Angel Uncovered (29 page)

'So did the detective give you any idea how soon they'll
find whoever is behind all this?' Suki asked.

'No,' Angel replied grimly. 'And she didn't seem too
concerned about it all.'

'And you really don't know who it could be?' Candy
asked. 'I suppose it's very A-list, though, isn't it? To have
your own stalker?'

'It's one trend I'm sure Angel could do without,'
Madison said, giving Candy another stern look.

'Sorry! I wasn't thinking.'

'It's okay,' Angel replied. 'Let's just watch a DVD.' But
while the others got stuck into
Holiday
she just sat there
quietly, brooding about the threat contained in the note.
Although she was famous and had made her name by
modelling, at heart she was a deeply private person and
the thought of everyone finding out that Cal had been
unfaithful to her was almost unbearable. It would mean
the spotlight being turned full beam on to their marriage.
She just didn't know if she could cope with that.

Angel barely slept that night, tormented with anxiety
about what was going to happen – the worst thing was
feeling so powerless, feeling that someone else was going
to decide her fate. As soon as she got up, skipping
breakfast in her haste to get home, she made her
apologies to Candy and left. She was in no mood to lie
around all day being pampered. She felt too tense, too on
edge, and with a horrible sense of foreboding. Every time
she got a text message she dreaded opening it in case it
was from the stalker again or else a journalist. At least
Gemma and Tony were round at her parents' for Sunday
lunch so she was able to talk to her best friend.

'Cal thinks it was someone playing a sick joke,' Angel
told her. 'And that's what the police seem to think as well.
What do you reckon, Gemma? I keep thinking of
Simone.'

'But the police said she was out of the country,' Gemma
reminded her.

'That doesn't stop her organising it,' Angel said darkly.
'But maybe it could have been Gabrielle?' Gemma was
the only person besides the detective and Cal whom she
had told about the tacky invitation.

'But why would she? It's too late now anyway, the press
already knows about their pervy little games,' Gemma
said.

'God, I don't know!' Angel exclaimed, getting up from
her chair and pacing round her mum's tiny but
immaculate kitchen. She was unable to sit still for even a
few minutes.

'Why don't we go for a walk with Honey?' Gemma
suggested, quick to pick up on Angel's mood.

But she shook her head. 'I just don't want to be out
with Honey at the moment. I don't feel safe, Gem, I keep
thinking that someone is watching me.' She shivered and
hugged herself. 'And every time my phone goes I think
it's going to be a journalist telling me they know about
Cal's affair. It's doing my head in!' She sighed then said,
'I'm going to have some more wine, can I get you
something?' She opened the fridge and took out a bottle
of Pinot Grigio.

'Just water, thanks. And try not to worry – maybe it
won't come out. Cal is really popular with the public, and
sometimes the press don't print stories even when they
have them if the person is popular.'

Angel laughed harshly. 'I don't believe that for a
second! I bet they're all dying to see us fall.' Almost
immediately her eyes filled with tears and she turned
back to Gemma. 'I just can't bear the idea of people
knowing about him. It will be like me finding out all over
again but a million times worse, because can't you just
imagine how the press will drool over all the details? If
this gets out it will be with us forever, and I just don't
know if I'm strong enough to deal with that.'

'Angel, you are a strong person – you can deal with it,'
Gemma said determinedly. 'And if you don't, then you
are letting whoever is doing all this win.'

But despite her friend's fighting talk, tears continued
to rain down Angel's cheeks.

Around three o'clock in the afternoon there was a knock
at the door. To Angel's relief it was Cal. As soon as he saw
her he took her in his arms and held her tight.

'I got the first flight back that I could and I've managed
to get next week off. I'm so sorry this is happening, but it
will be all right, I promise. We'll find out who's behind it.'

For a precious few minutes while she clung to Cal
Angel felt as if the events of the past week had been a bad
dream. Cal was right wasn't he? They could get through
this.

