Fairytale Beginnings

by Holly Martin

  Olivia took his hand and squeezed it. He looked up at her and her shocked expression had gone.

  ‘I’m delighted for you,’ Olivia said. ‘You deserve to be happy and I think she’s lovely.’

  Cameron smiled with relief. ‘You have no idea how pleased I am to hear you say that.’

  ‘I’m really happy, for both of you.’

  Cameron squeezed her hand. ‘Thanks Liv.’

  Olivia returned her attention to her tea and her laptop for a few minutes.

  ‘Listen, while she isn’t around, let’s talk business for a moment, especially about Palace Hotels.’

  Cameron suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Olivia was so efficient and organised in every way but why was she so hung up on working with Palace Hotels? Especially when the deal was so bad?

  ‘Maxwell is really keen to work with you. They’ve come back with a different offer which I think is more than generous under the circumstances, especially given the current condition of the castle. They’ve offered two and a half million and …’

  ‘Extravagance have offered four and a half million for fifty percent ownership. I also get fifty percent of any profits and they will handle the repairs. When Palace Hotels come back with an offer like that, then we can talk.’

  ‘We don’t know anything about Extravagance. My contacts at Palace Hotels say they’re a bunch of cowboys.’

  ‘I’ve met the CEO, I was very impressed with him and his plans for the castle.’

  ‘Where on earth did you find him? I thought you were leaving all the research to me. Was my work not good enough?’

  ‘Jamie is actually … Milly’s brother. She put me in contact with him,’ Cameron said.

  Olivia’s mouth fell open slightly. ‘Cameron, you’ve known her a week and now you’re working with her brother?’

  ‘How do you know I’ve only known her for a week?’

  Olivia sighed, shifted through the papers in front of her and slid Milly’s Castle Heritage ID card across the table. ‘I found it this morning.’

  He felt his jaw clench. ‘It doesn’t change anything.’

  ‘Of course it does. She comes here, gets you into bed and a few days later you’re working with her brother, that’s all a bit coincidental for my liking.’

  ‘It’s not like that, Milly has helped me to see my options. And a minute ago you were telling me how lovely you thought Milly was, now what? You’re accusing her of sleeping with me in order to get me to sign with Extravagance and get some financial kickback from her brother?’

  There was a flash of something in her eyes, an emotion he couldn’t identify before it was gone.

  Olivia sat back in her seat for a moment, eyeing Cameron thoughtfully. ‘She does seem really lovely and if you trust her then I do too, but I am worried how much trust you’ve laid at her feet already, when you barely know her. You’ve told her about how you didn’t write the Hidden Faces series, now you’re trusting her with the future of the castle. Listen, you know nothing about her except that she is probably good in bed. You ask me to research all these companies before you work with them – Palace Hotels, Extravagance, Castle Heritage – but you’ve done no research on the woman that you want to spend the rest of your life with. You’ve known her a week. Don’t you think it might be beneficial to do a little bit of digging?’

  Cameron bit his lip. He hated to admit it, but she was probably right. If nothing else, Olivia researching Milly and finding out that there was nothing untoward about her would at least get Olivia off his back about her.

  ‘Fine, look her up. Research her. Research Extravagance too. I am one hundred percent confident that you will find nothing dodgy about either of them, but if it will make you feel better then go ahead.’

  Olivia sighed with relief. ‘I’m sure you’re right about her, but a little research won’t do any harm.’

  Her phone rang on the table next to her. She glanced at the caller ID and snatched it up. ‘I’d better take this.’

  She opened the back door and stepped outside as she answered the phone, closing the door behind her.

  Cameron watched her go. Olivia was right. After what happened with Eva, it paid to be a little cautious. He just hoped that she wouldn’t find anything.

  Milly walked back up the drive and spotted Olivia talking on the phone. She was facing away from her, leaning on the castle wall. Annoyingly, as she drew closer, she could see Olivia absently kicking at some loose brickwork at the very bottom of the wall. The castle was damaged enough as it was, without Olivia making it worse.

  She carried on walking past her, but stopped as she caught some of what Olivia was saying.

