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Nicolas looked at his watch anxiously. ‘Camille, they’ll be waiting for you. It’s time to start. Let’s just call the police and let them deal with her.’

‘You can’t keep me locked in here,’ Isobel insisted, raising her voice. ‘I didn’t do anything!’

‘So you’re going to deny this, are you?’ Camille hissed, pulling that morning’s note from her pocket and brandishing it in front of Isobel’s face. She was shaking with adrenaline, as Isobel took in the words:

One million dollars before the show starts, or I tell the world the truth about Andre’s death.

‘I’ve never seen that before in my life,’ Isobel insisted, knowing how clichéd that sounded, and terrified that her denial made her sound guilty. ‘Camille, I promise you, I’m not lying, you have to believe me!’

‘Come on, Camille,’ Nicolas said firmly. ‘We can’t wait any longer. Let the police deal with her. It’s out of our hands now. Don’t let her leave this room.’ He told the security guard.

Camille was staring at Isobel intently, her forehead creasing in thought as Nicolas guided her out of the room. As they headed back towards the show, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Isobel was telling her the truth.

‘Nicolas … what if we are wrong?’

Chapter 30

Stephanie and Catherine arrived at the palacio, stepping out of the limo Camille had arranged for them. The sun was high overhead, reflecting off the dazzling white walls of the building, and the palm trees either side of the entrance rippled gently in the light breeze.

‘Ready?’ Catherine asked with a smile.

‘As I’ll ever be,’ Stephanie responded. She hadn’t told Catherine about the situation with Lucas – she’d already burdened her with enough of her problems, and besides, today Catherine would be the star of the show and Stephanie didn’t want anything to detract from that. She pasted on a smile and the two women walked up the steps and through the arched doorway, into the lobby where a bank of photographers and journalists were waiting to greet the new arrivals.

Stephanie felt wretched inside, though she looked a million dollars, and she turned and posed, trying her best not to react to the intrusive questions from the press.

‘Stephanie, is it true you walked off the set of Fields of Barley?’

‘Have you been hiding in Mallorca this whole time?’

‘Steph, what would you say to the rumours that you’re difficult to work with?’

‘Ignore them,’ Catherine murmured, not letting her dazzling smile slip for a moment as she reassured Stephanie. ‘Thanks, guys, that’s enough for today,’ she purred, putting a hand on the small of Stephanie’s back and steering her away from the press pack.

‘Thank you,’ Stephanie said gratefully.

‘Hold your head high and keep smiling,’ Catherine told her. ‘They’re looking for a reaction – don’t give them one. Now, duty calls. I’ll see you later, darling.’ Catherine squeezed her arm reassuringly, then melted away into the crowd, heading backstage to prepare for the show.

Left alone, Stephanie felt a moment’s uncertainty, but then she remembered Catherine’s advice, lifting her chin and marching boldly towards the Sunset Room. There was a real buzz in the atmosphere, a sense of excitement now that a gaggle of A-listers had descended on the sleepy town of Belleza. Stephanie almost felt resentful that the place which had become her sanctuary had been invaded in this way. Catherine had given her a place to rest and recuperate, to take stock of all the crazy things that had happened to her over the past couple of years, but Stephanie knew that soon it would be time to head back to real life.

She heard another round of yelling from the photographers, and turned to see who had arrived. Her heart lurched, and she almost tripped in the vertiginous heels she was wearing. It was Lucas, hand-in-hand with Elle, who was practically wrapped around him and beaming from ear to ear as the camera bulbs flashed. Stephanie wanted to flee but she couldn’t seem to move, her feet glued to the floor, unable to take her eyes off the unfolding scene.

Lucas looked so handsome, his dark hair artfully tousled, his scar only serving to highlight how attractive he was. Stephanie thought how unfair it was that just yesterday they’d been in one another’s arms without a care in the world, excited to see what the future held. Now he was having a baby with his ex-girlfriend, and Stephanie didn’t know if he wanted to see her again – or, indeed, if she wanted to be with him and be part of his complicated situation.

Her gaze flickered to Elle beside him, tall and leggy and beautiful, her incredible figure showing no trace of a baby bump yet, but she was undoubtedly glowing as she held onto Lucas’s hand tightly, gazing up at him adoringly. Life wasn’t fair, Stephanie thought bitterly. Even if she and Lucas somehow worked it out and decided to give their fledgling relationship a chance, Elle and the baby would always be part of their lives.

As if sensing her eyes on him, Lucas looked around, his gaze finding her immediately in the crush of people. His expression was full of warmth and regret and sadness, but then Elle tugged on his hand, leaning across to whisper something in his ear and Lucas turned to her, giving her his undivided attention.

Stephanie swallowed, exhaling deeply, before remembering Catherine’s words once again. She smiled brightly, enthusiastically greeting the famous faces she’d met earlier that week at the yacht party, as she made her way to her front-row seat.

Elle’s fingers were laced through Lucas’s, and she was holding his hand so tightly that it was almost painful as she sashayed through to the Sunset Room, throwing a smug look to the security guard.

Outwardly, Lucas was smiling and pleasant to everyone he saw, but inwardly he was in turmoil. It felt as though his life had been turned upside down, as though everything had been put in a bag and shaken up and he had no control any more.

When he’d arrived at the palacio, Elle was already there, waiting for him. It looked like she’d been one of the first to arrive. Camille had been furious at Lucas’s request to put her on the guest list, and had outright refused at first. He’d had to beg, insisting that there was a good reason, and that he’d explain everything later. Fortunately, his mother seemed too distracted – presumably by all the preparations – to put up too much of a fight.

Lucas wanted to talk to Elle, but they hadn’t had a moment alone so far. Instead, she’d paraded him round like a prize-winning racehorse, unwilling to let him out of her sight. She looked drop-dead gorgeous, Lucas had to give her that, in a Camille Andre pink tweed mini dress with oversized gold buttons, which had been a present from Camille last Christmas. But he realized now that he no longer loved her. Their relationship should have been over a long time ago, and she’d been right to end it.

Lucas was determined not to run from his responsibilities, though, and if he’d fathered a child, he wanted to be there for them, to play a positive role in their life. The prospect of fatherhood brought up all kinds of emotions linked to the death of his own father, and the way Andre had been alternately distant then spoiling him materially. Lucas vowed to do better.