Chase by Flora Dain Read Free Book Online Page B

time.’ Her lovely eyes fill with tears.
    She looks unbearably sad and now I sense real pain. Poor kid, but it’s a relief there’s something real below her brittle spoilt-brat surface. I look at her with new interest.
    ‘I didn’t tell him that time,’ I say gently. ‘You did that by using my phone.’ It occurs to me that maybe Darnley would sooner conceal his methods. It might be diplomatic to gloss over her casual phone use.
    It also occurs to me that she was on-site for some reason. If she’s on a roll she’s troubled in some way. Our students don’t just wander in off the street.
    I pat her hand and say nothing.
    Definitely rehab.
    I hover while she fusses with her hair and make-up and finally slips into a cubicle. As another one frees up I do too, listening out for her. Other women come in and chatter and leave. When I emerge all’s quiet but she’s still in there so I hang around to wait.
    Minutes later I frown.
Is she on something?
Darnley will never forgive me
…
    ‘Cola?’ I push at her cubicle door.
    The cubicle’s empty.
    Panic rising, I reach for my phone then pause. Maybe she’s back at the table. I glance round the door but Darnley’s sitting alone at our table, his men nearby.
    Is she dancing? If I go back in without her Darnley will freak.
Think.
    I check the small corridor I’m standing in. The locked doors are all marked ‘Private’ except one marked ‘Fire exit’, right at the end. When I push it I find it leads outside.
    Could someone have come in? I reach for my phone, seriously alarmed now. As I do it the door swings open and Cola appears.
    ‘Where the heck have you been?’ I sound shrill. ‘I thought …’
    ‘Thought what?’ She dashes a hand to her face, like she’s been crying.
    ‘You OK?’ I touch her arm.
    ‘You spying on me too?’ She snatches her arm away and now she’s back to the charm-school dropout. ‘I wanted some air, that’s all.’
    ‘Darnley’s worried about you. He says –’
    She pushes past me. ‘I know what he says. I want to leave now. I’m tired of dancing.’
    Back at our table Darnley takes one look at her sour expression, so different from a few minutes ago, and frowns at me. ‘What happened?’
    I roll my eyes. ‘How should I know?’
    I’m still dizzy from her mood-swing. The rehab’s definitely not working.
    We drive back in silence, thankfully without Cola, who’s now en route to her hotel.
Darnley’s expression is unreadable. As we walk in and we’re finally alone he glares down at me. ‘What’s going on? How much do you know about all this, Ella? A call came from your cell. You take for ever in the powder room. Now she’s upset. What happened?’
    ‘She slipped out by the fire exit. Just for some air,’ I add quickly. ‘If I didn’t know better I’d say she was meeting somebody
.
Darnley, what’s wrong with her?’
    He frowns. ‘How do I know? Stalking’s a nasty business. It gets to people. Lucky one of the men was stationed outside.’
    At my furious look he smiles and pulls me into his arms. ‘Hey. Just testing. Forget about her.
Now for my revenge.’
    His mouth fastens on mine before I can catch my breath or prepare. His kiss is urgent and hungry, tasting me like I want to be tasted, lingering like I need him to linger. His tongue has a language of its own and now its subtle signals reach every part of my body, sending sensation rippling out all over me.
    When he pulls away his look is veiled but strangely intense. ‘I like to see you out on the town. But tonight something tells me you’re uneasy. Why? Is it because you’re with me? Or because we had company?’
    I press against him, warmed through with his glorious male heat. I can feel him swelling against me. Little shifts and flexes of his muscles tell me I’m wanted and tell me how much. And one part in particular is telling me very clearly indeed. I can feel it stiffening, ready for action.
    ‘It’s just … I’m not used to the security detail.