Page 1 of Robert

Chapter 1

Café la Monde was not really a café at all. The lovely red brick building was old and held an important part of the town’s history. It had been a private residence of some sort and had been owned by a duke first and then a prince if the stories were true. It had changed ownership several times in the past.

Over the last five years, it had been taken over by a conglomerate and had become ‘the spot’. Not only was there atmosphere (outdoor dining beneath the canopies of open sky and lush vegetations!)- but indoors the two-tiered dining area was the ultimate dining experience.

Sonya had been there on several occasions. She had brought prospective clients here when she wanted to close deals. The staff were friendly, the décor – gleaming wood, a fireplace taking up one entire section of the wall, tables wide apart to ensure privacy; so, it was perfect.

The stunning slender as a reed African American had turned heads as she made her way to a table beneath an overhanging oak tree. She had chosen her wardrobe carefully. Summer was winding to an end, but the heat and humidity was still clingingon for dear life. Her dress was a designer brand and fitted her slender curves lovingly.

The colors, ripe peaches and mellow green highlighted her coffee and cream complexion.

Thick dark brown hair was scooped back into a neat chignon at the nape of her neck. Discreet diamonds were at her lobes. The platinum necklace with its tear-shaped diamond pendant had been a gift from her beloved father on her sixteenth birthday and was always worn, no matter what else she had on.

On the surface, she looked serene as she sipped her sparkling water and waited for her mother. Underneath, she was a roiling mass of nerves and jitters. Deidre Beaumont-Rivers-Bryan-Cole was a formidable woman, and it did not matter that she was her flesh and blood. The woman went for the heart and her aim was always accurate and deadly.

Deciding to go with a glass of wine, while she waited to steady her nerves, Sonya nodded to the eager and besotted waiter who was her server.

“Cabernet, please. Bring the bottle.” Her voice was well-modulated from careful grooming and private schooling and had the young man blushing and nervous.

“Right away!” He rushed off to do her bidding.

She was aware of her effect on men and had in the distant past used it to her advantage. But she was not that person anymore. She had grown up being spoiled and privileged and was desperate to make that change known. But her mother would never take her seriously, something that was eating away at her, and always had.

She was sipping the wine when a commotion sounded at the edge of the smooth walkway that led to the bank of tables. Without looking up, she realized that Deidre had made her appearance and had done so with her usual flair.

Her mother was a former actress and model and had married up each time, making her a formidable woman with resources at her fingertips. She had passed on her incredibly good looks to her daughter and the two women always rated second and third glances.

“Sonya.” Her voice was cool and lacked any sort of emotions as usual.

“Mother.” Putting her glass down, she leaned in for the casual peck on the cheek before sitting down.

“I have ordered the Salade Nicoise.”

Tamping down her resentment at the woman’s highhanded habit of taking over, she simply nodded.

“Isn’t it too early in the day for wine?” Deidre untied her silk scarf and draped it over the chair next to her to reveal a stunning ruby necklace nestled in her cleavage.

The skirt suit was stunning of course, the baby blue suiting her flawless complexion to perfection. Careful crafting and pampering had managed to maintain her beauty and her makeup was flawless.

Her hair, thick and healthy, was elegantly styled in the usual chignon at the nape of her neck and there was not a hair out of place.

She looked perfect as usual. A simple luncheon, even if it was with her only child, would never find Deidre unprepared and looking disheveled. Sonya did not recall ever seeing her mother looking anything less than perfect. Not even first thing in the morning.

She often wondered if the woman went to bed with her makeup on.

“It depends on what this lunch is all about.” In the past, she had been intimidated to the point where she had avoided being in the same room, but Sonya was thirty-two years of age and had decided some time ago that she was not going to live in fear of disappointing her mother.

Besides, she had already done that when she refused to follow in her mother’s footsteps to become an actress.

Deidre did not respond, but waited until the waiter had placed their meals on the table.

“Please see to it that we are not disturbed,” she ordered, with a careless flick of her elegant hand.

“Of course, ma’am.” The man bowed himself away immediately.

“This must be very important.” Sonya was not in the mood for a salad and would have preferred the soup du jour, but one did not contradict Deidre and if one did, then one had to be prepared for the exhausting argument followed by cold silence. She was not in the mood for either.

“It is.” Picking up her glass of water, Deidre took a sip and nodded. The wedge of lemon had given it the right amount of zest needed. “It’s about your marital status.”

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