Caine exhaled loudly. Rannia could be so melodramatic sometimes. It only happened on rare occasions, like when she was pregnant, but he wasn’t about to ask her such an inappropriate question so he chose another strategy.
“Do you need a raise?”
“You gave me a raise three months ago.”
“Right, then what do you want?”
“Sheyla told me you should read the Sydney Today, but you should not do anything until she comes here in half an hour.”
He skimmed through several papers until he found the one he was looking for. There, on the first page, he found a very unflattering headline that made him want to break something. Fucking Milliburne! How the hell was he able to obtain a picture from the club?
The headline said:
Have the playboy and the actress rekindled their love?
And of course, the subtitle couldn’t be any less scandalous, continuing with an article full of lies about the gossip of the previous year.
Valliard and Fedorova lovers again!
Signed by Francesco Milliburne.
The main picture was taken the moment Rubinnia had put her hand over Caine’s during their dinner at the Coral Reef Club. He remembered perfectly well that in that moment she had told him she only used her married name for personal effects but not in public. He never looked at their surroundings. Had that idiot journalist followed him?
He felt a chill running down his back. Ashley. Oh, God, no. She was at the house with all those newspapers at hand; she always read them after he went to work and before going to her real estate office. Now that she was on vacations, she had surely had more than enough time to read the damn paper from A to Z.
He stood up, ready to break Milliburne’s face. But first, he needed to call Ashley and he tried several times but there was no answer. Damn it!
“I’m sorry for not coming or calling before, I wanted to intervene before the issue got any bigger,” Sheyla said when she opened the door of Caine’s office just as he was about to go out. “Jean-Michelle has called to tell me he’s thinking of suing Milliburne for defamation.” Caine took a deep breath. He hadn’t even thought about his new business partner. “He told me you shouldn’t worry about anything because he remembers that day perfectly and, even though the photo’s background has been photoshopped, he knows where and when that happened.
He shook his head.
“Somebody must have told him.”
“Jean-Michelle handled everything. It was a waiter that has already been fired. He confessed he was offered one thousand dollars if he found a juicy gossip about you.”
“So…”
“Yes, when he found out Rubinnia and you were sharing a table, he called Milliburne. And well… we don’t know any more details except what matters to us. The guilty person was fired, and Jean-Michelle will sue Milliburne and his tabloid. He’ll also ask them to publish a public apology.”
“And what happened to Bhuran’s king? I guess that he’ll want an explanation sooner rather than later. We work with him after all; family image is very important for him.” He ran his fingers through his hair.
“We called him; he told me he knows how much you love your wife and understands that there are always malicious people.”
That was a huge relief for Caine, but the most important one still had to do with Ashley.
“And she’s exactly the one I’m worried about.”
“I’m sorry, Caine. We can deal with it on a business level but on a personal level…”
“That’s my field. Thank you, Sheyla.” He got out of the office and glanced at Rannia: “Postpone all my meetings. I’m going home right now.”
“I’m sorry, sir.”
“You don’t have to be. Thank you for your interest. I'll see you tomorrow.”
***
Ashley contemplated the picture on the newspaper with anger. How could someone publish something like that without thinking about all the damage it could cause? Misty gave her a look full of sorrow but Ashley didn't have time to give her any explanation. She was going to take matters into her own hands; she couldn't let such a humiliation to keep going.
“Misty, I’m going out.”
“Ma’am, please, don’t go like that. You shouldn’t have read that tabloid; it’s pure sensationalism, you know? Only lies and evil things. Besides, you’re angry and…”
“I'm not angry, I’m furious!” She interrupted and threw the newspaper harshly against the sofa. “I don’t know what time I’ll be back. Tell Caine not to worry.” With that being said, she went up the stairs, changed her clothes and got out of the house with a slam of the door.
***
Caine had to endure Misty’s sideway looks until her work day was over and she went home, although not without mumbling something about idiot men. He merely laughed; what else could he do?
This time he did call the annoying Carry, him wife’s best friend. She gave her a mouth full, but when he explained what had happened, she believed him; something very uncommon because Carry was extremely protective of Ashley.
“So, you’re innocent and that Milliburne guy is going to court?”
“Probably; so, where’s my wife?”
“I’m sorry, Caine. I was just teasing you when I told you I knew. I actually have no idea. She didn’t even call me and that’s very odd in a situation like this.”
“Damn it… thanks, Carry.”
“Take good care of her… bye.”
“I will.” He hung up.
He had searched the house in case any of Ashley’s personal things were missing like suitcases, but no, everything was intact. What if she had abandoned him and left with nothing but her documents? God!
He sat on one of the steps of the main staircase, resting his hands on his knees and lowering his head. The feeling was overwhelming, the silence was oppressive. He could search all the malls on Sydney. In fact, he had already called the airport to check if his wife had booked any flight but nothing. His only consolation was to know she was still in town, but where?
