by Megan Cole
Boy, you came along and changed my world
Without even knowing it.’
His voice was rich and knowing, transforming the words into something bluesy and beautiful. Despite herself, Sapphire clapped her hands together in excitement.
‘That’s it! You’ve totally got it.’
Raphael stared at her. ‘It was there already. You just had to hear it. Now again.’
Waiting for his cue, Sapphire opened her mouth and started to sing, quietly at first, then stronger. Their voices seemed to instantly mould together. ‘Boy, you came along one day
Saw you from a distance…
Boy, you came along and changed my world
Without even knowing it.’
The air had become electric, like they had discovered something special. They stared at each other. As usual, Sapphire was the first to break eye contact. She swallowed. ‘Raphael, that was amazing. How did you just get it like that?’
‘I’ve told you. Have confidence in yourself. Just feel the music.’ His look turned slightly contemptuous. ‘This boy, was he special?’
Sapphire went bright red. ‘It was just someone,’ she mumbled.
Raphael sighed irritably. ‘You English. You are so uptight.’
She’d had enough of his little comments. ‘All right, mate!’ she shot back sharply. Was he trying to humiliate her on purpose or what?
Raphael looked at her with a faint gleam of amusement in his eyes. ‘Are you angry with me?’
‘Yes, I am!’
‘Finalmente, we have some passion! From the start, one, two, three…’
Chapter twenty-nine
Simonetta deleted the voicemail and stared out of her bedroom window. It had been the lettings agency who looked after her apartment in Rome, complaining that the rent hadn’t been paid for the second month running. They were threatening legal action and worse. Only yesterday, Simonetta had received another voicemail, this time from her bank about the size of her overdraft. Regretfully, due to her current financial situation they were unable to raise the limit as she had requested. And, the bank manager asked, did she know she had a large Visa bill that still had not been paid? As he had been unable to get hold of her and she hadn’t replied to any of the letters he’d sent, he would be forced to pass the matter on to the relevant authorities. Which, put another way, means he’s calling in the debt collectors, she thought.
At least she wouldn’t be there if they did turn up.
It had been a trying few days. Lexi was threatening to cut Simonetta loose from Models Italia if she didn’t get in touch and fulfil her contractual obligations. Quite the turnaround from her initial excitement about Brad Masters! It wasn’t even as if the agency were getting her well-paid work. Simonetta sighed. Didn’t these people get it? All she was doing was building a better life for herself and then she’d pay them back, ten times back if she felt like it. The bank manager, Lexi: they had probably come from nice, middle-class families where they didn’t have to share a bedroom with their four sisters or get teased at school for wearing handmade clothes. They didn’t have a mother who had been worked to the bone as a domestic slave, or a lazy, layabout father who’d been off work with a ‘bad back’ for years and given his family nothing.
Simonetta turned and looked round the room. The Hermès scarf draped over the dressing table chair, the Missoni maxi-dress hanging on the wardrobe door. If anyone came in now and had to guess what kind of person she was, they would say someone rich, beautiful and successful. One of the elite. Which was why Simonetta had to have the best apartment in town, the most expensive designer clothes.
She still remembered the day she had joined the modelling agency, when she had mispronounced a designer’s name and two models in reception had made fun of her. Listen to the country bumpkin, they’d sneered. You’d better sharpen up your act if you want to make it in this business.
Si, the other had said. Getting some new clothes would be a start!
If they’d expected Simonetta to cry, they had been disappointed. Holding her head up with as much dignity as she could muster, she had walked out. It was only in the street that she let herself feel hurt and embarrassed. She had stopped and looked at herself in a shop window. The girls, bitchy though they were, had been right: Simonetta had looked exactly what she was — a small-town girl in a cheap dress.
Right then, Simonetta had got her Visa card out, the one her mamma had made her promise she’d only use in emergencies, and gone shopping. Soon her wardrobe was bursting with Valentino, Cavalli, four-thousand dollar YSL handbags. Her savings were soon gone. Another credit card followed, and then another. It was ironic — the more in debt she got and the more well-dressed, the more people wanted to give her things. When she’d swept into her exclusive apartment block, the lettings agent had practically begged her to take the keys off them. It was a different story now.
