Gold Diggers
Page 51
She folded them carefully in layers of plastic and tissue and loaded tea chests until the closets were empty.
The last thing she had to clear was Karin’s dressing table, which was in front of the long windows that looked out onto the sleepy Kensington street. It was a beautiful piece of furniture. Venetian glass with carved black-wood legs and a tall concertina of mirrors in the shape of Doge windows, beautifully etched with flowers. Erin traced her fingers over it and smiled. If there was one thing she did not regret about this year, it was how she could recognize and appreciate beautiful things. That was a gift for life now. She sat on the stool, putting the bottles of perfume into a shoe box, her jewellery into a leather pouch she had found in the dressing room. Hundreds of thousands of pounds’ worth of things, folded and stored away in boxes. What would be the fate of all these beautiful things, she wondered? Finally she opened the drawer. It was empty except for a couple of bottles of nail polish, a silk scarf and a wooden box.
Erin heard footsteps at the door and turned round to see Chris.
‘Are you nearly ready? I bet the traffic is bad, so it will take us ages to get home.’
‘Nearly done,’ she said distractedly, holding the box in the palm of her hand and removing the lid. Sitting on the red velvet lining of the box was a small shiny silver object.
‘Wow, that’s nice,’ said Chris, picking it up and feeling the satisfying heaviness between his fingertips.
‘What is it?’ asked Erin.
He held it up between his thumb and forefinger to show her. ‘A cigar cutter. It’s a beauty,’ he whistled. ‘Solid silver. Asprey,’ he continued, looking at the hallmark.
Erin took it from him. Her fingerprint left a greasy smudge on the metal.
‘Look, there’s a message on it. “Dear Seb. All my love. K.” I wonder why she’s kept this locked away in a box?’
‘I dunno. Who’s Seb, anyway?’
‘Karin’s husband who died last year. He fell off a yacht in Turkey and drowned. It was all pretty murky. For a while they didn’t know if he fell or was pushed. I heard that for a time they thought Karin might have done it, but the police decided it was an accident.’
‘She had a pretty tragic life really, didn’t she?’ said Chris, pulling on his coat and waiting for Erin to finish.
She closed her fingers around the cigar cutter. ‘Yes. I suppose she did.’
Acknowledgements
All my thanks to my husband John for making me laugh, making me finish and whose suggestions and editing make my work so much better.
To my mum and dad for surrounding me with books from an early age and always encouraging me to be creative. To my brothers and sister for their support and my son Fin for making me smile when a deadline is looming.
I couldn’t ask for better publishers than HarperCollins. A huge thank you to my wonderful editor Wayne Brookes, as good a dinner companion as he is a publisher. To Amanda Ridout for her enormous support and infectious enthusiasm. To the fantastic sales, marketing and press teams and art wizard Lee Motley – I appreciate all your work so much.
Continuing thanks to my agent Sheila Crowley and Judy-Meg Kennedy, Linda Shaughnessy, Teresa Nichols and Valentina Zanca at AP Watt (sorry for being so disorganised).
Thanks to all my friends to told me things I needed to know: Tamasin, Sam, Louise, Niki, Heids, Scott, Will, Jenny – I owe you all cocktails.
Last but by no means least, to all the wives and girlfriends of rich men who told me their secrets – thank you for the stories. Fact is sometimes more incredulous than fiction.
About the Author
Tasmina Perry left a career in law for the glamorous world of women’s magazine journalism. She has written on celebrity and style for many national magazines including Marie-Claire, Glamour and Heat and was most recently Deputy Editor of InStyle magazine. She has also found time to launch her own travel and fashion magazine Jaunt. Daddy’s Girls and Gold Diggers were both Sunday Times bestsellers. She lives in Surrey with her husband and son. Author photograph by Paul Rider.
Praise
Gold Diggers
‘Hold on to your hats – here comes your summer blockbuster. This is a sumptuously sexy book’
Elle
‘A slick, uber glamorous cocktail of backstabbing beauties, murder and sex’
Easy Living
‘All hail the return of the beach bonkbuster’
Glamour
‘A high-gloss soap opera of a story that will have you hooked’
In Style
‘The follow-up to Tasmina Perry’s hugely successful Daddy’s Girls promises more glamour, lust and betrayal … Pick up to read on the beach’
Bella
‘Superior, provocative, almost tongue-in-cheek, sun-lounger fun’
Good Housekeeping
‘New York billionaire Adam Gold is moving to London and the gold diggers are circling. Welcome to the world of sex, murder and betrayal’
Heat
Daddy’s Girls
‘Daddy’s Girls is the perfect beach read; a sexy guilty pleasure you devour like a caramel Magnum … A brilliant antidote to all those girl-seeks-boy-and-shoes chick lit books, this is glittering escapism that gives you a peek into the fabulous lives of the rich and powerful’
Glamour
‘Daddy’s Girls is the hottest holiday accessory this season. Slick, glossy and gloriously bitchy … The bonkbuster is back’
Elle
‘Amid all the romping and camp one-liners, there are tart observations about race, class and family dynamics, too. The perfect beach read’
Marie Claire
‘This glam and glitz, power and corruption romp of a book celebrates the genre of the great big beach read with no holds barred’
Good Housekeeping
‘A sizzling summer read brimming with style, sex and sibling rivalry … A pacy bonkbuster that you won’t be able to put down until its explosive climax is revealed’
Closer
‘A sizzling debut … one to devour on the beach’
In Style
‘Tasmina Perry’s Daddy’s Girls is a hugely entertaining blockbuster that’s impossible to put down’
Image
‘A super-slick, seriously sexy murder mystery. Fantastic’
Company
‘If you fancy some racy reading in the sun, Tasmina Perry’s Daddy’s Girls is the perfect choice for you. Packed with glamour, romance and intrigue, it’ll keep you glued from the very first page’
Heat
‘An old school bonkbuster with beautiful bitches, lethal studs and a highly-charged plot’
Daily Mirror
‘Engrossing from the first page, this is the perfect read to escape the everyday world with enough suspense to keep you hooked’
The Sun
‘It might blow your luggage allowance but this big, fat, glitzy story will keep you reading all holiday’
Grazia
‘A sizzling novel of suspense with an unexpected climax that’ll keep you guessing to the very end’
Daily Express
‘A deliciously enjoyable romp of a novel’
Easy Living
Copyright
This novel is entirely a work of fiction.
The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are
the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to
actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is
entirely coincidental.
Harper
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
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Hammersmith, London W6 8JB
www.harpercollins.co.uk
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins 2007
Copyright © Tasmina Perry 2008
Tasmina Perry asserts the moral right to
be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is
available from the B
ritish Library
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EPub Edition © SEPTEMBER 2012 ISBN 9780007386376
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