Stone Barrington 06-11

downstairs, where his housekeeper, Helene, had left a sandwich for him. He had just finished it when the front doorbell rang. That would be the carpet people, he thought, and instead of using the intercom, he went to the front door and opened it. Eduardo Bianchi stood on his doorstep, glumly holding an umbrella. The Mercedes Maybach idled at the curb.
    “Eduardo!” Stone said, surprised. He had almost never seen the man anywhere except on his own turf. “Come in.”
    “Thank you, Stone. I’m sorry to barge in, but I heard you were back from California, and I wonder if you could spare me a few minutes?”
    “Of course,” Stone said, taking the umbrella, and helping the older man off with his coat. “Come on back to my study. Would you like some coffee?”
    “Thank you, yes,” Eduardo replied, rubbing his hands together briskly. “It’s terrible out there.”
    Stone settled him in a chair in his study, then made some espresso and brought in a pot and two cups on a tray.
    “So, you’re back in New York for a while, I hope?” Eduardo asked.
    “I’m afraid not,” Stone said. He explained the problem with the roof. “I have some clients to see, too, then I have to get back to L.A. I’m afraid Arrington still needs me there.”
    “Ah, Arrington,” Eduardo said slowly. “A most unfortunate situation for her. Do you think she will be acquitted?”
    “I think she’s innocent, and I’ll do everything I can to see that she is. Marc Blumberg, an L.A. lawyer, is her lead counsel; I’m just advising.”
    Eduardo nodded. “I know Marc; he’s a good man, right for this.”
    Stone was not surprised, since Eduardo seemed to know everybody on both coasts. He waited for his near-father-in-law to come to the point of his visit.
    “Dolce is back, too,” he said.
    “I know,” Stone replied. “I caught a glimpse of her on the airplane, but we didn’t talk.”
    Eduardo shook his head. “This is all very sad,” he said. “I do not like seeing her so upset.”
    “I’m very sorry for upsetting her,” Stone said, “but I could not do otherwise under the circumstances.”
    “What are your intentions toward Arrington?” Eduardo asked, as if he had the right to.
    “Quite frankly, I don’t know,” Stone said. “She has some serious difficulties to overcome, and, if Blumberg and I are successful in defending her, I don’t know what her plans are after that. I’m not sure she knows, either.”
    “And your plans?”
    “I haven’t made any. Every time I do, it all seems to come back to Arrington, one way or another.”
    “You are in love with her, then?”
    Stone sighed. He had been avoiding the question. “I think I have to finally face the fact that I have been for a long time.”
    “Why did you not marry her when you had the opportunity?” Eduardo asked.
    “I intended to,” Stone replied. “We were going on a sailing holiday together in the islands. I had planned to pop the question down there. She was delayed in joining me, because she had been asked to write a magazine piece about Vance. The next thing I knew, they were married.”
    Eduardo nodded. “Vance could do that,” he said. “He was a very powerful personality, difficult for a young woman to resist.” Eduardo set down his coffee cup and crossed his legs. “Now we come to Dolce,” he said. “My daughter is very unhappy. What are your intentions toward her?”
    Stone took a deep breath. “Dolce and I have talked about this,” he said. “I’ve told her that I think it would be a terrible mistake for both of us, should we marry.”
    “Why?” Eduardo asked, and his eyes had narrowed.
    “This business with Arrington has taught me that I’m not free of her,” Stone replied, “as I thought I was. Vance’s sudden death was a great shock, and not just because I liked him.”
    “Arrington is once again available, then?”
    “Well, she’s no longer married.”
    “Has she expressed an interest in rekindling your relationship with her?”
    “Yes,” Stone said, surprising himself with his willingness to discuss this with Eduardo.
    “And there is the child,” Eduardo said.
    “Yes; there was a time when we both thought he might be mine, but the blood tests …”
    “And who conducted these tests?” Eduardo asked.
    “Why do you want to know?”
    “Indulge me, please.”
    Stone went to his desk and rummaged in a bottom drawer. The report was still there. He handed it to Eduardo.
    Eduardo read the document carefully.