Sabrina stretched her arm across the bed and discovered she was alone. She sat up searching for Raoul, her eyes blinking in the dim light. He had dismissed Louisa and cradled her in his arms all night. She’d felt cherished and deeply loved. He’d probably gone out riding. She felt empty inside without him, having hoped to wake with him by her side. She threw off the covers and slipped on the dress, giggling and scooped up her shoes as she padded across the wooden floor. A nice warm shower was in order and she decided to return to their own room for one in the hope of catching him when he came in from his ride.
Last night had been exhilarating. She felt so close to Raoul now. She may not remember everything but there was enough to feel a strong bond and deep connection that did exist between them. She would never understand why her mind would cause her to forget her husband and the man she loved. That was until she opened the door to her bedroom.
Cressida sat up from Raoul’s bed as if on cue and suitably horrified. She was naked, her body half exposed under rumpled sheets. She tossed her chestnut curls over her shoulder and looked defiantly at Sabrina standing in the doorway. Sabrina felt her mouth go dry. She glanced at the door of the bathroom that was slightly ajar. The shower was running.
“He left your bed for mine, just like he used to. You just don’t seem to be able to satiate a man like Raoul.”
Sabrina moved towards the bathroom and checked the shower. She gave a smile of satisfaction. Raoul was nowhere to be seen. The shower was running empty. She turned it off and marched back to Cressida quietly triumphant.
“Grow up, Cressida and get out of my bed before I drag you out,” Sabrina snapped walking over to tug the sheets from the bed. “Raoul does not love you. You are just a pest in our lives. Leave now before I have you run out of this house into the snow.”
Cressida pouted realising the game was up. She stood up totally unabashed by her nakedness, giving Sabrina’s body a pitiful stare. Sabrina bit her lip and tossed Cressida her robe, repeating her command for the woman to leave the room.
Sabrina took a shower. She let the warm water of the shower cascade down her body, drowning out the voice in her head that told her she had to do something urgent about the situation with Luc. She closed her eyes her mind recounting a million memories of her life in the chateau with Raoul, how they met, his arguments with Luc, Alain always staring, always making her uneasy. And her friendship with Tamsin.
Her memory was coming back thick and fast after only a few days, forcing her to confront the demons she’d run from all those years ago. She pressed her hands against the wall and let out a cry as the night of her attack played inside her head like a bad movie. She could see Luc, his grip on her face and arm so tight. She had a feeling there was someone else in the room. This time the memory was longer. Luc was swearing at her in French, threatening her that if she told Raoul anything he would kill her.
She’d believed him after the rumours Tamsin had told her about him. Then Luc was turning, talking to the other person in the room. There was only a small lamp on and she could not see the man’s face. Luc raised his hand and slapped her hard knocking her to the floor and stepped back. Sabrina gasped feeling the fear and tension increase in her body as the memory stopped then started again. She couldn’t see the man’s face, only his arm as he yanked her up sharply. She could hear herself cry and plead with the man but his hand reached out to tear the necklace from her throat, its rubies dancing all over the wooden floor around her feet as he knocked her to the ground. She shut her eyes and cried out. The memory shut down quickly. When she opened her eyes, her hands were pressed taut against the wall; her body was cold and shivering despite the warmth of the shower.
An eerie feeling swept over her body. There was so much steam in the room, and she could not see much outside the shower cubicle but her senses told her there was someone there watching her shower and possibly had been for a while. She saw the figure of a man move closer.
“Who’s there? Raoul, is that you?”
She heard the panic in her voice. The intruder moved away from the shower and made for the door knocking over a metal rack filled with towels. Sabrina ran out of the shower grabbing a towel to wrap around her body and out of the door only to run slap bang into Raoul carrying a tray of breakfast with a rose in a vase to compliment the breakfast he had made for her himself.
“Sabrina, what’s the matter? Why are you are shaking?” he demanded putting the tray down.
He held her damp arms smoothing his fingers up and down them to soothe her agitation. Sabrina paused. She was ready to tell Raoul everything but something made her stop. She had to know everything before she could accuse anyone. She had to make sure, it was too risky to get wrong and too many people to hurt when she made a decision whether to reveal the truth or not.
“I just had another flash back. I got scared and ran out here to find you,” she lied.
She looked down at the towel rack lying across the floor. She put a hand to her head.
“I knocked the rack down as I ran. I’m sorry.”
Raoul held her close and kissed her forehead.
“Let’s get you dry, you need to eat something.”
He opened the towel and began to dry her body. It was a comforting action, more than sensual making her feel glad of his closeness. He stayed with her as she dressed reluctant to leave her alone. His eyes watched her with guarded suspicion and concern making her certain he did not believe her story.
A late lunch was served and was another guarded affair. Sabrina knew most of the guests now, although her memory was still distant and vague with the details of their lives and their connections to Raoul and herself. Cressida had managed to sit herself on the other side of Raoul and was directly competing with Sabrina for his attention. Raoul paid her little, if any at all. But it only had the effect of making her try harder. She constantly touched his arm, brushed his hand and made comments about Raoul’s life without Sabrina and their various meetings and days out, the times they were alone and the attention he’d lavished on her.
