Read Between The Sheets for Free Online Page B

drink had sat untouched in front of him but now he picked it up and turned it round and round in his hands. 'Recently I found out something about Dana's past that, quite frankly, have come as a shock.'
    Walter leaned closer. 'What?'
    Gus shook his head. 'I'm sorry, I can't tell you that.'
    'Did you tell her?'
    'No. I gave her several opportunities to tell me but she said nothing.'
    'Why didn't you just come straight out and ask her?' Walter asked.
    'Maybe I should have,' Gus admitted. 'But to be honest I was angry. How could she keep this from me? We've been together more than six years and she's never said a word.'
    'Well, you said it's from her past.' Walter shrugged. 'We all have skeletons that we like to keep in the cupboard.'
    Gus said nothing for a moment and then he looked up and met Walter's eyes. 'Not all of it was in her past.'
    Walter sighed impatiently. 'I understand your reluctance to talk about what are, obviously, very private matters, Gus, but I don't see how we can have a two-way conversation if I haven't the slightest idea what you are talking about.'
    'Okay, okay.' Gus drained his glass and set it back on the table between them. 'Did you know that Dana had a child?'
    Walter's eyes widened. 'No, that's impossible.'
    'It's true. I've read a letter that Dana wrote to him. There's absolutely no doubt it was to her son.'
    'I can't believe it,' Walter said faintly.
    'It's true,' Gus said grimly and then signalled the passing waiter to bring them both refills. 'I thought you might have known about it.'
    'I didn't, honestly.'
    'I believe you. In a way I suppose it would have annoyed me more if she had told you and not me. But, like I said, you knew her for, what, thirteen years or more before I came along?'
    Walter nodded. 'But there was never any mention of a child.'
    'Maybe he lived with her parents.'
    Walter shrugged. 'It's possible, I suppose. I only ever met Dana in Dublin and rarely at her flat, and she hardly ever talked about her family.'
    'She must have said something,' Gus pressed.
    Walter smiled at the young waiter who'd brought their drinks and then sank back in his chair. 'The very first time I met her she told me she wanted to write under the name De Lacey. I didn't really question her decision; O'Carroll was quite an ordinary name and Dana De Lacey sounded more glamorous and would look better on a front cover.'
    'So she never even told you who her father was?' Gus said incredulously.
    'No. I only found out when her first contract with Peyton Publishing was announced. One of the Irish papers picked up on the fact that she was Irish and made the connection. I was a bit annoyed at first, to be honest. I might have been able to use it when I was negotiating the advance or, at the very least, used it to publicize her debut in the States. If there's one thing Americans love it's Irish literary figures.'
    'So you confronted her?'
    'I asked her about it and she just said that she was estranged from her father and had no wish to ever have her name linked with his.'
    'There's no way she could have prevented that.'
    'No and when this book is published in Ireland, it will probably get worse.'
    'Did you tell her that?' Gus asked.
    'I tried, but you know what she's like. She just clams up any time I mention the man.'
    'And Gretta is definitely going to use The Mile High Club to launch the Passion imprint?'
    'She'd be mad not to. Your wife is talented, beautiful and she'll be an excellent ambassador for the brand.' He sighed. 'And now, it seems, she has a few skeletons in the cupboard. She's a chat-show host's dream.'
    Gus was silent for a moment, staring moodily into his drink.
    'Do you know when she had this child or have any idea what age he is?'
    Gus shook his head. 'You've known her for twenty years, so I suppose he's more than that.'
    'She probably got into trouble when she was a schoolgirl, poor kid. Daddy wouldn't have been too pleased with that; it's probably why she left.'
    'Did you know Dana when her