‘Thanks,’ she said, offering him a kiss in return.
Xane nodded, glad she wasn’t still brooding over the incident on the train. ‘It’s this way.’ He led her down to where the road ran into the sea. ‘That’s it, Liddell Island.’ He pointed to where a rocky mass stuck up out of the ocean like a ridge of ragged teeth. It was connected to the mainland by a raised causeway.
‘It says here it’s closed,’ Dani remarked, pointing to a sign attached to a series of bollards designed to block vehicle access onto the ramp.
Xane read the notice and shook his head. ‘This isn’t directed at us.’ He phoned Ric again and let it ring for ever, but still failed to get through. ‘There’s obviously something going on. Ric’s reclusive, but he doesn’t normally shut up completely. The island’s always been open to tourists.’
‘Then maybe he heard you were coming.’
Xane shook his head, failing to see the funny side.
While Dani was gazing longingly at the lights in the distance, Xane contemplated their genuine options. Any B&B or hotel they tried to check in to would be on the phone to the local newspaper within minutes. They could camp on the beach overnight, but it wouldn’t be very comfortable, and he didn’t trust the British weather. Or they could head over to the island and hammer on Ric’s door until he finally bothered to reply. He’d be in; it wasn’t like he ever went on holiday.
Relief lifted Xane’s mood when his phone finally rang. ‘Ric, about bloody time. I’ve been trying to get you all day. What’s with the signage?’
‘You’re late. Just ignore it. Come on across.’
‘Is someone coming?’ Dani asked hopefully. She stifled a yawn.
‘Ric’s going to meet us at the other end. We’ll have to walk across.’ At least the bollards were easy enough to slip around, and Ric had sounded as if he’d expected them, so they could reasonably hope for a bed at the other end.
The causeway made for a fairly long and precarious hike. While the ramp currently sat above sea level, the waves still crashed against its sides, occasionally spraying them with icy water and making Dani yelp.
The ends of Xane’s hair were dripping by the time they had crossed halfway, and his jeans were chafing his legs. Yet, despite his discomfort, he slowed his pace to a wary stroll as they tramped nearer the island’s shoreline. Generally, Liddell Island could be relied upon to be deserted at night. It was never exactly overrun even during the day, since it was hardly picturesque, didn’t house a heritage site and lacked decent amenities. Mostly families came to hunt amongst the rock pools and eat ice cream. The fact that he could hear music and count more than twelve cars in the car park definitely set off warning bells in his head.
Ric greeted them at the juncture between land and sea. ‘Hey.’ Ric thumped Xane on the back as they exchanged hugs. ‘I thought you’d bailed on me what with all the crap going down. Glad you could make it after all.’
‘Yeah.’ Xane frowned, realising they’d just walked into something that looked distinctly like a party. Twinkling gold-coloured faerie lights were strewn around in clusters, and panels of decorative trellising had been erected in the area in front of what had been the gift shop to form sheltered grottos in which to enjoy outdoor dining. There had to be twenty tables, and all of them were occupied.
He stepped back and absorbed Ric’s appearance too. Ric may have opted for life as a hermit rather than someone on the stage, but he typically still dressed like a rocker. Tonight he wore a tailored suit and had his shoulder-length blond hair tied in a ponytail.
For a moment, Xane genuinely considered making a hundred and eighty degree turn and heading back to the mainland. They’d absolutely come at the wrong time.
‘The Bunker’s undergone a facelift.’ Ric nodded towards the new sign that read B
LACKWATER’S,
hanging over the entrance to the old munitions store. ‘Zach will be pleased you came, rock-star endorsement and all that, though obviously we were hoping for the whole band.’
‘Band’s no more.’
Ric smiled showing his teeth. ‘We can talk about that later. Meanwhile, maybe you’ll introduce your date.’
‘Yes. This is Dani. Dani, this is Alaric, the guy who doesn’t answer his phone.’
‘
Enchanté
.’ Ric leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. ‘I didn’t know we were being formal, Alexander.’ He drove his knuckles against Xane’s shoulder.
‘You’re the one wearing a bowtie.’
Ric tugged at his neckwear, as if the reminder had somehow caused it to tighten. He wrinkled his nose. ‘Not through choice. Apparently I have to look respectable whether I actually am or not. Between you and me, I can’t wait to take the damn thing off.’
‘Ric.’ A striking blonde woman hurried towards them. She offered them both wide smiles before looping her arm around Ric’s. ‘You’re needed in the kitchen. Zach’s having a meltdown. I think he might have a stroke. He’s muttering something about the beans not tasting right.’
