Page 6 (1/2)

Chapter 1

Wet hair lies against the fluffy thread of an expensive hotel gown that Sash wouldn’t even be wearing if Dante hadn’t put it on her She watches hiainst his ear while she deliberately avoids her own, tearsdown her chin to explode against the la Not injured Dead

She can hear the words as a wall of noise, senseless and foreign When Dante finally finishes speaking, he looks at Sash as though staring at so

he can’t understand

“You need to get dressed”, he says, as though it’s the third time he has done so

Sash feels numb inside, but Dante’s too busy to notice her silence As soon as he’s pulled clothes out of the wardrobe and thrown them on the bed for Sash to put on, he’s back on his cell phone organizing the details of their travel

When a few moments pass and he notices Sash still hasn’t moved, he puts the call on hold and quickly comes over to her

“Darling”, he says, his finger under her chin “We need to get back to New York and sort this out”

Sash stares into his eyes He couldn’t have Not her stepbrother Not Dante It has to be a coincidence, a piece of bad luck woven into their story

“Sash”, Dante says again, “I know it’s a shock, baby, but we need to go I thought this hat you wanted anyway, huh? To tell the whole world?”

Baby Having him say it sends shivers up and down her spine On the TV in the background, the news story continues Crowds collect outside Dante’s sleek black office tower and people in the street give opinions At Sash’s family home, Tracy refuses to comment, both on the whereabouts of her husband and the relationship of her son and stepdaughter

Sash nods She braves a shts to the back of her mind and wipes the tears away from her eyes Baby

“Ok”, she says finally What she feels is nothing like it

She takes the toweling robe off and lets it drop to the floor like swept snow In theit in such a way it see for the

Sash pulls crumpled clothes over sticky skin while Dante waits patiently, fielding calls as they co to answer questions

In the elevator, they stand side by side, the words burning Sash’s lips as they descend I’nant

“Are you ready for this?” Dante asks

When she turns to look at him, he’s already turned hiry like a hunting wolf Is he enjoying this?

Sash doesn’t knohat to say When she opens her mouth, the only words she wants to come out of it are the words that seem like they’ll never come Because of that, she wonders for a moment whether it’s true

Before she even has a chance to forle sound, the elevator indicates they are at the lobby, and the doors slowly slide open

It hits her like a train co out of a tunnel in the countryside Oneand screah the collected paparazzi, follows the guided instructions of terrified hotel staff and h to the private corridor behind the concierge’s desk, that will eventually lead theh the kitchens, laundry room and staff’s private quarters, and out to a driver at the back of the hotel

Sash can hear them thick in behind her More than once she feels someone pull her arm, only for Dante to pull it back the other way She feels like one of the fish in the tank in the antecha her eyes, while Dante and several other staff members do their best to protect her

Outside, a huge crowd have gathered Here, general public stand shoulder to shoulder with journalists, cell phones primed and ready to upload any salacious content immediately to social media Dante refuses to answer questions For Sash, the whole thing is co

Eventually, they push their way past the gathered throng and force their way inside the waiting car Surrounded by people, Sash feels less safe here than she did in the lobby Like this, she feels completely trapped Some of them have banners, some pound on the car ith their fists, others smile like lunatics and try to take selfies

“Drive”, Dante orders

As the car revs, jerking forwards threateningly, the crowd begin to part Up ahead, police officers are beginning to arrive on the scene, already far too late to make a difference At theby Sash’s side, a wo fiercely

“Sick”, is all Sash can’tsick”

Spit explodes against the windscreen just before the car pulls away As theyto be controlled by the police behind them, the driver makes streaks with it in the hands of the wipers

Sash’s heart is beatingat hi else, he stares out of the , losing himself in the peaks behind the city line

How the fuck is he going to deal with this one?