Dark Space - Marianne de Pierres [30]
‘What are you trying to tell me?’
‘You are to be the next Principe, Trinder.’
‘Of course.’ He scowled. ‘What does that have to do with tia loco?’
‘Be watchful of her. She wants change and I fear she may seek to depose you.’
‘How? And with who? Herself?’ Trin laughed—but a fleeting memory of Rantha’s unabashed praise for Marchella sent his body tight with fear. He yawned rudely to hide it. ‘An amusing joke, but I think you drink too much wine.’
‘Do not pretend with me, Trinder. I know how much you want to be Principe. Remember who bore you into this life.’
‘And bore me you do, mama.’
Jilda clicked her tongue with impatience and swept out of Trin’s room.
His mood turned dark again. He stripped off his clothes and sprawled sideways on his bed, not bothering to remove the covers. The headboard’s carved beasts jeered ‘Bravura addict’ at him and he rolled away from their scorn. Eventually he fell into a fitful sleep, only to wake hot and thirsty.
Naked, Trin roamed the frieze-covered halls of the Palazzo until he found his way to Franco’s private bar. In the darkness he poured himself a measure of his father’s prized cognac and tossed back the contents. There, papa!
‘Lostol cognac is the finest—the most expensive. It is meant to be sipped, Trinder.’
He froze. The intruder’s voice flowed around him like an embrace rather than a reprimand. In the flare of a spark he saw Luna light a cigarillo. The pungent smell of chang-lo leaves caught in his throat.
‘What are you doing here?’ he demanded accusingly.
Luna unfolded her exquisite limbs from the shadows of a smoking chair and glided towards him. The muted light enhanced her beauty, as if he were dreaming perfection.
She placed a cool hand on Trin’s bare chest. ‘We didn’t finish our dance.’
Desire flooded him. It intermingled with anger and made his skin feel hot. ‘Do you know what your flirtation cost me?’
She smiled at him—a glimpse of pale teeth. ‘I have expensive tastes and Franco will not be here for ever. Perhaps when you are Principe you will remember how it is between us.’ Her hand slid down the length of his naked torso.
On reflex his hand reached for her breasts. They were heavy and soft beneath her sheer costume—a woman’s breasts. Trin wanted to have her; have Franco’s property. But as Luna stroked his back and murmured suggestions in his ear the fear rose. He had no bravura with him.
Sensing a cooling in his response she knelt, cupping him, her head bowed with intent. ‘Let me pleasure you, young Principe. A taste of things to come.’ She breathed warmth onto his groin and licked the fine hair matt of hair that covered it with her sharp tongue.
Trin’s fear climbed higher and higher in his chest until he found himself gasping. ‘Get up!’ He tried to pull Luna to her feet but she resisted, fixing her lips to the tender most part of him.
Trin felt his shrivelling response. ‘No!’ he whispered.
Luna’s lovely neck arched back; her eyes widened with coy surprise. ‘What is it, bambino Principe? Are you afraid of women?’
He pushed her to the floor and left.
* * * *
Are you afraid of women? Luna’s taunt hovered in Trin’s conscious thoughts the next morning as he pored over her records.
Like that of the Fedors Luna’s pedigree was eccentric. Unlike the Fedors she had no claim to special pilot talents: only womanly ones. Unsurprisingly, she came from a line of gifted coquettes; her mama had been Aldo Pellegrini’s first mistress, the famous Shelba Lanzano. Luna had not only chosen to discard her mother’s name but, according to Customs records, she had spent years travelling off-world. Little wonder that Trin had not known about her.
When the organic had sifted all Luna’s data, Trin was shocked to learn the enormity of her gratis. What drove Franco to keep his mistress better than his wife, he wondered? Pellegrini men had a reputation for licentiousness—not stupidity. Scanning further, the records revealed only one other notable item: Luna’s ownership of a small underground mine called Juanita, located between the vast Pablo tunnels and Pellegrini B.
Next, Trin