Lovers and Gamblers

  No way was it going to be a one-way fuck.

  No way.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Cristina was kept so busy that she hardly had time to think. Louis took care of that. After asking her father’s permission to marry her and receiving it, he plunged them both headlong into a series of engagements.

  In spite of her protests everyone wanted to give parties for them, and she could hardly refuse.

  Louis showered her with gifts. He was sweet and fun. In spite of herself she was having a good time. She had never felt so important before, suddenly she was the centre of attention. Her girlfriends were consumed with envy. ‘Cristina, you are so lucky,’ Marie Therese sighed. ‘Louis is so nice, everyone adores him. I’ve had my eye on him for ages – especially when the two of you broke up. He always wanted you though – can’t imagine why!’

  ‘Cat!’

  ‘I’m just jealous, that’s all. I’m sure I won’t find anyone to marry me for years – probably not until I’m ancient – twenty or something. And you’ll have such a wonderful life together. Oh, you are so lucky!’

  For a moment she agreed with Marie Therese. She was lucky. Then she remembered the truth of the situation. Her marriage plans were merely a smokescreen. Nino was to be the man in her life. She shivered at the thought of his hard, dark body, so different from blond Louis’s. Different in every way. Louis was rich. Nino was poor. Louis came from an excellent family. Nino’s family consisted of an aged crone who lived in the slums. Louis adored her. Nino – well, she wasn’t sure how Nino felt. He said he loved her, but only when she asked him outright. Louis would give her everything – a beautiful home, clothes, jewels. Nino scorned material possessions, they would probably have to live in his small one-roomed apartment.

  It crossed her mind that she might be making a terrible mistake, and there was no one she could discuss it with. No one she could turn to for advice.

  At the end of the week she didn’t telephone Nino at the appointed time. She had meant to, but somehow it slipped her mind.

  He phoned her the next morning and insisted that she came over to his apartment at once.

  ‘I’m going sailing…’ she objected.

  He was furious. ‘You are coming here,’ he insisted.

  Sulkily she had cancelled her meeting with Louis, making up some excuse about having to go to the dentist.

  Nino greeted her with a kiss which surprised her. She had expected him to still be angry, as he had been on the phone.

  ‘I’ve missed you, carioca,’ he whispered. ‘My body has been screaming for your touch.’ His hands started to caress her. ‘Have you missed me? Have you wanted me as I have been wanting you?’

  For the first time in their relationship she felt that what he was doing was wrong. She attempted to move away from him, but he was all over her, his hands under her sweater, up her skirt.

  ‘You still love me?’ he whispered. ‘You still want me to touch you?’ His hands were busy, and her objections soon turned to moans of acquiescence. She clung to him, emotions rushing to the surface. ‘I do love you, Nino, I do, I do.’

  He laughed softly. ‘You sound like you’ve been having second thoughts.’

  ‘Don’t be silly, as if I could.’

  He started to undress her, but suddenly he stopped. ‘I don’t know,’ he muttered.

  ‘What is it?’ she asked anxiously. He had tuned her body to a fine pitch, and she was more than ready for him.

  ‘Maybe it would be better if I didn’t touch you.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I don’t know – you just seem – different.’

  ‘But I’m not, I’m not. Please, Nino, please. Make love to me and everything will be like it was.’

  He spread her legs, lowered himself on top of her.

  She arched her back, twisted her legs behind his neck.

  As he plunged inside her she suddenly thought of Louis and was ashamed. What would he think of his fiancée if he could see her now?

  When they had finished making love, Nino produced a pad and pencil and started to question her about Al King. Details. Details. She told him what she could.

  ‘We only have a week,’ Nino reminded her.

  Only a week? She shuddered at the thought.

  ‘You must telephone me every day,’ Nino said, ‘report on every little thing.’

  ‘But what is the plan?’

  ‘I can’t tell you yet. Be patient, you will know soon enough.’

  She was suddenly frightened. ‘Nino, I won’t be involved, will I?’

  ‘Of course not.’

  ‘But you said before, you mentioned something about Al King must be sure to know me. Why?’

