am clearly in a worse condition than I thought, she realised, because any woman who thought safety and comfort lay within those strong arms needed therapy and lots of it!
‘Chloe said it was easy.’ She sniffed, casting a look of loathing at the motorbike. ‘It isn’t. I can’t do anything right, not even run away...’ Her voice quivered with self-pity as she felt an angry splash of tear on her cheek. She swiped it away with a hand and glared at him.
His lips twisted into an ironic half-smile. ‘You just thought you’d slip quietly away on the back of a motorbike wearing that?’
Following the direction of his gaze, Sabrina looked down and felt a stab of guilt when she thought of the skilled women who had sewn the thousands of seed pearls onto the acres of white silk. The beautiful dress was trashed! There were several smears of dirt, oil or both on the bodice and a massive rip in the skirt from when she had tried and failed to mount the motorbike before it had taken off without her.
‘Chloe managed it.’ Her dismay spiked again when she thought of her sister. ‘She’s going to be wondering where I am. She’ll be worried. She’ll think I’ve done something stupid.’
‘As opposed to riding on a motorbike in your wedding dress? Don’t worry, I’ll send someone to tell her you’re all right.’
Sabrina shook her head, her lips firming into a mutinous line. ‘I don’t want to send someone. I want to go with her. I know they’ve sent you to take me back.’ She folded her arms across her heaving chest and looked up at him, defiance shining in her brown eyes. ‘But I won’t go.’
He studied her, reading the determination in her tear-stained face, and felt a strong beat of sympathy.
‘Did you know?’ she asked suddenly. ‘That he was going to do it?’
‘No, I got a note.’
She nodded. ‘So did I.’ She held out the crumpled piece of paper. ‘Did you know there was someone else?’
His jaw tightened. ‘No.’
‘Ah, well,’ she sighed. ‘It’s over now.’
Maybe it was a blessing that she actually believed that; he doubted she could cope with the truth. The question was, could he? ‘Come on,’ he heard himself say.
She blinked. ‘Where?’
‘Where did you plan to run away to with Chloe?’
‘The beach...the one past the Roman dig. We were going swimming.’
‘OK.’
She blinked. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean,’ he said, ‘that I will take you to join Chloe.’ He spread his hands wide as she continued to look at him with suspicion. ‘No catch.’ Without waiting to see if she followed him, he headed for the row of garages where his brother kept his cars. The doors were open and he approached the first one.
He pulled the dust cover off a sporty two-seater. ‘It’s Luis’s,’ he said without turning. He had heard the sound of her heels on the cobbles behind him. ‘He never locks it.’ Sebastian had no compunction about taking it. Luis had gifted him his life and his bride, not that she realised it yet, so he supposed the car was his too.
As she followed Sebastian the irresponsibility of this course of action was beginning to hit home. Running away achieved nothing.
He turned and arched a brow. ‘You coming?’
She rocked back a little on her spiky heels as they sank into the gravel. ‘I should really go back.’
He didn’t proffer an opinion, just stood there looking at her. She took a deep breath and made a choice of the middle ground. ‘All right, we’ll go and find Chloe and then come back.’
The engine purred into life while she was still manoeuvring herself into the low seat and she released a small squeal as it sped off as she closed the door.
Avoiding the chaos that it seemed safe to assume surrounded the main entrances to the palace, Sebastian drove through the unguarded stable entrance, past the neatly fenced paddocks, empty today while the staff were attending the celebrations.
Sabrina stayed silent until they reached the hairpin bends that surrounded this part of the island’s coast. ‘Luis said something in his letter.’
His blue eyes flickered briefly her way.
‘Is it true? The King isn’t his father?’
‘Does it matter now?’ He dismissed the question with a curt flick of his head. ‘And Luis was an idiot for telling you and...telling anyone,’ he condemned.
She was bemused by his attitude. She had seen with her own eyes how his father behaved towards him and she could imagine what effect the headlines about his mother’s affair and the rumours of his birth had had on the life of a boy at public school.
‘But people said things about you, wrote things. You could have told them the truth.’
‘I have a thick skin and I totally believe the old adage what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. It doesn’t bother me what people say, or think. They will always find something to write. It would have been harder for Luis.’
She shook her head and wondered if he had told himself that so many times he actually believed it.
‘What’s happening?’ she asked, sliding down in her seat, feeling conspicuous in her white wedding dress as the car slowed to a crawl. Before Sebastian responded to the question they came to a complete standstill.
‘I’m not sure,’ Sebastian admitted, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel before he opened the window and leaned out. That was when he smelt the smoke...acrid and unmistakable.
‘Wait there.’
She craned her neck as Sebastian, with long-legged ease, exited the car and approached one of the several people who had already left their cars. Some were pointing, and then she saw the plumes of smoke rising from behind the hill ahead. Sabrina’s stomach muscles quivered as she clambered out and, skirt in hand, ran towards Sebastian, oblivious to the stares her outfit was attracting.
Sebastian stopped, suggesting to drivers they pull their cars as far to the side of the road as possible to give access to rescue vehicles, and turned to her. ‘I said to wait inside the car.’
She ignored the statement. ‘What’s happening? Do you think Chloe...?’
He laid both hands on her shoulders; the heavy contact was somehow comforting. ‘There is nothing to be gained from jumping to conclusions. I’m just going to go find out what’s happening. You wait here. I’ll be back as soon as I can.’
Several other drivers were already jogging down the road but Sebastian hit the ground running, passing them all in moments.
It didn’t cross her mind to obey his instructions, but by the time she had rounded the bend ahead and the scene of devastation several hundred yards on was revealed there was no sign of him among the wreckage.
Was
