Up Close and Personal (32 page)

Yasmin met his gaze. ‘Do you mean that?’

‘Sure I do.’ He pushed his chair away from the table. ‘I hate to be rude, but I’d better shoot off. Juliet will be back soon and she and I have got some serious talking to do. Can I walk you home?’

Yasmin shook her head. ‘I think I’ll stay here and enjoy the sun for a while longer.’

‘Okay,’ Dante said, rising to his feet. ‘Thanks for the drink.’

‘Thank you too,’ Yasmin said.

Dante frowned. ‘What for?’

‘For making me think.’

Dante smiled. ‘Whatever you decide to do, let me know, okay?’

Yasmin nodded. ‘I will, I promise.’

22

Dante had just left the pub when he saw a girl walking in the opposite direction on the other side of the street, her head bowed as if she were lost in thought. There was something familiar about her and then, as she drew nearer, he realized it was Orla. With a jolt, Dante remembered she lived in this street. As he looked around, he saw the distinctive red door of her apartment block just a few feet away. Without hesitation, he crossed the road.

She looked surprised to see him, but not altogether displeased. ‘Don’t tell me …’ she said as he approached. ‘You’ve had second thoughts.’

‘About what?’ he asked.

She laughed throatily. ‘About getting to know each other a little better.’

‘No,’ Dante said, recoiling. ‘I told you before – I’m not interested.’

‘Oh well, the offer’s still there if you change your mind.’

‘What – even though Nathan’s not going to pay you for it?’ Dante said contemptuously.

She blanched. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘You know exactly what I’m talking about,’ Dante said, fixing her with a hard stare. ‘You’re not a chambermaid; you’re a honey trap.’ A look of confusion crossed her face. ‘When you left the house I followed you to the lodge,’ he went on. ‘I heard every word of your conversation with Nathan.’

‘Ah.’ Clearly embarrassed, Orla turned away and, without another word, began walking towards her apartment block.

Dante followed close behind. ‘Is that all you’ve got to say for yourself?’

‘What do you want me to say?’

‘You could start by telling me why you did it.’

Orla began rummaging in her handbag. ‘For money, of course.’ She looked up briefly. ‘Besides, you are pretty hot.’

Dante shook his head, shocked by her brazenness. ‘You’re a good actress, I’ll give you that,’ he said. ‘You certainly had me fooled.’

She pulled a bunch of keys from her bag. ‘Don’t take it personally, okay?’

‘You try and wreck my marriage and then you tell me not to take it personally,’ Dante retorted angrily. ‘What kind of freak are you?’

That seemed to annoy her. ‘Nathan’s the freak, not me,’ she snapped. ‘He was the one who dreamed this whole thing up.’ She put her key in the lock. ‘Anyway, it’s over now. I’m going back to Liverpool tomorrow, so you can tell Juliet she’ll have to find someone else to scrub her shitty toilets.’

As Orla turned the key, Dante lunged towards her, grabbing her arms and pinning them to her sides.

‘Get your hands off me!’ she cried.

‘Not until you tell me one thing.’

‘What?’ she said.

‘Is Nathan sleeping with Juliet?’

She gave him a withering look. ‘As if.’

Relief swept through Dante’s body like a tidal wave. ‘Has he
ever
slept with her?’

Orla shook her head.

‘So why did you make me think they had?’

‘Because Nathan told me to,’ she replied. ‘It was all part of his plan to split you two up.’

‘Well, you can tell that brother of yours he’ll never get his hands on Juliet,’ Dante hissed. ‘I want him out of the lodge by morning, or I’m calling the police.’

‘Tell him yourself. Nathan’s a twat; I don’t care if I never speak to him again.’ Orla’s lips formed a strange half-smile. ‘In any case, it isn’t Juliet he wants – it’s Ashwicke.’

Dante gawped at her. ‘What?’

‘You heard. Nathan’s always wanted his own hotel. He reckons Ashwicke could be a gold mine in the right hands. He’s been using Juliet from the beginning.’

Dante squeezed her arms. ‘How has he been using her?’

‘You’re hurting me,’ Orla said, squirming.

‘
How
has he been using her?’ Dante repeated.

Orla sighed. ‘When Nathan went for his interview for the general manager’s job, it was obvious Juliet didn’t know her arse from her elbow when it came to running a hotel. He knew she was in a vulnerable state – not just practically speaking, but emotionally too – and he saw how easily she could be exploited. As soon as he started work, he set about making himself indispensable – and Juliet was only too happy to hand over the day-to-day running of the hotel to him. She thought he’d be able to make the business a success, when all along he was trying to do just the opposite.’ Her eyes flickered from side to side.

