J. Robb: Immortal in Death

Eve tilted her head. "I can handle you, pal. If you get out of line, even think about it, you'll find out for yourself."

"I'm sure of it." Cautiously he picked up a device. "My scanner," he explained. "It will measure you very accurately. But you have to be naked for a true reading."

"Stop snickering, Mavis. Go get us some more of that tea."

"Sure. I've already seen you naked, anyway." Blowing kisses to Leonardo, she headed off.

"I have other ideas… about clothes," Leonardo said when Eve narrowed her eyes. "The underfoundation for the dress, of course. Evening and day wear, the formal, the casual. Your honeymoon is where?"

"I don't know. I haven't thought about it." Resigned, she took off her shoes, unhitched her jeans.

"Roarke will surprise you then. Computer, create file, Dallas, first doc, measurements, coloring, height, and weight." After she'd tossed her shirt aside, he stepped forward with the scanner. "Feet together please. Height, five foot nine inches, weight, one hundred and twenty."

"How long have you been sleeping with Mavis?"

He rattled off more data. "About two weeks. She's very dear to me. Waist twenty-six point two inches."

"Did you start sleeping with her before or after she told you her best friend was marrying Roarke?"

He stopped cold, and his brilliant gold eyes glittered with temper. "I am not using Mavis for a commission, and you insult her by thinking it."

"Just checking. She's very dear to me, too. If we're going to deal on this, I want to make sure all the cards are faceup, that's all. So – "

The interruption came in fast, and came in furious. A woman in skintight, unadorned black burst in like a comet, perfect teeth bared, lethal red nails curled into talons.

"You two-timing, back-stabbing, mother-fucking son of a bitch." She made her leap, rather like a gorgeous mortar locked on target, and with a speed and grace brought on by pure fear, Leonardo evaded. "Pandora, I can explain – "

"Explain this." Turning her wrath on Eve, she swiped out, barely missing scooping Eve's eyes out of their sockets.

There was only one thing to do. Eve decked her.

"Oh Jesus, oh Jesus." Leonardo hunched his huge shoulders and wrung his ham-size hands.

"Did you have to hit her?"

Eve watched the woman's eyes roll back, then roll forward. "Yeah."

Leonardo set down his scanner and sighed. "She's going to make my life a living hell."

"My face, my face." As she teetered back into full consciousness, Pandora scrambled up, patting her jaw. "Is it bruised? Does it show? I've got a session in an hour."

Eve shrugged. "Tough luck."

Jumping from mood to mood like a crazed gazelle, Pandora hissed through her teeth, "I'll ruin you, bitch. You'll never work on screen, on disc, and you sure as hell won't get a runway job. Do you know who I am?''

Being naked under the circumstances just added to Eve's mood. "Do you think I care?"

"What's going on? Damn it, Dallas, he's just trying to fit you – Oh." Hurrying in with glasses in both hands, Mavis stopped dead. "Pandora."

"You." Obviously, Pandora's supply of venom wasn't running low. She sprang at Mavis, sending glasses crashing, tea flying. In seconds, the two women were wrestling on the floor and tearing at each other's hair.

"Oh, for Christ's sake." If she'd had a stunner on her, Eve would have used it on the pair of them. "Break it up. Goddamn it, Leonardo, give me a hand here before they kill each other." Eve dived in, pulling at arms and legs. She gave Pandora an extra elbow jab to the ribs for her own enjoyment. "I'll haul you into a cage, I swear to God." For lack of anything else, she sat on Pandora and tugged over her jeans to get her badge out of the pocket. "Take a good look, you idiot. I'm a cop. So far, you've got two counts of assault. Want to go for three?"

"Get your bony, naked ass off me."

It wasn't the order but the relative calm with which it was delivered that had Eve shifting. Pandora rose, brushed her hands meticulously down her black skin suit, sniffed, tossed her luxurious mane of flame-colored hair, then aimed a frigid glare with heavily lashed emerald eyes.

"So, one at a time's not enough for you anymore, Leonardo. You scum." Sculpted chin lifted, she cast a scornful look at Eve, then at Mavis. "Your appetite might be increasing, darling, but your taste is deteriorating."

"Pandora." Shaken, still wary of attack, Leonardo moistened his lips. "I said I can explain. Lieutenant Dallas is a client."

She spit like a cobra. "Is that what you're calling them now? You think you can just toss me aside like yesterday's news, Leonardo? I say when it's over."

Limping a little, Mavis walked to Leonardo, slipped an arm around his waist. "He doesn't need you or want you."

"I don't give a damn what he wants. But need?" Her full lips curved into a nasty smile. "He'll have to tell you the facts of life, little girl. Without me, there won't be any show next month for his second-rate clothes. And without a show, he's not going to make any sales, and without sales, he won't be able to pay for all that material, all that inventory, and that nice, fat loan he took from the leg breakers."

She took a deep breath and studied the nails she'd chipped. Fury seemed to fit her as cleanly as her black skin suit. "This is going to cost you big time, Leonardo. I've got a busy calendar for the next couple of days, but I'm going to find a way to squeeze in some time to have a chat with your backers. What do you think they'll say when I tell them I simply can't lower my standards to walking the runway in your designs? Inferior as they are."

"You can't do that, Pandora." Panic was in every word, a panic Eve was sure was for the glowing redhead like a fix for an addict. "It'll ruin me. I've put everything into this show. Time, money – "

"Isn't it a shame you didn't think of that before you picked up this little piece of navel lint?" Pandora's eyes narrowed into sharp slits. "I think I can manage to have lunch with a few of the money men by the end of the week. You've got a couple of days, darling, to decide how you want to play it. Get rid of the new toy, or pay the consequences. You know where to reach me."

She went out with the exaggerated glide of a model, and punctuated the exit by slamming the door.

"Oh shit." Leonardo sank into a chair and covered his face with his hands. "Her timing is perfect, as always."

"Don't. Don't let her do this to you. To us." Near tears, Mavis crouched down in front of him. "You can't let her run your life anymore, or blackmail you – " Inspired, Mavis sprang up. "It's blackmail, isn't it, Dallas? Go arrest her."

Eve finished buttoning the shirt she'd pulled on. "Honey, I can't arrest her for saying she's not going to wear his clothes. I can go haul her in for assault, but she'd be out almost before I closed the door on her."

"But it is blackmail. Everything Leonardo's got is tied up in the show. He'll lose everything without it."

"I'm sorry. Really. It's just not a police or security matter." She dragged her hands through her hair. "Look, she was hot and pissed off. Hopped on something from the look of her eyes. Odds are she'll calm down."

"No." Leonardo sat back in the chair. "She'll want to make me pay. You must have understood we were lovers. Things were cooling off between us. She's been off planet for a few weeks, and I considered our personal relationship over. Then, I met Mavis." His hand found hers, gripped. "And I knew it was over. I spoke with Pandora briefly, told her. Or tried to."

"Since Dallas can't help, there's only one thing to do." Mavis's chin quivered. "You have to go back to her. It's the only way." She added before Leonardo could speak, "We won't see each other, at least not until after your show. Maybe then, we can pick up the pieces. You can't let her go to your backers and ditch your designs."