After catching up with her parents and with Gemma
and Tony, Cal insisted that they all go out for a walk by
the sea, telling Angel he didn't want either her or Honey
to be cooped up inside any longer. With Cal by her side,
she finally felt safe again. And it was good to be out in the
fresh air. She'd been spending far too much time inside
lately and it wasn't healthy for her or her daughter. It was
a beautiful afternoon in early-May – one of Angel's
favourite months because everything seemed full of
promise with the summer to look forward to.

They drove into Brighton then walked along the
promenade towards Hove, enjoying the sea air and the
blue sky, the cries of the gulls as they wheeled overhead.
It was a typical Brighton Sunday afternoon by the sea,
with families out for walks, couples strolling hand in
hand, groups of friends laughing about the night before,
and rollerbladers weaving about among the walkers.
Everything seemed so normal, but every now and then
Angel found herself looking over her shoulder, checking
no one was following them . . .

That night Michelle offered to baby-sit, allowing Angel
and Cal to go out for dinner with Gemma and Tony. At a
restaurant which overlooked the sea the four friends
caught up with each other's news and Angel realised how
much she had missed nights like this. With Cal away in
Italy there had been too few of them recently. In the past
the four of them had gone out together at least once a
week; now it felt like they barely saw each other. Angel
couldn't help thinking back to those days before she'd
had post-natal depression, before Cal had strayed . . .
how carefree and happy her life had seemed then.

'How are Jez's wedding plans going?' Cal asked,
pulling her back to the present and causing both her and
Gemma to roll their eyes.

'Let's just say, full on,' Gemma replied. 'Anyone would
think he was getting married next week rather than in
three months' time. I just hope he hasn't driven Rufus
away by then. I tell you, that man has the patience of a
saint. I don't know how he puts up with Jez.'

'True love,' Tony put in. 'Just like you and me.'

'In your dreams, babe,' Gemma shot back. 'I'm just
with you until something better comes along!'

'Likewise,' Tony replied.

Cal and Angel laughed at the pair of them. They were
always underplaying their feelings for each other but as
far as Angel was concerned they were fooling no one –
she knew how much they loved each other. She looked
out of the window at the silvery reflection of the moon on
the inky black sea. It was a still night so there were barely
any waves, the water rippling gently on the shore.

Cal took her hand and said quietly, 'You okay?'

She turned her head and nodded. 'We'll be all right,
won't we, Cal?'

'Of course we will,' he said determinedly, putting his
arm round her and pulling her close to him. 'More than
all right, I promise.' Then he whispered, 'Love you.'

'Love you too,' she answered, leaning her head on his
shoulder, praying that he was right.

But what she had no way of knowing was that this was
the calm before the storm and that after tonight nothing
would be the same for her and Cal ever again . . .

They were driving home when Angel got the text. The
moment she saw that it had come from a withheld
number she knew it was not going to be good news. With
a sick feeling of dread she opened the message:
Tomorroweveryone will know what your husband did last summer. Enjoyreading all about it.

This was it then, the moment she had feared.

'Who's the text from?' Cal asked, glancing at her
anxiously.

'It's from the stalker. They've gone to the press.'
Angel's voice cracked with emotion.

Immediately Cal pulled over and took her hand. 'I
know it's going to be hard for you, Angel, but we can get
through this. Come to Italy with me, we'll sit it out there.
If we don't say anything and don't react, the press will
soon get tired of the story,' he said urgently, trying to get
some reaction from her. Angel was staring out of the
window and into the darkness, feeling completely numb.

'It's always going to be out there now, everyone is
going to know,' she whispered.

Cal put his arm round her. 'Please, Angel, we can get
through this,' he repeated.

But Angel wasn't so sure.

When they arrived back at the house her sense of
foreboding intensified when she saw to her horror that
the press were already camped outside. There was a
scrum of at least fifty of them swarming about in front of
the gate, all jostling to get a shot of the couple.

'Oh my God!' she exclaimed.

As soon as the pack saw their car, the shouts started up.
'Angel, what do you think about Cal's affair?' 'Are you going tostand by him?' 'Cal, what have you got to say for yourself?'

