Last Resort (72 page)

{ promising him she would stand by him j, in the h ne tact with Penny.

Which, of course, he ha of whi . Qt receiving a shorter sentence, at the e> treache' m would return to Penny. But Gabriell C/ knew n',enny revenge, or whatever she wanted to call ct with g ev its, for, though, David's; had ceased co jiirn state j gn Gabriella was all the time preparing to p sentenc at j dence against him. And after he had be belief mar) had started divorce proceedings in

""

a family vVhaj would further destroy his image as \y parole- over thereby reducing his chances of an & , was mor Gabriella hadn't bargained for, thoug"

of tj crowded prison system that needed leniency deserving cases than David's; nor for v /ia; sk

Appeal Court judges. vith Sere

But Penny didn't go into any of tha

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simply moved her eyes back to hers, saying,

"And his joy when he saw us was quite something to behold. We both cried - a lot. So did Shana, but she didn't know why. After that we went to see him as often as we could ... and now"

- she waved a hand towards the garden -

"he's

home."

"And much earlier than expected?"

"Much. But he served over three years and, since they needed the space in the prison, they ... Well, I guess you could say they deported him."

"And Gabriella? What's happened to her?"

Penny grimaced. It had been a bad day for Gabriella when she'd discovered David was being released, but perhaps an even worse one was when she had learned of Shana's existence. It was only recently that David and Penny had heard how she'd paid Esther and Wally Delaney half a million dollars to persuade Penny the baby she was carrying was Christian's in the hope she would abort it. Oddly enough, Gabriella had told David about it herself, though whether she had ever managed to catch up with the Delaneys, who had disappeared from the face of the earth the minute they'd found out Penny was still pregnant, Penny had no idea, and nor did she care. She and David had Shana and that was all that mattered to them.

Again, Gabriella's treachery was something she didn't feel she needed to go into, so she said, in a perfectly matter-of-fact voice,

"Gabriella is about to marry someone who's richer than David ever was or probably ever

will be."

"Such faith,"

he commented, coming into the room. Then, moving in behind Penny, he put his hands on her shoulders, and stooped to whisper in her ear that he'd saved the final tub of tiramisu for later and exactly what he expected her to do with it.

With a gurgle of laughter and a suitable blush, Penny looked across at Serena.

"You'll have to excuse him,"

she

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said.

"He always carries on as though no one else is in the room. It drives poor Sammy nuts."

"Making up for lost time/ David responded"

sitting down next to her and pushing a hand under her hair to stroke the back of her neck.

"Can I ask about your other children?"

Serena said to David.

"Will you see them at all?"

"We're hoping/ he answered,

"that they iflight corne out for the summer. Gabriella's yet to agree, but we're making some headway."

Serena looked at him for a moment, openly appraising him.

"I have to say/ she commented, finally/ /tnat yo appear amazingly unscathed by your experience th American prison system."

Penny turned to look at him, knowing that he'

"Well, that/ he said, crossing his long legs at the ankl as he put his hands behind his head,

"I can e plain- Y% see, there are those who have a rough time and go undet Then there are those who have a rough time and surviv< And then there are those who write best-selling bool about it."

Serena's eyes widened hungrily. Tou mean you'v written a book?"

she said, already thinking about serj rights.

"No/ David answered with a grin, causing Penny t choke back a laugh.

Serena looked vaguely baffled; then, collecting herself she said to Penny, T

know you've more or less answer this question, but can you just clarify for rfle the ex t reasons why you didn't tell David about the baby straight off?"

Penny turned to look at David, then staled as reached out for her hand.

"Because/ David answered, knowing full we" \\

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again I'll make damneu -

another tiramisu in her life."

Penny burst out laughing. Trivate joke/ she told Serena.

"And if what you're really wondering is about Christian Mureau then 1 think Shana herself has given you the answer, because just like Sylvia did, you only have to take one look at her to know whose she is."

"You know,"

Serena said, her eyes shining with a certain wistfulness as she looked from one to the other of them,

"I don't know when I've ever seen two people so much in love."

David turned to look quizzically at Penny.

"Yep,"

he

nodded in agreement,

"she's in love all right. She's got that kind of mushy look about her, wouldn't you say?"

"iCou both have/ Serena laughed.

"You mean I look like that!"

David cried.

Thumping him, Penny turned back to Serena and asked if there were any more questions.

"Well, just the one, I suppose/ she answered.

"Any

plans to get married?"

Again David turned to Penny.

"No/ he said,

"we don't

have any plans, but we could always make some. What do you say, do you want to make plans?"

I Penny shrugged.

"We could."

1

"Is that a yes?"

he said, discreetly pressing his thumb

I into her palm.

I

"It's a yes/ she said shakily, wishing Serena was I already gone.

II

"I guess the honeymoon's already sorted?"

he said

l| softly, still looking into Penny's eyes.

I

"Where else?"

She smiled.

"All three of us?"

I David turned to Serena.

"You planning on coming

I too?"

he said incredulously.

"Daddy! Daddy!"

Shana cried, charging into the room-

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