Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz

Author:Anthony Horowitz [Horowitz, Anthony]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
ISBN: 9781911214779
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2018-05-30T16:00:00+00:00

14

Secrets and Lies

They had dinner in the garden with the swimming pool shimmering behind them and the stars crowding out the night sky. Everything was silent. The cicadas had decided enough was enough. True to her word, Sixtine had prepared the simplest of meals: grilled fish, salad, cheese she had picked up from the Marché de la Libération in Nice, fresh bread. They sat next to each other at the table and for a while they didn’t speak. There was a part of Bond that was uneasy, at war with himself. As much as he now saw that it was inevitable they should have become lovers, he was worried that he had confused the situation and that he might come to regret it. Put bluntly, it was still quite possible that she was his enemy.

As if sensing what was on his mind, she levelled her eyes on him and said, without emotion: ‘Do you still want information?’

‘Yes.’

‘I thought we might enjoy the evening together.’

‘I’ll enjoy learning more about you.’

She considered. ‘What do you want to know, James? Was I responsible for the death of your friend? No. Or the girl this morning? I don’t even know who she was. You asked me what I was doing here in the south of France. Why should I tell you? You know nothing about me and unless it’s connected to your work, you care even less.’

‘You’re wrong.’ Bond lifted his wine glass and swirled the honey-coloured liquid in the palm of his hand. Puligny-Montrachet is one of the few wines that can trace its origins back to Roman times and he enjoyed it as much for its age and antiquity as its taste. ‘I want to know everything about you. Not just what you’re doing here in France. You’re obviously quite an operator. My office in London has a healthy respect for you and I can see that you’ve enjoyed putting me in my place. But why don’t we leave the games behind us now? Why don’t you tell me about yourself?’ He put his hand on his chest. ‘I cross my heart it’ll go no further than where we are now. If we’re both on the same side, it seems crazy to have secrets from each other.’

‘If we’re both on the same side …’ She let the words hang in the air. ‘All right.’ She held out her glass and Bond refilled it. ‘But if you betray me, if you make any move against me, I will never forgive you, James. More than that, I will make sure you regret it. Just because I’ve given myself to you tonight, don’t think I belong to you. The opposite is true. Because of tonight, part of you belongs to me.’

Bond said nothing. He waited for her to begin.

‘You may be surprised but I was born in New Zealand. I don’t even remember the place, really. My father was from France. He was an engineer and he’d been invited down there to work on the main trunk line from Auckland to Wellington.

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