Black Opal by Sandra Cox Page B

forward.
    “Hughes. Larry Hughes. As a matter of fact I did. A little old gray-haired lady went into both rooms. Very well dressed, loaded with baubles. Is there a problem?”
    “No. No problem. When was this?”
    “About forty-five minutes after the show.” He looked shamefaced. “Me and the wife had heard you were staying in the suite on our floor and were lingering in the hall hoping to get an autograph.”
    Sabina smiled. “I’ll be sure and get you and your wife an autograph. What is her name, Mr. Hughes?”
    “Wilma.”
    “I’ll remember.”
    “Thank you,” he said with a pleased expression.
    She and Bella said their goodbyes and walked toward their room.
    “Victoria,” Bella said.
    “Yes, unless Adam put someone up to it while we were dining with him.”
    “We can’t rule anything out. Getting Victoria might be a bit of a problem if Adam stays as close by you as he’s threatening to.”
    “You leave Adam Morelly to me, maybe it’s time to go on the offensive on that front too.”
    Bella sidled next to her and gushed, “Oh, sugar, are you planning on bringing him to his knees with wild mindless sex?”
    An image of Adam on his knees before her wearing nothing but his diamond pinkie ring flashed into her mind.
    She looked at Bella and smiled, her lids heavy, her face hot.
    “Oh, sugar, how exciting for you. Just don’t forget the children’s tale about the lady from Niger and the tiger,” Bella cautioned.
    Sabina blinked, confused.
    Bella sighed. “Never mind, I believe it’s too late for warnings in that direction anyway. It was from the first moment you clapped eyes on each other. Just be careful.”
    * * * * *
     
    Victoria sipped a beer in the quiet of her room. While the bitches had been dining with Adam Morelly, she’d trashed their rooms sending them a message. She could get to them anytime, anywhere.
    Adam Morelly. Now there was a man. Heat flashed through her just thinking about him. She turned the thin stem of the goblet and watched the red liquid swirl. Maybe there was a way to get the stud and the amulets too. Everyone had their price. She just needed to figure out what Adam Morelly’s was.

Chapter Five
     
    Sabina bowed as the room echoed with thunderous applause, the audience on their feet. She tried to leave but her fans continued to clap as she walked off stage. She went back on and performed again and again. Finally on the fourth try, damp with perspiration she took her final bow and left the stage, exhausted but happy.
    Bella stood waiting in the wings.
    Sabina’s eyebrows shot up. Bella’s tight little black dress had a neckline that plunged nearly to her navel. She wore a huge sparkler draped between her breasts. Sabina grinned. Nobody would give a thought to the amulets on her friend’s arm with that frontal display.
    Her smile congealed as Adam Morelly stepped out of the shadows. The man was like a barnacle. Every time she and Bella had come downstairs today Adam had popped up out of nowhere, like a genie in a bottle, insisting on escorting them wherever they wished to go.
    Where she wished he’d go was to the devil. There’d had no opportunity to draw Victoria out.
    Sabina wiped the scowl off her face as she walked toward them.
    Squaring her shoulders she met his gaze and almost stumbled. She paused stunned by the unguarded admiration on his face… Admiration and something more. She blinked and his cool, expressionless mask was back in place making her wonder if she’d imagined the ardor she’d surprised there.
    He stepped forward. “Your performance was wonderful as always. Your voice is the most amazing I’ve ever heard. One moment I’m thinking of celestial angels and the next smoky heat and sin.”
    Sabina felt blood flood her face. For a moment, she couldn’t for the life of her think of a thing to say.
    Bella stepped into the breach. “Sugar, you sure do have a honeyed tongue. I bet you’ve been the cause of more than one cat fight,” she said, her