by Briggs, Jo
NO STRINGS
BY JO BRIGGS
No Strings is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and events portrayed in this book either are from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, establishments, events, or location is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
No Strings
Copyright © 2012. Published by Jo Briggs at Smashwords.
All rights reserved, including the rights to reproduce this book, or portion thereof, in any format whatsoever
Book and cover design by Jo Briggs
Contents
Anonymous - Indi
Lust - Grey
Starstruck - Indi
Rules - Grey
Consumed - Indi
Passion - Grey
Closer - Indi
Bombshell - Grey
Numb- Indi
Untangling I- Grey
Untangling II - Indi
Follow the Broken Strings Series
Contact Jo Briggs
Anonymous - Indi
August 2009
The warm aquamarine seawater swished around Indi’s ankles as she strolled along the secluded beach beneath the villa she was renting. There was just one other villa that shared the same beach which much to her delight seemed to be without any occupants. Set against the coastline of southeastern Sicily, the villa allowed her to enjoy the peace and anonymity she’d been craving for during the past few months, especially since her sisters, Lexi and Aimee had flown back to London.
She had enjoyed a week of relaxation with them, but still felt the burning need for some alone time that had prompted her to book the trip in the first place. She didn’t begrudge them pushing her into letting them come too, but she felt an immense sense of relief of not having to talk to anyone for the next three of weeks if she didn’t want to. After all the constant police interviews, meetings with the CPS and being cross-examined by the opposition’s solicitor, she was all talked out. It was a good feeling not to have the pressure of all that stress on her shoulders now that the verdict had been reached.
With only about a half-hour of light left before the sunset, she wanted to complete the day with some photos of the sunset from within the grounds of the villa. Leaving the beach behind her, Indi made her way back up the spiral staircase to the pool area and hammock terrace beyond.
Moving across the terrace, the maid who came in every day to clean the villa appeared in front of her. The woman looked to be in her mid-fifties, she reminded Indi of one of her school friend’s Italian grandmother who she had stayed with during her fifteenth summer. “Signora, I have put the food in the cucina,” The woman spoke in broken English, pointing towards the lit-up kitchen area that could be observed from where they stood.
“Thank you, Signora,”
The older woman nodded and left leaving Indi once again alone within the vast villa and its picturesque grounds.
Before positioning herself by the pool, Indi hit play on the music player’s remote control allowing the heavenly tones of Grey Bailey to serenade her. He was the front man of Fusion, an indie rock band that had set the music arenas of the world alight for the past few years. Even with her classical music background, he was her idol and the main inspiration of why she had started attending to Goldsmiths University in London to study Popular Music last year.
The pool’s tiled surroundings were in perfect alignment of the half-disappearing sun enabling her to capture the beautiful yellow, orange, and red hues glistening upon the dark blue-black sea on the horizon. Sunset was the perfect part of her day, where light and colour merged into the dark and moonlight. The stillness of a slowed-down world helped her to unwind down from whatever frantic study schedule she had dealt with that day.
Feeling satisfied with what she’d accomplished Indi began packing up the camera gear and lenses. As she did so, a shadow moving through the garden of the neighbouring villa caught her attention. Turning to face the direction of the movement, the shadow revealed a dark-haired man as the garden lights turned on, revealing a similar layout to her villa’s grounds. The tall man glanced her way, his eyes boring into hers, the intensity making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as he continued to stare.
Flustered Indi tried to move her eyes away, but could not resist the gravity pull to draw them back there almost immediately. This time the man’s mouth had curled into a lazy smile as he nodded an acknowledgement before disappearing under the covered terrace as quickly as he’d appeared. His presence had been too fleeting to make much of an assessment of his appearance, but it was sufficient to notice his broad shoulders and narrow hips, outlined by the t-shirt and cargo shorts. Blowing out a breath of air she had not even been aware of holding Indi could not help but think he appeared strangely familiar.
With her camera gear put away, she started putting a selection of light cheese and ciabatta together as she bopped her head in time to the music.
Taking her meal outside onto the terrace, she sank into the soft cushions intent on spending the remainder of the evening enjoying the refreshing breeze lifting up from the sea while she finished the book she was already half-through.
The book was one she had not read before so the next few hours slipped by undisturbed until movements and loud talking from the neighbouring garden drew her attention up from the printed text once more. This time, there were two beefy men doing what seemed to be a perimeter walk of the property. As Indi looked in their direction, they stopped and observed her for some moments before moving on.
Frowning, Indi hoped her plans for a secluded holiday weren’t going to be wrecked by constantly being on view by this guy's security team. She certainly would have something to say if they intruded on hers, in order to preserve their employer’s privacy.
Having experienced all resemblance of control over her privacy, now that it was back in her grasp she would never allow someone to impose on it ever again without her approval.
