Danielle Steele Novels & Stories

— Luciana knew that they were talking about the little girl. —Well, that makes me very happy, I think you already know most of them, so before starting the meeting, I'm going to introduce you to my beautiful daughter, the person in charge of the company, Luciana Brown, honey, this is Santiago O 'Brien — Santiago smiled as he finally knew who the beautiful woman was and extended his hand.

I put on a long black dress that almost covered my heels, with a thin strap that was a bit revealing. Standing in front of the mirror, I realized how older the dress made me, then I changed. I put on a knee-high red dress that had a natural waistline and a see-through upper bodice, with completely Transparent long sleeves. Its straps matched with my bra and it showed almost all of my upper chest and shoulders. I also put on my high heels and a pink purse. After wearing my makeup, Daniel called, telling me that Dylan was on his way to pick me up.

Danielle tried to ease the situation, although she knew it was a lie. “I called him Mr Grayson at the dinner, and if I remember well, he wasn’t that warm towards me, thanks to your sister.” Javier said and Danielle squeezed his hand, trying to tell him to calm down before anyone heard him. “Who is she?” He asked gravely and Danielle felt a shiver run up her spine. “Her name is MJ Billings. She’s the owner of Billings Corporations and the sister of Jorge Billings.” Danielle said in an uneasy voice as she watched her husband’s mood darken tenfold.

I murmer to her under my breath. I am carrying her up the gravel driveway to a large home in an affluent neighborhood near Houston, when she begins to stir. “Gabe?” she asks in a barely audible whisper. “Shhhh.” I hush her before she loses consciousness again. The old woman, Dana, opens the door and the fear at seeing me delivering her ‘precious cargo’ personally, is palpable. Normally, the task would have been delegated to one of the operators under my employ. Given the fact that I trust the hunter as far as I can toss him, I will be seeing to it that the delectable creature in my arms is not subject to the hunter’s atrocities.

Jake mumbled as Danika dragged me inside with her. “No wonder, you guys are close. He is a lot like you. He understands you. Now spill everything because I know that man is not gay and I can say that just by the number of times he looked at your cleavage.” She says as soon as we are out of earshot. I look at her for a second but she was very serious. She looked like she was capable of killing me if I lied to her. I breathe out knowing I have to tell her the story leaving out the spy-CIA-Jason Statham thing.

A chubby woman with glasses a little big for her face smiles at me politely, “Welcome ma'am, how may we be of any service to you today?” She asked kindly, smiling so much that I was creeped out. “Uhm, I'm here to see Roman. Roman Domino. We have a meeting " “Oh, what's your name?” “Ashanti Dunbar " I reply “Ah yes, Mr. Domino is expecting you, the penthouse is where you are headed "I nod and fake a smile. I'm a ball of nerves, my palms are sweating. I've never been one to be nervous because of a simple meeting. But we're talking about the man who killed my family, which also happens to be the man who makes my legs buckle.

“You think you’re going to get answers by trying to beat them out of him? You're just going to end up killing him and there is not going to be good for us to it.” “He deserves worse.” I snapped. “Maybe. But that doesn’t mean we waste our energy now.” Damon’s voice dropped further. “Use your head. Not your rage.” I clenched my jaw. Behind us, Carter said, voice ragged, “She called herself Tatiana. She… she said things about Delilah. About power. About what’s coming.” Damon turned slowly. “Spare me.” Carter blinked. “You don’t believe me?” Damon’s expression hardened. “I don’t believe anything from a man who watched us bleed and said nothing.”

Because when criminals do weird things, you look first, stab later. “Daniella Hale,” he said. And of course Daniella practically sprinted to the stage like she was about to win Miss Universe. She got handcuffed too. Ace shot a sharp look at Giovanni — the Russian Mafia boss. Giovanni only shrugged back, mouthing, I have no idea what the hell this is. Then— “Lastly, Alexia Skylar Hale.” Every pair of eyes in the room flew to me. I wasn’t going to go. Hell no. But Arielle was up there, and Ace gave me a single nod — the kind of nod that said, Go. I’ve got you.

Now it pulsed on the screen as if she had left me a living echo. The text unfolded, block by block. —Offer: $10,000,000 for one Mei-Ling Chen original. Any canvas. Immediate transfer. — Daniel let out a low whistle. “Ten million? For one painting? That’s not art money. That’s something else.” I pressed my palms flat on the table. “They want more than paint. They want what she hid inside it.” More words scrolled. —Caution: Vivienne Steele. Alias Victoria Steele. Not new to this game. Not safe.—

she said after a pause, the name sounding forced on her tongue. Before Arya could respond, footsteps echoed down the stairs and Danielle descended with all the grace and performance of someone who had perfected the art of appearing nice and pleasant while it was all a facade. Her smile was wide, her eyes bright, and when she reached us, she ignored me and hugged Arya like they were friends. “Oh my goodness,” Danielle gushed. “It’s been so long…you look absolutely radiant.” “Thank you…you look really nice too.” Arya smiled at her.