Chris lunged forward, but Victoria pulled him back.
Tommy laughed. ‘I had to stick around. It was only a matter of time before I got into your knickers.’ He held his gaze with Victoria.
‘You’re full of yourself,’ she said.
‘Play your cards right and you could be full of me too.’
The sleazy grin accompanying the lewd suggestion was the final red rag to Chris. He broke free from Victoria, dived towards Tommy, and cast a wild, flailing punch. Tommy fielded it, catching Chris’s fist in his palm. He pushed him away.
‘Seriously? You think you can take me out?’ Tommy seemed genuinely astounded. He tutted and returned his attention to Victoria. ‘I realised there was money to be made. An exclusive. An insider’s view of the Framptons. But The Starburst offered peanuts. I was holding out, making them sweat. Making them want me. I thought I’d play the paper off against View TV, but Garcia’s scruples are shockingly high.’ He shrugged and flashed his palms to the sky. ‘They never came up with the goods. Anyway, watching Chris squirm was all the pay-off I needed.’ He bared his teeth. ‘It hurts, doesn’t it, Frampton? Having the sword above your head, not knowing when it’ll fall. That’s how I felt when I found out about Lacey. I could’ve been carrying the virus for years. You should have told me.’
Chris narrowed his eyes. ‘And you shouldn’t have messed with my wife. You deserve everything coming to you.’ He tossed the key at Tommy, who caught it in one hand and slotted it into place.
‘And you can have this, too.’
Chris reeled at hearing Rick. His son was standing in the main entrance, with Tommy’s loaded rucksack cradled in his arms.
‘I’ve packed everything of yours I could find. No need for you to come back.’ Rick marched across to an astonished Tommy, and thrust the fat bag at him. ‘You thieving bastard.’ Rick shook his head, scuffed some gravel at the bike, and pushed Tommy’s shoulder. ‘Go on, then. Piss off.’
Chris looked on, stunned at Rick’s eloquence and conviction.
Tommy wrangled himself into the rucksack, thumped life into the Ducati, and raised his middle finger. ‘I used this one.’
Within seconds, the stones had settled, the birds had returned to the trees, and Tommy was an insignificant speck on the causeway.
Chris put his arm around his son. ‘You learned some new words.’
‘No. I knew them already. Thought Tommy needed to hear them.’
Desperate to release the tension, Chris rolled his head back and discharged a long, hard breath. He pressed a hand to his heart. ‘Seth okay?’
‘Yeah. I left him watching TV.’
‘And are you okay?’ Chris rubbed his neck, then clutched Rick to him. It was so incredibly healing holding his son.
‘I’m good,’ Rick said. ‘I bet Tommy will head straight for the airport.’
‘Yep.’
‘Oh, man.’ Rick twisted to reach for his back pocket.
Chris loosened his hold. ‘What is it?’
‘I forgot to pack his passport.’ Rick grinned.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Having satisfied themselves the boys were safe, Victoria and Chris, each clasping a hot drink, repaired to the warm, bright conservatory.
‘I’ve got some brandy if you fancy something stronger.’ Chris set his mug on the oak table, and pulled out a chair for Victoria.
‘This is fine, thanks,’ she said, taking the seat. ‘You go ahead, though. It’ll settle your nerves.’
Chris declined. ‘Later. I want to keep a clear head. Got plenty of thinking to do.’ He collapsed into the porter’s chair. ‘I’m guessing you hacked into my accounts.’
This was the moment Victoria had put off for months. She sipped at the scalding coffee and winced. A burnt tongue was no reason to further delay her admission. ‘Not hacked. I have admin rights, but I should’ve sought your permission. We need to go through the paperwork together and take the evidence to the police.’
She put her cup next to Chris’s and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her thighs. ‘My gut screamed at me not to trust Tommy. He had no history. Every time I asked him about his past or family, he gave a vague reply. I’d come across his type in the business world. And I’d dealt with them.’ She hesitated, wondering how to continue without sounding like a crazed stalker. She fixed her hands together, and rested her chin on her upturned thumbs. Her mouth was partially covered by her fingers. ‘I lied about why I went to London.’ There. She’d warned Chris of her dishonesty.
