winning the fight. That morning he’d woken to find her gone, her closet empty, not a trace of her left. Except a note:
Robbie, this is my lie. Let me take it with me.
The words he had lived with for the past decade.
A familiar surge of anger flared. Everything she’d put him through and that was how she repaid him. He’d told her it would happen. She hadn’t listened.
He scoured his face and chest, ridding himself of the memories.
At the MGM he’d heard they were coming, wanted to scope out the Orient before next summer. It sounded so simple, just an introduction over dinner, except Robert knew it would be almost impossible to do.
I’m going to see Laura again.
He didn’t think Elisabeth had suspected anything over lunch today. When he thought of his innocent fiancée he felt nothing but shame.
Turning off the shower, he stepped out, pressing a towel to his face. It was easier to feel anger than it was hurt.
He could not continue to let Lana Falcon rule his life. She had moved on; she didn’t want him. She’d wasted no time in getting married to another man. Clearly she had forgotten everything; meanwhile he’d been holding out on the rest of his life–and for what? Some girl who couldn’t care less.
Tonight would draw a line under the past. He was a St Louis, a businessman, and he hadn’t got this far by indulging his emotions.
Robert wrapped the towel around his waist and emerged into the bedroom.
To his surprise Elisabeth was sitting on the bed, her eyes dead on him. She must have come in and got changed while he’d been in the shower. Her gun-metal-grey gown was studded with crystals and a serious expression clouded her beautifully made-up face.
‘I thought I was meeting you there,’ he said, running a hand through his wet hair. He pulled a dark blue suit out of the closet.
Elisabeth swallowed. ‘I’ve got to be honest with you.’
Robert turned round. Immediately she looked away and in that movement he knew the hurt he’d caused her ran deeper than he knew. He’d withdrawn the past few months, he’d treated her unfairly–what was she supposed to think?
‘About what?’ he asked softly.
She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it, then opened it again. Tears threatened and she raised a hand to stem them. ‘I don’t know how to …’ she began.
Robert saw his opportunity. ‘I know things haven’t been great between us,’ he said quietly, approaching the bed.
‘Me, too,’ she blurted. ‘It’s because I’ve done—I mean, I’ve been—’
‘Stop.’ He sat down next to her and put a finger to her mouth. ‘I already know.’
Elisabeth was confused. ‘You do?’
‘Of course.’ He put an arm round her and pulled her into his warmth. ‘I’ve not been there for you lately, I’m aware of that.’ He kissed the top of her head. ‘To tell the truth I’ve had a lot on my mind, I had a few things I needed to work out. Now that I have, I know what I want.’
He pulled away so he could look into her eyes. They were blue, so blue. That treacherous part of him willed them to be green.
‘And what’s that?’ she asked.
He closed his eyes. ‘I want to … Hang on.’
Suddenly he was on his knees, in front of her, his strong, bare chest still wet from the shower.
‘Elisabeth.’ He looked up at her solemnly.
Her breath caught.
‘Will you marry me?’
She let out a burst of laughter. ‘What?’
‘I don’t mean it like a proposal.’ He took her hand and rubbed a thumb over the sparkling diamond. ‘I mean it like a date, OK? Let’s set a date. For the summer, after the premiere.’ He became animated. ‘Soon after the premiere, in August, yes? Pick a date for me and I promise you,’ he put a hand on his heart, ‘we’ll do it.’
Elisabeth was stunned. This was it: her opportunity to become Mrs St Louis; the most powerful woman in Vegas. It meant she could put the episode with Alberto Bellini firmly behind her. She could be free from her family once and for all. So why didn’t she feel happier?
Robert looked up at her expectantly.
‘Yes!’ she cried, surrendering herself to the release. In one word she was back on safe ground. Everything was going to work out, this was how it was meant to be–her night with Alberto had been a blip, nothing more, just as she’d known. ‘Oh, of course, yes!’
She fell into his arms and he kissed her fervently, his hands buried in her glossy blonde hair. Gently he lowered her to the floor and moved on top of her, kissing her, one hand cupping her chin, the other working the zipper on her dress.
Elisabeth thought briefly of Alberto, but only briefly. Robert had saved her, delivering her from transgression and showing her the way.
Robert thought of Lana and resisted her with all his might. He resisted Belleville, that final, terrible decision, though it came in waves, thick and fast.
This was the right thing, for all of them. It was the right thing for him. It was.
Belleville, Ohio, 1999
‘We’ve got to go to the police.’
Robbie was slumped against the door to the trailer, his head in his hands.
‘No.’ Laura shook her head fiercely. ‘No cops, no way.’ Indecision was a luxury they could not afford–there would be time for weakness later. For now they had to think straight, and if there was one thing she was certain of, it was this: Lester Fallon had taken enough of her life already, there was no way she was giving him more.
‘Laura, I killed him.’ Robbie shook his head. ‘Do you hear me? I killed him.’
Laura thought she was going to be sick. ‘It was self-defence,’ she said at last, her voice cold. ‘He was trying to rape me. ‘
They had no idea how much time had passed since the fatal blow. It felt like hours. The smashed bottle lay on its side at her brother’s feet, staring back at them, accusing. The words ‘murder instrument’ looped in Laura’s mind.
‘I need some air,’ she said. ‘We have to get our heads together, come up with a plan.’
Robbie looked up at her. ‘No police?’
