All the Rage Read Online Free

professional coldness. He knew what this entailed.
    All in all, Michael had held his composure with remarkable aplomb. On the outside he appeared calm and collected, even untouchable, but within, his insides churned and tightened like the unforgiving grip of a python. There was simply no escape. Slowly but surely, his empire, his world, was being constricted. It was dying.
    Showering and refreshing himself, he ate a light supper of grilled tuna and green salad, washed down with a glass of chilled Muscadet. However, his mood of apprehension did not vanish, unlike the wine, which began to make his mind-set more bullish. He would not lie down and let Adele walk all over him. He would fight back as he had always done in the face of adversity. A calculated plan of vicious counter-attack began to formulate in his head. And then, inexplicably, he thought of Lauren O’Neill.
    This was a woman who intrigued him deeply. Her voice conveyed a sexual undertone, an invitation to sin. He held a visual picture of her in his head and it enraptured him. Earlier, on the phone, they had arranged a meeting at her home for the following day. He would ascertain the collection of her husband’s canvases and endeavour to produce an overall valuation, as she had asked. More importantly, it gave him an opportunity to market the twelve paintings by Patrick Porter. In this respect, he saw a way to raise a great deal of money. Handled properly, the sale would actually raise a substantial amount of capital for him. He cared little for the work of Julius Gray. Quite simply, by employing a tried and trusted camouflage technique, he might ensure a survival of sorts, and find a solution to pay off his wife. It was his only shot.
    Lauren O’Neill would be a formidable woman, he concluded. He sensed that from her manner, and his feverish imagination, she was tactile, very attractive and probably dangerous. But nothing, he had to admit, actually pointed towards this. It was his fantasy. It surprised him that he cancelled his appointments so readily in order to see her. It surprised him still further to admit to a certain nervous tension building in his stomach. What was he looking for? Idiot, he muttered to himself.
    Before retiring for the night, he phoned Kara.
    â€˜Sorry it’s so late,’ he told her, ‘but I won’t be in tomorrow. ’
    Kara responded by stifling a yawn, which he picked up on. ‘Oh, OK,’ she said. ‘Can I contact you on your mobile if anything crops up? ’
    â€˜Sure. Oh, by the way: Happy Birthday! ’
    â€˜Yeah, right. ’
    â€˜I’ll make it up to you. ’
    â€˜Promises…’
    Michael detected a losing battle. ‘I’ve cleared my appointments for tomorrow and left you a list of priorities on your desk. It’ll be a long day for me, I feel. Appraisals: quite a lot it appears. ’
    â€˜Is this to do with Mrs O’Neill? ’ Kara asked.
    â€˜Yes,’ he answered. ‘Her details are now in a file on the computer. ’ He hesitated, adding, ‘Something big may be in the offing. ’
    â€˜Oh, really’ she teased, ‘anything to do with a certain artist you might want to get your eager dirty hands on? ’
    â€˜Kara, this is not a game,’ he said, reeling from the effects of the alcohol. It surprised him to see he had consumed the whole bottle. It made him nauseous and unsteady on his feet, but he was in full flow now. He dismissed her little joke. ‘I cannot stress the importance of all this. I do not intend to get my hands on just anything. ’ He stopped for a second, imagining this woman called Lauren. It consumed him. ‘I intend to get my eager dirty hands on everything. The rewards are just too great to ignore, and I won’t be denied. Is that understood? ’
    Michael halted his rant. He hated himself for this display of anger and knew that Kara would be embarrassed. Where had this suddenly come from?