The Secret Kiss of Darkness Read Free Page A

It’s your money after all.’ Mike’s displeasure had been clear, but for once Kayla ignored him. It
was
her money and she intended to spend it her way.
    Her mind made up, Kayla had gone to visit Sotheby’s, the famous auction house, which was only a few streets away from the solicitor’s office in Mayfair where she and Mike worked. She’d passed the building almost every day on her way to work, but had never entered it before. As she approached this ancient establishment for the first time, it was with a slight feeling of trepidation.
    Just inside the double doors was a small, dark foyer, where a uniformed doorman greeted her. She smiled at him hesitantly and continued straight on into the main reception area, which was spacious and bright. There was a large desk in the middle of one wall and Kayla almost tiptoed over, feeling seriously out of place.
    ‘Excuse me, but do you have a calendar of upcoming auctions, please?’ she asked the lady on duty.
    ‘Yes, of course, madam.’ She was handed a little leaflet and sat down on a red leather sofa to have a look at it.
    It seemed there would be a sale of British paintings within the next two weeks, and Kayla thought it best to buy the catalogue. She almost fainted when she was told the price, but didn’t have the nerve to tell the lady she thought it too expensive, so she paid quickly and left.
    Most of the paintings listed in the catalogue were way above her means, but Kayla went back to have a look the next day anyway. As she mounted the U-shaped staircase, which led upstairs to the viewing galleries on the first floor, the excitement took hold and she started to enjoy herself. She walked slowly round the rooms, stopping from time to time in front of a particularly lovely piece of art. There were some pretty landscapes, but nothing that really caught her fancy and none of them gave her that instant urge to buy.
    Until she entered the last room.
    ‘Kayla? Kayla, hello, anyone in there?’ Mike’s voice brought her back to the present with a jolt.
    ‘What? Sorry, I was thinking about something.’
    ‘I
said
did you buy anything then?’ He was frowning slightly and drumming his fingers on her desk while waiting for her reply. It was a habit she was used to, as he wasn’t the most patient of men, but today Kayla had to restrain the urge to smack them into silence.
God, what’s the matter with me?
She took another deep breath to calm herself. It was unlike her to be so irritable, especially with Mike.
    ‘Yes, as a matter of fact I did. I bought a painting.’ She felt a guilty blush spread over her cheeks as she remembered exactly how much she had paid for it, but Mike didn’t notice.
    ‘Great,’ he said, as if her answer hadn’t really interested him much, and returned to their previous topic of conversation. ‘So, can we have dinner instead? I’ve hardly seen you all week. I’m sure there must be a thousand things we should be discussing with regard to the wedding. It’s not long now.’
    ‘Yes, I know. Five weeks and three days.’ She smiled up at him and he shook his head at her. Kayla’s count down amused him. She was sure he was just as impatient for their big day to arrive, although she knew he only wanted it out of the way since the whole process was disrupting his orderly life and the endless planning that was necessary drove him crazy. She swallowed a sigh. Mike wasn’t much of a romantic, but then all males probably thought of weddings as a palaver so he wasn’t unique.
    Unusually, though, a sense of panic shot through Kayla as the words echoed round her brain. Five weeks and three days? That wasn’t very long at all. Before this business with the painting, her pre-wedding nerves had been growing steadily as she counted down the days, but she knew it was normal. Today, however, she wondered for the first time why she’d been in such a rush. There was no particular reason why they’d had to marry so quickly. No, what was she thinking?