Master Of Pleasure by Penny Jordan

Author:Penny Jordan [Jordan, Penny]
Format: epub
Published: 2010-03-27T04:00:00+00:00

Sasha parked her car and then made her way through the elegant streets to her destination, hesitating only momentarily outside, before pressing the bell and waiting for the door to open.

The owner of the shop himself came forward to greet her, sweeping her into an elegant private office.

‘Would you care for some coffee?’ he asked.

Sasha shook her head and opened her handbag. When she had telephoned him earlier she had explained the purpose of her visit, to save herself any potential embarrassment. From his lack of any surprise she had guessed that he had heard about Carlo’s financial problems. Placing her bag on the table in front of her, she removed the boxes she had placed so carefully inside it, opening them one by one: the necklace of diamonds and emeralds and the matching earrings Carlo had given her on their first wedding anniversary; the Cartier ring with its emerald-cut diamonds which she knew had cost over a quarter of a million euros; the huge solitaire that was her engagement ring; the yellow diamond ring surrounded by white diamonds that he had given her the Christmas before last.

Finally she reached for her diamond earstuds, and for the first time her fingers trembled.

‘How much can you give me for everything?’ she asked the jeweller quietly.

He picked up a magnifying glass and started to study each item carefully. It was over half an hour before he spoke, and when he did the amount he told her he was prepared to offer her for her jewellery made her shake with relief.

It was, she suspected, nowhere near what Carlo had paid for it, but it was still enough to put a roof over their heads, and if she was careful there should be enough to pay the boys’ school fees. They liked their school, and she didn’t want to move them if she could avoid it.

She gave a small, terse nod of her head, her eyes widening in surprise as the jeweller pushed her solitaire earrings back across the table to her.

‘I have made the calculation without including these,’ he told her quietly. ‘You should keep them. I am sure it is what your late husband would have wished.’

Sasha had to bite her lip to stop it from trembling. She was so overcome with emotion that it took her several seconds to put the earrings back on.

Ten minutes later she had left the jewellers and was walking purposefully into the bank, the cheque for the sale of her jewellery in her handbag.

Carlo had been kind and generous, but he had been old-fashioned as well. Sasha had never had any real money of her own. Carlo had deemed it unnecessary. She’d had an allowance and a credit card, the bills for which had been sent to him, but that was all. It felt strange to be paying such a large amount into her account. Strange, but empowering. Now she and the boys were not beholden to Gabriel. She could, if she wished, book them seats on the first flight back to London.

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