Angel of Death Read Online Free Page A

on at weekends.’
    ‘I’ll keep the window open while I’m working.’ She vanished into the lift, waving to him and he sighed, settling down to more long hours of tedium, a goldfish in a glass bowl beyond which life swam freely.
    The first thing Miranda did in her office was to open the window but lower the wide-banded linen blinds to keep the room cool and shady. The window looked out into a courtyard full of shrubs and flowers, lined with wooden benches where staff often ate sandwiches in warm weather. The scent of roses drifted up to her nostrils, a dizzying aroma.
    She made some strong black coffee, then began keying documents into her word processor, scanning the drawings which went with them and putting them into the computer’s memory too, printing them out afterwards, along with other pages of figures already in the machine’s memory. Terry had also left her a sheet pointing out where the printer differed from their previous one.
    She began to sketch out ideas for the campaign, but kept yawning. On the other side of the courtyard lay the family’s apartment which was mostly used by Terry himself. Little golden specks of dust danced in the sunlight as Miranda sat at her desk.
    Voices suddenly made her jump. Was that somebody in the courtyard? Nobody should be out there on a Sunday.
    Then she realised that the voices came from the other side of the complex – from the family apartment. A window must be open.
    ‘Get your clothes off or do you want me to do it for you?’
    Miranda’s eyes widened and her mouth opened in amazement. What on earth was going on over there? Had Terry brought a woman here?
    No, that certainly was not Terry’s voice. Surely it wasn’t Sean? But who was with him? It couldn’t be Nicola. Even Sean wouldn’t talk to her that way. Or would he?
    A girl’s voice answered. ‘Give us a kiss first!’
    Miranda did not recognise this voice, but she was sure it did not belong to Sean’s fiancée.
    Nicola was not long out of one of the best girls’ schools in England; shy, very unsure of herself despite her family’s wealth. She had a faint lisp and stammered when she was nervous, but she had a typical, middle-class accent.
    The voice Miranda had just heard was very confident, not to say oversure of itself, and it had a London accent, brash, pushy, huskily sensual. Of a very different class to Nicola.
    Who had Sean got over there? His father would be furious if he found out his son was taking strange girls into the apartment.
    ‘I’ll give you something,’ Sean said roughly and the girl began to giggle.
    ‘You already have!’
    Then came the unmistakable sound of a kiss. Miranda tried to concentrate on her work. She wished they would move away, go into another room. What were they doing in the bathroom?
    The sound of running water came next. Oh, my God, were they planning to have a bath? Was that why Sean had told the girl to take her clothes off?
    This was becoming very embarrassing. Miranda got up and went over to the window, to close it. As she lifted the blind to take hold of the window catch she saw Sean framed in the window opposite.
    He was totally naked, his shoulders wide and powerful, his skin smooth, hairless. She could only see to his waist, but he had a strong, slim, very male body, with good muscle development in the arms and chest.
    Behind him steam swirled and billowed. There was a sound of splashing.
    ‘Come on, darling, get in with me!’ the girl called.
    Sean turned away, giving no sign of having noticed Miranda at the window opposite.
    She almost closed the window but left it open enough to let some air circulate. It was too hot to have it shut.
    She went back to her desk. Muffled now, the voices continued across the courtyard, laughter mingling with splashes.
    Until Sean said sharply, ‘What did you say?’
    ‘I’m up the spout,’ the girl told him defiantly. ‘And it’s your baby. You’re going to have to marry me, Sean.’
    There was a silence, then he