Zoya

She glanced over her shoulder as though she'd been followed-and whispered conspiratorially, “Just don't tell Daddy. Once we get there, he'll never know the difference.” The brochures she held out to her grandmother were not of Paris, but of Russia. The spires of the Winter Palace looked at her boldly from the pictures. The Catherine Palace … the Alexander … the Antichkov … as Zoya's eyes met hers in silent wonder. “Grandma, let's go to Russia!” She had been promising it to herself for years, and maybe now, with little Zoe, she was ready.

“I don't know. Your father might not want you to …” And then, as she thought of it, she smiled. She had left with her grandmother more than half a century before, and now she could go back with her own grandchild. “You know,” she beamed, as she slipped an arm around the child's shoulders. “I quite like it.” She stepped onto the escalator with her, glancing at the brochures, thinking of their plans, her mind racing.

They reached the main floor, and she looked up, startled to see hordes of her employees, standing there, many of them crying openly. She shook their hands, smiled, kissed one or two, and then suddenly, it was over, she and the child were on Fifth Avenue, as she waved the driver away. She didn't want to drive anywhere. They were going for a long walk, as Zoe rattled on excitedly about the trip.

“And then … we could go to Moscow! …” Her eyes danced, just as Zoya's did as she listened.

“No. Moscow was always very boring. St. Petersburg … and perhaps … you know … when I was a child, in the summers we went to the palace in Livadia … in the Crimea. …” They walked down the street hand in hand, as Nicholas's limousine drew up slowly. He couldn't bear the thought of her leaving the store alone, and he had come to take her home, and then suddenly he saw them … the straight back in the Chanel suit, and his own daughter, her dark hair flying as she talked animatedly about something. The old and the new. The past and the future, going home hand in hand. He decided to leave them alone, as he walked slowly into the store to see Matthew.

“Do you suppose we could get there, Grandma? … to Livadia, I mean …” Her eyes were filled with love as she looked up at her, and Zoya smiled.

“We'll certainly try, darling, won't we?”

a cognizant original v5 release october 27 2010

Published by

Dell Publishing

a division of

Random House, Inc.

Copyright © 1988 by Danielle Steel

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. For information address: Delacorte Press, New York, New York.

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eISBN: 978-0-307-56706-2

v3.0

Table of Contents

ZOYA by DANIELLE STEEL

St. Petersburg

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

Paris

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 24

CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 26

CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 28

New York

CHAPTER 29

CHAPTER 30

CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER 32

CHAPTER 33

CHAPTER 34

CHAPTER 35

CHAPTER 36

CHAPTER 37

CHAPTER 38

CHAPTER 39

CHAPTER 40

CHAPTER 41

CHAPTER 42

CHAPTER 43

CHAPTER 44

CHAPTER 45

CHAPTER 46

CHAPTER 47

CHAPTER 48

CHAPTER 49

CHAPTER 50

CHAPTER 51

CHAPTER 52