In the Name of Love
Read In the Name of Love Online
Authors: Katie Price
Tags: #Fiction, #General, #Romance, #Contemporary
Contents
About the Book
On a sun drenched beach in Barbados, feisty sports presenter Charlie meets the irresistibly gorgeous Felipe Castillo. Instantly attracted to each other, they have a passionate affair, until he walks out with no explanation. It is only then that she discovers that Felipe is related to the Spanish royal family, is a brilliant rider and the lynchpin of the Spanish Eventing team.
Back in London, Charlie puts her heartbreak behind her by going out on the town. Until Felipe returns and turns her life upside down again. Soon they are the golden couple of sport, followed by the press wherever they go.
But not everyone is happy to see the two together: his disapproving mother for one, and the anonymous person that is waging a hate campaign against Charlie at work. And as the pressure on the couple mounts, a dark shadow from Charlie’s past comes back to haunt her.
Will Charlie be able to overcome her past in the name of love?
About the Author
Katie Price is one of the UK’s top celebrities. She was formerly the glamour model Jordan and is now a bestselling author, successful businesswoman and star of her own reality TV show. Katie is a patron of Vision Charity and currently lives in Sussex with her three children.
Also by Katie Price
Fiction
Angel
Angel Uncovered
Paradise
Crystal
Sapphire
The Comeback Girl
Santa Baby
Non-Fiction
Being Jordan
Jordan: A Whole New World
Jordan: Pushed to the Limit
Standing Out
You Only Live Once
Prologue
Then
IT WAS ONE
of those days that Charlie adored, where summer felt as if it was finally here and the air was like a warm caress on her bare arms. After a week of twelve-hour days working flat out as a TV researcher, it felt like such a treat to be riding in the countryside. She and Ace, her beloved black horse, were just finishing a two-hour ride and on the homeward stretch back to the stables. Charlie had burst into song on the narrow country lane and was singing ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ at the top of her voice. She loved soul and always had a good old sing when she was out on her own. But by the way Ace was twitching his ears, it wasn’t clear if he loved it as much as she did. Charlie laughed. Loosening her hold on the reins, she leant forward to pat his neck. ‘Sorry, boy, I’ll shut up now.’
Suddenly a souped-up black Golf roared by, music pumping out from its massive speakers and blue lights under the chassis flashing in time to the beat. The
passenger
was holding a white scarf out of the window and it was fluttering wildly in the breeze. Afterwards Charlie thought it must have been that which spooked Ace, who was usually calm in traffic. He reared up in terror, causing the reins to slip out of her hands, and bolted along the road with her clinging on to his mane for dear life. He was desperate to get back to the stables, to safety.
It all happened so quickly. Ace was galloping round the bend, just before the stables, so tantalisingly close to home. He was going as fast as he could. The driver of the oncoming 4x4 didn’t even have a chance to brake. There was a terrifying impact, a confusion of noise, screams and shattered glass. Charlie was thrown from the saddle and ended up on the grass verge. She briefly blacked out.
It was the appalling, heart-rending noise that brought her round, the sound of Ace screaming in pain. He was writhing on the ground, blood pouring from his shattered front legs and the deep wound in his chest. The shocked middle-aged driver was standing next to his car, calling an ambulance. Later Charlie would discover that she had broken her collarbone and wrist and had severe concussion, but somehow she managed to drag herself over to her critically wounded horse. She cradled his noble head in her arms, oblivious to the blood seeping over her. ‘I’m sorry, boy, I’m sorry,’ she kept repeating, until mercifully he died.
Charlie was in hospital a day and a night. The physical wounds didn’t take long to heal. But after the accident she suffered panic attacks and flashbacks,
recurrent
nightmares of seeing Ace dying in agony and being powerless to help. She never rode again and couldn’t even talk about riding.
Sometimes it felt as if something in her had died along with Ace on that country lane …
Chapter 1
CHARLIE CONSIDERED THE
piles of holiday clothes and accessories scattered across her bed – bikinis, dresses, shorts, skirts, tee-shirts, underwear, sun cream, hat, make-up, flip-flops, sandals, gym kit, toiletries, and books. That was everything, wasn’t it? And frankly if it wasn’t she could always borrow something from her clothes-obsessed friend Zoe, who would no doubt have taken enough outfits to last a month. Charlie had been so busy at work that she had left packing until the last minute.
She checked the time. An hour should be more than long enough to get to Heathrow as she only lived fifteen miles away in Chiswick, West London. But suddenly she realised that something crucial was missing from her packing – her passport! ‘Shit!’ she exclaimed, rushing around her flat, frantically trying to remember where the hell she had left it. She wasted over half an hour until she located it in her handbag where she had put it for safekeeping. Now she was cutting it fine.
