Читать книгу Fortune: The Original Snogbuster - Megan Cole - Страница 13

There had been no sign of the other two at breakfast. As Sapphire made her way down to the beach afterwards, she wondered briefly what had gone on last night after she left. An image of Cam’s torso, muscled and glistening with water, suddenly popped into her head, making Sapphire’s stomach lurch. Had he been with Simonetta last night? Or even both? Sapphire couldn’t help feeling a bit gutted; she’d gone to bed last night thinking about his sexy body and dark eyes.

Any thoughts of Cam were temporarily suspended when she saw the huge, gleaming-white yacht moored at the end of the jetty, the name Spirito Libero emblazoned across the side. As she approached, Brad was standing on the beach talking on his mobile. Sapphire waited until he was finished and then stepped forward hesitantly.

‘Happy birthday.’ She gave him the flower she’d plucked from the veranda outside her bedroom.

Brad looked surprised. ‘What’s this?’

Sapphire blushed. ‘It’s your birthday, isn’t it? I mean, the party’s tonight. I’m afraid I didn’t get you a card or anything, but I thought you might like the flower instead.’ She coughed, embarrassed. ‘I mean, even though it’s your flower anyway…’ She sighed. ‘Sorry, it was better in my head.’

Brad smiled back. ‘I’m really touched, thank you. My birthday was actually last week,’ he added. ‘But this was the only available space in my schedule.’

‘Oh,’ said Sapphire, blushing.

You are such an idiot, she told herself. Why can’t you just keep your mouth shut?

Behind them, they heard a loud shriek. Madison had got one ridiculously high heel stuck in the sand and had fallen over. Staff rushed from nowhere to help her. Brad and Sapphire looked at each other and started laughing.

‘I’ve got a feeling this is a birthday celebration I won’t forget,’ he said.

Simonetta lay still, enjoying the warm sun on her face. They had been on board for a few hours now, and already her dark skin was turning the colour of mahogany. She thought of how she’d left Cam last night and smiled to herself. Not many girls would turn down Cam Tyler – she could already see the cow eyes Madison and Sapphire were making at him. Silly little girls! Simonetta had much more important things on her mind. She wanted a way into Brad Masters’ inner circle and there was no way she was going to wreck her chances with a stupid holiday romance.

Her thoughts drifted to her mamma. What would she be doing now? Probably preparing yet another meal for her brothers and sisters in the narrow kitchen of their poky little house. Simonetta couldn’t understand why none of her siblings, who were all younger than her, had expressed any desire to leave their boring village in search of fame and fortune. Of course, none of them were as blessed as her looks-wise, but still. Her sister Vera had a big sweet habit and even bigger thighs, but you’d have thought she could get a job as a secretary or something.

Simonetta thought more about her mother. Mamma would have a heart attack if she could see her daughter now, perched atop a luxury yacht in a thong bikini. She had been ignoring her mother’s calls since she got to Capri, but she could imagine what the voice-mails would be.

‘Why are you such a bad girl, Simonetta? Why do you do this to me?’

Her mother had always been harder on her than her brothers and sisters and Simonetta had never known why. Still, it didn’t bother her now. She was free to do whatever she wanted.

‘Simonetta.’ Sapphire was standing over her, smiling. ‘Lunch is ready.’

Simonetta watched the English girl walk away. Such an odd creature! She was quite pretty, but she had clearly never heard of couture. And those eyebrows! If she weren’t such a lost cause, Simonetta would sit her down and give her the wisdom of her beauty tips. She was embarrassed to be seen out in public with her.

And yet Sapphire had a secret pass to Brad Masters’ world, just like her and that bimbo Madison. Something linked all three of them and Simonetta couldn’t for the life of her work out what it was.

‘Is this how you spend your time off, Brad?’ Sapphire asked, forking a mouthful of spaghetti alla carbonara. Although she had initially been intimidated, Brad was surprisingly easy to be around and Sapphire was feeling more relaxed by the minute.

Brad smiled ruefully. ‘Days like this are few and far between unfortunately. My work seems to have a habit of taking precedence.’

‘Yeah, but you don’t have to work, do you?’ asked Madison. ‘I wouldn’t if I had all this.’

‘I do it because I enjoy it,’ he said, smiling. ‘Music is my passion. I’d work even if I wasn’t getting paid.’

Madison looked puzzled at this revelation. ‘Oh.’

‘What about you, Sapphire?’ Brad said, turning to her. ‘You work in a music shop, don’t you? It must be pretty interesting.’

‘Yeah, Jerry, the guy who owns it, is really nice. He helps me out a lot with my own music.’ Sapphire went red as both Simonetta and Madison looked at her contemptuously.

‘I’m looking forward to hearing some of your stuff,’ said Brad. ‘Your mum said it had kind of an Amy Winehouse-vibe.’

Sapphire’s heart skipped a beat. ‘Er…I’m all right with lyrics, it’s just the melodies.’

