She turned startled eyes towards them, and my eyes scanned the faces for Billie. I found her at the edge. She stood unsmiling, her hands resolutely clasped in front of her. I nodded at her. She understood immediately and started walking towards us. Three spotlights simultaneously hit the stage and found Rhianna. She was clapping. True to form the celebrity mad crowd gasped with pleasure and surprise.
‘Yeah, it’s me,’ the star said and laughed. She held her arm out in our direction. ‘I dropped in to congratulate the new couple. Give a hand, everybody, to Mr. and Mrs. Blake Law Barrington.’
I smiled politely and swung my eyes down to Lana. She had her hand clasped over her mouth with delight. This was a surprise for her too. Everybody clapped and cheered. I curled my arm around her waist and looked at her indulgently, proudly. Let them all see: there is nothing, nothing they can do to hurt us. She is my responsibility. My property.
‘Thank you,’ Rihanna shouted into the mic. ‘Shall we get this party on the road?’
‘Yeah,’ the guests replied.
‘I don’t think I heard that.’
‘Yeah,’ came the louder, more definite reply back.
Dancers surrounded her and began gyrating. She started her next number, Don’t Stop The Music.
Billie was standing beside us. I let go of Lana, and she looked up at me and smiled gratefully. Billie linked the fingers of her right hand through Lana’s, and, gently kissing her cheek, led her away.
One of the security guys came up to me while I was watching the girls leave. I inclined my head slightly and listened while he explained that Victoria had used the invitation card meant for Lady Phelim. The anger returned to my limbs. When Lana was swallowed by the throng, I took my mobile out and called Brian. They were in the music room of the west wing.
I went across the lawn to the house. A man in a bouncer’s suit and a Bluetooth in his ear stood at the door. When he saw me approach he held open the door. Brian and another man were standing on either side of a sofa, and Victoria was sitting down on it calmly waiting for me. One leg was curled under her and the other was swinging slightly. When she saw me she smiled insolently.
‘You refused to invite me. So I invited myself.’
I looked at the table. Brian had laid the four blades on it. I looked at her hand. There were some remnants of sticking tape left on it. She had been intending to slash Lana. The surge of anger in my body is frightening. It is like the shrill screaming of a peacock. It startles and electrifies me. But my eyes return to her, genteel. I never give my enemies the satisfaction of rousing any emotion in me. And I wasn’t going to start with her.
‘I wanted to give her a present,’ she explained pleasantly.
I tore my eyes away from the gleaming blades. I was so angry I wanted to strangle her with my bare hands. ‘You’re going to prison,’ I said harshly.
She giggled. ‘No, I’m not.’
I looked at her, perplexed, hunting for clues. Was she pretending to be crazy?
‘Let’s make a run for it. Is the car ready?’
‘Are you fucking mad?’ I growled.
‘Help me, Blake. Don’t let them take me away from you. They want to shrink my heart,’ she whispered suddenly, her expression oddly vacant and yet her voice was bordering on hysteria.
I had seen that expression before. The unsightly memory of when I had last set eyes on her came back. Just for an instant that look had flashed across her face, but I had not wanted to believe it.
The mistake was mine. I had become soft. Even at work I didn’t immediately go for the jugular. What had been interesting, even thrilling had grown into a sham for me. Sometimes, when I had the upper hand, when my opponent had not even seen my advantage, I had pulled back and compromised.
I went closer, shocked by the state she was in. I could not feel her soul, her personality. As if she was gone and there was this empty creature watching me. But as I got closer her eyes suddenly glittered and for a second something else flashed across her face, dark, oppressed, torn, but that too vanished. I realized then: she was dangerous in a way I had never imagined.
She was criminally insane.
I became still. I was in some way responsible, but I found it almost impossible to stay in the same room as her, let alone show compassion. I never wanted to see her again. I began to turn away from her, but she flew off the chair and landed with a thud at my feet, clung tightly to my leg like a monkey. I looked down at her, both startled and repulsed.
‘I saw you first. She’s not having you,’ she snarled like a wild animal.
I experienced the irresistible desire to kick her in the ribs. To hear them crack. But she then said something that stopped me cold.
‘We are both ugly,’ she croaked. There was no joy in her eyes. She was crumpled and dwarfed by her surroundings, a creature made deplorable by her poisonous hate.
And suddenly my spectacular anger dissipated. She was right. We were both ugly. The only beautiful things in my life were Lana and the child she had created inside her body. I looked again at Victoria and tried to remember her when we were first engaged. Nothing in my life sang or danced, but certain little things dropped into the gray picture. Her sneering at the crockery, grumbling at the wine, sulky in a red coat and hunting boots, a miserable fashion worship, and an existence of being preoccupied, yet apparently doing nothing.
Lana changed all that.
I looked up to Brian. It took them a few minutes to pull her away from my leg.
She was screaming abuse and insults as I walked out of the room. It was far, far more serious that I had thought. I stepped outside into the evening air and taking my phone out of my pocket scrolled down my address book. All the lanterns were being lit and from the marquee came the sound of music and celebrating.
Victoria’s father answered. His voice was surprised.
To my AWESOME readers,
As a writer it was always my intention to engage with my readers and keep them immersed in my characters. As such I am truly humbled by your continued support for the billionaire banker series, and particularly by your love for both Lana and Blake. With your feedback in mind, there will be one final installment to the Lana and Blake story. It will be available around early August as a free download for a month. Hope you enjoy it.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to humbly thank every amazing reader who went out of her way to leave precious reviews for any of my books. To show my deep appreciation I am running a raffle. Leave your review at the place where you purchased this book before the 29th of June 2014. Then let me know here: georgialecarre@gmail.com. And get put into the pot to win USD100.00.
Until we meet again, chase your most secret dream and… lick it J
Table of Contents
Blake Law Barrington
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eight
Twenty-nine
Thirty
Thirty-one
Thirty-two
Thirty-three
Thirty-four
Lana Barrington
POV