The Secret Heiress by Judith Gould Page A

you,” Niki said.
    Frans didn’t like the sound of that, but he realized that she was Bianca’s boss, and he didn’t want to make her angry. Finally, he said, “Okay, but I should get back to Bianca soon.”
    “This won’t take long,” Niki assured him. “Here, get on the air mattress, and I’ll swim alongside.”
    Frans took off his trousers and left them on the beach, waded out to where she held the air mattress, then scooted up onto it and spread out lengthwise, staring up at the starlit sky.
    “Perfect,” Niki said, beginning to paddle with her feet. “You can relax while I tell you what I have in mind.”
     
    On the beach Adrian Single watched them from the sandy spot where he’d come and sat down with his drink. He had been taking a break from the party, but now he was intrigued with the scene being enacted before him. He could hear much of what Niki was saying and was certain that he knew what she was doing. Poor Bianca, he thought. She’s finally found someone she really loves, and Niki decides she wants him for herself.
     
    “Frans,” Niki said, “I think you could do something better than modeling.” After seeing him with Bianca, she had wasted no time in finding out who he was and what he did.
    “Why do you say that?” he asked.
    “It’s a dead-end career,” she replied. “No future after a certain age.”
    “I know that,” he said, “but I’ll get into something else.”
    “You could come to work for PPHL,” Niki said, paddling with her feet as she held on to the air mattress. “We’re always looking for men like you.”
    Frans grunted noncommittally.
    “Just think,” Niki enthused. “With salary and stock options, I could make you a millionaire within a year. Why, you’d never have to fly commercial again.”
    Frans laughed. “That’s hard to believe.”
    “Believe me,” Niki said, “I can make it possible.” She stopped paddling and gave him a penetrating look. “Plus,” she added, “you’d have me. ”
    Her directness both startled him and put him off, but he laughed lightly again. How to respond to this egomaniac without insulting her? He had met plenty of beautiful, rich women like Niki who thought they could simply buy him. They thought everyone had a price. If Bianca weren’t involved, he would tell Niki how boring her proposal was.
    “I could even finance a major movie deal for you,” Niki gushed. “With your looks you could be a real film star.”
    “I don’t think I can act,” Frans replied.
    “Oh, that’s not important,” Niki assured him.
     
    Onshore, Adrian looked at his watch. It was still over an hour and a half until the fireworks were due to go off, but he made a snap decision. Unclipping the cell phone on his belt, he pressed in the number for the crew foreman on the barge. “Estrellas!” he said in a low but firm voice, giving the signal for the fireworks to begin.
    In less than a minute, roaring rockets zoomed into the sky and burst into brilliant displays of multicolored light. The light began to fill the night sky, and the crowd gathered at Paradise Rock began to applaud with delight.
     
    “Goddamn it!” Nikoletta screeched as the spent remainders of the incendiaries began to shower down on both her and Frans. “The assholes are early!” She let go of the air mattress, all thoughts of Frans gone, and quickly began swimming back toward shore. Frans fought to contain his laughter while swatting at the hot cinders that continued to fall. He gave her a good head start before he slid off the air mattress and swam toward shore, deliberately aiming south of where Nikoletta was headed.
     
    The showdown with Nikoletta was soon in coming. Adrian had quickly joined Sugar, Bianca, Angelo, and Honor, who had clustered on the pool terrace to watch the fireworks together.
    “Where have you been?” Sugar asked him.
    “I was in the men’s room.”
    “What happened?” she asked. “The fireworks are early.”
    “I—” he started to