Nora Roberts - Private Scandals  

PRIVATE SCANDALS

by

NORA ROBERTS

All rights reserved.

Copyright 1993 by Nora Roberts. Excerpt from Hidden Riches copyright 1994 by Nora Roberts.

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

Copyright 1993 by Nora Roberts

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Roberts, Nora.

PRIVATE SCANDALS / Nora Roberts.

p. cm.

ISBN: 978-1101-14607-1

BOOK JACKET INFORMATION

JOVE

NOVEL

"Her stories have fueled the dreams of TWENTY-FIVE MILLION READERS."

--Entertainment Weekly

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR

NORA ROBERTS

"MOVE OVER, SIDNEY SHELDON: THE WORLD HAS A NEW MASTER OF ROMANTIC SUSPENSE, AND HER

NAME IS NORA ROBERTS."

--Rex Reed

A captivating novel set in the world of television talk shows, Private Scandals reveals the ambitious dreams of a

savvy young woman, and the dark obsessions that threaten all she's worked for ...

Deanna Reynolds had it all planned: She'd start out in the newsroom of a small Chicago station, then move up to

one day host her own talk show. When her mentor Angela Perkins leaves for the big time in New York, Deanna risks

everything for the chance to replace Angela on the air. Finn Riley, the network's sexiest journalist, falls for the risk

taker in the small town girl. But soon they are caught up in the bitter backlash of Angela's revenge ... Together Finn

and Deanna must unmask the hidden betrayals of Deanna's fiercest rival by taking the biggest risk of all ...

"FAST-PACED ... THE SPARKS FLY!" --USA Today

"A FUN READ!"

--Publishers Weekly

A Choice of the Literary Guild (R) and Doubleday Book Club

PRIVATE SCANDALS

The sensational new novel by NORA ROBERTS ... Filled with the memorable characters and breathless suspense

that have made her a NATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR

"NORA ROBERTS'S GIFT ... IS HER ABILITY TO PULL THE READER INTO THE LIVES OF HER CHARACTERS-

WE live, love, anguish and triumph with them. And so it is in this compelling story ... As always, a masterful handling

of the right elements makes [this] book top-notch: vibrant characters, passion, high drama, intrigue ... and a sharing of

emotions with which we can all identify. FIRST-RATE READING."

--Rendezvous

"THE INCOMPARABLE NORA ROBERTS ONCE AGAIN DELIVERS ... TENSE, COMPELLING AND RIVETING."

--Romantic Times

"NORA ROBERTS'S PRIVATE SCANDALS IS RIGHT ON TARGET. She turns the world of television inside-out,

and then outside-in, all the while creating a plot of nail-biting suspense. Oprah, Phil and Sally will need a few days to

recover after this!"

--REX REED

Also by Nora Roberts

Hot Ice

Sacred Sins

Brazen Virtue

Sweet Revenge

Public Secrets

Genuine Lies

Carnal Innocence

Honest Illusions

To Pop

PRIVATE SCANDALS

PART ONE

""The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things.""

Lewis Carroll

Chicago, 1994

It was a moonless midnight in Chicago, but to Deanna, the moment had all the makings of High Noon. It was easy to

see herself in the quietly dignified, stalwart Gary Cooper role, preparing to face down the canny, vengeance-seeking

gunslinger.

But damn it, Deanna thought, Chicago was her town. Angela was the outsider.

It suited Angela's sense of the dramatic, Deanna supposed, to demand a showdown in the very studio where they

both had climbed ambition's slippery ladder. But it was Deanna's studio now, and it was her show that garnered the

lion's share of the ratings points. There was nothing Angela could do to change that, short of conjuring up Elvis from

the grave and asking him to sing "Heartbreak Hotel" to the studio audience.

A ghost of a smile flitted around Deanna's lips at the image, but there wasn't much humor in it. Angela was nothing if

not a worthy opponent. Over the years she had used gruesome tactics to keep her daily talk show on top.

But whatever Angela had up her sleeve this time wasn't going to work. She had underestimated Deanna Reynolds.

Angela could whisper secrets and threaten scandal all she wanted, but nothing she could say would change Deanna's

plans.

She would, however, hear Angela out. Deanna thought she would even attempt, one last time, to compromise. To

offer, if not friendship, at least a cautious truce. There was little hope the breach could be spanned after all this time

and all the hostility, but hope, to Deanna's mind, sprang eternal.

At least until it dried up.

Focusing on the matter at hand, Deanna pulled into the CBC Building's parking lot. During the day, the lot would be

crammed with cars-- technicians, editors, producers, talent, secretaries, interns. Deanna would be dropped

off and picked up by her driver, avoiding the hassle. Inside the great white building, people would be rushing to put

out the news--at seven A.m., noon and five and ten P.m.--and Let's

Cook! with Bobby Marks, the weekly In

Depth with Finn Riley, and the top-rated talk show in the country, Deanna's Hour.

But now, just after midnight, the lot was nearly empty. There were half a dozen cars belonging to the skeleton crew

who were loitering in the newsroom, waiting for something to happen somewhere in the world. Probably hoping any

new wars would wait to erupt until the lonely night shift ended.

Wishing she were somewhere else, anywhere else, Deanna pulled into an empty space and shut off the engine. For

a moment she simply sat, listening to the night, the swish of cars on the street to the left, the rumble of the huge air

conditioning system that kept the building and the expensive equipment cool. She had to get a handle on her mixed

emotions and her nerves before she faced Angela.

Nerves were second nature in the profession she'd chosen. She would work with them, or through them. Her temper

was something she could and would control, particularly if losing it would accomplish nothing. But those emotions, the

ones that ran so strong and so contradictory, were another matter. Even after all this time, it was difficult to forget that

the woman she was about to face was one she had once admired and respected. And trusted.

From bitter experience Deanna knew that Angela was an expert in emotional manipulation. Deanna's problem--and

many said her talent--was an inability to hide her feelings. They were there, up front, shouting to anyone who cared to

listen. Whatever she felt was mirrored in her gray eyes, broadcast in the tilt of her head or the expression of her

mouth. Some said that's what made her irresistible, and dangerous. With a flick of her wrist, she turned the rearview

mirror toward her. Yes, she mused, she could see the sparks of temper in her own eyes, and the simmering

resentment, the dragging regret. After all, she and Angela had been friends once. Or almost friends.

But she could also see the pleasure of anticipation. That was a matter of pride. This bout had been a long time

coming.

Smiling a little, Deanna took out a tube of

lipstick and carefully painted her mouth. You didn't go one-on-one with your arch rival without the most basic of

shields. Pleased that her hand was rock steady, she dropped the lipstick back in her purse, climbed out of the car.

She stood a moment, breathing in the balmy night while she asked herself one question.