with the sleeve of her jumper. Keep busy. Keep busy. ‘I never knew I’d gathered so much stuff.’
‘I can’t believe you’re packing boxes wearing a priceless necklace.’ Claire put two mugs of tea down on the threadbare carpet.
‘I’m just terrified I’ll lose it.’ Katie touched the diamonds at her throat. ‘I haven’t taken it off since I discovered I was still wearing it on the plane. I’ll be relieved when it’s finally gone.’
‘Now you’re talking rubbish. You’ll be heartbroken when it’s gone because it’s the only thing you have of him.’ Her voice gruff, Claire leaned forward and hugged her friend. ‘You’re so thin. I hate him for doing this to you.’
Terrified by how bad she felt, Katie pulled away. She’d never been in love before and she’d had no idea that it could hurt this much. The grief was huge and physical, a weight on her chest that she couldn’t shift. ‘Don’t you dare cry or you’ll start me off.’
‘Sorry—I just can’t believe you’re going. What am
I going to do without you? You’re my best friend … you tell me what to wear.’ Claire’s eyes narrowed. ‘I’m loving that red jumper, by the way. What happened to all your favourite shades of brown?’
Katie felt her eyes sting. ‘I moved on,’ she said huskily. ‘Now, stop making me sad. You can come and stay. And we can email and text and there’s always Skype and Facebook—’ She broke off as someone hammered on her front door.
Claire looked at her watch. ‘The removal men are early.’
‘Katie?’ Nathaniel’s voice bellowed through the closed door. ‘Open this damn door!’
Claire shot to her feet, tea sloshing onto the carpet. ‘It’s him! What’s he doing here?’
Katie put her tea down carefully. ‘He’s here for his diamonds. I should have texted him to tell him I was planning to return it.’
‘I don’t think men like Nathaniel would bother travelling to another continent just to retrieve lost property.’
‘Well, there isn’t any other reason for him to be here.’ Feeling sick and dizzy, Katie stood and smoothed her jumper. She didn’t want to face him. She just wasn’t sure she could hang on to control. Wishing she’d couriered the necklace back to him, she walked to the door and pulled it open.
Nathaniel stood there dressed in black leather, a motorbike helmet tucked under his arm.
Her knees went weak.
How was she going to cope? How could she forget about him when Nathaniel Wolfe’s insanely handsome face stared back at her from every billboard and every magazine?
‘Hi, I know why you’re here.’ She must have learned something from him, she thought, because it was only acting skills that kept her afloat. ‘You’ve come for your property.’
‘That’s right.’ His voice was smooth and sure and he glanced over her shoulder and saw Claire. ‘Hi, Claire.’
Claire looked as though she might faint. ‘You know my name ….’
Katie put her hands behind her neck and unfastened the necklace. The diamonds seemed to symbolise all the reasons why this would never have worked. ‘Here—’ She held it out to him and he stared at it.
‘Why are you giving me that?’
‘You’ve come for your property.’
‘That’s right. But I don’t want the necklace.’ He studied her with those blue eyes that made women forget how to think straight and walk straight. ‘I want you.’
There was a whimper and a thud behind her, but Katie was too busy keeping her own emotions under control to have any thoughts to spare for her friend. She wasn’t going to fall for it. Yes, it sounded sincere. He was an actor. He earned a living making the unbelievable, believable. ‘Take the necklace …’ She pushed it into his hand. ‘Get on with your life.’ Get out of my house before I make a complete fool of myself….
‘You have every right to be angry with me.’ Without waiting for invitation, Nathaniel walked into the flat and kicked the door shut behind him.
Panic fluttered in her chest. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’
‘You’re always saying that if there’s a problem, it’s better to talk, so we’re going to talk.’
Katie stood, mute, terrified to open her mouth in case this was the moment when she broke down and sobbed.
Nathaniel lifted an eyebrow. ‘I’m giving you permission to talk—to say everything that’s in your head.’
Katie said nothing.
‘I think I’ll just go for a walk.’ Claire’s voice was falsely bright. ‘This is one scene where you definitely don’t need any extras.’ Grabbing her coat, she melted out of the flat, shutting the door firmly behind her.
Nathaniel didn’t shift his gaze from Katie. ‘This isn’t like you.’ When she still didn’t answer, he gave an exasperated sigh. ‘All right, maybe this time I’ll do the talking. I went back to Wolfe Manor. I saw Jacob.’
Katie still said nothing, but her legs felt unsteady and everything inside her was churning.
‘I went to the lake.’ Something flickered in his eyes. ‘I told you that William tried to drown me there—what I didn’t tell you was that Carrie did the same thing when I was a baby. She’d just discovered that my father had produced a child with another woman. She was always emotionally fragile, but that night—well, it tipped her over the edge. Apparently she thought she was saving me.’
This time she found her voice. ‘Nathaniel—’
‘Are those your pictures of me?’ He stared at the pile of magazines that she’d stacked by the door. ‘Are you clearing them out of your life?’
‘Never mind that.’ She felt dizzy. ‘Who saved you that night? When your mother walked into the lake with you?’
‘Jacob and Lucas were home from the school holidays and were camping in the grounds. They waded in and rescued us both. Much to my father’s fury—he beat them both for saving his “mad wife” and her unwanted child. That’s me by the way.’ His mouth twisted. ‘I was the unwanted child. Apparently the only time my father was nice to my mother was when she was pregnant with my brother Sebastian. Unfortunately she made the mistake of thinking that history would repeat itself so she got herself pregnant again. Big mistake.’
Katie wrapped her arms around herself. ‘Did she recognise you when you gave her the Sapphire?’
‘I don’t know.’ His voice was soft. ‘I think so but maybe that’s just wishful thinking.’
‘How is she?’
‘Stable. On buckets of medication, of course, but happy enough in her own world. All we can do for her is protect her as much as we can.’