He shifted in his chair, then crossed his legs. ‘I knew you had.’
‘You did?’ That was a shock.
‘Your decision to go was so sudden. At first, I thought you were going away with Tommy.’
‘Good God, no.’ The thought of spending a night with that creep was more sickening than admitting to Chris she owned EweSpeak. ‘I was playing him. Gaining his confidence. The biggest thing about Tommy Stone is his ego. It was easy to get him to brag about his transgressions when he thought you were our mutual enemy. I allowed him to think I was upset with you for telling him about our night on the beach.’
‘You were.’ Chris gazed out at the panoramic view of the sea.
‘I got over it. Anyway, I was telling you why I went to London.’
‘Because sleeping with me was a mistake.’
‘No.’ Victoria crossed her heart with her hands. ‘I haven’t thought that for a second.’
Chris rose from the chair and drifted towards the patio doors. He invited Victoria to stand with him. ‘So what was the cause?’
She took the space to his left. The horizon ahead was stunning: an eternal line of perfection. ‘My work gives me access to a lot of people. People who know how to obtain information.’ She saw Chris’s head shift in her direction.
‘What the hell do you do? Work for the Government?’
‘No. Nothing like that.’ She turned to him and saw the muscle at the side of his jaw pulsating. ‘I’ve a few things I need to tell you.’ There was no going back. She reached for her mug and relieved her dry throat with the coffee. ‘Until recently, I was head of EweSpeak.’ She held her finger up to prevent Chris from butting in. ‘Juliette and I set it up to help Annabel’s popularity when she was in UK Starz. When she won, EweSpeak took off.’
Chris’s mouth had fallen open.
‘I didn’t sign clients, my sales team handled that, so when your name appeared on the list, I was really shaken. I’d tried so hard to leave you behind, but you were everywhere – TV, radio, online. It was difficult to escape. It was impossible to avoid finding out about your life.’
‘You’ve followed me all these years?’
Victoria hummed her response and quickly continued. ‘I watched you marry Lacey, I saw your career go from strength-to-strength, and I witnessed the devastation of the motorbike crash. You weren’t allowed to grieve in private, and the only way I could help was to put an end to EweSpeak’s perpetual bleats. But the board wouldn’t let me. The board insisted we covered the story. I hate what it did to you, and I’m appalled I was part of it.’
Chris retreated to the porter’s chair. The red leather contrasted with his pale complexion. He was breathing in short, sharp spurts. ‘You were part of that relentless media circus? And what? You forgot to tell me?’ He glared at Victoria. Rage was now colouring his cheeks. ‘Your company put me through hell. And let’s not even think about what it did to Rick.’
Victoria’s heart hit ground zero. She knelt in front of Chris, lowered her gaze, and prayed for his forgiveness. She didn’t know what else to do. ‘I am truly sorry.’ She risked touching his fingers, expecting him to yank them away, but he didn’t move. ‘There’s something else.’ She braced herself, and increased her hold of his hands. ‘I knew about Lacey’s condition. I’ve known for years. One of m
y contacts came to me with the news. I traced the leak to your doctor. He and I … reached an agreement, and I made sure the details never saw the light of day.’
She released Chris’s hands and dared to look at him. His hunched body was filling the chair, but his beautiful brown eyes were vacant. He’d retreated within himself – gone to some other time, some other place – somewhere she wasn’t, and somewhere he didn’t want to be.
Her confession had triggered a flashback, and there was nothing she could do.
She moved to his side, and waited. His rapid blinking alerted her to his return. His anger had gone. He looked exhausted. ‘Where were you?’
He closed his eyes and kneaded his temples. ‘In my office, at the ranch. With Lacey.’
‘The day of the accident?’
