Free Lovers & Players by Jackie Collins

him.
    Man, he’d been thrown out of more places…
    But things were different now. He was in control and he had to admit it was a pretty nice feeling.
     
     
    Any excuse and Mariska was on the phone. ‘Lulu has a temperature and she wishes to see you,’ his ex-wife informed him.
    Max stifled his aggravation. It was late and he did not relish going out again. ‘I’ll come by in the morning,’ he said stiffly.
    ‘That is not good enough.’ Mariska sniffed. ‘Your daughter wants to see you now .’
    He knew that Mariska was hoping he was lying in bed next to his fiancée. Anything she could do to disrupt his relationship with Amy was okay with her.
    Well, too bad, he wasn’t. He and Amy did not live together. They had not even had sex. Amy wanted to wait until they were married, and he respected her for that. A girl with morals. It made a refreshing change from the usual social piranhas who chased after him for his money, hot to score a rich husband.
    ‘Okay,’ he muttered.
    ‘Okay what ?’
    ‘I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.’
    ‘I would think so,’ Mariska said, in the superior tone he hated.
    Mariska was extremely fond of getting the last word. It didn’t bother him because he was used to it, although after he and Amy were married, things would have to change. No more phone calls in the middle of the night unless it was an absolute emergency. His ex-wife would soon learn that he was no longer available.
    He buzzed down to the garage to have his car brought up, not pleased to have to go out, but concerned about Lulu. After calling for his car, he wondered if he should speak to his personal physician or wait until he saw his little daughter, then decided it was best to wait. Damnit, this was so inconvenient.
    Mariska greeted him at the door to her apartment clad in a diaphanous negligee and high-heeled mules trimmed with fur. She was perfectly made up as usual, her shoulder-length flaxen hair straight and shiny.
    It occurred to Max that she was still a very attractive woman, so why couldn’t she find a man to take her off his hands? It shouldn’t be that hard.
    Unfortunately he knew the reason only too well. She had no desire to become involved with anyone because she would never relinquish the title of Mrs Maxwell Diamond. It gave her the cachet she required. Social acceptance was of utmost importance to Mariska, and even though she was the ex -Mrs Diamond, in her world it still counted.
    ‘How’s Lulu?’ he asked, stepping inside the marble foyer.
    ‘Asleep,’ Mariska replied, unfazed. ‘You cannot disturb her.’
    ‘What do you mean, I can’t disturb her?’ he said brusquely. ‘You told me she had to see me.’
    ‘Unfortunately you took too long,’ Mariska replied, steely-eyed as usual. ‘It is good she is sleeping.’
    He wanted to slap her face. He wanted to put his handprint on that creamy white skin and make his mark.
    But he didn’t. He kept his temper in check. This move was typical of Mariska, so he wasn’t surprised. ‘I’ll go take a look at her,’ he said, attempting to move past his ex-wife.
    ‘No,’ Mariska said, blocking his way. ‘You’ll wake her. You know what a light sleeper she is.’
    ‘Of course I know,’ he said shortly. ‘She’s my daughter, isn’t she.’
    It was a statement, not a question. So when Mariska murmured a sly ‘Maybe,’ Max was shocked. ‘What did you say?’ he demanded.
    ‘I said maybe you should go home now,’ Mariska said, turning away from him.
    But the damage had been done.
    Max left her apartment in a fury, the seeds of doubt firmly planted.
     
     
    As soon as he could get away with it, Chris ducked out of Birdy’s party and headed over to Elaine’s, where he joined up with his one writer client, Gregory Dark–a grizzled bear of a man who specialized in writing gritty crime stories based loosely on fact. Three of Gregory’s books had been made into successful movies, and Chris was currently negotiating a major new deal for