She surely hated him, and for good reason because the picture was clear and Rubinnia’s gesture seemed too intimate, at least for someone who didn’t know how much his friend loved her French-Australian husband.
When it was almost six thirty in the afternoon, the main door was busted open and his wife showed up. Caine stood up quickly and without giving it a second thought, he ran towards her and hugged her.
“Ashley, Ashley… listen to me, honey,” he begged without loosening his hold. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry you saw that picture but it’s not…”
She finally pushed him with all her force.
“Caine, you’re not letting me breathe,” she gasped. He had a tortured look and had to shove his hands in his pockets to not touch her. “What’s wrong?”
“I know you’re angry at me but don’t leave me. Don’t leave like that again. Yell at me, get angry, but don’t leave like that again. I was so scared thinking that something could have happened to you, thinking that you didn’t want to stay with me anymore.”
“Wow… and I thought I was the hormonal one,” she replied astonished.
“What?”
She shook her head.
“Caine, why do you think I’m angry at you or that I would pack up and leave without you?”
“Because of the article written by that stupid journalist.”
“I’m not angry at you, my love,” she explained, cradling his face in between her two small, soft hands. He took his hands out of his pockets and placed them over hers. “I’m angry at that stupid journalist. But there’s nothing to worry about now. I was taking care of it during these past few hours.”
“What?” He frowned, not understanding anything.
She stepped back, took his hand and climbed the stairs with him. Once they got to their room, they entered and she closed the door behind her.
“Sit down, please.” Feeling dumbfounded by Ashley’s strange reaction, he obeyed. “I w
as at the editorial office of the Sydney Today.”
“But…”
“Let me finish. The editor had some skeletons in his closet. His name sounded familiar so I called Doug from the office. It turns out that a year ago he bought a very expensive apartment in the city… and it wasn't for his wife.”
“The editor… really?” He asked with a chuckle.
“So seeing that he has published information that harms me publicly and it harms you professionally, I told him that if he didn’t want his wife to find out what her husband was doing instead of working diligently, he better write down a public apology and fire Milliburne immediately. At least if he wanted to avoid a lawsuit for moral damages.”
Caine couldn’t believe what he was listening.
“So, you didn't think I had cheated on you? Wasn’t that the reason why you were angry?”
“Of course not!” He stood up, walked towards her and took her hands between his. “I told you I trusted you, right, Caine?”
“Yes…”
“Why did you doubt my love?”
“Because I’m a fool… because I got scared.”
“You know?” She asked while hugging Caine’s waist. “We don’t always need a knight to come and rescue us; us women look after ourselves just fine. When someone messes with the man we love, we could be fearless and crafty if we have to.”
He laughed. God, what a woman she was! Relief flowed through his body. It was true; he had doubted Ashley’s love and trust, just like she did to him with the issue about Tim.
In spite of his efforts, Caine hadn’t had any progress finding Tim; the detective agency’s report showed no traces of him. He wouldn’t make Ashley face a dilemma between living her present and return to feeling sad about her past. Sometimes it was better to close certain chapters and start over again, even if it wasn’t easy. Maybe in the future they could resume the investigation. For now, he would leave it all to fate and fill Ashley with love so they could heal her wounds together.
“You’re one of a kind.”
“And I have a surprise for you that will be arriving in nine months.”
He stepped back and gazed at her with his mouth wide open.
“Ash?”
A big smile stretched across her face from ear to ear.
“I’m two weeks pregnant, Caine. We’re going to be parents!”
“Ashley!” He took her in his arms, picked her up and spun her around the room. “You don't know how happy you make me. Thank you, my love. But, weren’t you…?” He placed her softly on the ground.
“I stopped taking the pill several weeks ago. I wanted to surprise you.” She gave him a long, sweet kiss. “I just couldn’t let that idiot journalist ruin my happiness and the possibility of giving you the news before putting him in his place.”
“We have to celebrate!” He said, giving her a look full of love and desire.
She gave him a playful look.
“Well, I have a chair that…”
EPILOGUE
One year later.
Francesco Milliburne’s public apology was published the day after Ashley threatened the editor of the Sydney Today. The journalist didn’t work for that paper anymore and was declared guilty for the charges of defamation that Jean-Michelle Arnaud pressed against him. He had to pay a very high fee as a compensation for moral damages and no one wanted to hire him. After all, who would mess with two financial magnates when there was a ton of journalists waiting to create fake stories for tabloids? So now Milliburne only wrote tourism articles for a very unpopular magazine.
