Ethan Harte used to be my office manager. And my boyfriend. Ruby calls him Ethan-Has-No-Heart. He screwed me, literally and figuratively. Robbed me of the ability to trust anyone when I was already raw and stole my clients at the same time.
Eventually I clawed them back, and so much more. But the snake’s still out there, slithering round the desert.
I figure the best way to get my own back is to become the most successful events management company the world has ever seen. Bring in new clients. Get more exposure. And put some distance between us and give myself a clean slate in the process.
Ruby is more than capable of overseeing the Dubai branch of Liberty Events Management. One day, I’d like a branch in every city in every country in every continent in the world. Ambitious perhaps, but I didn’t climb this high to develop a fear of heights halfway.
‘I’m ready to get out of here.’ My hand sweeps the air around me.
Devilish pupils gleam. ‘Why didn’t you say so?’
‘I meant the Middle East. I need more. There’s something missing. I feel like I’ve got more to give. So much more. And I know I can do it. I’ve already proved I’ve got what it takes, but if I’m going to make the company a truly global brand, I need to make a success of Ryan’s tour. And as much as I hate to admit it, I need your help to do it.’
Jayden’s features rearrange into genuine resoluteness. ‘I promise I’ll do everything to help make it happen. Even if you wear your disdain for me like a mask.’
Does he mean it? Or is it because he just wants to get into my knickers? I don’t know. He’s so hard to read. Hell, for all I know, it’s because he feels guilty about my parents’ death, blaming himself for his father’s recklessness, even though Jayden had nothing to do with it.
Aurelia made some passing comment about him saving everyone. Does he have some sort of god complex? Or does he genuinely care?
Either way, the wine’s loosening my tongue.
‘That’s what it is, a mask.’ Suddenly I’m confessing secrets I only admitted to myself this morning.
Fuck it, he’ll be gone in a couple of days, anyway. ‘Of all the things I know about you, you’re one man who’s unquestionably capable.’
He runs a finger over the back of my hand. ‘Was that actually a compliment, Princess?’
‘Careful. It’d be a shame to get arrested when we’re supposed to be going swimming later.’ When it comes to my body, I’m far from shy. It’s just a body. We all have one. It’s what lurks beneath my skin that I worry about revealing.
Yanking my hand away, I ask him the one question that’s been bugging me for months.
‘Why do you insist on calling me Princess?’ I can’t work out if I’m supposed to be insulted when he says it with borderline affection.
‘Because youarea princess. You were born in a castle, for Christ’s sake.’
‘Far from royal, as you know…’
‘You’re pretty fucking majestic from where I’m sitting. It’s taken me ten years to get my hand in your royal underwear, although it wasn’t there nearly long enough.’
‘Huh. That was because you were busy with your hand in a certain chambermaid’s underwear, if I remember correctly.’
My remark is blasé but the memories of that day are all too vivid. I hadn’t realised how much it’s been pissing me off all these years. I thought he liked me.
That day sparked a jealousy inside me which I channelled into hatred towards him. A hatred which finally dissipated last night.
‘You have no idea, do you?’ The intensity of his stare trebles. ‘I used her. Because she was there, willing and easy, and my balls were about to explode with carnal thoughts of my landlord’s daughter. You were only just legal. I was two years older than you. Those two years make a big difference at such a formative age. It would have been so wrong.’
I swallow hard as his words sink in, softly soothing the insecure seventeen-year-old lurking inside. I wanted him so badly back then. The same way I do now.
For the first time in my life, I might not be entirely averse to a breakfast date.
ChapterTen
JAYDEN
The evening sun lowers over the terrace. Pink and orange streaks illuminate the sky, casting an alluring reflection on the pool, and that’s even before Chloe gets anywhere near it. The need to make good on our deal consumes me. There’s only one problem - a five-foot Sri Lankan woman by the name of Naveesha.
She shuffles around Chloe’s kitchen with a bright smile and kind eyes. If I could have chosen a mother for myself, it would have been someone like her. Warm and approachable. Though any mother would have been a novelty. My own walked out when Ryan and I were toddlers. If she hadn’t fallen pregnant, I’m pretty sure she’d have left dad long before then. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons I can’t sustain a relationship long term? If my own mother didn’t love me enough to stick around, why would I expect any other woman to? Maybe, deep down that’s why I don’t ever keep the same woman around to give her the chance.