  ‘Purely for access. No one will know you have anything to do with it.’

  Nervously she bit on her nails. ‘And us? Don’t you think it would be better if we waited a few weeks before running off together? It might be suspicious if I drop Louis immediately.’

  He shrugged. ‘Whatever you say.’

  ‘It’s not that I don’t want to be with you as soon as possible…’

  ‘I understand.’

  How he controlled his fury he didn’t know. He waited for her to dress and leave and then he let rip. ‘Rich, capitalist, bourgeois bitch!’ he screamed, punching the mattress in anger. ‘I’m good enough to service madame, but not good enough for her to run off with!’ He could read her stupid little mind. She liked being engaged to Louis Baptista. She was enjoying it. Well, she would be sorry – very, very sorry indeed. They would both be sorry by the time he had finished with them.

  Cristina rushed home feeling relieved that she had settled things with Nino. She would help him as much as she could with information – she had promised that much. But after – well, she just wasn’t sure any more. She wanted time to think things out. Maybe she wasn’t as much in love with Nino as she had thought. Maybe it was just a sex thing. She had heard stories about people becoming trapped sexually. She shuddered at the thought. It couldn’t happen to her – could it?

  Perhaps she should try a few things out with Louis. Experiment sexually. He wouldn’t be averse to trying. If she enjoyed it just as much with him… Well… After all, Louis had so much more to offer…

  * * *

  Evita read the letter through a second time. It was written in neat girlish script on lilac notepaper. Anyone else reading it would find it to be an innocuous exchange of greetings between two friends. Evita found it a frightening reminder of her one lapse.

  ‘How are you?’ Doris Andrews wrote. ‘I have often thought of you and Jorge in the past year.’ Words leapt out at Evita –‘short vacation… Must get away… Would love to see you… arriving next week… will phone you…’

  Jorge, sitting across the breakfast table from Evita, said, ‘Who is the letter from?’

  ‘Doris Andrews,’ Evita managed to reply calmly. ‘You remember, don’t you? The American film star we met in Mexico last year…’

  Jorge reached for the letter. ‘Yes, yes, of course.’ He scanned it quickly. ‘How nice. You liked her, didn’t you? Why don’t we invite her to stay with us?’

  ‘Oh no,’ Evita replied quickly, ‘not now, not with all the bother with Cristina…’

  ‘Your daughter is engaged to a wonderful boy and you call it bother.’ He shook his head in bewilderment. ‘A couple of weeks ago you were complaining because you didn’t know who she was seeing… What would satisfy you?’

  ‘I will be satisfied when she and Louis are safely married.’

  Jorge’s eyebrows rose. ‘Safely married?’

  ‘I just don’t feel right about her engagement. Why won’t she allow us to have a party for her?’

  ‘We’ll have a party for Doris Andrews if it’s a party you want. I think it would be a nice gesture, don’t you?’

  ‘I don’t know…’ Evita fluttered her hands vaguely.

  ‘Well, I do,’ Jorge said decisively. ‘You love giving parties. All that plotting and planning
that you are so good at. Yes. We shall definitely have a big party. Go ahead and organize it, my dear.’

  Later, when Jorge had left for his office, Evita read the letter through once more. She had never expected to hear from Doris again, never expected to have a rude reminder of her one indiscretion. A letter was bad enough. But the fact that Doris was coming to Rio… If only she could go away somewhere, hide. But that was impossible, already Jorge was planning a party. He had known that she and Doris had become close friends; if she wanted to leave as soon as Doris arrived it would look strange. Jorge was no fool. Eventually he would work things out.

  Evita sighed deeply. If Jorge ever found out… She would sooner die. She would be so ashamed.

  And yet… If she was honest she would have to admit that she had enjoyed every minute of her sexual interlude with Doris. Jorge thought he was a wonderful lover, but his hands were hard and strong, whereas Doris’s had been soft and demanding in a completely different sort of way. And her tongue, so intuitive, finding every secret place of excitement within seconds. Evita thrilled at the memory. What if it happened again? She wasn’t sure if she would be able to stop Doris. She wasn’t even sure if she would want to…

  Quietly she went to her desk and sat down in preparation to compose a reply.

