Read Online It All Began in Monte Carlo by Elizabeth Adler - Free Book Online Page B

Mothers always knew.
    â€œKind of, well not really a
fight;
call it a disagreement.”
    Mac was not usually evasive but he didn’t want to upset themand he certainly didn’t want to tell them their daughter had disappeared. “Don’t worry,” he said confidently, “I know where she’ll be. I’ll get back to you later.”
    â€œYou make it up now, you hear me?” Flora’s voice was sharper. “Let me tell you something, Mac Reilly, you and Sunny are too good together to let things simply fall apart. Take it from me, when you have it this good, never let it go, because there’s some sort of law in love that says you will never find again what you’ve got now.”
    Mac put down the phone. It was still Christmas Day in Malibu.
    The sea pounded on the rocks outside the window and rain spattered on the glass, causing Pirate to lift a curious ear. A small fire flickered hesitantly in the grate, not enough to really warm the room, and certainly not enough to bring a Christmas glow to Mac’s heart.
    He slung an arm over Pirate who snuggled deeper into the curve of his body. He thought about where Sunny might have gone. To a spa perhaps? But what could be more depressing than a spa at Christmas, a time of festivity that Sunny loved. A Caribbean island? She wasn’t a St. Bart’s kind of woman, and there were so many other islands. Paris, where they had been so happy just a few months ago? But Paris was a long haul simply to run away; it would have been easier to head for Vegas or the Napa Valley. But Sunny had no friends in those places, and she did have a friend, a very good friend in France.
    Without even considering the nine-hour time difference, Mac picked up the phone and dialed the Perrins’ number.
    â€œYeah?” Ron Perrin’s voice had more than a hint of fatigue to it and Mac was instantly guilty. “I might have known it would be you.” Ron added, “What took you so long, Detective?”
    â€œYou mean Sunny is there?”
    Ron heaved a sigh. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, only that Allie said Sunny’s left you. Mac, you got another woman, or what? Okay, okay, you don’t have to tell me
why,
you fuckin’ idiot. What’s
wrong
with you? You straighten everybody else out yet youcan’t get your own personal act together—
plus
you happen to have one of the best girls in the entire world,
and
one of the most beautiful. And I’ll tell you what, while I have you on the phone Mac Reilly, if you don’t want to marry her then fuckin’ tell her so, don’t keep stringing her on like this. Plus I’ll tell you somethin’ else, buddy. She won’t have to wait around long, somebody else is gonna grab her and you’ll never see her again.”
    Ron spoke the truth. Mac ran a distracted hand through his hair, eyes scrunched in desperation. Next to him, Pirate whined soulfully. “I’m sorry,” Mac said.
    â€œDon’t tell
me
you’re sorry, asshole,” Ron roared. “Tell
her.
”
    â€œHow can I? I don’t even know where she is.”
    Ron sighed again. “All right, jerk. I shouldn’t be doing this, but in the name of friendship and all that you two mean to me, and to Allie, all that you’ve done for us—”
    â€œSaved your lives,” Mac reminded him, putting on the pressure.
    â€œ
Including
that, I’m gonna do it anyway. Sunny called Allie in deep distress. She’s in a hotel in Monte Carlo. Allie’s meeting her there—plus Allie’s taking along another friend, from her high school days, who is also in despair and who, in fact, looks like a case for
Extreme Makeover.
So the two of them are on their way to save Pru, and to save Sunny.”
    Ron told him the name of the hotel, then said, “For old times’ sake, you want me to send my plane for you?”
    â€œThanks for the offer, but I