  ‘Don’t worry, he’ll sign it. Maxwell, don’t worry, I’ll get him to sign it. I need this deal as much as you do.’

  Maxwell? As in the owner of Palace Hotels?

  Olivia shifted slightly and Milly bolted in case she saw her listening. She went into the kitchen and Cameron stuck his head out of the lounge. His smile, when he saw her, lit up his whole face.

  ‘Morning, beautiful.’

  She stepped into the lounge, planting a deep kiss on his lips as he pulled her against him.

  ‘I missed you this morning,’ Cameron whispered against her lips.

  She smiled. ‘You missed the hot sex, you mean.’

  ‘That too.’

  She pulled him further into the lounge. ‘Cameron, listen, how long have you known Olivia?’

  He frowned. ‘About a year. She came to work for me shortly after my dad died. Why?’

  ‘I think she might be doing some kind of deal with Palace Hotels.’

  His frown deepened. ‘Jesus Milly, don’t you start. I’ve just had all this with Olivia about you, she thinks you’re getting some kind of kickback from your brother.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I told her Jamie was your brother, wish I hadn’t now and I really don’t need you going after her too.’

  Milly regretted saying anything. Of course he would believe Olivia over her, they were friends and he’d known her a lot longer than he had known Milly. Unless she came to him with some hard proof, she was just going to look petty and silly. And she hardly had anything concrete apart from a few overheard words in a one sided conversation. She could have jumped to completely the wrong conclusion. She had to let it go for now.

  She decided to change the subject completely, in an attempt to dispel that frown that was marring his beautiful features.

  ‘Ok, forget I said anything. Listen, I went down to the village and spoke to the ladies. They seem to think the treasure is still here in the castle and that Sophia guards over it.’

  This at least managed to wipe the scowl from his face. ‘The dungeons?’

  ‘Apparently.’

  ‘I can’t see anything being hidden down there.’

  ‘Me neither but we haven’t exactly spent prolonged time in the dungeons. There could be lots of nooks and crannies for hiding a chest of treasure. Imagine, if you find it, you wouldn’t have to do a deal with Extravagance or Palace Hotels, you might have enough to pay off all your debts and do the renovations yourself. I know that would be your first choice.’

  Cameron nodded. ‘We’ll have to have a look down there.’

  There was a noise in the kitchen. Milly poked her head outside and spotted Olivia staring right at her. How much had she heard?

  Milly went out into the kitchen and Cameron followed her.

  Olivia continued to stare at her and Milly stared straight back. She didn’t trust her, but apparently the feeling was entirely mutual.

  Cameron sighed as he looked between the two of them. ‘I’m going for a shower. Play nicely, girls.’

  He walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

  Olivia sat down at the table and Milly sat opposite her. Olivia looked at her laptop, apparently ignoring Milly completely. It was time to cut to the chase.

  ‘You don’t like me much, do you?’

  Olivia looked up, su
rprised. ‘What makes you think that?’

  ‘Lucky guess.’

  ‘Milly, you’ve got it all wrong. I want Cameron to be happy. You seem really nice and I hope you don’t let him down but he is a terrible judge of character and I do worry that after only knowing you for one week that he’s possibly jumped without looking again.’

  Milly’s mouth grew dry. Did Olivia know who she was? Suddenly, like a beacon lighting up the table between them, Milly’s eyes fell on her Castle Heritage ID card, sitting just a foot away from Olivia’s hand. Milly wanted to snatch it away from Olivia before she saw it, but it was clearly too late for that. Olivia’s eyes followed Milly’s eyes to the card and her expression didn’t change.

  ‘I found that earlier today,’ Olivia returned her attention to her laptop. ‘I don’t blame you at all. You come here, see the big castle, Phoenix Blaze, of course you’re going to see pound signs.’

  ‘That’s not what this is, I really like him,’ Milly hated that Olivia had caused her to raise her voice after only a few minutes. ‘I’m not interested in his money at all.’

