Sudden Pleasures Read Online Free PDF

isn’t already married?” Ashley wanted to know again. It was such a radical idea, an arranged union. “What if he has two heads?”
    “Well, if he does, let’s hope they’re both handsome and have wicked tongues,” Tiffany said mischievously.
    “You are terrible.” Ashley giggled. “Okay, I’ll admit to being nervous. I just wish I knew a little bit more. I mean, if I have to go out on my own again, I better get moving pretty fast. Eighteen months will go like wildfire, Tiff.”
    “Look,” Tiffany said, “it’s Thursday. We should have something late today or tomorrow to tell you. Now I gotta run, sweetie. I open the office in the morning. Have a good day.”
    Tiffany put the phone down and turned to her husband. “Joe, first thing, you phone Ray. Ashley is very nervous, and she needs to know something about this guy. And frankly, I’m dying of curiosity too.”
    “I’ll call him. I’ll call him,” her husband said. “How about I call him now? He’ll be commuting, and his cell is always on.”
    “He’ll be on the subway,” Tiffany protested. “He won’t be able to hear a thing.”
    “Subway? Ray Pietro d’Angelo? Not since he was thirty, babe. He has a car service pick him at his apartment every morning.” Joe picked up his own cell and began to dial. “Ray? Joe. You know that client you were telling us about the other night at dinner?…Yeah, the guy who needs to get married. I’ve got the same situation with a client…. Ashley Kimbrough, owner of Lacy Nothings…. Yeah, the gift Tiffany brought Rose came from there. She’s pretty, thirty-three, rich, successful, and has to get married by thirty-five or she loses everything to some cockamamie group called the Society Seeking Extraterrestrial Life…. Yeah, SSEXL.” Joe listened a few moments, and then he laughed. “Nah, her grandfather put a clause in the will to satisfy his crazy girlfriend who’s into that crap. Now tell me a little more about your client.” He listened for several minutes, finally saying, “Sounds to me like he’d be perfect for my client, Ray. They’re both self-made with regard to their businesses, and dedicated to what they do. They’re careful with money. Different religions, but not overly religious. This could be a win-win thing. Talk to your client, and let’s set up a meeting as soon as possible. Your guy has only nine months left before he hits the big four-oh…. Yeah, okay. I’ll talk to you later today, buddy. Hi to Rose.” Joe Pietro d’Angelo closed his cell and turned to his wife. “Ray says hi to you,” he said.
    “And?” Tiffany asked.
    “And what?” he teased her.
    “Joe, I’m gonna kill you,” she threatened. “Gimme the details!”
    “The guy has to get a wife before he’s forty or, like Ashley, he loses everything. Crazy thing is, he’s the one who made his father’s firm so profitable, but the family is very old-school. When the old man died he gave a quarter mil to each of his six daughters; set his wife up in style; and then the bulk of it went to the son. With a catch, of course: If the son doesn’t marry by forty it all gets sold and divided among the women. The sisters are even now looking for a buyer for the business,” Joe said.
    “Nice girls,” Tiffany remarked. “Filled with sisterly love. So how come the brother is turning forty and isn’t married? Is he gay?”
    “No. Just a workaholic. There’s never been time for him to get into a relationship that could thrive. If he isn’t working, he’s flying all over the world drumming up work for his business. He loves what he does, and Ray says he does it very well.”
    “Does what well?” Tiffany wanted to know.
    “Oh, I didn’t tell you? He’s Restorations and Replications, R&R. You’ve heard of them, Tiffany. They’re the fancy antique restorers, and they also design furniture that looks like it’s antique for all that new money that wants to look old and respectable,” Joe told his wife. “His