Shimmers of Pearl.

Arianne Richmonde.

About the Author.

Arianne Richmonde is an American writer and artist who was raised in both the US and Europe. She lives in France with her husband.

Shimmers of Pearl is the third and last book in The Pearl Trilogy. She is currently working on her next novel.

For more information on the author visit her website:.

www.ariannerichmonde.com.

Dedication.

To all my amazing readers who are rooting for Pearl and Alexandre and who have thrown Shadows of Pearl across the floor in frustration. Thanks for all your love, support, feedback and patience. This book is for you.

Acknowledgements.

To Kiki, my lady in shining armor who came along just when I needed her most. Cheryl and Lisa, again, thank you. All my fabulous readers, and bloggers who have recommended my books to their friends and followers, and last but not least, E L James for sharing so many of her fans with me, thank you.

Chapter One.

I'm still staring in disbelief at Laura's sinister, black, front door. I have not moved from this park bench. The only thing that has changed in the last ten minutes is the music I'm listening to on my iPod. The Blues have been replaced with Patsy Cline's Sweet Dreams. That is all I have left dreams of Alexandre and memories of how it used to be between us. Could I really have just imagined the intensity of our bond, our pa.s.sion? He was in l.u.s.t with you,' Laura told me, just twenty minutes ago, and I now see that what she said was true. Alexandre walked through her door. What more proof do I need that it is over between us?

He is still in love with her, his ex fiancee. This horrific fact is seeping through my veins like green poison, sapping me of energy, rendering me drained, making me feel as if my life has been nothing but a lie for the last five months.

Laura's words, rebound' and detour' to describe who and what I am to Alexandre are ringing in my ears. Twice, I have tried to get up from where I'm sitting. I want to rap at that foreboding, black door and confront him, but my muscles are weak I can hardly move. Laura has been plotting and scheming to get him back all along and he was waiting, as she said, for her to click her fingers.

Click.

And he rushed back to her like an eager dog.

I fumble about in my beautiful, red Birkin bag for my cell phone. I need to speak to Alessandra Demarr. Maybe she can clear a few things up for me.

My memory slides back to that moment when I fled Alessandra's house, when I found that photo of her and Sophie together in an intimate embrace. I had the notion that they had set me up and that Sophie was trying to destroy my life by wheedling herself in on my film projects; infiltrating her way into HookedUp Enterprises. Alexandre testified to her innocence, swore that her motivation came from nothing more than her desire to help out her girlfriend and get us out of a sticky situation when Samuel Myers wasn't good for the money. I didn't believe him. But now I see that Alexandre could have been telling the truth. I have been so hooked up' on Sophie that I was blind to what was really going on... Laura, my real enemy from word, Go.

Laura told me that Sophie actually liked me, confirming what Alexandre had also said. Either I am living some sort of Hitchc.o.c.kian nightmare, where everyone is conspiring to drive me to a loony bin, or they're right I have misjudged Sophie wrongly accused her. There I was, obsessing about my future sister-in-law, when it was Laura I should have been looking out for, all along.

Alessandra picks up her phone after several rings. She sounds groggy and I realize that it's only eight a.m. Los Angeles time; she isn't an early riser. Too bad, I can't wait. Rise. And. Shine.

"It's Pearl," I say with urgency. "Sorry to wake you."

I hear a growling yawn. "Can you call back, I was sleeping - I thought it was a family emergency." Her sleepiness is evident - her Italian accent is more p.r.o.nounced than usual.

"Well, considering that you and I could have been family, it is."

"What are you talking about, Pearl?"

"Alessandra, I'm so sorry to wake you and everything, but I'm not in a good way and I really need to talk."

"If this is about Stone Trooper-"

"It's about Sophie, your girlfriend, my ex-to-be sister-in-law." I am aware of how crazy that sounds. I do up the top b.u.t.ton of my coat the London humidity is getting into my bones. My eyes are still fixed on Laura's front door as I hold my cell next to my ear in my other shaky hand. I need answers and I need them now.

Alessandra's voice suddenly perks up with interest. "Did Sophie tell you that she and I were a couple?"

"I found a photo of you two in your kitchen, and Alexandre confirmed to me that Sophie was gay."

"Don't you dare say anything to Sophie about us, Pearl - about that night. Please!" She is pleading; the desperation and fear in her voice takes me by surprise.

"So you and Sophie weren't playing some game on me? Some, let's screw with Pearl's head' kind of game?"

She chuckles her laugh is laced with irony. "What? Are you insane?"

"It just seemed all too much of a coincidence; that I was working on Stone Trooper...suddenly Sophie gets involved... you coming on board at the perfect moment and then seducing me..."

"Look, can we talk about this later? I need a coffee. I can't even think straight right now."

"Alessandra. I'm sitting outside Laura's house in London and she just so happens to be - not only Alexandre's ex-freaking-fiancee - but his present fiancee as well. He's inside her house, as we speak. He's involved with her again. No, let me spell that out he is going to marry her, she is divorcing her husband. She's all buddy-buddy with Sophie and-"

"What? Sophie hates that money-grabbing b.i.t.c.h!"

Did I just hear that right? "But Alexandre said they were friends."

"Sophie puts up with her," Alessandra informs me in her husky voice, all the more husky for being the morning. "She's never liked Laura. Anyway, I don't think she's seen or spoken to her for ages."

I squeal out, "But I was at Laura's house, just now, and she said Sophie was coming over! They spoke on the phone. In French, no less."

"I doubt that, Pearl. Look, I'm sleepy, can we speak later?"

"Wait! No. Alessandra...why, when we were in L.A were you referring to Sophie as your ex' if you're still together?"