Dante squeezed her arms again. ‘Go on.’

‘For starters, he made sure he hired the laziest, most inexperienced staff he could find.’

Dante groaned in horror. ‘What else?’

‘Letters Juliet asked Nathan to write to prestigious hotel guides, inviting them to inspect Ashwicke, never got sent. But one time she posted the letter herself and an inspector did rock up.’

‘Weinberger?’

Orla shrugged. ‘I don’t know his name. But Nathan recognized him the minute he checked in because the guy had visited another hotel where he used to work. Nathan was terrified he’d give Ashwicke a glowing review, so he drilled holes in the pipework above his room. Apparently, the inspector was furious when water started leaking through the ceiling.’

‘That son of a bitch,’ Dante muttered.

Orla laughed. ‘That’s nothing. Nathan used to buy mice from the local pet shop and let them loose in the bedrooms. One time he even tried to give the guests food poisoning by turning the temperature down in the fridge, but Chef realized what had happened and threw all the food away.’

Dante shook his head, hardly able to believe what he was hearing. ‘So what was Nathan’s game plan once the hotel was on its knees?’

‘He had access to the accounts, so he knew Juliet was up to her eyeballs in debt. He figured that once the business had collapsed the bank would want its money back. Juliet would be forced to sell Ashwicke and –’

‘Nathan would snap it up at a knockdown price,’ Dante supplied.

‘Exactly – but there was one small problem,’ Orla explained. ‘You.’

Dante looked at her questioningly.

‘He knew he could pull the wool over Juliet’s eyes, but he wasn’t convinced you’d be such a soft touch,’ Orla volunteered. ‘He could see you were suspicious of him right away. He was worried that some of it seemed to be rubbing off on Juliet too. Before she went to Aspen she’d pretty much left my brother to his own devices, but when she came back she was always sticking her nose in, wanting to know what he was up to.’

Dante grimaced. ‘So he decided to try and get rid of me.’

‘Yeah. He didn’t think it would be too difficult. He reckoned it was only a matter of time before you two split up – with or without his help.’

‘And why’s that?’ Dante asked.

‘Where do you want me to start?’ Orla said airily. ‘The age gap, the culture difference, the fact Juliet was still getting over the death of her first husband. But you see Nathan’s the impatient type; he didn’t want to sit around and wait for nature to take its course, so he decided to speed things up.’

‘By trying to make me feel like a fish out of water at Ashwicke?’

Orla nodded.

‘No wonder he always acted so goddamn superior,’ Dante muttered.

‘He stitched you up at the summer fête as well. I can’t remember the details … something to do with a fancy-dress competition, I think.’

Dante’s mouth set in a grim line. ‘I knew it.’

‘And when that didn’t work, he called in reinforcements,’ Orla said. ‘Like I told you before, we aren’t that close. We hadn’t spoken for the best part of a year, so I was surprised
when he got in touch. When he told me what he wanted me to do, I said no at first. Then he told me how much money he was prepared to pay me and I had a change of heart.’

‘Is there anything you
won’t
do for money?’ Dante asked scathingly.

Orla sighed. ‘I’ve got a stonking great credit card bill to pay off, as well as my student loan.’ Her gaze fell to the ground. ‘For what it’s worth, I really wish I hadn’t got involved now. You and Juliet seem like such a nice couple.’

Dante’s hands fell away from her arms. ‘Listen, thanks for telling me all this. Everything makes a lot more sense now.’

‘I reckon it’s the least I can do.’ Orla frowned suddenly. ‘You know, my mum always said there was something odd about Nathan. I thought she was just being funny because he was my dad’s kid from another relationship, but now that I’ve spent some time with him I’m inclined to agree.’ She tapped the side of her head. ‘He’s not quite right upstairs, if you know what I mean.’

‘Just wait till I get my hands on him,’ Dante said through clenched teeth. ‘He’s gonna wish he’d never been born.’

‘Yeah, well be careful how you handle him. You don’t know what he’s capable of.’ She shuffled from foot to foot. ‘Can I go now? I’ve got a lot of packing to do.’

Dante nodded. ‘Have a good trip back to Liverpool, okay?’

Orla smiled. Then she took a step forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek. ‘I’m really sorry – about everything,’ she said. ‘I hope you and Juliet make it work.’

