Danielle Steel: Zoya

“I guess that's it” Nicholas looked at him sadly for a moment when they were alone again. “How long do you think it'll take for the deal to go through?” They had already agreed on which one they wanted.

“A few months. We should be settled by the summer.” Matthew looked moved and excited.

Nicholas nodded, looking somber. “She wants to take Zoe to Europe. I was going to discourage it, but I don't think I will now.”

“Don't. It'll do them both good.”

Nicholas nodded and went back to his office.

CHAPTER

52

The day dawned bright and sunny as Zoya sat at her desk for the last time. She had packed her things the day before, and Matthew had given her an incredible party. The store had been filled with every name anyone had ever heard, the luminaries of society, and two visiting royals. They had all kissed her and hugged her, and remembered. And now she sat and remembered them, thirty-eight years of them, as she prepared to leave her office. The driver was probably waiting for her outside, but she was in no hurry to go, as she stood at the window and looked out over Fifth Avenue, looking down at the traffic. So much had changed in forty years, so many dreams fulfilled and others broken. She remembered how Simon had helped her start the store, how excited he had been, how happy they were when they went to Europe together on their first buying trip. It seemed like a whole lifetime, now gone in only a moment.

“Countess? …” A gentle voice spoke from the door and she turned to see her latest assistant, a girl who was younger than her oldest grandchild.

“Yes?”

“The car is waiting downstairs. The driver wanted you to know, in case you were waiting”

“Thank you,” she smiled graciously, her back straight, her eyes proud, “please tell him I'll be down in a moment.” Her words and her manner still bespoke nobility, more than her title. No one who had ever worked for her would ever forget her.

The door closed silently, as she looked around the room for a last time. She knew she would be back again, to visit Matthew, but it would never be quite the same. It was theirs now. She had given it to them, and they had chosen to sell it. But she suspected that Simon wouldn't have disagreed with them. He was a shrewd businessman, and so was Matthew.

She cast a last look over her shoulder, and closed the door, her back straight in a new navy blue Chanel suit, her hair swept up and carefully knotted. And as she left her office, she almost collided with Zoe.

“Grandma! I was afraid you'd left. Look! Look what I have!” Nicholas had agreed to the trip to Paris long since, and they were leaving in two weeks, but not by ship this time. They were flying. There were no ships left that she wanted to take, and Zoe didn't mind. She was jumping up and down, full of twelve-year-old exuberance, her hands full of brochures as Zoya laughed.

“What have you got?”

She glanced over her shoulder as though she'd been followed-and whispered conspiratorially, “Just don't tell Daddy. Once we get there, he'll never know the difference.” The brochures she held out to her grandmother were not of Paris, but of Russia. The spires of the Winter Palace looked at her boldly from the pictures. The Catherine Palace … the Alexander … the Antichkov … as Zoya's eyes met hers in silent wonder. “Grandma, let's go to Russia!” She had been promising it to herself for years, and maybe now, with little Zoe, she was ready.

“I don't know. Your father might not want you to …” And then, as she thought of it, she smiled. She had left with her grandmother more than half a century before, and now she could go back with her own grandchild. “You know,” she beamed, as she slipped an arm around the child's shoulders. “I quite like it.” She stepped onto the escalator with her, glancing at the brochures, thinking of their plans, her mind racing.

They reached the main floor, and she looked up, startled to see hordes of her employees, standing there, many of them crying openly. She shook their hands, smiled, kissed one or two, and then suddenly, it was over, she and the child were on Fifth Avenue, as she waved the driver away. She didn't want to drive anywhere. They were going for a long walk, as Zoe rattled on excitedly about the trip.

“And then … we could go to Moscow! …” Her eyes danced, just as Zoya's did as she listened.

“No. Moscow was always very boring. St. Petersburg … and perhaps … you know … when I was a child, in the summers we went to the palace in Livadia … in the Crimea. …” They walked down the street hand in hand, as Nicholas's limousine drew up slowly. He couldn't bear the thought of her leaving the store alone, and he had come to take her home, and then suddenly he saw them … the straight back in the Chanel suit, and his own daughter, her dark hair flying as she talked animatedly about something. The old and the new. The past and the future, going home hand in hand. He decided to leave them alone, as he walked slowly into the store to see Matthew.

“Do you suppose we could get there, Grandma? … to Livadia, I mean …” Her eyes were filled with love as she looked up at her, and Zoya smiled.

“We'll certainly try, darling, won't we?”

a cognizant original v5 release october 27 2010

Published by

Dell Publishing

a division of

Random House, Inc.

Copyright © 1988 by Danielle Steel

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. For information address: Delacorte Press, New York, New York.

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eISBN: 978-0-307-56706-2

v3.0

Table of Contents

ZOYA by DANIELLE STEEL

St. Petersburg

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

Paris

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 26

CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 28

New York

CHAPTER 29

CHAPTER 30

CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER 32

CHAPTER 33

CHAPTER 34

CHAPTER 35

CHAPTER 36

CHAPTER 37

CHAPTER 38

CHAPTER 39

CHAPTER 40

CHAPTER 41

CHAPTER 42

CHAPTER 43

CHAPTER 44

CHAPTER 45

CHAPTER 46

CHAPTER 47

CHAPTER 48

CHAPTER 49

CHAPTER 50

CHAPTER 51

CHAPTER 52