Scandal (Tainted #1) (25 page)

She pointed to a dirt road in front of them, snapping his focus back to the present. Besides, this was stuff he could worry about when the time came. No point in stressing himself out now.

‘Simpson Manor,’ he read the sign aloud as they drove in.

‘It gets worse from here.’

As he pulled into the courtyard in front of the biggest house he’d ever seen, he conceded Alicia was right. He’d thought she’d been kidding about the wings and that maybe the tennis court had been an over-exaggeration, but there was no fence to mark off a garden in the surrounding countryside. Which only pissed him off. How could someone with this obvious wealth let their daughter stay in a tiny London flat with dodgy plumbing? Or was that Alicia’s choice?

There were several sports cars and a Bentley parked to the right, so he pulled into a space. Messing up the earl’s pristine courtyard with his two-year-old Porsche Cayman wouldn’t be a wise move considering he got the feeling the guy already didn’t like him.

After collecting the bags, he walked side by side with her. The entrance was huge, and Alicia pushed the door all the way open. An older woman with the same bone structure as Alicia stood in the foyer next to a man who looked like the eighteenth century had thrown up on him. He guessed they were her parents.

‘Mother, Father, this is Sebastian.’ Alicia’s voice was prim again, with a snooty edge he’d never heard her use.

He waited, expecting the two to embrace their daughter. Maybe shake his hand. They didn’t move an inch, just studied him with blank expressions. He felt like a smear of dirt on their pristine floor.

‘Pleased to meet you, Mr and Mrs Simpson.’ He’d do polite, but no way was he pretending to be a snob in front of these emotionless drones. Now he had a bit more of an insight as to why Alicia had been fighting against her attraction. She’d been brought up with parents as warm as a snowstorm.

‘Is Daria here?’ she asked.

Her father answered, his expression softening a little. ‘Not yet, she and Blair arrive tonight.’

She nodded. ‘Where is Sebastian sleeping? I’ll show him to his room.’

Mrs Simpson looked at her husband, who didn’t acknowledge her. He just stared at Sebastian. Maybe even through him. There was a volatility about him that made Sebastian antsy. Hell, he should have taken Alicia’s advice and stayed away this weekend.

‘Henry will show him.’ Mr Simpson clicked his fingers and a butler appeared from the doorway at the right. ‘We need to talk.’

He frowned at his daughter and Alicia almost wilted. He was about to step in front of her and offer protection from the heavy disapproval radiating from her father, but that wouldn’t be a smart move. He was already on the guy’s shit list and the Alicia he’d spent the last week with could take care of herself.

Instead, he followed the butler up the stairs, throwing her a look he hoped showed his support. Her wild eyes didn’t sit right in her pale, smooth face and he hesitated, his gut twisting as he left her to the sharks. But that was ridiculous, wasn’t it? She’d grown up in this house, with these people. Still, he couldn’t make his feet take him any further.

Her father clicked his fingers at her and walked into the other room with her mother, a clear instruction for her to follow that had him grinding his molars. She swallowed, then offered him a smile before mouthing, ‘I’ll be fine.’

‘Hurry back. This house gives me the creeps.’

She laughed silently, then rolled her eyes. ‘Warm the bed up.’

Sebastian blinked, not sure he’d made that out right, but she had already turned and made her way into another room. As he climbed the stairs, the paintings of all the previous titled Simpsons followed him. By the time he’d reached the top, the eyes seemed to mock him. Even they knew he shouldn’t be there.

‘I want to report an assault,’ Mai told the policeman at the front desk. She didn’t have to fake the tears or the hitch in her voice. As well as the pain in her nose and jaw, those things came from her heart being ripped in two.

‘I’ll have someone take your statement shortly. Do you need medical assistance?’

‘Probably,’ she said.

‘I’ll have someone take you to the hospital later. Please, take a seat.’

He gestured to the empty chairs lining the wall. The station was quiet, but it was barely midday. She expected night would be busier – especially at the weekend. To pass the time she pulled out her mobile and set up the camera for a selfie. She’d not had time to check for damage earlier and photographic evidence could never be a bad thing.