"Questions, questions."

"Please Alessandra!"

"We had a big fight she said I was using her to get ahead in my career. All because, I was too busy to speak to her one time. That was just before you arrived in L.A. She told me it was over. So I had some fun with you to spite her."

"You were planning on telling Sophie about us to make her jealous?"

"No, of course not. I'm not that dumb. She'd come after us both with a carving knife. But it made me smile inside you know, knowing I had the last laugh. Sorry, Pearl, I have to admit...I was using you to make myself feel better. Can I hang up now?"

"No! I need to know more about Laura."

"I've never met her," Alessandra replies boredly, punctuated by a yawn.

My heart sinks. I remember Laura's words: He was fond of you, it's true, but he thinks you're a total loony. All that lesbian bondage nonsense - oh and your s.l.u.tty past...'

I had a.s.sumed Sophie had enlightened Laura, but from what Alessandra says, obviously not. The only other person that knew about my adventure with Alessandra Demarr was Alexandre, himself. How did Laura know those intimate details of my s.e.x life? Simple he must have told her. She was speaking the truth. He confides in her, even when it comes to me. I feel so belittled.

Belittled. And cheap.

Alessandra pipes up, "Anyway, Pearl, as I was saying, Sophie is not a big fan of Laura's. Apparently, Laura has been sniffing about Alexandre again showing real interest. Her husband has lost a lot of capital in the stock market, or is being done for some dodgy dealings tax-wise and no longer has the kind of money he had before. So Sophie thinks she's after Alexandre because of what he can offer her."

"What does Sophie say about me?" I ask, wondering if Sophie is suspicious of everyone who comes near her brother.

"You really want to know?"

My heart starts pounding might as well hear the worst. "Yes."

"She thinks you're the best thing to happen to Alexandre for years. At first, she suspected that you were like all the other women after him interested primarily in money. But when you told him you wanted to do a pre-nup and refused to take a stake in HookedUp Enterprises, she knew you loved him for him."

Wouldn't everyone love him for him? "Why is she still so b.i.t.c.hy, then?"

"It's part of her DNA, Pearl. But if you made more of an effort, you'd find she'd be a good friend to you. She said that, too. That you didn't like her, that you still hadn't forgiven her, and that you were a hard nut to crack."

"She said all this in English? Hard nut to crack?"

"Of course not. You know how bad her English is we speak in French."

"You speak French? I didn't know that."

"Well, Pearl there's a lot you don't know about me. Just keep quiet about our little evening, will you?"

"Are you kidding me? Of course. Anyway, I don't have anyone to tell even if I wanted to. It's over between me and Alexandre."

"Nonsense. Latin pa.s.sion can escalate or descend at any moment he'll be back."

"That's just it, Alessandra. He broke up with me in a cold, pa.s.sionless voice. And now he's seeing Laura again. Not just seeing her but sleeping with her. She's like some top model...I don't stand a chance."

"You say you're outside Laura's house and Alexandre is inside? Go and knock at the door, silly. I'm going back to sleep, Pearl. Remember, don't you dare tell Sophie about what happened or you'll regret it."

"Is that a Sicilian threat?"

"You bet."

Revenge is a dish best served cold. "Don't worry, Alessandra, my lips are sealed. You think I want Sophie running after me with a carving knife? Thanks for talking to me - things are a lot clearer now. Good night, morning - whatever. Sleep well."

The line clicks dead.

I take a deep breath and stand up. I have a head-rush black stars flicker behind my eyes. Laura's front door is giving me heart palpitations. Black as the Devil himself, it beckons me and taunts me mockingly. Come, come and humiliate yourself.

But Alessandra's right. I need to see Alexandre face to face.

I stand at the door, once again. It is so glossy I see my warped reflection before me. A disheveled woman who is forty whole years old. No wonder Alexandre has gone back to glamorous Laura. I rap the lion's bra.s.s knocker head. The lion is saying to me, I challenge you, go on make a fool out of yourself, see if I care.

I knock three times. Rap, rap, rap. My heart...pound, pound, pound.

Nothing.

I'm planning in my head everything I'm going to say: Alexandre, please be honest with me, please...

The smooth black door swings open. Not Mrs. Blake but Laura, herself.

I will not cry, I will not cry. Be strong, no tears, no scene...be strong.

She's standing there, looking like some figurehead on a ship; tall, willowy, in a royal blue, silk-satin dressing gown shimmering about her slim body like ripples of water. My heart sinks. She has that just-f.u.c.ked look the afternoon love-making flush glowing in her cheeks. Her hair is all mussed up. She says coyly, "Pearl, what a surprise!" Her smile is set like a plastic bride on a wedding cake. "What can I do for you?"

"I need to speak to Alexandre," I reply bravely.

"Sorry, but he's not here. He just left."

My composure melts into the damp sidewalk. "Don't lie to me, Laura. I saw him come in through this door twenty minutes ago. He's here!"

"My word, have you been spying on us?" Her smirk is victorious.

I try to stick my foot in the door. "Let me in. I need to see him, just for a few minutes and then I'll be on my way."

"Pearl, I'm not making this up. He left five minutes ago."

"BULLs.h.i.t! I've been watching your front door. n.o.body has left, least of all Alexandre."

"You don't know much about London houses, do you? This house's garden backs onto our mews house and garages. He went out the back."

"Laura, you've gotten what you wanted. Why are you tormenting me? Please, I just want to see him for-"

"G.o.d, you're a bore. Do I have to spell it out? HE. IS. NOT. HERE! Go round the back and see for yourself if you don't believe me."

"What was he doing here?" I demand, my body shaking with rage.