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.She was relieved, but in a way it bothered her, too, because Gaby hated thinkingMarc didn't even care.She had to admit that she preferred his antagonism to his indifference and shewanted to hurt him as much as he'd hurt her.Meanwhile Joe was good fun.He had excellent manners and a dry sense of humor.He took her to themost expensive, delightful kinds of places.She'd been accustomed to high living all her life, so she neverquestioned the kind of money Joe had.Motocraft must really be an enterprise, Gaby thought, becauseeven a vice-president got rich at it.But, then, Marc was Joe's brother, and she imagined Marc didn't mindsharing.He'd once seemed the soul of generosity to her.Back in the days before he began to worshipmoney and would do anything for it.Joe had more cars than anyone Gaby had ever known.He changed them almost daily, going from hisJaguar to a Mercedes to a Corvette and then to a renovated MG Midget.Gaby liked the Midget most ofall, probably because it wasn't new and it seemed to have a personality all its own.They alternatedbetween going to restaurants and Joe's apartment, where he had a giant screen for his VCR.There theycould watch first-run movies with popcorn provided by the woman who cooked for Joe and his roommate,Bob Donalds.Bob often joined them for the movies.He was good company, too, a real estate agent witha live-wire personality, just the opposite of Joe.Bob never seemed to mind company, and he liked Gaby.He was tall and redheaded and teased Gaby about being some long-lost relative because their hair wasthe same shade.Gaby had been with Joe almost every day for three weeks.He seemed to just hang around where shewas working.She wondered if he was on vacation or if Marc paid him to stay away.She teased him about that once, and he gave her a startled look."Well, Marc pretty much lets me do whatI please, you know," he mumbled, and quickly changed the subject.She shrugged it off, since he didn'tseem inclined to talk about it.And she really wasn't interested in his business affairs.She enjoyed being around him.They went dancing and out to eat and to movies whenever Gaby's busy schedule would allow.She ranher long legs off auditioning for jobs, posing for stills, and doing runway modeling.She was popular andmade a lot of money.But it cost a lot to maintain her wardrobe and pay the bills.Gaby didn't particularly enjoy the life-style that went with modeling, and before Joe came along, she'davoided the crowd she worked with.But Joe, despite his shyness, seemed fascinated with her world, soshe introduced him to it.There were show-business personalities, politicians, even millionaires whocirculated at the exclusive parties Gaby and her friends were invited to.She often thought she knewpeople only invited her to these parties because of her looks and because she was becoming a well-known model.Because of that she seldom accepted invitations.But she went to humor Joe.Marc didn'tapprove, and that made Joe all the more determined to do it.That was the one thing she and Joe had incommon.They both liked doing things to spite Marc, to antagonize him.The holidays were only a weekaway now, and Gaby had already packed.She'd been all over Europe with her family but, oddly enough,had rarely visited the Hamptons, which were only a few hours from New York City.She was lookingforward to the break in her busy schedule, despite the fact that she was sure Joe had gloated over it to hisbrother by now.He hadn't mentioned Marc's reaction, and Gaby hadn't asked for it.She was going to goand enjoy herself and not worry.Let Marc smolder.Vaguely she remembered the threat he'd made, butshe hadn't taken him seriously.He had Lana to occupy him.He would never put that relationship at riskjust to irritate Gaby.She shook the thought from her head, forcing herself to dwell on happy thoughtsinstead.Her mirror told her that she'd changed quite a bit from the young girl who'd worshiped Marcus Stephano.She was no longer the skinny, eager, very unsophisticated child who'd been such easy prey for hisseductive ardor.Even nine years ago Marc had been an expert.Despite all the time that had passed, the memories were indelible.She remembered the last time she'dbeen alone with Marc, that evening when it had almost gone too far.Her eyes closed and she sighed asthe memories caressed her mind.She and Marc had gone to a movie, she remembered.It was one of many times she'd had to sneak out ofher house to keep her parents from knowing that she was seeing a boy from the wrong side of the tracks.It had been a late-afternoon matinee, because it was too difficult to get out at night.The racy movie,combined with the danger of discovery, had given Gaby an unfamiliar and delicious taste of intrigue.She'dwatched the people on the screen and imagined that they were she and Marc, loving each other wildly.Ithad stirred her unbearably
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