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‘I know that, too Cathy, these are just minor details which can easily be resolved’

Minor details? These minor details were her life! Cathy sed It sounded so hu a fool of herself ‘And hat shall I bring?’

‘Bring very little’ There was a pause ‘All that will be taken care of as well’

Again, that sense of utter influence and dominance—that newly emphatic timbre to his voice Surely he had not sounded quite that oppressive in the past? Did that mean her stay was to be short? ‘Xaviero, I—’

‘Look, I told you—I can’t talk now It’s…I’ll see you toh then’ There was a pause ‘Goodbye, Cathy’

She was left holding a buzzing receiver as he terminated the connection and when she’d replaced the receiver she didn’t ain and for someone to say that it had all been a mistake That the Prince had temporarily taken leave of his senses

But no such phone call came, and instead Cathy realised that what he’d said ether, she went into her bedroom and packed a sre wardrobe

She spent the rest of the evening cleaning the apart the floor, her stomach a knot of anxiety, when the car arrived It was the same dark, bullet-proofed limousine which she’d ridden in with Xaviero on their one proper ‘date’ to the polo club It seeo Another life

They sped withto be challenged until Cathy noticed the diplo on the vast and shiny bonnet and realised why And then on to an airfield where a private plane aiting, along with several hefty-looking officials who scanned her passport—was it her i at her askance?—before whisking her aboard the luxury jet

She refused most of the fancy foods and drinks offered by two sleek fe of a blur She felt a bit as she’d done after a general anaesthetic when she’d had her tonsils removed—all whoozy and disorientated—and it wasn’t until the plane began to descend towards a crescent-shaped island set in a sapphire sea that apprehension began to set in once more