Simonetta stared, unseeing, into the distance. All this debt business, it was so undignified. The thought of having to return to her village, shamed and in debt, filled her with horror. There was no way she could go back now, it would kill her.
But Simonetta was a survivor. The quicker Brad announced she was his heir, the better.
It didn’t even cross her mind that she wouldn’t be chosen.
Madison eyed Sapphire through her Ray-Bans. She took in the cheap swimsuit, the long hair pulled back in a boring ponytail, the look on the English girl’s stupid freckled face as she read yet another book. Sapphire’s earring came back into her mind — the one Madison had thrown into the hedge. Did Cam really prefer the runt to her? Madison had to find out, it was killing her. Getting up from her sunlounger, she walked over to where Sapphire was sitting.
‘Hi, Sapphire!’ she said, in an over-friendly voice.
Sapphire looked up. ‘Hi, Madison,’ she said warily. The two had been treading very carefully around each other since the Charlotte Island incident and it had suited Sapphire just fine.
Madison looked at the chair next to Sapphire. ‘May I?’
Sapphire shrugged. ‘Please yourself.’
Madison sighed in contentment. ‘Awesome day, isn’t it?’
‘Awesome,’ Sapphire said. What was Madison up to?
She soon found out.
‘So I hear you and Cam are getting pretty friendly!’
Sapphire went red. ‘Who told you that?’
‘Oh, I was just round there the other night and he mentioned it, said you’ve been hanging out together.’
’I just went over to say thank you,’ Sapphire muttered.
‘Don’t get all shy about it! Of course, he’s not my type, otherwise we’d be dating by now.’ Madison leaned in conspiratorially. ‘So, do you want to hook up with him?’
‘No!’
‘Come on, we’re sisters. You can tell me.’
Sapphire hesitated. It would be good to talk to someone about Cam. It was sending her crazy thinking about him the whole time. ‘He is quite cute,’ she admitted.
‘You are so adorable! Do you think he likes you?’
Sapphire shrugged with embarrassment. ‘I don’t know.’
‘So you guys haven’t made out or anything?’ Madison persisted.
Sapphire went even redder. ‘No, of course we haven’t!’
‘Don’t get your panties in a twist,’ Madison replied. She was feeling a lot better. She might not have hooked up with Cam this time, but she’d got a far more important thing. Information. From now on she was going to make damn sure she knew everything the runt was getting up to. She stood up. ‘Must get back to my sunbathing. Ciao for now!’ Leaving a bemused-looking Sapphire, she sauntered off.
Chapter thirty
Despite looking out for him, Sapphire hadn’t seen Cam for a few days. She was too shy to go and see him again and instead consoled herself with imagining what could have happened if Tito hadn’t turned up. Her stomach felt sick with nerves and desire at the thought of Cam slowly peeling off her wet clothes and taking her in
his arms. Sapphire wondered what it would be like to kiss him, run her hands over his chiselled body, have him touch his lips to her neck…
But in between her dreams about Cam, Sapphire found Raphael creeping into her thoughts. Although she would never had given him the satisfaction, she had come away from her lesson on cloud nine. Despite his arrogance, Raphael had shown surprising patience in helping her get the melody to ‘Boy’ right. It was as if a light had been switched on and, for the first time in ages, Raphael had made her look forward to picking up her guitar. Now the floodgates of inspiration had opened, Sapphire found herself wanting more.
He took longer to come to the door this time. She took a deep breath.
‘Er, hi. Hope I’m not disturbing you. I was wondering if we could practise a bit?’
Her words caught in her throat a little. Raphael’s eyes were so green they were almost hypnotic. As the light caught them, Sapphire could see those strange golden flecks again. They’re like a lion’s eyes, she thought, with a shiver.
‘No,’ he said.
Sapphire’s cheeks flushed a dull red. ‘Sorry, I’ll come another time,’ she mumbled and turned away.
‘No, I meant you are not bothering me. Come in.’