Brad smiled understandingly. ‘That old chestnut, eh? It’ll come.’

‘Do you really think so?’ she asked eagerly.

He shrugged. ‘Sure. Anything’s possible if you work hard enough. I started out in life with an overnight bag and a couple of quid to my name.’ It was well known that Brad had arrived in London from a sleepy town in Devon and worked his way up to the big time.

‘Quid?’ asked Madison, looking puzzled.

He chuckled. ‘Quid, dosh, wonger, however you want to say it.’

‘Brad means money,’ Sapphire said, smiling at Madison.

Madison returned the smile, happy they were back on familiar ground. ‘Money makes the world go round, right?’

Brad studied her. ‘Do you really think that?’

‘Uh? Yeah!’

Brad said nothing as he stared out to sea.

Sapphire smoothed down her dress, checking herself for the umpteenth time in the mirror. The short, strapless number from Miss Selfridge was a bit daring for her, but her mum had encouraged her to buy it on one of their rare shopping trips. ‘You’ve got such a lovely figure, darling!’ Leonie had told her. ‘You should show it off more.’

Showing it off is what I am doing tonight, Sapphire thought. She had to admit the dress looked pretty good, and even better with the black heels her mother had insisted on buying her as well. Shaking her blow-dried hair over her shoulders, Sapphire applied a coat of lip-gloss, took a deep breath and walked out.

The house was strangely silent for a party and Sapphire had heard no guests arriving. Maybe they’re all being brought in on Brad’s yacht, she thought. As she reached the staircase, she saw Maggie standing at the bottom. On catching sight of Sapphire, the friendly housekeeper let out a happy gasp.

‘Don’t you look like a princess! Come down here so I can have a proper look at you.’

Careful not to trip up, Sapphire slowly made her way down the stairs.

Maggie’s eyes lit up in approval. ‘Such a darling dress. Don’t you think so, Raphael?’

Sapphire jumped. She hadn’t realised the rude boy from yesterday was standing in the hallway. His green eyes seemed to burn into her as he gave her a contemptuous look.

‘I will see you later, Maggie.’

‘Don’t mind him,’ Maggie said as Raphael stalked off. ‘That’s just Raphael’s way.’

Well, I don’t like his way, Sapphire thought. It’s rude. ‘Why is he here, Maggie? He doesn’t seem to fit in.’

Maggie chuckled. ‘Brad found him on the street in Rome, busking. He’s a music student, a rare talent, Brad says. They got talking and when Brad found out Raphael was busking to pay his way through college, he invited him to be his chauffeur for the summer instead. Brad likes nurturing young protégés.’

‘I don’t think Raphael likes me very much,’ Sapphire ventured.

Maggie smiled. ‘Don’t take it personally. Raphael’s…complicated. He doesn’t find it easy to relate to people.’

‘Right,’ said Sapphire. Like that explained anything. Maybe he just didn’t like brunettes or something. She asked a question that had been troubling her instead.

‘Maggie, where are all the other guests?’

The housekeeper smiled knowingly. ‘All good things come to those who wait.’

The three girls were waiting expectantly in the drawing-room. Madison had already surveyed Sapphire’s outfit with distaste. Now she looked Simonetta’s black silk jumpsuit up and down.

‘You say it’s Gucci? Looks fake to me.’

Simonetta made a ‘pff’ sound, giving Madison the once-over back. ‘I didn’t realise it was prom night.’

Madison looked down at her baby-blue sequinned mini-dress. ‘Er, hello? This is Dolce and Gabanna.’

‘They must have been having an off day,’ Simonetta sniffed.

It was a minute past seven when Brad walked in. ‘Girls, you look fabulous. Shall we?’ He gestured towards the door. In curious silence they followed him out of the house and down the garden path towards the beach. Hundreds of candles lit their way and at the end of them, Sapphire could see a gazebo ablaze with fairy lights and more candles. In the gathering gloom it looked magical. Brad led them inside, to where an ice bucket containing a bottle of champagne stood in one corner, along with four glasses.

‘When’s everyone else arriving?’ Madison asked, her eyes scanning the sweeping gardens.

Brad smiled. ‘Everyone’s here.’

‘But…’ Madison looked in confusion at Brad and then at Sapphire and Simonetta. ‘I don’t understand.’

There was a long silence before Brad spoke again. ‘Girls, I’m going to cut to the chase. I’ve brought you here under false pretences.’

Sapphire’s heart began to quicken. The atmosphere could be cut with a knife as the three girls listened to what he had to say.

‘It is my fiftieth birthday party,’ Brad said. ‘That much is true. But the reason I only invited the three of you is…’ He stopped, seemingly stuck for words. ‘That is to say…The reason you’re here is because I thought it would be a good chance to meet my…’

He looked at them all, face serious.

‘A good chance to meet my daughters.’