Angel sank down in her seat, pulling her pashmina
over the lower part of her face. She desperately didn't
want them to get a picture of her. Cal stared stonily
ahead. He had to open his window to key in the entry
code to the gate and the photographers tried to get a shot
then – some actually thrusting their lenses through the
open window while he tried to push them away. The gate
opened and Cal put his foot down and screeched
through. The photographers knew better than to pursue
them inside. Neither Angel nor Cal spoke as he pulled in
as close to the house as he could and the two of them ran
inside. But even when they had closed the front door and
she knew no one could see them there was no real escape
because they could still hear the shouts outside. Angel felt
completely trapped. The wolves were at their door.

'
England Ace beds Italian Beauty!
' & '
Cal's Italian Job!
'
screamed the headlines on the paper with the exclusive –
the front page dominated by that picture of Cal and
Alessia embracing. Words and picture swam in front of
Angel's eyes. It was like finding out about his betrayal all
over again. She felt completely contaminated as she
feverishly read the article. Alessia had not spoken to the
press which should have been a small comfort but in
place of lurid details from her, a 'friend' of hers was
quoted describing the couple's encounter: how they
couldn't keep their eyes off each other in public, how
Alessia had confided what a fantastic lover Cal had been,
how Cal had told her that he and Angel were having
problems, how he was sick of his wife's glamour
modelling.

'It's not true,' Cal told her after he'd quickly read the
story, 'I never spoke about you to Alessia. I don't know
where the hell they got that from.'

He angrily paced round the room. Lucy had taken
Honey to the playroom and was doing some painting
with her so it was just Cal and Angel in the kitchen,
locked in their own private hell. Or so it seemed to Angel.

'You slept with her. That much is true, isn't it?' she said
bitterly, and Cal could only hang his head.

'Please, Angel, let's not go through all that again,' he
replied. He looked pale with exhaustion; neither of them
had slept. He walked over to Angel and tried to put his
arm round her, but she angrily pushed him away.

'How do you think this makes me feel?' she shouted,
sweeping the papers from the table. 'Everyone knows
now. I feel so humiliated!'

'Please keep your voice down. We don't want to upset
Honey,' Cal tried to calm her.

'Oh, shut up!' Angel shouted back. 'It was you not
keeping your dick in your pants that got us here.'

And with that she ran out of the room and upstairs
where she lay curled up on their bed, sobbing. It was as
if their reconciliation had never happened. She felt as
hurt and betrayed as she had when she'd first found out
about Cal's infidelity, tormented by thoughts of him and
Alessia together, raw with pain that he had been
unfaithful. She was desperate to talk to Gemma, to get
some perspective on this, some reassurance from her
friend. She felt so lost, so alone. But Gemma's phone
went straight to voicemail and Angel really didn't feel like
speaking to anyone else.

After a couple of hours she had calmed herself enough
to go back downstairs. Cal was in his study, on the phone
to his agent, and Lucy was giving Honey her lunch. Cal
had told her what had happened and Angel couldn't help
feeling awkward with the nanny. Lucy was doing her best
not to show it, but clearly she too felt embarrassed.

Angel bent down and kissed her daughter then said to
Lucy, 'I'm sorry, I think we're going to have to stay in at
least for today, but tomorrow I want you to carry on as
normal and take Honey to her singing group. I'll get one
of Ray's lads to go with you so the press won't bother
you.'

At this Lucy looked even more embarrassed. 'I should
tell you, Angel, that they've already contacted me and
been offering me money to do an interview with them.'

Angel was horrified. 'What about?'

'They want to interview me about your marriage.0
Don't worry,' the girl added hastily, 'I've said no way. I
mean, I signed the confidentiality agreement with you
when you hired me, but even if I hadn't I would never do
something like that.'

The vultures were clearly circling, wanting to pick
away even more at Angel's life with Cal.

'Oh my God!' she exclaimed. 'Have they offered you
lots of money?'

Lucy nodded. 'Don't worry, Angel, I'm not going to do
it. And anyway, I've got nothing bad to say.'