‘My God, where were you? What happened?’ He grabbed her arms and pushed her away, but still holding her so she couldn’t escape. He stared at her, at the horrible clothes and at her pale face, examining her everywhere. ‘Are you OK? Talk to me.’
‘Let me get a word in edgeways,’ she told him, her voice shaking far too much for her liking.
‘Ari!’ Nico yelled from the kitchen and then he was there too, holding her, hugging her, bombarding her with questions.
Jason cut in the moment Nico paused for breath. ‘We thought we’d lost you. We thought the absolute worst. I was going to go in after you, but—’
‘But he couldn’t. Neither of us could, and Yana had to get the boat to safety. We radioed the coastguard and—’
‘I’m fine,’ she told them. ‘Really. I’m fine. We were both…’ She choked on the words and struggled not to burst into tears.
They both saw it and the shock on their faces would have been hilarious under any other circumstances. Because she wasn’t fine.
Pushing thoughts of Rafael aside, she decided to tell them of the discovery and pray that distracted them enough that they’d forget her emotional state. She’d rehearsed this the whole way back. ‘We got swept into the sea caves, under Castelmeur. There’s a chamber with carvings, rock carvings, and mosaics. We found the path, an actual path, and the maps and her – we found her. A rock carving. It’s incredible. Simply…’
It was like all hell broke loose at once. ‘Did you get photos? Did you bring anything out? Where is it? Can you find it again?’
‘I can. I’m sure I can. I marked the way. We didn’t bring anything out though. And…’
The watch. She’d forgotten about Thierry’s watch and what it might mean. Had he been down there too? How did she explain that to them? She’d left it with the diving equipment, along with the coin and the camera. Shit, she’d had the camera down there. She could have filmed it all. She could have brought evidence back with her. But all they had thought of was finding a way out.
‘Damn,’ she whispered. ‘I left the camera down there. I didn’t think—’
‘No,’ Nico interrupted her in stern tones. ‘Don’t think like that. If you can find the way back, then we’ll go back. Don’t you dare regret placing your safety first.’
She glanced at Jason nervously, not so sure he would agree, but her brother just nodded. The concern hadn’t left his face. ‘You look dreadful. Did something else happen?’
Oh God, he knew. He could see it etched on her features.
‘I just want to get changed and—’
‘Yeah, where did that outfit come from?’
‘Laure,’ she said and her control shook once again. Her throat closed over and her eyes stung. ‘I think…I think they’re going to pull the funding. Rafael and the Foundation… I think I messed up everything, Jason.’
‘What? Why would he do that now? What happened? If the two of you found evidence, if he saw it with his own eyes—’ And then he stopped, staring at her, and she crumpled in front of him, ashamed and so tired of everything. ‘Ari?’ he said, his voice unexpectedly gentle. ‘What happened? You stayed there last night, at the manor. With him?’
It was excruciating. She nodded and closed her eyes so she didn’t have to see the anger on his face.
‘What the fuck happened?’
‘Jesus, Jason,’ Nico hissed at him and steered her towards the stairs.
She ran. Just ran, tore her way up the stairs and slammed the bedroom door behind her. She heard them shouting at each other downstairs, arguing about confronting Rafael, or going to the manor, or heaven knows what, and it was all her fault. Everything.
She tore off every scrap of Laure’s clothing and hurled them into a corner before taking herself into the narrow shower – a world away from the luxury of last night – and scrubbed herself from head to toe.
It didn’t help. None of it helped.
She pulled on her own clothes, her jeans and a T-shirt, and her eyes fell on the box of Simon’s things.
Without a moment’s thought, she kicked it as hard as she could, sending it flying across the room to slam against the door. Its contents spilt across the floor.
Ari sprawled on the bed and sobbed.
A careful knock disturbed her from her misery. Aware she was acting like a heartbroken teen, she dragged her hand over her face and sat up.
‘What?’ she said.