‘I was seeing to our new arrivals.’
‘I can do that.’ She shooed him away, batting at his legs.
‘Ah,’ she said, taking in their bedraggled appearance. ‘I guess you need somewhere to change.’
‘Nope, we’ll cope,’ Xane said.
She scowled, actually scowled at him, which made an interesting change from the doe-eyed greetings he usually received. ‘There’s a dress code. It was on the invitation.’
‘Must have missed it.’ What invitation? he mouthed at Ric, who was still lurking and hadn’t gone to the kitchen yet.
Ric put a hand on his shoulder and tugged him back a pace or three, out of earshot of the women. ‘The one I sent you. You didn’t actually come for the opening, did you?’ He sighed. ‘Look, do as Kara says, it’ll draw less attention. And I should warn you that Maude and Arthur are here.’
‘Ah, bollocks!’ Xane sucked his teeth hard. Evidently his dead-cert safe haven was crawling with parasites. ‘I need to go off radar, Ric. I thought it’d be quiet here. It normally is.’
‘Another hour and it will be. Look, go straight up to the fort if you like.’ Ric fished in his pocket and handed Xane some keys. ‘The dogs should recognise you. Best go in the back way through the kitchen.’ He scrubbed his hand across his jaw, and then raised it up into his hairline to tug at his hair. ‘I need to go and help Zach to relax. We’ll catch up in a bit, and you can update me on the crap, although I reckon I can guess most of it. Same old, same old, right?’
‘Hm,’ Xane sighed in a non-committal fashion. ‘Thanks for the keys.’ He pocketed them and turned to collect Dani. Slipping away to the fort instead of joining the party sounded like a damn fine plan. Unfortunately, he discovered Dani had already been guided towards a table by the woman who’d come to fetch Ric.
Xane lolloped after them. He caught up as Dani settled into a chair. It was under a large parasol strung with lights and fitted with a heater. He watched her face light with glee, before she unzipped his jacket and handed it over to the other woman. Xane took it from her and immediately pushed his arms through the sleeves.
‘Dress code.’ Kara gave a sharp tut.
Fuck that!
‘Rock-star dispensation?’ Xane summoned his most charming smile and looked at her through his eyelashes in the way that normally made a thousand girls cream their panties.
‘You already claimed that by turning up late.’
‘I didn’t bring a change of clothes.’
Unrelenting, Kara handed him Dani’s overnight bag and pointed him in the direction of the fort.
‘Come with me,’ he insisted to Dani. He had no intention of getting changed or of coming back down to the beach until everyone had gone.
‘Must I? Can’t I wait here? My feet are killing me, and the food smells delish.’
On cue Xane’s stomach grumbled, reminding him he hadn’t eaten anything since lunch in Monaco about a million hours ago, unless you counted the unsatisfactory biscuits served on both flights.
‘You can borrow something from Ric, can’t you? You’ll be much quicker on your own.’
‘I thought you were tired and wanted to get to bed.’ Goddammit, he didn’t want to have to drag her off, which would cause a scene.
‘Yes, but I’m hungry too, and there’s all this lovely food on offer. Let’s stay and eat, please. It’ll be all right, Xane. No one here is paying us any attention.’
He wished he believed that.
‘OK.’ They’d draw less attention if they avoided making a fuss. ‘Don’t move from that chair,’ he insisted. ‘I’ll be as quick as I can. And don’t talk to anyone.’
Dani munched on a rocket leaf and wondered if she ought to have gone with Xane after all. He’d seemed pretty jumpy. But she was tired and cold, and the trek to the fort appeared to be entirely uphill. Also, what harm could really befall her at a private function in a restaurant on an island in the middle of the English Channel? Everyone was busy eating. She doubted most of the diners had even noticed their arrival.
Kara had seated her at a table at the rear of the restaurant near the cliff-face, within a pretty grotto full of flowers and twinkling light, and set slightly apart from the majority of the tables to offer more privacy. So she jumped in surprise when someone approached her.
‘Art Bletchley,’ the man introduced himself. He bent low over her hand, which she had stuck out automatically in response to his own gesture. ‘Of Bletchley Holdings. Alexander’s brother.’
‘Daniella Fosbrook,’ she replied hesitantly.
He had strawberry-blond hair, prematurely thinning at the temples, and a hawk-like patrician’s nose. He looked nothing like Xane, except maybe vaguely around the eyes.