With the two men out of sight, Indi became conscious of how chilly the air had become. Marking the place she had reached with her bookmark Indi shut her book and made her way inside the villa. As she did so, Indi closed the patio door behind her double-checking that the twin bolts had sprung across. Since the attempt on her life, she’d made a habit of double-checking every lock.
This villa had every security installation you could dream of. It had come at a higher rental price, but that price was worthwhile, as it had eased the frequency of her nightmares to a minimum. When she had originally decided to come to Sicily it was at the executor of her trust fund insistence that it had to be this villa as he knew the owner and wanted to make sure she felt as safe as possible. Not that her tormentor was going to sudden rock up to this place - He was safely behind bars.
After checking numerous doors and windows, Indi punched the code to set the alarm and moved into the bedroom. After removing her clothing, she headed into the bathroom for a shower wanting to rinse the days’ worth of sand from her skin while keeping her mass of curls out of the water stream as much as possible.
Wrapped in a fluffy towel, Indi set about her routine of cleansing and moisturising her skin before she slipped between the crisp Egyptian cotton sheets covering the iron-framed bed.
Getting up early after another nightmare free sleep, Indi was feeling positive that she had started to turn the corner on keeping her anxiety under control.
Changing into a vivid pink bikini, she headed out to the pool. Each morning, she completed thirty lengths of the pool, before eating breakfast. A toned body had never come easy to her, but now that she had one, she intended to keep it. Indi was never what you would call overweight, but rather curvy with ample cle
avage, slim waist and wider hips.
She liked the way the pink fabric accentuated her newly tanned skin and clashed with her brunette curls that cascaded over her bare shoulders and back. Diving into the deeper end of the large pool, Indi slipped into an easy rhythm of ten length blocks of her three preferred swimming styles.
Towards the end of the final block of ten, she had the ever familiar sensation of being watched, stopping to catch her breath she glanced around to determine if it were just her being paranoid.
Noticing the stranger from the day before, standing beside the low wall separating the two villas staring at her, a sense of fear rose in the pit of her stomach.
Each time she saw a man looking at her for too long the same fear started to bubble. Perhaps her anxiety was not under control as much as I had hoped, she thought. The stalker had made her suspicious of everyone.
“Is there something I can do for you?” Indi asked, unable to keep the unfriendly scowl from her face as she stared back at him while remaining in the pool, too self-conscious of her bikini to get out, and challenge him, close up.
“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to disturb you. I just wanted to be neighbourly, and say hello.” The man spoke in a smooth English accent, clearly from an upper class background. “I’m Grey,” the sides of his mouth lifted offering a friendly smile.
Indi could feel her heart pounding as she continued to glare in his direction silently, hesitant to give out her name despite the appearance that he was innocently saying hello to a neighbour. Offering him a slight nod of acknowledgement, she could not bring herself to relax enough to tell him her name. Dread filled her mind that he’d already noticed she was staying in the villa alone.
“Hey, I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Just saying hello, and if you need anything, I’m next door.” He said casting an understanding glance her way before moving away from the wall.
Indi couldn’t help but experience a twinge of disappointment as he walked away from the wall. If only she could let go and just trust people again. After all not every stranger was like that slime ball. In a past life, she would have gladly chatted to him without a second thought.
He had clearly noted her discomfort with the situation and had removed himself. That definitely had to count for something.
Over the next few days, she would catch the occasional glimpses of him looking her way whenever they were on the beach at the same time. Although he never approached, he smiled and nodded. His continued willingness to bother greeting her after the lukewarm reception of his introduction flattered Indi’s shattered ego no end.
Now that her initial fears about him had lessened Indi actually noticed how amazingly sexy he was. His inky black curls fell to just below collar length, framing his square jawbone structure and piercing silver-blue eyes that even from a distance seem to flow into his soul. The definition of his stomach muscles played against varying tight t-shirts she had seen him in.
His presence continually invaded her mind in the days since then. Something about the way he moved intrigued her. Indi had started to wonder if he were a celebrity, especially since he’d a security team around him constantly. She had been in such a tizzy about him watching her by the pool when she came to try to recall his name she couldn’t even remember it!
Lust - Grey
Each passing day brought the thrilling feeling that his neighbour was warming to his greetings from afar. At first just a smile, then a nod accompanying the smile. The progress warmed his heart when he had long forgotten he had one.
With the building confidence in her responses to him, he gave her a brief wave as he saw her at the other end of the beach, glancing up from a book and looking in his direction. He’d come down the steps from his villa on to the beach to do some swimming in the sea before he ate some lunch.
His alluring neighbour waved back, maybe not quite a full-on wave, but a definite raising of the hand in his direction. Progress. His heart fluttered pleasurably, catching him by surprise as a woman had never created such a feeling within him like that.
Even in the dimness of late-afternoon sun when he first set eyes on her, Grey could not help but notice her bronzed, curvaceous form moulded into the blue halter neck top and white capri pants, layered chocolate caramel curls cascading down her back to her waist.
