Tish sat back and thought about it for a moment.
‘That’s blackmail,’ she said at last. ‘You’re holding me to ransom.’
Viorel’s smile broadened. ‘Yup.’
He kissed her again then, carrying her into the bedroom and laying her down on the bed. Sliding his hands up under her T-shirt, he finally caressed those gorgeous, round apple breasts through the cotton of her Gap bra. Reaching around her back, he’d almost managed to unclasp it when Tish sat up again, so quickly that she almost head-butted his nose.
‘There’s something else. I can’t believe I forgot.’
Viorel sighed heavily. ‘Good grief. What now?’
‘It’s Loxley,’ said Tish. ‘We can go back to England if you really want to, but I’m afraid we’ll have to find somewhere else to live.’
‘Oh?’
Tish nodded sadly. ‘It’s been sold. Jago sold the place off to some American buyer and did a runner with the proceeds. Poor Mrs D’s been beside herself, and the Connellys. The new owner’s moving in next week, so they’ll all have to be gone by Sunday.’
‘Shit.’ Viorel jumped to his feet. ‘That reminds me.’ Walking back into the living room, he picked up his discarded coat and started rifling through the pockets, looking for something.
‘For you.’ He handed Tish an envelope.
She looked at it suspiciously. ‘What is it?’
‘It’s anthrax,’ said Viorel.
Tish raised a sarcastic eyebrow.
‘Open it up and find out.’
Still frowning, Tish pulled the single, folded sheet of paper out of the envelope. She read it once, then twice, then a third time.
‘Aren’t you going to say anything?’ said Vio.
‘It’s … it’s the deeds to Loxley,’ whispered Tish.
‘Well, you did say we needed somewhere to live.’
‘You bought it? The lawyer told me it was an American.’
‘It was. You don’t think Jago would have sold to me, do you? He still hates my guts over the whole Sabrina thing. No, he sold it to a charming Texan named John Dwight. I should warn you, it took some persuading to convince Mr Dwight to pass the place on to me and I’m afraid he didn’t let it go cheap. Which means I’m going to have to do an awful lot of movies to pay off our debts. Do you think you could tolerate Hollywood in short bursts?’
‘Our debts?’ said Tish. ‘Funny, I don’t remember borrowing anything.’
‘What’s mine is yours, Mrs Hudson.’ Vio grinned wolfishly, his eyes moving down unashamedly over Tish’s glorious but – How had it happened? – still-not-yet-naked body. ‘And what’s yours is about to become mine.’
‘Excuse me,’ came a familiar, reedy little voice, just as Viorel was reaching for the fly buttons on Tish’s jeans. ‘My dinosaur’s not roaring properly. I … Oh!’ Noticing suddenly Tish and Vio were mid-embrace, Abel smiled contentedly. ‘Good. You’re married then.’
‘Not exactly.’ Tish giggled.
‘Nearly,’ said Viorel.
‘Cool. Well, anyway, my dinosaur definitely has something not proper about it and I think it needs new batteries. Can you come and fix it, Viorel?’
Vio looked at Tish longingly.
‘Pleeeaaase?’ begged Abi.
Tish grinned. ‘Welcome to fatherhood. Go ahead. Fix it. I’m not going anywhere.’
Watching Viorel follow her son into his bedroom, Tish thought happily: He’s already fixed it. He’s already fixed everything.
Tish Crewe was going home at last.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to everyone at HarperCollins, especially my saintly, patient editor, Sarah Ritherdon and the wonderful sales team, Oli Malcolm, Laura Fletcher and Lisa Doyle. Also to my agents Luke Janklow and Tim Glister, and everyone at Janklow & Nesbit. FAME is partly set in Romania, a country I have come to know well through our charity, F.R.O.D.O (Foundation for the Relief of Disabled Orphans). My husband Robin founded F.R.O.D.O to help improve the lives of Romania’s thousands of forgotten, institutionalized children, and their work is nothing short of miraculous. Any readers who are interested can see more about our programs at www.frodokids.org. This book is dedicated to two of those children, the brave and beautiful Viorel Rezmives, and Abel Teglas, whose short life changed mine and Robin’s forever and who we will never forget. I would specially like to pay tribute to the amazing Sarah Wade, who transformed the lives of these two little boys and so many others. You are a true inspiration. Finally, I would like to thank all my family for their unending love and support through a difficult year. I would be lost without you.
Also by Tilly Bagshawe
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Adored
Showdown
Do Not Disturb
Flawless
Sidney Sheldon’s Mistress of the Game
Sidney Sheldon’s After the Darkness
Copyright
This novel is entirely a work of fiction.
The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
Harper
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FAME. Copyright © Tilly Bagshawe 2011. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Tilly Bagshawe asserts the moral right to be identifi ed as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-0-00-732652-5
EPub Edition © APRIL 2011 ISBN: 978-0-00-734188-7
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Table of Contents
Epigraph
Part One
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Part Two
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Part Three
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapt
er Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Acknowledgements
Other Books by Tilly Bagshawe
Copyright
About the Publisher
Fame Page 44