Not that he was saying much but his few words of acknowledgement sounded grim.
Sophie caught the words ‘London’, ‘as soon as I can’ and, more disturbingly, ‘a disaster’.
And then he was walking back towards her.
‘That was Paul. My solicitor,’ he said, quietly. ‘He’s also the executive trustee of the Phoenix Foundation. Looks like any anonymity I wanted to keep regarding Phoenix House is blown. We’re already getting some backlash from the major sponsors we had lined up.’ He closed his eyes as he rubbed at his forehead. ‘I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to be on a plane first thing in the morning to go and help put out fires. I need to get back to my apartment to get organised.’
Finally, he caught and held Sophie’s gaze for more than a heartbeat, it didn’t bring any relief to the heavy dread that was enveloping her.
Had she ever seen him lookingthissad?
No. Because she’d been too distraught to notice how anyone else was feeling this time ten years ago.
And she hadn’t seen him again until the day of Zara’s wedding when this had all started.
Heartbreakingly, it felt like it could be ending right now.
With a sob, Sophie threw herself into Luc’s arms, knowing that he would hold her as tightly as she needed to be held right now. With her face buried against his chest, her words were muffled but the desperation was still clear.
‘It’ll be okay,’ she said. ‘We can get through this. I… Iloveyou, Luc.’
It was the first time she’d said it aloud. She knew that he knew, in the same way that she knewheloved her back. The way she’d only needed a split second of eye contact after her skin had connected with his that first time to… just know that the feelings were as intense on his side as hers. Beyond a shadow of doubt, even though no words had ever been uttered.
It felt like they’d shared those three little words countless times since the secret wedding at the Villa Céleste. Every time they hadn’t been able to break their eye contact. Through every touch and kiss and sound of their names being called in the heights of passion. And…oh… that entire night when they’d simply held each other, as emotionally vulnerable as any human could ever be. They’d both been wrapped in love that night, like the softest, warmest blanket imaginable.
But these were real words. Sent into the air. Hanging there as if they were in a cartoon balloon for the whole world to see.
‘I love you, too, Sophie.’ Luc’s voice rasped against her ear. ‘More than I could ever tell you, even if I lived for a thousand years. I’m… sorry…’
‘There’s nothing for you to be sorry about. This is Raven Vale’s doing, not yours.’ Sophie knew she sounded too fierce but she could feel desperation seeping out of cracks that were appearing somewhere deep inside her. In her heart?
But they knew there was something to be sorry about. Too many things, for both of them. The reminders were also hanging in the air, glowing, like the eyes of malevolent creatures watching them from the dark.
Luc held her face between his hands. He pressed his lips against her forehead. ‘I’ll be back,’ he said. ‘As soon as I can.’
Sophie nodded. She wanted to tell him she loved him again but the words wouldn’t come out. They were stuck.
In one of those cracks.
* * *
At 3a.m. Luc was pacing the floor of his Draguignan apartment. He couldn’t sleep. He picked up his phone, wanting to call or message Sophie but he stopped himself before he could touch her number.
She might be asleep. She might be escaping, at least briefly, the painful space that Raven Vale had not only resurrected but had thrown open to anyone who wanted the lift that soaking in other people’s misery, past or present, had the ability to provide.
He found himself opening that blog page again. Shaking his head at the constantly changing figures recording the number of ‘likes’ this post was receiving.
Mindlessly, he scrolled again. Straight to the sickening memories that image of the wrecked car brought back.
Tom had been so damn happy only seconds before. Laughing and singing the old classic about getting married in the morning. The deer had been standing in the middle of the road as they came around that corner. Blinded by the headlights. Swerving had been instinctive. Who wanted to be responsible for a death? They’d both felt the moment control was lost but there was no time to say anything, or evenfeelanything as the bright blue car spun and then flipped and rolled.
Tom’s door had been almost torn off and he’d been hurled out.Howhad that happened? Luc was struggling to understand as he crawled from the wreckage to the shape that was his friend’s body lying on the verge. He had seen him fumbling with the catch of his safety belt before the engine had been started. Had he been singing loudly enough to cover the sound of it clicking properly into the lock? Was it possible the catch been released somehow as their bodies and objects were hurled around in a violent vortex, smashing against the ground more than once?
It didn’t matter once Luc got close enough to touch Tom. To see his eyes wide open but hear the harsh, whistling sound of his breathing.
‘Don’t tell them…’
‘Don’t tell who?’
