Betrayal: A Novel

Betrayal: A Novel

In this riveting novel, Danielle Steel reveals the dark side of fame and fortune, when a renowned film director confronts an act of unimaginable treachery.   BETRAYAL   At thirty-nine, director Tallie Jones is a Hollywood legend, whose award-winning films enjoy both critical and commercial success. With no interest in the glitz of Los Angeles, Tallie centers her life on her work and her devoted inner circle: her family, her producing partner and live-in lover, and her longtime personal assistant and best friend.   As Tallie is in the midst of her most ambitious film yet, small disturbances begin to ripple through her world. An audit reveals troubling discrepancies in the records maintained by Tallie’s trusted accountant. Mysterious receipts hint at activities of which she has no knowledge. Soon it becomes clear that someone close to Tallie has been steadily funneling away enormous amounts of her money. After an escalating series of shattering revelations, Tallie must face the harsh truth behind her seemingly perfect life:  that sometimes trust can be the greatest illusion of all. Includes an excerpt of Danielle Steel’s Until the End of Time Praise for Danielle Steel “Steel is one of the best!” — Los Angeles Times “Few modern writers convey the pathos of family and material life with such heartfelt empathy.” — The Philadelphia Inquirer “Steel pulls out all the emotional stops. . . . She delivers!” — Publishers Weekly “What counts for the reader is the ring of authenticity.” — San Francisco Chronicle Danielle Steel  has been hailed as one of the world’s most popular authors, with over 650 million copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include  Country, Prodigal Son, Pegasus,   A Perfect Life, Power Play, Winners, First Sight, Until the End of Time, The Sins of the Mother,  and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of  His Bright Light,  the story of her son Nick Traina’s life and death;  A Gift of Hope,  a memoir of her work with the homeless;  Pure Joy,  about the dogs she and her family have loved; and the children’s book  Pretty Minnie in Paris. Chapter 1 The two men who lay parched in the blistering sun of the desert were so still they barely seemed alive. There had been shattering explosions in the distance earlier, and one of them was covered with blood. Although they had been enemies, one of them now held the other's hand, as the lifeblood trickled from him. They looked at each other one last time, and then the injured man gave his last breath and died, just as there was the cracking sound of a gunshot nearby. The survivor of the pair looked wide-eyed and terrified as the man who had fired the gun appeared from behind them, seemingly out of nowhere, as though he had dropped from the sky like an avenging angel. "Cut! . . . and print!" a voice rang out in the stillness, and within seconds, everything was action, a flock of men with cameras and equipment entered the scene, the dead man stood up as the blood ran down his neck, and a production assistant rushed up to him with a cold drink and he guzzled it gratefully. The man who had been holding his hand an instant before walked off the set to get something to eat as soon as he was told that they were finished shooting for the day. Two dozen people were talking, shouting, and laughing, and a tall, thin blond woman in ragged cut-off denim shorts, high-top sneakers, and a torn man's undershirt conferred with the camera crew with an enormous grin on her face. Despite her fair coloring, she had a deep honey tan from being outdoors, and a mass of long, uncombed blond hair piled up on her head. A moment later, she braided it into a disheveled pigtail, and helped herself to a bottle of icy water as someone passed them out. There was an enormous catering truck nearby, and a still photographer shot the actors as they left the set. Four of Hollywood's biggest stars were in the film, which was always the case on her pictures. "It's going to be the best scene in the movie," the blond woman assured the head cameraman, as people came and went around them and checked with her, and the sound technician confirmed that he was happy with the scene too. Everything had gone smoothly. The Sand Man was going to be her best movie yet. They were making her new film, sure to be an instant hit, like all the others Tallie Jones had made. Her films were box-office gold. She had been nominated for two Oscars and six Golden Globes. There were two Golden Globes on her desk, but no Oscars so far. And her pictures were an enormous success because she included both the kind of intense action men wanted in a film, just enough violence to suit their bloodlust without exploiting it excessively, and the sensitivity and emotional insights that made her films appealing to women. She offered the best of both worlds. Tallie had a Midas touch. At thirty-nine, she had been directing movies for seventeen years, and she hadn't made a lemon