*
‘Going anywhere nice, love?’ the taxi driver asked as he turned out of her road.
‘I am actually, I’m going to Barbados!’ Charlie grinned in spite of her rising anxiety about getting to the airport on time.
‘All right for some!’ the cabbie joked, switching on the wipers as icy rain splattered against the windscreen.
In spite of the heat blasting out in the taxi Charlie shivered and turned up the collar of her fake-fur leopard-print coat. It was mid-January and bitterly cold. The UK was in the grip of a big freeze, which felt as if it was never going to lift. The trip to Barbados – to the exclusive five-star Sandy Lane resort – had come at the perfect moment. What a way to beat the January blues!
Charlie offered a silent thank you to Zoe’s Premiership footballer boyfriend, Nathan, who had committed the ultimate sin of forgetting her birthday, and to make up for it – one of many making-up gifts, in fact – had paid for Zoe to go away on a luxury holiday with a girlfriend. Charlie, who always liked to pay her way, had offered to pay for half but Nathan just looked at her and said, ‘Charlie, I earn a hundred grand a week. Relax. Make me one of your wicked curries when you get back and we’ll call it quits.’
She gave up trying to argue. A Thai chicken curry for a five-star holiday had to be the best bargain ever.
‘Plus you can go out for dinner with Kyle.’
Now this was a deal-breaker. Kyle was one of Nathan’s team-mates. There was no way she was going on a date with him. She had a strict no-footballer policy ever since a disastrous five-month relationship with Aaron,
a
player from West Ham, to be known ever more as Total Fucking Bastard or TFB. ‘I don’t go out with footballers. Ever. Again. Remember?’
‘Shit! Sorry, Charlie, I forgot,’ Nathan had said quickly. ‘The curry it is then.’
‘I’ve seen you on the TV, haven’t I? You’re really good.’ The cabbie interrupted her thoughts. She was sure he had been about to say ‘for a woman’.
Since landing her dream job as a sports news presenter a year ago on the digital channel Total Sport this often happened to Charlie. On the one hand it was thrilling to be recognised for doing a job that she absolutely loved, and on the other it could be the cue for someone to bore on about sport – usually football – in the belief that they too were an expert with unique insights. The cabbie was one of them. He launched into a ten-minute rant about the state of the Premiership, FA and the England squad. Charlie started off by smiling politely and putting in the odd ‘Yes I know’, but then felt herself glazing over and becoming aware of how slowly they were moving. The traffic was horrendous. At this rate she would miss the flight and lose the chance of the first proper holiday she’d had in over three years. Why hadn’t she packed the night before instead of rushing to get everything done at the last minute? She was an idiot. She could just imagine Zoe waiting for her in departures, wanting to kill her. And in a minute she would kill the taxi driver who was jabbering on at her about where he thought Chelsea were going wrong. He hadn’t drawn breath since he began his rant. She couldn’t bring herself to check the time.
*
But then, hallelujah! He finally stopped talking and turned off the motorway and headed towards the drop-off point at Heathrow’s Terminal 3. Charlie leapt out of the taxi as soon as he pulled up, practically dancing on the spot in frustration while he lifted her suitcase out of the boot in what seemed like slow motion. ‘Thanks so much!’ she exclaimed as she thrust the money into his hand, grabbed her suitcase and legged it.
The check in area was packed and Charlie scanned the vast hall with a rising feeling of panic. Had Zoe given up waiting and gone through without her? She wouldn’t blame her friend if she had. Then a flash of brilliant red caught her eye and she saw Zoe surrounded by three scarlet Louis Vuitton monogrammed suitcases, dressed in a floor-length white coat, a white fake-fur Cossack hat and an enormous pair of dark glasses. She looked wildly glamorous. Instantly Charlie ran towards her, pulling her suitcase behind her, aware that one of the wheels was making an annoying squeak. Great, Zoe had designer luggage while Charlie’s suitcase sounded like a distressed hamster! She knew she should have bought a new one in the sales …
‘Zoe! I’m so sorry I’m late,’ she panted as she came to a halt.
Her friend seemed serene. ‘Not a problem, I’ve already checked us in online, but we are missing valuable champagne-drinking time in the Business Class lounge, so can you shift your arse?’ She raised her dark glasses as she took in Charlie’s battered blue suitcase. ‘Is that really all the luggage you’ve got?’
‘You know me, I like to travel light. Anyway, I can borrow anything I need from you, can’t I? You’ll have packed way more than you need.’