After snapping the picture she winced when it flashed up on her screen. Between the swelling and dried blood, she looked horrific. Just then, her phone chimed with a text and she opened it.

Babe, I’m so sorry. Please come home and we’ll talk. I didn’t mean to hurt you, I love you.

Jack’s message just made her eyes water more. He didn’t love her – he wasn’t even attracted to her! She replied,
Porn? PORN, Jack? Fuck you!

She tried to switch it off, but he was faster with his reply.

I know, I can’t help it. I’ve been watching since you left me. It’s an addiction, babe. Help me, don’t leave me.

Her finger froze over the off button as she stared at the words. Guilt twisted her lungs until it got hard to breathe. If he had a problem, that was on her. After all, she’d cheated on him with Sebastian, hadn’t she? She’d also tore into him this morning, taking out her anger on him when she should have probably stayed calm and listened. Maybe then she wouldn’t be sitting in a police station with a swollen face.

I’m not leaving you. Just going to the hospital.

Collins. It all came down to him, didn’t it? If he hadn’t struck a deal for his new slut’s family wedding, none of this would have happened. The fury came back, but now she was aiming it at the right person.

Jack’s reply distracted her.

I’m so sorry, Mai. I can’t believe I did that.

She frowned, wishing he wouldn’t torture himself. She’d put him through enough.

Water under the bridge, babe. I love you and will see you soon xoxo

‘Miss, you wanted to make a statement?’

Her head snapped up as a man in uniform stepped closer. Mai nodded. ‘Yes, I want to press charges against the man who did this to my face.’

‘Let’s go to one of the interview rooms.’

She switched off her mobile this time and followed the man through the station, smiling a little as a plan formed for the perfect payback. When she was seated and had refused the policeman’s offer of a hot drink, he switched on the tape and recorded the time, date, and their names.

‘Now, tell me what happened,’ the man said.

‘This morning, my ex punched me.’

‘I need a name, Miss.’

She squeezed out a few tears for effect – which wasn’t hard given the pain she was still in. ‘Collins. Sebastian Collins. I want him arrested for assaulting me.’

Alicia followed her parents into her father’s study. Unease prickled the back of her neck. It had been years since she’d been called to this room, but her mother hadn’t been there. As far as she knew, her mother had never been allowed. Until now.

Her mother took the chair her father gestured to at the side of the desk, then he rounded it and stared Alicia down. She straightened her shoulders and tried to keep her fear from showing, just like her mother had taught her, but one glance at the woman and she could see emotion had cracked through the mask she always wore.

That’s when she lost the ability to hold her tongue. ‘What’s going on?’

Her father winced – no doubt at her choice of words. ‘Juliette?’

Oh God. Why was he letting her mother lead the conversation? Alicia sat down in the chair before her legs gave out. This must be something that required more tact than he was capable of.

Her mother rose and crossed to the desk. She picked up a folder, then handed it to Alicia. Her eyes were too shiny and Alicia didn’t want to open the file. She guessed the contents were bad – maybe even copies of the photographs from the park the other day. How could she explain that?

‘I’m so sorry, sweetheart.’ Juliette sat next to her and squeezed her thigh. ‘We thought you should see these.’

Alicia opened the folder and her worst fear slapped her in the face. They were of Mai and Sebastian in Hyde Park. First them talking, then Mai with tears in her eyes, then a picture that made her sick to her stomach – the kiss.

But something was different. She couldn’t see Sebastian’s face in any of these pictures. The ones she’d bargained for from
Taylor Made
were side on and caught everything. This only showed Mai’s hands in his hair when she kissed him, like there had been someone else taking pictures behind him.

Someone who was blackmailing them? She met her mother’s concerned gaze with rising panic. ‘Where did you get these? They don’t want money, do they?’

‘No, they don’t want money, Alicia.’

‘Good,’ Alicia put the photos on the desk with shaking hands, but the relief of finding out her family wasn’t being blackmailed relaxed her enough to think straight. ‘How did you get these?’ Her mother didn’t meet her eyes, which raised her suspicions. She turned to her father. ‘Who took the pictures?’

‘That hardly matters, not when you’re missing the obvious. Your
boyfriend
is having an affair!’ He said the word ‘boyfriend’ with his expression twisted with disgust.