The other guests shook their heads and Raoul became annoyed with the way she constantly interrupted his conversations with Sabrina. He laughed at the way she tried to make out he had been infatuated with her, reminding her quite clearly their meetings had been on business terms only and the days out spent with clients and other partners engaged on the project they had been working on. But it was all enough to make Sabrina wonder if she hadn’t been right in the first place.
She remembered heated conversations with Cressida over Raoul before she disappeared and her stunt that very morning that Raoul swore he knew nothing about. She narrowed her eyes at Raoul. He grinned and picked up her hand and lavished it with a gentle kiss. He leaned in close and kissed her cheek. He whispered in her ear.
“As soon as lunch is over I am going to speak to her and make her leave. Don’t believe anything she says. I am not the only one who knows she is lying. Ask anyone here.”
Sabrina looked up at Cressida who was giving her best vamp scowl. Sabrina smiled sweetly with sarcasm making Tamsin dig her side with triumph. Sabrina glanced around the table feeling eyes rest on her. They belonged to Alain. She wondered if it had been him in her room before and maybe he was the other person in the study who had raped her. She shuddered as the thought crossed her mind. She wished she could remember the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle to end the mystery of her past life. She caught his eyes and felt her body tremble as his eyes bored into her making her feel violated. She quickly looked away only to find Maxim Tissier watching her intently. She decided the best place for her eyes to look were down at her plate and began to eat again, although she barely could force it down. The feeling her attacker might be in the same house, or even around the table made her feel sick with fear and dread.
Coffee was served in the lounge. Raoul hovered close, not leaving her side once causing her to feel suspicious. Her head felt stuffy and the sick feeling was unbearable. Her head seemed to spin with ques
tions, theories, scrutinising all those around her as they tried to make conversation. Alain and Luc were both watching her along with Cressida and Maxim. She felt like an exhibit in a freak show and all she wanted to do was to get out of the room, even the house just so she could breathe.
Cressida would not leave Raoul’s side and was openly making a play for his attention. Sabrina couldn’t stand it anymore and made an excuse about going to the bathroom to freshen up. She glared at Raoul who appeared to be finding Cressida’s antics amusing. The more he ignored her the more attention she gave him. It gave Sabrina the wrong impression of his sincerity. She breathed a sigh of relief as she closed the door behind her. What she needed was some air. A tingle of excitement ignited her memory. She’d missed riding so much. She would be rusty but it was worth a try to see how much of it she remembered.
Sabrina ran upstairs feeling a new energy with the return of her memory. She knew exactly where to look for her riding jacket and coat. They were still neatly hanging in the space she’d left them, her riding hat on the shelf. She quickly changed and snuck back down the stairs making sure she was not seen. She stole away to the stables, winding her way around the side of the chateau. She heard voices from a nearby window and realised she was outside Raoul’s study. She stood to the side, her footsteps quiet in the soft snow. One of the voices was female. It belonged to Cressida. Sabrina tensed but she could only make out snatches of the argument. What she did hear confirmed her doubts. They were talking about their relationship. Cressida reached up and rested her hands against Raoul’s back, which was turned to her as he poured a drink from the cabinet. She leant her head against him savouring his warmth.
Sabrina closed her eyes as though she’d experienced a sharp stab of pain. She felt jealousy soar within her but she could not walk away. She wanted to know how Raoul would deal with the situation.
Raoul swung around sharply nearly knocking Cressida off balance.
“Don’t touch me. How many times do I have to tell you I am not interested, Cressida,” he bellowed.
He slammed his drink down. Cressida lowered her eyes hurt. She was playing him again, giving him that innocent virgin girl routine.
“You used to be.”
“That was before Sabrina and when I realised what you were all about.”
She pouted her cherry lips. Once upon a time he would have found the action irresistible. But now all he could think about was Sabrina and the way she pouted and lowered her eyes when she wanted something from him. The way she curled her arms around his neck and stroked a finger over his lips as she asked please in her most seductive voice rendering him at her mercy.
“I still don’t know why you married Sabrina. I could have been so much better for you. I thought you would have come to your senses these last ten years but you’ve done your best to keep away from me.”
He could hear hysteria rise in her voice.
“You cast me away, remember. It was you who had the affairs. You who thought you could play me off with that playboy millionaire and his young brother just so you could snare one of us into marriage and get what you really wanted, money.”
Cressida snapped her hand quick over the side of his face. He rubbed his jaw. His voice was cold and brutal.
“The truth hurts doesn’t it, Cressida. I don’t want you I never have done and you’ve always known that, yet you still persist. You made Sabrina’s life hell before she disappeared. Just when she needed my support you made her think we were having an affair. She asked me for a divorce the night of the ball and I refused. When I showed you out that night I meant what I said, I never wanted to see you again in my house. And now you’re here thanks to Luc. I want you to leave before the weather sets in bad again.”