Sapphire stared at him in disbelief, but he disappeared back inside, leaving her to follow. This time he went into the little kitchenette that backed on to the living-room. He turned round abruptly. ‘Can I get you anything? Tea, coffee? I am sorry, but I do not have any beer.’ His lips curled into a sarcastic smile. ‘I hear that is what you like to drink with Cam.’
Sapphire went numb. ‘What did you just say?’ she asked. Raphael didn’t answer. ‘I’ll just have water,’ she said, not wanting to pursue the subject any more. How the hell did he know anyway?
‘So what is it you want to do?’ Raphael asked, when he returned to the living-room. Sapphire shrugged, suddenly feeling self-conscious. ‘I thought we could practise “Boy” again.’
‘You don’t need me for that now,’ he said bluntly. ‘Do you have anything else to show me?’
‘Anything else?’ Sapphire couldn’t help but smile. She handed him the notepad full of her lyrics from the last year. ‘How about one of these?’
He flicked open the notepad and raised his eyebrows. ‘OK, let’s get started.’
Three hours later they were still going. Raphael was relentless, picking out different lyrics she’d written and bringing them to life. With music as their communicator, the unspoken tension between them seemed to disappear. As Sapphire watched Raphael, his long, elegant fingers moving deftly on his guitar, she couldn’t help but be fascinated. All the hatred and moodiness seemed to be ironed out of his face, to be replaced by something calm and almost otherworldly. For the first time she noticed the fullness of his lower lip, the razor-sharpness of his cheekbones.
Raphael looked up, as if aware of her gaze. ‘What?’
‘Did Brad put you up to this?’ she asked tentatively.
He frowned. ‘Put me up?’
‘I mean… did he ask you to do this?’ She waved her hand round. ‘To help me. I can’t think why you would otherwise.’
‘Then you are wrong,’ he muttered.
‘Hey, I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. It’s just that…’ Sapphire trailed off, not sure how to say it. In the end, she came straight out with it. ‘Why did you hate me so much when we first met? Had I done something to offend you?’
If she’d thought Raphael couldn’t get any paler, she’d been wrong. ‘You do not understand,’ he said abruptly. His face was suddenly back to its normal impenetrable self.
Sapphire stood up, feeling awkward. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you.’
Raphael gestured towards the door. ‘We are finished for today.’
Sapphire gripped her guitar. This was so embarrassing! ‘Raphael, I’m really sorry if you’re offended.’
He looked at her in a way she couldn’t work out. ‘You may have got that impression, but I don’t hate you. It is just… difficult.’
Sapphire didn’t know what to say. What was difficult? They barely knew each other.
‘Uh, OK,’ she mumbled eventually. ‘I should get going.’
Wordlessly, Raphael followed her to the door. As he towered above her, she realised once again how tall he was. How powerful he was, under that pale skin and lean muscle.
‘As you wish,’ he said. He sounded so offish that Sapphire was about to tell him to get stuffed, when a familiar voice greeted her ears.
‘Well hi there, Sapphire. You do get around!’ Madison was walking up the path in wedge heels and a tiny bikini.
‘Who do we have here, then?’ She’d seen the weirdo boy around, but up close he was quite attractive. In a kind of Edward Cullen, undead way. She fluttered her eyelashes but got no response. Offended, she turned her attention to Sapphire instead. ‘So, what are you guys up to? It all looks very cosy.’
Sapphire flushed. ‘Raphael is helping me with my music, that’s all.’
Madison smiled knowingly. ‘If you say so! I’m off to the pool. I swear I’m not as brown as I was yesterday. I’ll leave you two to enjoy… your privacy.’
Sapphire stared at Madison’s retreating back in disbelief. Why did she always have to stir up trouble?
She turned back to Raphael. ‘Thanks for today. I really enjoyed—’
She stopped. The front door had been shut in her face. Madison stopped, and turned to cock her head at Sapphire patronisingly.
‘Lovers’ tiff? I just can’t keep up with you, Sapphire.’
‘I told you, he’s just helping me with my music!’ Sapphire resisted the urge to smash her guitar over Madison’s head. Even if it wasn’t a Franklin, it was the only one she had.