‘I know about this,’ she said, staring him down for the first time. ‘Mai kissed him. What I want to know is where these pictures came from.’

‘Irrelevant! You can’t believe him. He’s taking you and this family for fools. I will not allow it.’

‘Arthur,’ her mother cautioned but he barrelled on.

‘No, Juliette. Do you want to see your daughter humiliated in those gossip rags? Be known as another one of the man’s trollops?’

The reminder that he didn’t think more of her than a common slut cut deep, but she didn’t feel sorry for herself this time. Now anger boiled through her veins and she rose, literally standing up to a man she’d spent so long trying to please.

‘You don’t know anything about me and Sebastian, Father. Now tell me where these pictures came from!’

His face turned a deep shade of puce, but he didn’t speak unless she could count the angry sputter that escaped his lips.

‘He hired a private investigator,’ her mother said.

‘Juliette, leave us. Now!’ he shouted.

Alicia grabbed her arm. The fear in her mother’s expression reminded her that her father was still powerful. He could still do awful things and there wasn’t anything any of them could do, not even her brave mother, who’d stood up for Alicia so many times before.

It was time for her to grow a backbone and deal with her father as an adult instead of looking at him like a giant who could crush her at will.

She turned to face him, releasing her mother’s arm so she could leave. ‘You’ve invaded my privacy and Sebastian’s.’

Her father planted both hands on the wooden desk and leaned forward. ‘If I hadn’t you’d never have known what kind of a man he is!’

‘Like I said, I knew already. If your private investigator had been paying enough attention, he’d have heard Sebastian apologise for what happened and see that Mai took it the wrong way. He might have even noticed the journalist who caught the kiss on camera.’

He threw his hands in the air. ‘See? I knew something like this would happen. Scandal is what comes when you associate yourself with –’

‘There’s no scandal, Father. Who do you think got the pictures off the press? I’m a good publicist, and I know how to stop things like this leaking or getting blown out of proportion.’

He sputtered again, but she saw something in his eyes she’d never seen before. Respect? However grudgingly, it was there and she felt like she’d grown five inches because of it. He may be mad at her, he might even be livid at Sebastian, but he couldn’t deny anymore that she wasn’t capable of dealing with things in her own life. Her own way.

She wondered if telling him the truth – that Sebastian was just a client – would calm him down. But if he was being followed, no doubt by the blond-haired man, then her father would already know Sebastian was spending the night at her flat. She didn’t want to have to explain their casual relationship – that would be information overload.

‘You need to accept that Sebastian is trying. If you’ve been keeping tabs on him, you’ll know how hard he’s been working, right through to the evening. Father, please give him a chance.’

The colour slowly drained from his face and soon his breathing returned to normal, but his expression was still one of a man who was not happy things weren’t going his way. Eventually he said, ‘One last chance.’

She was so relieved she had the brief urge to hug him, but of course that would earn her scorn for her idiocy. In his eyes, showing emotions was almost as bad as what she’d done when she was a teenager. ‘Thank you.’

She turned to leave but stopped when he said.

‘This is the final chance. For him and you.’

Swallowing, she forced her feet to move on a floor that seemed like it was covered with drying superglue. One more chance, then she’d suffer the same fate as Jonathan. Not that it would make much of a financial difference – he’d already told her she wouldn’t get her trust fund until she proved she was worthy of it. But it would emotionally, especially if her mother and sisters obeyed his wishes.

Chapter Nineteen

A knock on the glass jolted Sebastian awake. Cursing, he tried to push the last of the dream away and got up. He headed for the door but the next knock came from behind him. Still half asleep and achy from an all-nighter on the sofa, he turned. Alicia clung to the rail outside the French doors, mouthing, ‘Let me in.’

He rushed across the room, stumbling over one of his bags. Seeing her laugh only pissed him off. Pulling open the doors, he almost growled at her. ‘What the hell are you doing? You could have been hurt.’

Or worse. Dread lined his stomach at the thought of her falling …

‘Relax.’ She hiked a leg over the rail and he caught her waist, lifting her the rest of the way over. ‘It’s not hard.’