‘So do I,’ he replied.

As they drew apart, Dante heard a screech of tyres. He looked round and saw a distinctive grey Land Rover. As it sped past, he caught a glimpse of Juliet through the windscreen. Her pale face looked like thunder.

Dante practically ran the rest of the way home. He found Juliet in the kitchen, gripping the sides of the butler sink, as if in a trance. As he walked into the room, she grabbed a Le Creuset saucepan from the draining board and hurled it at him. It missed his head by inches, bouncing off the door frame and landing with a deafening clatter on the tiled floor.

‘You fucking bastard!’ she shrieked. ‘We’ve been married for three months –
three months
– and already you’re having an affair.’

‘You’ve got it all wrong,’ Dante said, stepping over the saucepan and walking towards her.

‘What a fool I’ve been,’ Juliet continued. ‘I should’ve listened to Eleanor. She said you’d be looking for a younger model just as soon as you’d got your feet under the table.’ Suddenly she began sobbing.

Instinctively, Dante put his arms round her. ‘Don’t touch me!’ she cried, pushing him away. ‘I don’t want you anywhere near me.’

‘Please, Juliet,’ he begged. ‘You’ve got to believe me. I am
not
cheating on you.’

She walked over to the battered refectory table and lowered herself, in a way which suggested extreme fragility, into a chair. ‘How long?’ she demanded, wiping the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. ‘How long has it been going on?’

Dante sat down beside her. ‘I take it you’re referring to Orla.’

‘Why?’ she said. ‘Are there others?’

‘There’s no one else,’ he said. ‘No one but you.’

‘B-b-but I saw you,’ she hiccupped. ‘You were outside her house; she was kissing you.’

Dante leaned forward. ‘I’m going to tell you everything that’s happened to me today,’ he said calmly. ‘And then, if you still think I’m cheating on you, I’ll walk out of this house right now and I’ll never come back. Is that a deal?’

She stared at him with big, frightened eyes. Then she nodded.

Taking a deep breath, Dante began to tell her about Orla’s attempt to seduce him. As he described their brief kiss in the bedroom, Juliet snatched a tea towel from the table and pressed it to her mouth as if she were about to be sick.

‘What I did was wrong, and I regret it with all my heart. But I didn’t sleep with Orla and I never have,’ Dante said. ‘The whole thing was a set-up. Orla came to Ashwicke with the sole purpose of getting me into bed. The plan was that you would catch us red-handed and throw me out.’

Juliet looked at him, not comprehending. ‘But what possible motive would Orla have for wanting to split us up?’

‘Not Orla,’ Dante said. ‘Nathan.’ As he related the conversation he’d heard between brother and sister, Juliet stared at him open-mouthed. Afterwards, unsurprisingly, she was full of questions, but Dante begged her to hear him out.

‘Running into Orla later on was a complete coincidence,’ he told her. ‘I was on my way back from the King’s Head.’

Juliet frowned. ‘What were you doing at the pub in the middle of the afternoon?’

‘It’s a long story. I’ll explain later.’ Ignoring Juliet’s look of consternation, he pressed on with his account, describing, in as much detail as he could remember, his conversation with Orla. Then, when it was all out, he sat back in his chair and waited for his wife’s reaction.

For several moments, she just stared at him, utterly stupefied. Then she spoke. ‘That’s the most insane thing I’ve ever heard.’

‘I know … crazy, isn’t it,’ Dante said. ‘But, looking back, it all figures.’

‘I can’t believe Nathan would do such a thing,’ Juliet said, shaking her head. ‘He always seemed so dedicated to Ashwicke.’

Dante snorted. ‘Yeah, dedicated to getting his hands on it.’

‘And you really think Orla was telling the truth?’

‘One hundred per cent. What would she have to gain by lying?’

Juliet pursed her lips. ‘You still haven’t explained why she was kissing you.’

‘It was just a friendly goodbye. She’s had enough of Nathan and his twisted games; she’s going back to Liverpool tomorrow.’

Juliet rubbed her temples with her fingertips, trying to work through everything she’d heard. It all sounded so terribly far-fetched.

‘You do believe me, don’t you?’ Dante said at length.

Juliet looked into his face and saw nothing there to make her doubt him.

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘As a matter of fact, I do.’

She stood up and went to the window. In the distance, she could see the summerhouse and beyond it the lodge.

‘You’ve been honest with me and now I think it’s time I was honest with you,’ she said. ‘There are some things I haven’t told you … about my relationship with Gus.’