LITMIR.BIZ

      So what was the problem? Why did Blake sound dubious?

      And where had those photographers come from? Surely they wouldn’t spread this news as far as Ruby in Dolphin Bay?

      Maybe he should have given Ruby a few more details. Maybe even invited her to the wedding.

      But Ruby at his wedding? She’d sob, he thought. She’d hug them both. She’d make it incredibly, intensely personal.

      Which would scare Rose.

      And him.

      In the comparative privacy of his BMW, heading for his Kensington apartment to collect his baggage, Nick had time to think, and the more he thought the more he felt like he was heading into trouble. To hurt Ruby by not inviting her…

      He couldn’t invite her. And he’d specified it was just business.

      But it had his foot easing from the accelerator, thinking maybe even now it wasn’t too late to draw back.

      His mobile phone rang. It answered automatically on the hands-free base. If it hadn’t, maybe he wouldn’t have answered. His need for solitude to get his head right was starting to be overwhelming. But the voice came on the other end of the line before he could prevent the connection. ‘Nick?’

      ‘Rose.’ She sounded as spooked as he was. ‘It’s good to hear from you,’ he managed.

      ‘There are photographers here,’ she said. ‘Everywhere. They arrived an hour ago and there’s more arriving by the minute. My mother-in-law’s weeping so hard she’s making herself ill. The phone’s ringing off the hook. I think…is this a disaster?’

      So he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed. ‘I guess it’s what we had to expect,’ he said cautiously, insensibly reassured that she was feeling the same as he was.

      ‘I hadn’t thought…’

      ‘Neither had I.’

      ‘It’s not too late to back out,’ she whispered.

      ‘Do you want to back out?’

      ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘It seemed so easy when it was just fantasy. But now…’

      ‘What would you do if you backed out?’ he asked.

      There was a long silence. ‘Stay here, I guess,’ she said, sounding unsure.

      ‘You don’t want to stay there?’

      ‘No.’ That was unequivocal, at any rate. Then, ‘We did decide to do this for the right reasons, didn’t we, Nick?’

      He had to be honest here. ‘Yes.’

      ‘It will make life better for the people of Alp de Montez?’

      ‘I think so,’ he said reluctantly. ‘My law firm is heavily geared to international disputes. We have people on the ground all over the world. The consensus is that we really can make a difference.’

      ‘We don’t have a choice then,’ she said heavily.

      ‘There is a choice, Rose,’ he said. He’d pulled up at traffic lights. They’d turned green, but he wasn’t shifting. There were horns blaring behind him but he thought, no, he had to concentrate. ‘You can walk away.’

      ‘I can’t walk away,’ she said. ‘Unless I have an alternative.’

      ‘You can stay where you are.’

      ‘That’s what I meant,’ she whispered. ‘Alp de Montez is my alternative.’

      He didn’t understand. ‘Look, we can call the whole thing off.’

      ‘Do you want to?’

      ‘Hold on a minute,’ he told her, and moved forward before the motorists banked up behind him got out of their cars and thumped him. He steered into a bus stop and stopped. ‘Rose, this is up to you,’ he said gently. ‘You’re the one first in line. I’m the supporting role here.’

      ‘I guess.’ She took a ragged breath. ‘But you will support me?’

      Five minutes ago he’d been thinking he couldn’t. But now…It was only for a month or so, and it would make a difference. Rose was taking this on for much, much longer.

      If she was prepared to do it, how could he say no?

      ‘Of course I’ll support you,’ he said gently. ‘We’re in this together.’

      ‘For a month.’

      ‘And then I’ll be on the end of the phone. I won’t leave you isolated. We’ll set up supports.’

      ‘But you’ll stay involved?’

      He took a deep breath. ‘Yes.’ Where had that come from? The Nikolai de Montez mantra was ‘never get involved’. But this was different. This was for a country.

      This was for Rose.

      ‘Yes,’ he said again. ‘I’ll stay as involved as you want.’

      ‘Then I guess I can cope with the press,’ she said, still sounding shaky. ‘The plane’s due to pick me up in Newcastle at two. You swear you’ll be on it?’

      What was a man to say to that? Despite misgivings. Despite Ruby.

      ‘Yes,’ he said, and he was committed.

      CHAPTER FOUR

      THE plane was fitted out like something out of a James Bond movie. Nikolai was accustomed to first-class international travel, but this was mind boggling.

      He couldn’t cut and run now, leaving Rose to face the consequences, but he felt like it. He buckled his seat belt with grim resolution. Let’s get this over with.

      For the first part of the flight he was alone, apart from a dark-suited, elderly attendant who spoke in monosyllables. Somewhere up front there’d be a flight crew, but he never saw them. Erhard had made the arrangements. He just had to trust Erhard. Only, why hadn’t Erhard answered his calls for the last few days? How sick was he?