It was a baking-hot day, the kind of day that turned tarmac to treacle and swimming pools into gigantic warm baths. Even the birds had stopped their chirping and retreated away from the heat, as Madison lay round the swimming pool motionless under a layer of Kiehl’s factor 15 sunscreen. Her body glistened with a fine layer of oil and perspiration.
To anyone watching, it might have seemed that she was sound asleep, but behind the huge Chanel sunglasses her brain was scheming furiously. She thought about Sapphire’s earring in Cam’s kitchen, about her so-called ‘guitar lessons’ with that moody Italian boy with the Edward Cullen cheekbones.
Suddenly Madison sat up, disturbing the stillness of the afternoon.
‘I have, like, totally got it!’ Grabbing her sarong, she jumped up to go and find Simonetta. That Sapphire bitch is history, she thought.
Chapter thirty-one
Simonetta raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re crazy. It will never work. By the way, do you know you’ve got horrible sunglasses marks?’ They were sitting in the coolness of one of the terraces. It was here Madison had found Simonetta, reading the latest Italian Vogue.
For once Madison didn’t run screaming to the toilet to look. She had far bigger things on her mind. ‘We’ll never know unless we try,’ she urged. ‘C’mon, Simonetta! This will deal with the runt once and for all. It’s an awesome plan.’
Simonetta eyed Madison carefully. As long as Madison did all the dirty work and Simonetta didn’t get implicated, she didn’t really care. And once Sapphire was out of the way, there would be only Madison to remove from the game. Simonetta wasn’t stupid enough to think that Madison wouldn’t turn her attention to her once Sapphire was out of the picture, but she’d deal with that when the time came. She had no doubt she would be chosen as Brad’s heir, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
She sat up, interest taking hold. ‘Si, I will help. Tell me once again what I have to do.’
Madison’s eyes gleamed. ‘You betcha.’
After the disastrous end to their last session, Sapphire didn’t reckon on seeing Raphael again. But to her surprise, he came and sought her out on the beach the very next day. Without saying hello he dropped down next to her on the sand, his long legs folded in front of him. He was wear
ing shorts and a faded linen shirt rolled up at the sleeves. Sapphire noticed that despite being about the same age as Cam, Raphael didn’t seem to go in for fashion or labels.
Raphael looked out to sea, his dark curls ruffling in the breeze. He didn’t seem in a hurry to say anything so Sapphire thought she should.
‘Uh, I never got the chance to say thank you yesterday,’ she said. ‘It was really good of you to take time out to help me.’
Raphael shrugged dismissively. ‘It is not just for you. The practice helps me as well.’
Sapphire felt a bit stung by his words. Even if it was true, he didn’t have to say it like that.
Raphael seemed to pick up on her silence and glanced sideways at her, before looking out to sea again. ‘So who was this boy you wrote about in your song?’
‘Just some guy I knew.’
‘Tell me about him,’ Raphael said. It was more of a command than a request.
Sapphire blushed, out of irritation as well as embarrassment. ‘I’d rather not, actually.’
Raphael turned to her, eyes mocking. ‘What, did he steal your little English heart and run away with it?’
‘No, he didn’t, actually!’ she snapped. A look of triumph crossed Raphael’s face, as though he actually enjoyed winding her up.
They sat in silence for a while, until Sapphire spoke. ‘OK, it was someone I fancied.’ She sighed. ‘You want to know the funny part? I never even said hello to him. It was this guy I used to see on my way home. I called him Trainer Boy because he was always wearing these really cool trainers.’ Sapphire sighed. ‘I kind of became a bit obsessed with him, but I never even had the guts to go and say hello.’ She paused. ‘You probably think I’m really weird.’
‘Perhaps we are all weird in our own way,’ he said mysteriously.
Death and destruction, the words came back into her mind. Was that what he was talking about? She had to stop thinking about it, it was freaking her out! Instead, encouraged by this almost-conversation with the usually monosyllabic Italian, Sapphire decided to ask a more personal question. ‘How about you? Do you have a girlfriend?’