can you be so sure that Julian will drop his current girlfriend for me?’
‘He wants you, we already know that,’ Dee told her forthrightly, ‘and besides, you’re on your own, unprotected … It’s your money … yours to do with as you please … His current girlfriend isn’t; she’s got a brother who stands between Julian and her inheritance. Julian is running out of credit and credibility. He won’t be able to resist the bait you’re dangling, Kelly. He can’t afford to resist it.’
‘The bait …’ Kelly swallowed shakily. The bait Dee was referring to, as she knew only too well, wasn’t just her imagined fortune, it was Kelly herself, and since she personally thought that Julian Cox was the most loathsome, obnoxious, revolting and undesirable man she had ever met …
‘But if Kelly’s going to pose as a wealthy heiress, then surely Julian won’t be interested in my money as well,’ Anna protested.
‘Don’t you believe it,’ Dee corrected her. ‘Julian is greedy and avaricious; he won’t pass up any opportunity to get his hands on some extra cash.’
‘But I’ve already refused to help him once,’ Anna pointed out.
‘You’re a woman; you can change your mind,’ Dee told her mock-sweetly. ‘Look, you can both leave all the details of putting our plans into action to me. All I want from you is your agreement, your commitment, to help Beth, and I know I can rely on both of you completely for that … Can’t I?’
Kelly and Anna exchanged uncertain looks.
‘Beth is very dear to us,’ Dee reminded them, looking first at Kelly and then at Anna.
‘Yes. Of course … of course you can,’ Anna agreed immediately.
‘Yes. Of course you can,’ Kelly agreed a little less confidently. Something warned her that, foolproof though Dee’s plan sounded, things might not fall into place just as easily as she assumed, but her brain felt too clouded by the wine she had drunk for her to be able to formulate any determined assault on Dee’s confident arguments and besides, Dee was right about one thing—she did feel that Julian deserved to be exposed for what he was …
For the next few minutes they continued their discussion, and as they did so Kelly’s doubts as to the feasibility of Dee’s plan resurfaced.
‘I’ve got an early start in the morning, so if you don’t mind we really ought to make a move,’ Dee announced finally, checking her watch.
As she stood up Kelly realised dizzily just how strong the red wine she had been drinking actually was. To her relief Anna seemed equally affected by it. Of the three of them, Dee was the only one who seemed to have a properly clear head, which was just as well since she was the one doing the driving.
As she shepherded her two slightly inebriated charges out into the car park and to her car, Dee acknowledged ruefully that she would thoroughly deserve it if both of them blamed her in the morning for their thick heads—she, after all, had been the one who had kept on refilling their glasses—but she comforted herself with the knowledge that what she was doing was right; she owed it to—Her eyes closed. She must not think of the past, only the future—a future in which Julian Cox would meet the fate he so richly deserved!
She hadn’t been able to believe it when she had discovered that Julian was up to his old tricks, but this time he wasn’t going to get away with it. This time … this time he was going to discover to his cost just how strong and powerful a woman’s desire for justice could be.
With an almost maternal concern she helped her two friends and fellow conspirators into her car. She intended to take very good care of them from now on, very good care … As they settled a little woozily into the rear seat Dee reflected that it was just as well that they couldn’t read her mind and that they didn’t know the truth. There had been one or two decidedly awkward moments back in the restaurant when Kelly had tried to question her, to dig a little deeper into the past, but fortunately she had managed to sidetrack her.
‘Poor Beth …’ Anna hiccuped mournfully as Dee started the car engine.
‘Poor Beth,’ Kelly agreed, blinking as she tried to clear her increasingly blurry vision.
‘No, not poor Beth,’ Dee corrected them sternly. ‘Lucky Beth. Just think how much more unhappy he could have made her if he’d waited until after they were engaged, or, even worse, until after they were married before betraying her,’ Dee pointed out to them.
‘It’s going to be easier for her this way. If she had married him …’
Instinctively she glanced down at her own wedding ring finger. It was slightly thinner than its fellows as if once …? Then determinedly she looked away.
In the rear of the car her two fellow conspirators were succumbing to the effects of the extremely potent red wine she had deliberately fed them, their eyes closing.
She knew she ought to feel guilty about what she was doing—they were both so innocent and unaware, so unsuspicious …
CHAPTER TWO
KELLY woke up with an aching head and a dry mouth. Groaning, she rolled over and looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table.
Ten o’clock. She must have slept right through the alarm. Thank heavens it was Sunday and the shop didn’t open until later than usual.
Swinging her legs out of bed, she winced as the ache in her head became a thunderous nausea-induced pounding.
It was all Dee’s fault, insisting that they finish that bottle of red wine.
Dee …
Kelly froze in mid-step and then collapsed back onto the bed, groaning. What on earth had she done? She would have to telephone Dee straight away and tell her that she had changed her mind, that there was totally, absolutely, completely and utterly no way she could go through with the ludicrous plan she had agreed to last night.
Tottering towards the phone, still clasping her head, Kelly saw the answering machine light was flashing. Obediently she pressed the reply button.
‘Kelly,’ she heard. ‘This is Dee. I’m just calling to confirm the plans we made last night. I’ve discovered that Julian and his new girlfriend will be attending a charity bash at Ulston House this evening. I’ve managed to get you a ticket and an escort—just as a bit of extra insurance. Julian is going to find you even more of an irresistible challenge if he thinks you’re with someone else. Remember, all you have to do is egg him on whilst playing just that little bit hard to get. I know how close you and Beth are and I know that you wouldn’t dream of reneging on our plan or letting her down.
‘Harry, your escort, will call for you at seven-thirty. He’s my cousin, by the way, and completely to be trusted, although, of course, he knows nothing of our special plan. He thinks you just need a date for the evening because you’re attending the do for business reasons. That could be the truth, incidentally—an awful lot of influential local people will be attending the dinner and the ball afterwards. Bye for now …’
What on earth did Dee think she was doing? Kelly wondered as she stared at the phone like someone in shock. And how on earth had she managed to get two tickets for that ball at such short notice? Kelly