He nodded. ‘She had no shoes. No bra.’ He tipped back his head and looked to the ceiling. ‘Tommy was telling the truth. Lacey had been with him before she—’ He came to an abrupt halt.
‘Oh, Chris.’ Victoria wanted to pull him to her and hold him, but he’d closed off.
‘She came to me that day making promises, saying she’d never love another man, that I was enough for this life and the next. That was guilt talking. That was her trying to make herself feel better for what she did with Stone.’
Victoria couldn’t answer. Her knowledge of Chris and Lacey’s relationship was based on media speculation and magazine images. They appeared to be very much involved, but Victoria knew it was possible to simultaneously love two people. In the same way she’d never expelled Chris from her system, Tommy spent years holding out for Lacey. And, in the same way Victoria loved Ben, while fantasising about Chris, Lacey was with Chris, while never quite letting go of Tommy.
Love was complicated.
Love was hard.
It wasn’t news to Victoria.
News. She had one last piece to deliver. She opened the doors and stepped onto the patio, shivering as the sea breeze licked around her ribs. ‘Join me,’ she said.
Chris wandered into the garden and stopped by the low-level wall. ‘It’s cold out here.’
‘It’s freezing. Could use that brandy right now.’ Victoria gave a half-smile. At least, it felt as if her lips had moved. ‘Walk with me.’ She waited for Chris before heading to the left of the castle, away from the wood, and away from the beach. The garden opened up into a lush, green lawn, and beyond the border, steps descended to a large, dry, rectangular pond. There was a statue of Cupid at its centre.
‘I’ve never come this far,’ Chris mumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets.
‘New ground?’
‘I guess.’
‘There’s a path,’ Victoria said, pointing to a line of slabs leading away from the pond. ‘Shall we walk it together?’
They followed the course, neither person talking, until they reached the furthest perimeter of the grounds. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. It was a necessary silence, to absorb all that had happened.
As they looked out over the Jurassic coastline, Chris spoke, ‘Rick told me everything. How he felt responsible for Todd and Lacey’s deaths, how he knew about Lacey’s condition, how he was frightened to talk in case it all slipped out.’ He sighed and shook his head. ‘The poor boy’s been carrying it around for two years.’
‘He’s strong.’
‘He was the quiet one. Todd was the daredevil. The doer. It didn’t surprise me to hear he’d stolen my keys, nor that he was on the bike, but to crash it …’ Chris cuffed his nose. ‘I’ve never understood how. Okay, he was eleven, but he’d been brought up around bikes. He was a skilled rider for his age.’ He clasped his hand around the back of his neck. ‘There was nothing wrong with the bike. I’d checked it over before … before I was distracted by Lacey.’
Another silence.
‘What did the investigation reveal?’
Chris frowned. ‘You must have seen the TV reports.’
‘I couldn’t take it in. Didn’t want to.’
‘Yeah.’ He moved away from the boundary and nodded for Victoria to follow. ‘There was too much of a mess for any conclusion to be drawn. There was a suggestion Todd had tried to make the ramp, but I don’t know. I’ve gone over the possibilities, but whatever happened, the responsibility for my boy’s safety was down to me. My carelessness killed him and Lacey.’ He stopped, closed his eyes, and chewed down on his lip.
It was very restrained for a man whose heart was breaking for what must have been the millionth time.
Victoria watched, tears forming in her eyes. She wasn’t ashamed to let them fall. She’d learned to let go, and she was sure that was what Chris needed to do. Like Rick, he’d carried the tragedy inside for too long.
She had to relay her suspicions about Tommy and pray to a God she almost believed existed, that her words would bring release and comfort.
She traced a finger down Chris’s cheek and along his chin. He opened his eyes.
‘It’s possible Tommy rigged your bike and moved the ramp,’ she said.
Chris lurched forward. ‘He what?’
Victoria grabbed Chris by the arms and steadied him. ‘He didn’t admit it, but he made very strong insinuations. If there’s a chance he was behind it, then you and Rick will know you’re not to blame.’