In just one glance, his interest had been piqued. He was not ashamed to admit he had been with a fair few beautiful women in his time, but nothing came close to the memory of her body poured into that outfit. It had given him an instant hard-on. The way her gaze had met his almost defiantly had fascinated him. It made up his mind that he was going to have her.
However, it wasn’t all about the body. Grey was interested in how a woman would react to him initially if she didn’t know who he was.
Admittedly, her hesitancy when he had first tried to strike up conversation had postponed any intended seduction he had planned when he saw how spooked she was.
He’d seen the same reaction many times before, after the discovery of a supposed family friend had been pressurising Freya into a relationship she did not want to have, when she lived away from the family home in Warwickshire attending Royal Academy of Music.
Freya had worn the same deer caught in the headlight's panic expression for months after the man was put in prison. The way she jumped at every noise, avoiding eye contact, was a reaction he would never forget, and this woman clearly acted in a similar way.
It made Grey feel angry that a man had obviously put this woman through the same distress his sister had experienced. He might not be the most loving boyfriend material, but he would never dream of harassing any woman until they were so intimidated as some men seemed to do.
All the lies and deception of his parent’s marriage breakdown had scarred him deeply emotionally. They set him on a path of holding everyone at arm’s length, allowing no female to get close to him. He was a playboy, who didn’t date the same woman more twice; they never met his family, or entered his home. He would wine and dine them, and then go to whatever hotel he was checked into when there was the need to extend the evening.
He was determined to make sure she didn’t feel threatened by him for the duration that they would be neighbours. He would set about making friends with her, using a more subtle approach instead, and perhaps still get to enjoy her company. She was, after all, a woman with a steaming hot body, and he always had a penchant for those.
After the wave, acting as casually as he could manage, Grey slipped off his top and waded slowly out into the sea. He tried to steal a look in her direction after he removed his top to see if she were watching him still, but she’d already lowered her head once more to continue to read her book.
He felt a small pang of disappointment when she didn’t continue to look his way, as his vanity liked the idea of this alluring mysterious woman admiring his body. However, it just made him more determined to make her talk to him properly and to spark the same interest in him that he felt for her. He knew it only could be as a holiday acquaintance, but he felt pulled towards knowing her, nevertheless. As long as they came to the understanding not to discuss their backgrounds and maintain an air of anonymity, what would be the harm? It was not as if he owed his fiancé any loyalty.
By the time, Grey returned from his swim half an hour later, she had gone.
Grabbing his wet towel, he headed back up to the villa to make some phone calls before get ready for an evening out with his two main security detail, Hayden and Adam. Since the band’s elevation into rock god stardom the need for a security entourage had become a constant in his life. From deterring screaming teenage girls from loitering outside his hotel suite to removing paparazzi cameras out of his face.
Hayden had his mobile to his ear when Grey walked into the sitting area. “He has just walked in – I will update him if you can keep us abreast of the situation.” Hayden’s face contorted into a weary expression as he closed his mobile and caught Grey’s questioning glance.
“
What do I need updating about?” Grey said, pausing to bundle his towel and t-shirt into a ball ready to put into the laundry bag for his maid service to deal with.
“Poppy has been given fair warning that a story about your pending marriage is to appear in The Daily Globe. It would appear someone leaked part of the pre-nuptial.” Poppy Croft was the Fusion’s publicist and all-round media advisor.
Grey raged as his face began to redden with anger. “The bastard - He didn’t even wait until I have been out of the country less than twenty-four hours before playing dirty.” Grey knew in his gut who would be behind such a leak.
John Bailey – or the devil as he and his brothers likened him to did not approve of their lifestyle of jet setting around the world playing music rather than taking on the responsibilities within the family companies.
As the oldest, he viewed Grey as the instigator of the rebellion when he allowed Ethan and Noah join his band once they hit eighteen. Grey could hear his father’s lecturing speech even now – You’re the one that should have known better and discouraged them from getting involved in the hectic touring schedule of a successful rock star.
Now after months of avoidance, Grey had conceded to focus on bringing the Bailey name to the next generation as soon as possible on the condition as Freya and Olivia were left out of his warped arranged marriage ideas for them. At least that is how Grey wanted it to appear. He had a plan to teach his father’s a lesson once and for all.
His father had handpicked Caitlin Harper for the job himself. She was the daughter of one of his friends with the same social standing and business assets as the Baileys, something that mattered above all else to my father. It didn’t matter that his son didn’t have any feelings for her. The decay of two further marriages since the bitter divorce between his mother and father showed just how emotionally hardened he had become. Now he only found enjoyment from ruthless business takeovers and making his current wife’s life a misery. Grey actually felt sorry for the woman, especially after the discovery of his father’s latest deceptions.