Chapters (64)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Prologue
- Five Years Later
- 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
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Forty-one
- Forty-two
- Forty-three
- Forty-four
- Forty-five
- Forty-six
- Forty-seven
- Forty-eight
- Forty-nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-one
- Fifty-two
- Fifty-three
- Fifty-four
- Fifty-five
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgements
- Canelo Crime
- About the Author
- Also by Sheila Bugler
‘I’m fine.’ She stepped back, putting some space between them. ‘Adam, what was the row with Nick really about?’
‘Jesus, that again?’
‘Yes, that again. I know Nick and he didn’t care enough about Bella to start a row with you or anyone else.’
‘You’re right.’ Adam sighed. ‘He was being nasty about Vivienne. He said some horrible stuff that I don’t want to repeat and I certainly didn’t want Tara to hear.’
‘And that’s it? He didn’t say anything else?’
‘That’s not enough?’
‘Of course it is.’ Relief washed through her. The row hadn’t had anything to do with her. Which still didn’t explain the text message but maybe that didn’t matter now. ‘It’s difficult to think straight. I still can’t believe Nick’s dead.’
‘We can’t let this drive a wedge between us, Clodagh.’ Adam kissed her cheek. ‘It’s horrible what’s happened, but the best way to get through it is by staying strong together.’
She opened her mouth to tell him about the text message. At the same time, his phone started ringing.
‘It’s Jake,’ he said, looking at the screen. ‘I need to get this.’
She wanted to tell him that Jake Harris could wait. That, by rights, the man shouldn’t even be here this weekend. He was only here because, as Adam’s agent, he’d somehow managed to inveigle his way into every corner of Adam’s life.
But it was too late to say any of this because Adam had already answered the phone and was on his way to Jake’s room. Sure enough, a few seconds later she heard Jake’s voice, booming down the corridor as he welcomed Adam into his room. Biting back the familiar feeling of irritation she always got with anything involving Adam’s agent, Clodagh took advantage of Adam’s absence to go outside.
Breathing in deep mouthfuls of warm sea air, she closed her eyes and lifted her face to the sun, warm and soothing after the artificial air-conditioned cool of her room. It felt good to finally be alone, away from Adam. More than once this morning, she’d had to dig her fingers into the palms of her hands to stop herself screaming: How the hell do you think I’m doing? I feel as if I’m losing my mind. But she hadn’t screamed because none of this was Adam’s fault. All he was doing was being his usual, caring self. If she’d been irritated by his solicitousness, that was her problem, not his.
‘Over here, lady!’