THE TAINTED TRUST (Volume 2 of The King Trilogy)

CHAPTER 61

         Visconti followed Kerri into his apartment on the sixth and top floor of a gray vine-covered building on Fifth Avenue. The residence was thousands of miles and millions of dollars away from her mother's apartment in Vancouver. Brian Pyper had brought her to the suburbs of the crucible of American capitalism, but Louis Visconti had taken her to the nucleus. The aging, almost institutional appearance of the building's exterior gave scarce hint of the effort and treasure spent by some of the city's wealthiest inhabitants on their respective segments of the interior.

Kerri walked gingerly, almost on tiptoes across the polished Florentine marble floor of the foyer. She stopped to gaze around the enormous living room. Its two story high walls were adorned with large and expensive oil paintings. The far wall featured a floor to ceiling, cathedral-like array of windows embracing a massive cut-stone fireplace, and framing a stupendous view of Central Park. The oak floor was covered by a thick and expansive Persian rug. Blue, gray and beige tints of the rug complemented a single large sofa, covered in navy blue velvet and facing the fireplace.

Filled with wonder and amazement, Kerri turned to face Visconti. "This is incredible!" she declared. "It's hard to believe people actually live in places like this. But to own it and not live in it is beyond comprehension."

"You really know how to hurt a guy." Visconti frowned and stared pensively at the fireplace. "In retrospect, I should have sold it two years ago. Like so many other people who had made enormous paper profits on real estate in the eighties, I foolishly assumed the game would continue forever. This place was a shrine to what I thought was my intelligence. If it was worth twice what I paid for it, there seemed to be no reason why it wouldn't double again."

"Would you lose money if you sold it now?"

Visconti nodded. "My glass is always half full, never half empty. I'm confident that if I hold on to it long enough, the market will eventually come back. A lot of people have told me I won't live that long, but I'm absolutely convinced I will."

Kerri regarded Visconti's bold admission as a sign of strength, an ability to understand his mind and to express it without fear of criticism. She was suddenly closer to him, even drawn to him.

"Would you like to take the dollar tour?"

"Lead the way," she replied without hesitation, happy to be where she was, happy to be safe, happy to be with Louis Visconti.

He led her through four thousand square feet of opulent luxury. The tour began in the large high-ceilinged dining room which dwarfed a long polished mahogany table, adorned with gold-plated settings for twelve. The two proceeded to the kitchen which appeared to be the control room for a five star restaurant. Its sparkling white tiled floor was surrounded by expensive stainless steel appliances. A gigantic, black marble-surfaced food preparation island occupied the center of the floor. Beyond the kitchen was the study, expensively furnished and subtly decorated with masculine taste.

The tour ended near the top of a sweeping spiral stairway leading to four lavishly, yet tastefully decorated bedrooms. Visconti stopped and turned to face Kerri at the first door. "This room is yours for as long as you want it," he said, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "I hope you like it."

"Aren't you going to show it to me?"

"I want you to discover it yourself. If I were condemned to be confined to one room for the rest of my life, I couldn't imagine a better place to serve my sentence." Visconti tugged the lapel of his tailored gray pinstriped suit. "While you're exploring this small slice of heaven, I'll be taking a shower and getting out of this monkey-suit."

"I hope you're not planning to leave," Kerri said, insecurity now biting.

Visconti shook his head. "I told you I'm not going to leave this apartment until you do." He pointed to the door of the adjacent bedroom. "I'll be in there with the shower door closed...Now, go inside and look around. I'll get your bag and leave it right here. If you need me, or anything, shout. I'll be right next door and I'll be there for as long as it takes me to have a shower and change. Then we'll have nightcaps in the kitchen. I'll meet you there in half an hour."

Relieved by Visconti's assurances, Kerri turned and entered the bedroom. She saw immediately why Visconti wanted her to discover it. Her sneakers sank into an ocean of lush deep white broadloom as she walked through the sitting area. Two white velvet covered reclining arm chairs flanked a massive entertainment center, complete with built-in television, state of the art sound system and well stocked bar.

Kerri continued to the bedroom. First to catch her eye was a king-sized bed, covered with a pale green silk spread and perched on a white marble pedestal. She mounted the pedestal and flopped backward onto the bed. After relaxing on the bed for several seconds, she rolled off and continued her discovery. She entered the en suite bathroom, with a floor area exceeding that of her entire apartment at Dennis's house. Excited, she removed her sneakers and stepped into the sunken Jacuzzi, large enough for four people, its rim stacked with large white fluffy towels, its fixtures glittering with gold-plating. Steps from the Jacuzzi was a large shower stall, surrounded by frosted bevel-cut glass. Adjacent to the shower stall was a solid clear cedar door leading to a large sauna.