her voice, he ached to see her.
"And then there is our relationship. Doesn't that give me some right to object?"
Julio stared at her. She spoke calmly, but he saw her anger. She seethed, holding it in. It surprised him, seeing this side of her. He couldn't imagine what had her in such a fury. It couldn't simply be jealousy, or she'd want him to resolve things with Lissa. Then he'd be free. No, he'd missed something. It had probably been going on for some time. Whatever she was after was threatened by Lissa.
He wondered if she consciously knew what it was herself.
"Emotional blackmail doesn't become you, Willa. And although you have the look of a jealous woman, I don't think that's why you are upset. As for our relationship, we've been a good business team, and we let that become intimate. I think that might have been a mistake."
"She is trying to ruin things."
"Ruin things? What things? Unless you mean I'm suddenly aware of how possessive you feel about me, your concerns sound hysterical."
"Hysterical? Because I've been at your side through all this and now feel betrayed?"
"You were well paid to be by my side. And what is it I've betrayed? Clearly you have some expectations about our relationship that you've never mentioned."
"Please don't go see her."
"I am going, Willa. Tonight."
Suddenly her face changed. The anger left her eyes. "I apologize," she said calmly. "Because of what that woman has done to you, I've grown to hate her." She drew herself up. "I'm sorry that I seem to be acting irrationally. I think I'd better retire to my room. I'll have a long soak in the tub and get room service."
And she left.
"Women."
CHAPTER SEVEN
Willa wanted to scream.
This turn of events was disastrous. It was unbelievable that things had gone bad so suddenly. She had been surprised and messed things up, made them worse. She should never have tried to insist he not go to the dinner. Now he was suspicious of her. He was right. She had no good reason she could tell him so that he shouldn't meet with Lissa. Everything she said had made her sound like a jealous madwoman. Worse, it had pissed him off. Showing her anger and frustration did nothing but tip her hand. Now he even suspected her motives for fucking him. That wasn't good.