“What if I refuse? Luc won’t hear of it,” she told him triumphantly. “Do you really want to cause an argument with him again when your mother is so ill? She has a hard time as it is keeping you two happy with each other.”
“If you refuse I will put you on that helicopter myself. I don’t want you hurting Sabrina anymore than you have. Now get out of my house.”
“I will make lots of trouble for you, Raoul.”
“You mean like the stunt you pulled this morning trying to convince Sabrina we slept together last night. I suppose that was Luc in the shower helping you out. I don’t know what you two are up to. I should have realised when he convinced me to engage you as the architect on the holiday complex.”
He heard himself laugh at his naivety.
“I must have lost more than Sabrina when she disappeared. I thought I should give you a second chance. I thought ten years would have made a difference, not to mention your marriage. But I was obviously wrong. Your contract will be terminated.”
“You can’t do that I’ll sue.”
Raoul looked at the woman he once thought he was in love with in his early twenties with contempt.
“Go ahead but you might want to read the small print. I have already engaged another good architect, your sister Alexandra. You two should have stayed a team but I gather she didn’t trust you either.”
He watched Cressida’s eyes cloud with moisture and felt a pang of guilt. But she deserved it for all the hurt she had caused Sabrina and their marriage. Her voice was choked.
“I don’t believe you don’t want me. What if I told you your precious Sabrina was having an affair with your brother before she so mysteriously disappeared.”
Raoul felt his blood move faster around his veins with anger as her words hit a chord, confirming the suspicions he hadn’t even wanted to consider.
Chapter 11
Sabrina engaged the help of the stable groom with saddling one of the horses. She walked the animal out onto the snow-covered courtyard and didn’t refuse the groom’s help in mounting the horse. It had been awhile and his assistance was greatly appreciated, although before her disappearance she would have been embarrassed. She had always been a competent rider but she was rusty and it made her a little nervous. The groom didn’t know who she was otherwise he probably would have stopped her from going off on her own. Raoul appeared to have all the staff trained to watch out for any impending danger when she was around.
She took a breath and instructed the black mare to move off along the path and down into the grounds towards the partially frozen lake. She maintained a sedate walk at first, too nervous to try anything else until she gained more confidence. She moved slowly down the hill and began to walk around the lake. It was her usual route to take when riding on her own.
Everything was so peaceful and still under the snow. Seeing Raoul so coldly dismiss Cressida gave her new hope for their marriage. But his shock on hearing Cressida mentioned her possible affair left her pained and fearful. She just wanted a peaceful ride to clear her mind and plan her next move.
Woods lined both sides of the lake revealing several secret sculptured fountains and marble men and women in Greek dress that would be hidden in the summer months in the generous green foliage of the trees. It took her forty-five minutes to walk the length of the canal and reach the wall that travelled around the grounds of the chateau.
It stood before her. A reminder of the barrier that crossed between the two lives that she was leading. Beyond the wall was her life as Sabrina Michaels in England and the other as Sabrina Valoire.
She laughed remembering how she had jumped forcing Raoul to do the same as she rode off down the lane that led into the village. He’d been so angry. She could have been thrown and gotten herself killed he’d chastised. He probably had a point but…
She broke the horse into a canter and soared up into the air over the metal gate clearing it easily and landed with a gentle crunch in the snow. She turned back and patted the horse’s neck in reward and laughed. She could still do it. She looked back at the fields of snow stretching out towards the village and remembered the last time she saw them they were full of sunflowers and lavender, the air was heavenly scented with perfume. It had been so warm that day. Raou
l had chased her all the way into the village and they had laughed over fresh croissants, brioche rolls dusted with sugar and warm café ole when he eventually calmed down.
She felt her heart ache. Sabrina looked back at the gate and backed the animal up again and soared over it. She heard someone clap with gloved hands and turned around quickly. Cressida sat on her horse laughing.
“Bravo, Sabrina.”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to get back over that fence and ride off into the sunset, never to return,” she said coldly.
“Sorry, Cressida, no deal. My memory is coming back and I want to know more. I want my life back and I want Raoul. You are not taking him from me.”
Cressida rode closer until she stood next to Sabrina.
“I’m sorry, Sabrina, darling but I am going to do everything in my power to see that you don’t get it all. This time you aren’t going to get the man. If I were you I would get over that fence. I told him about you and Luc and your little torrid affair.”
“Bitch. I never had an affair with Luc or anyone and you know it.”
“But he doesn’t know that. He’s too blind. He doesn’t see how inferior you really are. He’s too busy trying to let you down gently and get what he needs, a divorce. He can do so much better with me. I will be an asset to his business and social contacts.”
“You mean you will sleep with them. And probably dump him if a better offer comes along.”
Cressida reached out and grasped her fingers around Sabrina’s coat and pulled her close.
“You are going to pay for this. If you won’t go voluntarily then I’ll make you go myself.”
Under Lock & Key: A Daddy Dom Romance (A Traditional Daddy Book 2) Page 12