‘It doesn’t work like that, Victoria. I will always be responsible.’ Chris yanked himself free and stormed towards the castle. ‘Why have you told me this?’
She chased after him. ‘But what if he did something?’
Chris swung round, his eyes ablaze with anger. ‘What if he did? It doesn’t change a thing.’
‘I’ll tell the police what he said. They’ll question him.’
‘And he’ll deny everything.’ Chris looked away, and then turned his back on Victoria. ‘Don’t talk to Rick about this. You’ve done enough damage.’
He stomped away, leaving Victoria alone, upset and wondering how she’d got it so wrong.
The great oak provided all the company Chris required. It was strong, silent and reliable. It didn’t expect conversation, it made no apologies, and sprung no surprises.
Chris had spent the last two hours working through the momentous events of the day, trying to slot all the pieces together. It hadn’t been easy, but the picture was taking shape.
Victoria’s involvement in EweSpeak had shocked him, although he now realised why her married name had seemed so familiar, and his predictable reaction to the news was very likely the cause of her delay in telling him. He accepted that. But he had every right to be angry. Victoria was part of the reason the Framptons couldn’t escape the media spotlight. For a year after the tragedy, he and Rick were under constant scrutiny. That alone was enough to break some families apart. Thankfully his bond with Rick was strong.
Stronger since Victoria’s reappearance. A fact Chris couldn’t deny.
He really couldn’t care less about her hacking into his accounts. Sure, it was pushing the boundaries of their friendship, but if Chris had been more vigilant, Tommy wouldn’t have stolen the money. Not so much of it, anyway. And Victoria had put together a case which would see the man locked up.
However, the intimation Tommy had engineered the motorbike accident infuriated Chris. There was no proof, so there was no point in raising the matter, unless guilt or regret wrangled a confession from Tommy. The only chance of that happening was if he truly loved Lacey. And Chris couldn’t deal with that idea right now.
‘What of Lacey?’ Chris said to the sympathetic oak, rubbing his palm over the coarse bark. ‘Vicky’s known for years and yet she never told a soul. She paid my surgeon off and has asked for nothing back. Selfless. And do you know what’s funny, old man?’ He glanced at the top of the tree. ‘Had Vicky not been part of EweSpeak, Lacey’s secret would have been exposed a long time ago. I ca
n’t imagine what that would have done to us.’
With the picture now fully formed in his head, Chris patted the trunk of the oak and thanked it for listening. Then he went in search of Victoria, acknowledging she’d put herself and her company at risk, just for him. Her remorse was genuine. As was his love for her.
He didn’t go far before he spotted her in the ornamental garden. He approached with caution. ‘I’m sorry. I took my frustrations out on you. It was unnecessary and unkind.’
Victoria raised her head, her red-rimmed, puffy eyes the give-away she’d been crying.
Chris dug into his pocket and retrieved half a tissue. ‘It’s the clean half,’ he said, wiping the damp stains from her cheeks. ‘I gave the other half to Rick. I try to carry one on me these days.’
‘You still use your sleeve.’ Victoria relieved Chris of the half-tissue and blew her nose. ‘For what it’s worth, I’m sorry too.’
‘Accepted,’ Chris said. ‘It shook me up. I didn’t want to believe Tommy would go that far. That he wanted me dead.’ Saying it out loud didn’t help. It was still a bizarre concept.
‘He was obsessed with Lacey.’ Victoria paused, and twisted the tissue round her fingers. ‘He was obsessed with your boys, too. And your money.’
‘And you.’ Chris shuddered. This was frightening stuff. ‘He wanted my life.’
‘It looks that way,’ Victoria said. ‘The sooner we get the evidence to the police the better.’
‘We’ll go through it tonight.’ Chris cast an eye around his land. ‘I didn’t realise betrayal hurt so much.’
‘Lacey?’
He nodded. ‘I knew she wasn’t perfect, but I never thought she’d have an affair.’
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