  ‘My dear Doris, how nice to hear from you after all this time. Yes, I too remember what a delightful time we spent together in Acapulco. Jorge and myself are so pleased you will be visiting our city. Perhaps you would allow us to give a party in your honour…’

  * * *

  Louis was breathing heavily.

  ‘Kiss me again,’ Cristina whispered. ‘Kiss me properly.’

  They were clutched in each other’s embrace in the front seat of Louis’s sports car.

  Louis groaned. ‘Do you know what you are doing to me, Cristina? Every night I have a terrible stomach ache… I go home and I cannot sleep. We will have to be married as soon as possible, I just can’t go on like this. I can’t control myself for much longer. We must arrange a date, we must talk to our parents.’

  ‘I said kiss me again.’ She was glowing with power. Louis was under her spell, he would do anything for her. She captured his mouth once more, pushing her tongue out to meet his. His hands slid to her breasts. For once she didn’t push them away. After a few minutes he snatched them away of his own accord. ‘I can’t go on like this,’ he muttered in a strangled voice.

  ‘We don’t have to,’ Cristina whispered. ‘We’re engaged. Anything we do together would not be wrong.’

  He wasn’t sure that he had heard her correctly. ‘Are you saying…’

  ‘I’m saying let’s go to your house in the hills. Is it empty?’

  ‘Yes. But, Cristina, are you sure?’

  She felt that she was such a woman of the world. ‘Yes, Louis,’ she replied softly, ‘I am sure.’

  Wordlessly he started the car. Cristina smiled to herself. He was so anxious.

  The small sports car sped up into the mountains. Cristina felt quite calm at what she was about to do. It was an experiment. If Louis could satisfy her in the same way that Nino could… Well then, why shouldn’t she marry Louis? After all, Nino with his theories and ideas would be so demanding. Besides she liked having money, a fact she would never dare confess to Nino.

  Louis had to break a window to gain access to his parents’ weekend house as he did not have a key with him. ‘I never thought you would ever allow me to do this,’ he said, as he let her in the front door. ‘Are you sure? Are you really sure?’

  ‘Of course I am, silly. I don’t want you going home every night with stomach ache, you could do yourself harm.’ She looked around. ‘Where shall we go?’

  He took her by the hand. ‘Upstairs.’

  Halfway up the stairs they heard voices. Louis froze.

  ‘Who is it?’ Cristina whispered, alarmed.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Louis whispered back. ‘You go out to the car, I’ll investigate. Hurry.’

  She rushed back to the car which was parked around the back. Suddenly she was nervous.

  Louis joined her within minutes. His mouth was set in a grim line. He jumped in the car, took off the handbrake and allowed the car to coast silently away from the house.

  ‘What is it?’ Cristina hissed.

  ‘My dear father,’ Louis replied, obviously upset, ‘in the bedroom with a woman.’

  ‘Oh! You mean we caught him?’

  ‘You could say that. Only he didn’t see me. I looked through the keyhole. Tonight he’s supposed to be in São Paulo.’

  ‘What a lucky escape! Can you imagine if we had burst in on him?’

  ‘You would think he wouldn’t take a woman to a bed he shares with my mother,’ Louis complained.

  Cristina tut-tutted in agreement. But secretly she was intrigued at the thought of portly Mr. Baptista in bed with a woman. She wondered if her own father did such things… The thought excited her. ‘Stop the car, Louis,’ she whispered urgently. ‘I want to do it with you. I want to do it with you now!’

  * * *

  When they met, five days later, Nino sensed the change in Cristina immediately. He was furious. After all, she did not know that he had not been completely serious about his intentions. As far as she was concerned, he loved her and was preparing to marry her.

  A lot she cared. He had misjudged her. She wasn’t the pliable, stupid, little girl he had thought. She was stupid all right – but devious stupid.

  ‘I’m so tired,’ she complained to Nino. ‘Parties, parties, parties.’

  He managed to smile sympathetically. Only a few more days… keep her sweet for a few more days. ‘You look well on it, carioca,’ he assured her.