The Valliards became the parents of a precious little boy: Matthias. Caine was crazy about him and Ashley absolutely adored him. She had decided to give a change to her career and was now in charge of House Valliard’s make-up division and chose the best places to open up new branches of her husband’s company in Sydney and Brisbane. She had also become friends with the Arnauds and was happier than ever.
“Have I told you how much I love you?” Caine asked one afternoon, while Ashley was comfortably sitting on the brown couch feeding their child. Caine had a beautiful bouquet of flowers and left it over the coffee table next to her.
“Hi, sweetie,” she mumbled with a big smile on her face.
Caine walked to her and devoured Ashley’s mouth with a long deep kiss, being careful not to interrupt his child’s dinner.
“How’s our champ today?”
“He’s being a really good kid.”
“He has to, because his mom is the most important person in the world to me. I can’t have him being bad to her,” he replied sweetly. "I have a surprise for you, Ash."
Ashley’s eyes brightened. During her pregnancy, Caine had been too protective of her. He didn’t let her drive and took her to the office himself, until she finally told him about changing the type of work she did and that’s when the idea of working in House Valliard came up.
When Matthias was born, she wasn’t surprised to see Caine’s eyes full of unshed tears. The child was a gift for both of them. Ever since they found out about him, she felt she had the best of both worlds wrapped in one beautiful little package.
She would always miss Tim; however she knew that not all stories had a happy ending. In her case, she was grateful because that wound had been healed with hope and a new life. She only wished that, wherever her brother was, he felt as loved as she felt.
“Don’t tell me…”
“I’ve decided to take some vacations.”
“You have?”
He took a sit next to her. His wife was a magnificent mother. Whenever an insecurity or fear came up from her part, he was ready to take the wheel and remind her that they would both do the best for their kid and the ones that would come in the future.
Erasing fears from the past wasn’t easy, but love could always heal them.
“I’ve owed you a weekend in the French Riviera for a long time now. Last year was tough and many contracts were modified, which of course took a lot of my time. So I’ll make it up to you and change it to a whole week in France.”
“Did you hear that, Matthias? Your father is finally going to fulfill his promise,” she said to the little boy, not being able to contain a smile full of love. Now she not only loved Caine, but also her son. They were her family; a solid family that gave her all the love, security and acceptance she always wanted.
“What do you think then?”
She gazed at him fondly.
“I love the fact that you keep your promises, Caine.”
He put his arm around Ashley’s shoulder feeling completely moved as he watched his little boy eat. The journey of pregnancy was a miracle itself, and Ashley had given him the honor of making him a part of it.
“With you, always.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ecuadorian writer of romance novels and avid reader of this literary genre, Kristel Ralston is passionate about stories set in European castles and palaces. She not only works independently on the Amazon KDP platform, she also entered into contracts with publishers such as Grupo Editorial Planeta (Spain and Ecuador), HarperCollins Ibérica (with its romantic label HQÑ), and Nova Casa Editorial.
Her novel "Lazos de Cristal" was one of the five finalist manuscripts announced at Amazon´s Second Indie Author Contest (2015) sponsored by Amazon, El Mundo, Audible and Esfera de Libros. This contest received more than 1200 manuscripts of different literary genres from 37 countries with Spanish-speaking population. Kristel was the only Latin-American writer and moreover, the only romantic novelist among the finalists. The author was also on the shortlist for the romance novel contest Leer y Leer 2013, organized by the Vestales publishing house from Argentina and the literary blog Escribe Romántica.
Kristel has published several novels, such as Antes de medianoche (Before midnight), El precio del pasado (The price of the past), Votos de traición, Reckless, Estaba escrito en las estrellas, Entre las arenas del tiempo, Brillo de luna, Mientras no estabas, Punto de quiebre, La venga
nza equivocada, Un acuerdo inconveniente, Lazos de cristal, Bajo tus condiciones, El último riesgo, Regresar a ti, Un capricho del destino, Desafiando al corazón, Más allá del ocaso, among others. Many of her novels have also been translated into English, French, Italian, Hindi, German and Portuguese.
The author was nominated by a renowned Ecuadorian magazine as one of the Women of the Year 2015 for her outstanding literary work. In the same year, she participated in the International Book Fair of Guadalajara, invited as one of KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) platform’s best-selling romantic novelists and finalist of the Amazon´s Second Indie Author Contest. She repeated this experience in March 2016, sharing her testimony as a successful Spanish-speaking Amazon KDP Writer, touring several universities of Mexico City and Monterrey.
Kristel is the first Ecuadorian romantic novelist to gain both national and international recognition. She has set her temporary residence in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and firmly believes that dreams do come true.
The author enjoys travelling around the world and writing novels that invite readers not to stop dreaming about happy endings.
www.kristel-ralston.com
Twitter and Instagram: @KristelRalston
Facebook: KristelRalston,Books
Email: [email protected]
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