Countess Dracula by Guy Adams

Author:Guy Adams [Adams, Guy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Fantasy, General, Fiction
ISBN: 0099553864
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2013-02-06T23:00:00+00:00

‘Well, that’s just wonderful!’ Fabio sighed, dumping the pile of newspapers in front of Nayland. ‘Like we needed this.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘You will be by the time I’ve finished dealing with you. Jesus, Frankie, what were you thinking?’

‘I wasn’t. Well …’ Nayland rubbed at his face, trying to force the hangover out of his pores. ‘You know, I was just jealous.’

‘This is Elizabeth we’re talking about, for Christ’s sake, a woman who has more affairs than I have digestion pills. What’s suddenly made the difference?’

‘I don’t know, I guess it just hit me … I’m sick of sharing her.’

‘I hate to tell you this, Frankie, but she was never yours in the first place. You know how this kind of thing works: it was a marriage of convenience, a business arrangement. This was not white lace and red roses.’

‘I know.’ Nayland clenched his fist and rapped it on the table, a move he immediately regretted because his hand was so swollen that it felt like punching a knife. ‘You think I don’t know that? The whole thing is a lie.’

‘Damn right it is. And now it’s a lie that’s got to stop.’

That knocked Nayland harder than anything else so far. He stared at Fabio in genuine confusion. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean we need to arrange a divorce. I can’t work with the two of you like this.’

‘A divorce? What are you talking about, a divorce?’

‘Last night more than helped, Frankie. You’re backing me into an impossible situation here. With Elizabeth’s new looks I need to make a fresh start with her. I certainly don’t need an abusive alcoholic husband to contend with – how am I supposed to make good press out of that?’

Nayland couldn’t believe he was hearing this. ‘I’m not abusive … I’m not a bloody alcoholic, either. Don’t tell me you can’t paper over the cracks on this, I know you can, just like you have whenever one of your other clients has got in a little trouble.’

‘Yeah,’ said Fabio, ‘I can sort this out, I can also make Elizabeth’s comeback bigger and better than ever, but I can’t do both at the same time.’ He shifted in his seat, sweating because of both the heat of the morning and the stress of dealing with his business.

‘Listen carefully,’ he said. ‘Let me spell out to you how this works. I can launch Elizabeth back into the business but it will be a launch – nobody’s seen her on a screen for close to five years. I’m starting afresh here. I can do that but right now when I’m trying to talk about her the papers are going to be talking about you – you see that, right? If you’re a couple then you share the column inches. I need a clear voice, one beautiful note about a woman making her return to show business. I don’t need every other paragraph bringing up the fact that her husband has a drink problem.’

‘I don’t have a drink problem!’

‘Frankie, it doesn’t matter what you have.

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