  ‘Do I?’ she asked, knowing full well that she was positively glowing. The experiment with Louis had turned out to be an unqualified success.

  ‘Do you have a copy of the list of everyone travelling with Al King for me?’

  She fished in the straw bag she carried and produced it. ‘I took it from Mr. Baptista’s desk. Honestly, I felt like a private detective in one of those American television serials!’

  ‘Clever girl.’ He took the list and studied it.

  ‘I can’t stay,’ she said quickly. ‘Today Louis is taking me to Paqueta Island. He wants to know where I am every minute. You know, I’ve been thinking – I don’t know if we should see each other for a while. It might not be wise.’

  Carefully Nino placed the piece of paper on a table. He held Cristina playfully around the waist. ‘Do you mean we will not have time to make love today?’

  She attempted to squirm free. He held her extremely tight. ‘Well, carioca? Not today, huh?’

  ‘No, not today, Nino.’

  He held her even tighter. ‘You still love me though?’

  ‘You’re hurting me…’

  ‘Not as much as I could.’ Suddenly he let go of her and she lost her balance and fell back on the bed.

  He stood over her, slowly unzipping his jeans.

  She lay back, frightened at the menace in his eyes.

  ‘You know what I want you to do,’ he said.

  ‘I told you…’ she began.

  ‘I thought you loved me,’ he mocked. ‘If you love me you’ll do anything for me.’

  ‘Next time.’

  ‘And when will that be?’

  ‘Soon. I promise you.’

  ‘And this is the girl who was not sure if she could live three weeks without me. What happened, carioca? Does Louis have a bigger one than me? Or is it just the fact that his is coated in money and mine is merely coated with the slime of the favelas?’

  She reddened. ‘Don’t be silly, Nino.’

  ‘Don’t be silly,’ he mocked. ‘Do you think I am a fool? Do you think I don’t know what is going on?’

  She lowered her eyes. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘You’re sorry!’ he exploded. ‘Just like that – you’re sorry. And what about me? What about my plans?’

  ‘I’ll
still help you,’ she said quickly. ‘I promised I would and I haven’t let you down. I got you the list, didn’t I? And if I find out anything else I’ll let you know…’

  ‘Thanks.’ Sarcasm dripped bitterly from his lips. ‘How kind of you.’

  She attempted to sit up. He pushed her back with one hand.

  ‘I’ll tell you the plan’, he said coldly. ‘Listen carefully.’

  She was frightened; his eyes were alive with a hatred and contempt that she had never seen before.

  ‘Al King arrives on Thursday – in two days’ time. Naturally you will be at the party Louis’s father is throwing for him. Be sure to meet him, talk with him and the people close to him. Be sure they know you are to marry Carlos Baptista’s son. Friday is the day of the concert – you attend – but early on you and Louis slip away and go straight to the airport. You make sure that you reach there before Al King does. I will meet you there. That is all you have to know for now.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Cristina gasped. ‘I can’t do that. What are you thinking of?’

  ‘I’m thinking of the Von Cougats and the Bogatos. I’m wondering what they would say if they found out it was sweet little Cristina Maraco who had provided the plans to their houses – in her own sweet handwriting – plans that enabled them to be robbed. I’m also thinking of your father. Would it interest him to know about his daughter and me? Would he like to know what you and I do together? Would your mother be pleased to hear from the doctor who fitted you for a diaphragm? The doctor I arranged for you to see?’

  Cristina’s face drained of colour. ‘You wouldn’t…’ she whispered in horror.

  ‘Try me,’ Nino replied arrogantly. ‘Or maybe I could compare notes with Louis on your performance.’

  ‘You pig!’

  Nino shrugged. ‘Of course, if you help me out with Al King, then I will have no need to tell anyone anything – ever.’

  ‘But how could I explain going to the airport, leaving in the middle of the concert, to Louis?’

  ‘I’m sure you could think of something.’

  ‘But why do you need us?’

  ‘For access. To board his plane. Don’t worry – you will be in the clear. I promise you no one will know we are connected. Once I’m on the plane, you can go – we need never see each other again.’