Grand Passion

of tablecloths.
    Roarke glanced at the ring of interested faces behind Cleo. He lowered his voice. “I wanted to apologize to you for that damned farce I conducted last night in your lobby.”
    “Forget it. No harm done.”
    “I promise you I don't generally go around making a fool of myself on a regular basis. But I've been under a lot of stress lately.”
    “Haven't we all?” Cleo was aware of Sylvia, Daystar, Trisha, and Andromeda listening intently as they stacked dishes. She appealed to them with a silent look.
    They took the hint and, one by one, quietly vanished back through the swinging door into the kitchen.
    “I suppose so.” Roarke's face turned red. “As I said, I just wanted to apologize.”
    Cleo took pity on him. “Don't worry about it.” She opened the linen cupboard and removed a stack of clean tablecloths. “I understand how you must have felt.”
    “Do you?” Roarke's eyes were bleak.
    “Yes,” Cleo said gently. “I think so.” She smiled. “As long as you're just standing around, why don't you give me a hand with these?”
    “What?” Roarke glanced at the stack of tablecloths. “Oh, sure.” He smiled. “Not exactly my line of work, but I think I can handle it.”
    “I don't need any more hotel industry experts around,” Cleo muttered. “I've had enough of them lately.”
    Roarke slanted her a strange glance. “Just between you and me, you're marrying one of the best. Max Fortune is one hell of an expert. Dennison Curzon will do anything to get him back. As you've already discovered, the son of a bitch will even stoop to using Kim.”
    Cleo hesitated. “Kimberly was anxious to convince Max to return. She told me her father insisted on it.”
    “He did. As the new chairman of the board of Curzon International, Dennison is having a great time throwing his weight around. For years he lived in Jason's shadow. Now he's determined to show everyone he's even better at running a hotel empire than his brother was.”
    “Why does he want Max to come back?”
    Roarke unfolded another tablecloth and arranged it neatly on a table. “Because the truth is, Dennison is not the natural leader that Jason was. He hasn't got the talent to run Curzon International, and deep down I think he knows it.”
    “He thinks he can use Max to help run the company?”
    Roarke nodded. “He's decided that Jason's secret weapon was Max Fortune. Dennison figures that if he can persuade Fortune to come back, everything will be like it was before, except that Dennison will be in charge this time.”
    Cleo glanced at Roarke. “Where does Kimberly fit into all this?”
    Roarke's jaw set in rigid lines as he whipped open another tablecloth. “My wife has spent most of her life trying to please her father. She's still struggling to be the son Dennison never had. I knew it was a problem when I married her, but I thought we could work it out. Now she feels torn, and part of me is afraid she's going to choose Daddy instead of me.”
    “One of these days,” Max said coldly from the hall doorway, “Kim is going to have to figure out that she can never please Dennison, no matter what she does. Or whom she marries.”
    Cleo spun around, startled. It was the first time all morning that she had come face to face with Max. He looked even more fierce than he usually did. “Max, I'm warning you, I don't want any more scenes.”
    Max's brows rose. “I'm not the one who started that scene last night.”
    “Nor do I want to see any finger-pointing,” she added primly.
    “Too bad,” Roarke said. “I was just getting ready to put in my two cents' worth.”
    Max smiled without any trace of genuine humor. “Maybe Winston and I had better finish this discussion in private. What do you say, Winston?”
    “Not a chance.” Roarke snapped open another tablecloth. “I'm not going to volunteer to step outside so that you can beat my brains out.”
    Cleo was horrified. “Max wouldn't do anything like that.”
    “No?” Roarke looked distinctly skeptical.
    “Of course not.” Max gave Roarke a dangerously polite smile. “What I want to discuss is the possibility of getting all you Winstons and Curzons and Curzon-Winstons out of my life on a permanent basis.”
    “What a strange coincidence. I've got exactly the same goal.” Roarke eyed him. “How do you plan to accomplish it?”
    “I think it could be arranged if Kim challenged Dennison Curzon for control of the board.”
    Roarke's jaw dropped. “Are you