‘This is my sister, Maude.’ A bottle-redhead slipped into the chair beside Dani’s. She was stick-thin, dressed in the latest Parisian fashions and held herself as stiffly as a nineteenth-century duchess.
She put her purse down in the middle of the table.
‘It’s lovely to meet you, darling.’ She leaned in and kissed Dani on both cheeks, before grasping her hands as though they were bosom buddies in a Jane Austen novel. ‘We’ve been reading such a lot about you. What an interesting family you have.’
‘Maude,’ Art chastened, grinning so that he showed off his extremely white and even teeth. ‘We don’t want her to think we’ve been snooping. You must forgive us, Miss Fosbrook. We like to keep abreast of our baby brother’s doings, and the media is unfortunately the primary means of achieving that. Alex never does call or write to tell us how he’s faring, so we’re left to surmise, and, naturally, we’re concerned at the moment. First this awful bust-up with his band, and then the scrape at the casino this morning. It’s all rather worrying. You must be shaken by it yourself.’
‘You must tell us how he is,’ Maude insisted. She smiled nastily.
‘Fine.’ Dani edged back in her seat, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. She tried to draw her hand from Maude’s, but the older woman curled her fingernails against the insides of Dani’s wrists.
‘Maude.’ Art tapped his sister on the shoulder and she released her grip on Dani.
‘Sorry. It’s simply the stress of it. If he’s going through another rocky patch, then …’ She turned her face to her brother, who stroked her hair. ‘I don’t want to see him in the clinic again, it reflects badly on all of us.’
‘I’m sure this is merely a minor hiccup. That’s right isn’t it, Miss Fosbrook?’
‘Clinic?’ Dani queried. She’d never heard any rumours about Xane being specifically involved in drugs or alcohol abuse. Yes, he worked hard and played hard, but that was expected in his line of work. ‘As I just said, he’s fine.’ Well, if you discounted the fact that he was dealing with a black eye, an assortment of bruises and the wreckage of several friendships.
‘You’re sure?’ Maude asked. She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. ‘Because we all know the Liddell line is a bit unstable, and that Elspeth was the only thing keeping him together. I was devastated … devastated to hear about their split. She was always so good for him. I suppose he’ll revert to being a complete beast again now.’
Feeling thoroughly vexed, Dani folded her arms. ‘She two-timed him and then married his best mate. I don’t see how that is being very good for him. If he’s upset at the moment, then it’s because of her.’
‘Ooh, darling, don’t get so defensive. I’m sure you’re good for him too.’ The look she gave Dani suggested she thought anything but. ‘And besides, we all know what he’s like. I expect he’s been very demanding, insisting you do all that stuff in public.’
‘What?’
‘Well, I don’t like to mention it, but you know you’re not the first girl he’s shagged for the camera. He used to always do things like that. It’s why he had to have therapy. Sex addiction – nasty business. Arthur helped to keep it quiet and out of the press.’
She had to wonder: if Art was so influential, why he wasn’t doing more to help out at the moment?
‘Maude,’ Art interjected. ‘I’m sure Miss Fosbrook is perfectly well acquainted with our brother’s history.’
‘Of course.’ Maude stood. ‘I certainly never meant to imply otherwise. I say, is that the dessert they’re bringing out, do you think? Well, it’s been lovely meeting you.’ She leaned in and gave Dani two horrid air kisses.
Rather disturbingly, Art kissed her on the lips. He tasted of liquor and cigars.
‘To whenever we meet next. If we meet again.’
She sincerely hoped not: Xane was right, these two were foul.
‘Everything fine?’ Kara asked, returning to Dani’s table with the next dish. She looked harried. ‘Isn’t Xane back yet? He’s going to miss the food altogether if he doesn’t hurry up.’
‘I’m here.’ Xane slipped into the seat Maude had recently vacated. ‘It looks delicious,’ he told Kara, before turning to Dani. ‘Has everything been all right?’
‘Fine. I didn’t move.’
She realised Kara had stopped hurtling about in order to stare at Xane.
‘Whoa! You look better in that than Ric does. Maybe it’s the black eye – that’s definitely adding something.’
Of course, Xane was always perfect in Dani’s eyes, but there was something about seeing him in a smart shirt that heated the region between her thighs in a particularly powerful way. The fact that he’d added a waistcoat, which cinched in his waist and defined the absolute beauty of his shape, was simply the icing on the cake.