Dangerous to Know. Barbara Taylor Bradford

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      Barbara Taylor Bradford

      Dangerous To Know

      Copyright

      Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk

      This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

      DANGEROUS TO KNOW. Copyright © 1995 by Barbara Taylor Bradford. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

      Ebook Edition © MAY 2009 ISBN: 9780007330829

       Version: 2017-11-14

      The right of Barbara Taylor Bradford to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

      Praise for New York Times

       bestselling author

       BARBARA TAYLOR BRADFORD

      “Her name on a novel…[promises] a good story, simply told, with satisfying outcome…[her books] finding their way into people’s homes and hearts.”

      Dayton Daily News

      “Barbara Taylor Bradford can be counted on to tell a good story.”

      Chattanooga Times

      “She’s the envy of all of us who put pen to paper. Don’t miss her.”

      Greensboro News & Record

      “You may fall in love…cry real tears…cheer.”

      Chicago Tribune

      And

       Dangerous To Know

      “The clever and unexpected plot twists, capped by the revelation of Sebastian’s shattering secret, will keep the author’s many fans entranced.”

      Publishers Weekly

      For Bob, with all my love

      Mad, bad, and dangerous to know.

      —Lady Caroline Lamb, writing of her lover,

       the poet Lord Byron

      The Narrators

       Title Page

      Copyright

      Praise

      Dedication

      Epigraph

      Part One Vivienne: Loyalty

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Chapter Twelve

      Part Two Jack: Duty

       Chapter Thirteen

       Chapter Fourteen

       Chapter Fifteen

       Chapter Sixteen

       Chapter Seventeen

       Chapter Eighteen

       Chapter Ninteen

       Chapter Twenty

      Part Three Luciana: Pride

       Chapter Twenty-One

       Chapter Twenty-Two

       Chapter Twenty-Three

       Chapter Twenty-Four

       Chapter Twenty-Five

       Chapter Twenty-Six

      Part Four Zoë: Truth

       Chapter Twenty-Seven

       Chapter Twenty-Eight

       Chapter Twenty-Nine

       Chapter Thirty

       Chapter Thirty-One

       Chapter Thirty-Two

       Chapter Thirty-Three

       Chapter Thirty-Four

       Chapter Thirty-Five

      Part Five Vivienne: Honor

       Chapter Thirty-Six

       Chapter Thirty-Seven

       Chapter Thirty-Eight

      About the Author

      Other Books by Barbara Taylor Bradford

      About the Publisher

      PART ONE

      VIVIENNE

       LOYALTY

       CHAPTER ONE

      The first time I met Sebastian Locke I fell in love with him. He was thirty-two years old. I was twelve. I had no idea at the time that he was my mother’s lover. Nor did I know then that ten years later I would marry him.

      Now he was dead.

      He had died in somewhat mysterious, even suspicious, circumstances. It was not yet known whether he had died of natural causes, committed suicide, or been murdered.

      We were divorced. I had not seen him for almost a year, until last Monday, when we had lunched together at his request. Obviously the police hoped I might be able to throw some light on the matter of his death, but I could not. I was as perplexed as everyone else. However, they had just arrived to see me. I was appalled. That Sebastian was dead was only just registering with me. I glanced around my library. The familiar room looked exactly the same as it always had. The two walls of books were balanced by an eclectic mixture of antiques, my grandmother’s horse paintings, and her Victorian lamps. But somehow it was out of kilter. So was I. Pulling myself together, I buzzed the intercom and told my secretary Belinda she could show them into the library.

      A split second later I was shaking hands with Detectives Joe Kennelly and Aaron Miles from the Major Crime Division of the Connecticut State Police.

      “We’re baffled, Mrs. Trent,” Detective Kennelly said as we all sat down. “Until we get the autopsy report we’re working