  ‘Milly, I don’t want to upset you, that’s the last thing I want,’ Olivia said calmly. ‘You seem lovely and I really hope that this time I’m wrong, but even if you’re not after his money, it’s not going to last. Cameron gets bored so easily. I’m sorry but give it a few weeks and you’ll be yesterday’s news, the same as the rest.’

  ‘You don’t know anything about me or us. You have no idea what we feel for each other. And I don’t like you coming in here and tarring me with the same brush as all the others.’

  Olivia leaned across the table and when she spoke her voice was low and her eyes were as hard as stone. ‘You’re exactly like the others, some blonde slut out for a good time. Cameron will realise that soon enough and it’s me he will return to, like he always has. And if he doesn’t realise it, I’ll have to help him.’

  Milly stood up. ‘You fucking bitch.’

  ‘Milly!’ Cameron stood in the doorway with a look of thunder on his face. ‘What the hell is wrong with you?’

  Milly had no words to rectify this situation. He blatantly hadn’t heard Olivia’s threat or he would be looking furiously at Olivia, not her.

  Olivia was already sitting back in her chair, her eyes soft again. ‘It’s fine, Cameron, it’s ok,’ she said, calmly.

  ‘It’s not ok,’ Cameron seethed.

  ‘No really, it’s my fault. It’s just a huge misunderstanding. Milly asked if I could get another ticket for her for the charity ball. I told her that’s it’s probably not her sort of thing at all, that it’s unbelievably posh and elitist. I think Milly thought that I was saying that she wasn’t good enough to go, when nothing could be further from the truth. I was merely saying that it can be terribly pretentious there and she’d probably be bored silly. I know you hate it for that very reason, Cameron. Milly, I can get you a ticket if you really want to go. I really meant no offence.’

  Cameron folded his arms across his chest, clearly waiting for Milly to apologise to Olivia. He’d have a long wait.

  Olivia stood up. ‘I’ve got to take some photos for Palace Hotels.’ She picked up her notepad and pen and walked round the table towards Cameron. ‘It’s fine, I promise. Don’t screw this up by going all bull-in-a-china-shop as you normally do. Milly’s lovely and I really don’t want to come between the two of you.’

  Milly stared at her aghast. The conniving little bitch! But Cameron softened at her words.

  Olivia gave his arm a soothing stroke and walked past Milly with a sweet, friendly smile on her face, making Milly wonder if she had imagined the sly comment Olivia had made moments before.

  ‘Liv, stay out of the dungeons,’ Cameron said and she nodded and then left them alone in the kitchen.

  He stared at her as if he didn’t recognise her, waiting for some kind of explanation for which she had none. He was never going to believe her version of events.

  Finally Cameron spoke. ‘I’m going to get dressed and then I’ll take Gregory for a walk. I’m hoping by the time I get back you’ll have some kind of explanation for me.’

  He walked into the lounge and closed the door behind him.

  She pulled a face. As if it wasn’t hard enough between them with all their insecurities and baggage, now there was a meddling PA thrown into the mix too. How on earth was she going to get past this? She somehow had to make it up to Cameron but she hadn’t actually done anything wrong. She opened the fridge to see what she could make for dinner, annoyed that it would have to be a meal for three and that she would have to feed the evil witch or make herself look petty for not including her. She pulled out some tomatoes, mushrooms and peppers, ready to make some kind of pasta sauce when she heard a loud, low moan that seemed to echo round and fill the whole the castle. She looked around in confusion as the moan continued, but over the top of the moan suddenly came an ear splitting scream.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Milly sped from the kitchen as fast as she could, heading straight for the dungeons. The silly cow had clearly decided not to heed Cameron’s warning and investigate the dungeons, probably looking for the lost treasure herself. Sure enough, the door was open and Milly ran through it and down the stairs as fast as she could.

  Olivia was cowering on the floor, crying and screaming. Sophia towered over her, her face a picture of pure livid hate and venomous wrath. The moan was definitely coming from here, the walls seemed to shake as Sophia seemingly was trying to summon the dead of a thousand years. Wind tore through the tunnel, banged the cell doors and pulled at Milly’s hair as it whipped around Olivia like a mini hurricane. Milly could hear mocking laughter and voices.

  If Sophia was only supposed to appear to descendants of the Heartstone line, she obviously made an exception for those who pissed her off.

  She ran towards Olivia, quickly creating a barrier between Sophia and Olivia.

  ‘No Sophia, stop it,’ Milly shouted, sounding braver than she felt.

  Sophia stopped immediately. The wind died, the voices and laughter faded. Sophia gave a courteous little bob, bowing her head at Milly before calmly walking away and fading into the darkness. Olivia was a cow but what the hell had she done to Sophia to piss her off that much?

  She turned and put an arm around Olivia, who shrugged it off, still wailing and sobbing.

  ‘It’s ok, it’s over. The ghosts are gone, come on, let’s make you a cup of tea,’ Milly used her best soothing voice. Olivia didn’t move from her foetal position on the floor and the sobbing didn’t relent. Milly knelt next to her, stroking her back, just as Cameron stormed down the stairs.

  He looked at Milly and then moved to Olivia’s other side.

  ‘Liv? Are you ok?’

  Olivia threw herself at Cameron, sobbing and almost knocking him to the floor. He stood up, scooping Olivia into his arms and walked out, leaving Milly kneeling on the floor, jealousy burning through her gut.

  Milly sat staring at her dinner, she had no appetite at all. The pasta bake that she had made for the three of them had long since gone cold and Cameron still hadn’t emerged from Olivia’s bedroom, where he had taken her after leaving the dungeon. She supposed she should be grateful that he hadn’t taken her to his bedroom, Milly couldn’t have stomached that.

  She kept telling herself that Cameron wouldn’t do anything with Olivia behind her back, but how well did she really know him? The thing that stuck in her gut the most was that Olivia looked like Eva. Was there really an attraction between them? Milly remembered how Cameron had lain in bed with her after she had been scared by the skeleton, was he now doing that with Olivia, holding her and stroking her? That would be worse than if he was shagging her. The ghost incident had come mere minutes after Cameron had heard Milly swear at Olivia, and now she had driven him straight into her beautiful arms.

  Cameron walked into the kitchen looking exhausted. He piled some pasta onto a plate, not looking at her.

  ‘Liv says you set
the ghosts on her.’

  Milly felt her mouth fall open. ‘Are you frigging kidding me?’

  Cameron shrugged.

  ‘And you believe her?’

  ‘I’m not sure what to believe, to be honest. The Milly that I fell for over the last few days was sweet and kind and the Milly I’ve seen today has been a bit of a cow.’

  Milly felt like he had just slapped her. ‘She knows who I am and she doesn’t like me. She made that very clear just before you arrived in the kitchen this afternoon.’

  There was little point telling him that Olivia planned to split them up. She doubted he would believe her and she’d end up looking like the petty bad guy.

  ‘She’s looking out for me. I’ve been through a lot over the last few months and she’s very protective of me.’

  ‘And you think that I would do something as horrible as set the ghosts on her.’

  He sighed. ‘No I don’t.’

  He tucked into the pasta and chewed for a few moments.

  ‘Thanks for this, I’d better get back.’

  ‘You’re spending the night with her?’

  ‘She’s terrified.’

  Milly couldn’t help thinking that Olivia was playing it up so that Cameron would stay with her. Guilt then twisted in her gut for thinking that and for being jealous. The whole experience had been scary for Milly and she wasn’t even the subject of the attack.

  Cameron turned to go. ‘Don’t wait up for me.’

  He walked out and the door swung closed behind him.

  Milly got changed into her pyjamas and decided to sleep in her own room. It didn’t seem right to sleep in Cameron’s bed when he probably didn’t want her there.

  She turned off the light and climbed into bed, feeling lonely without Cameron and annoyed that she felt that way. Even more annoying was that sleep was a long way off.

  He’d called her a cow. No one had ever called her that before. The honeymoon was well and truly over. She felt a tear slide across her cheek and plop onto the pillow.

  She had only been in bed five minutes when she heard Cameron come back into the lounge and go into his bedroom. A second later, the door on the guest room banged open and Milly sat up in shock.