A Touch of Notoriety(59)

Beth grimaced. ‘You’re imagining things.’

‘Don’t try that with me, Beth,’ her sister warned ruefully. ‘I know you far too well for you to get away with it. And, for some reason, you and Raphael are both trying to give the appearance that neither one of you believes the other exists.’

As usual, her sister had gone straight to the heart of the problem! ‘I think you have that slightly wrong, Grace. I’m only too well aware that Raphael exists—he’s the one trying to ignore me.’

‘Why?’

Beth gave a grimace as the twinge of pain in her side gave a particularly vicious twist. ‘Because he doesn’t like or approve of me any more now than he did four days ago?’

Grace gave her a reproving look. ‘We both know that isn’t it.’

‘Do we?’

Her sister sighed. ‘Okay, you obviously don’t want to talk about this right now. But when you do,’ she continued before Beth could relax her guard too much, ‘know that I’m here for you.’

‘Always,’ Beth acknowledged huskily.

Grace nodded. ‘And that I don’t judge.’

She felt the tears well up in her eyes. For what had to be the hundredth time today. ‘I’m just so emotionally exhausted at the moment, Grace, that I can barely see straight, let alone talk coherently,’ she admitted gruffly.

‘I can see that.’ Her sister stood up to pat one of her hands sympathetically. ‘You’re looking a little pale?’

‘Don’t you start!’ She grimaced. ‘Raphael has done nothing else today but tell me how awful I look!’

‘I’m sure he didn’t mean it in the way you’ve obviously taken it.’ Grace still studied her worriedly.

‘I admire your optimism!’

‘We’ll talk again later, hmm?’ Grace soothed softly. ‘And maybe this couple of weeks apart from Raphael will...help resolve whatever appears to have gone wrong between the two of you.’

‘He’s only turned my personal security over to Rodney, Grace,’ she dismissed lightly. ‘I’m sure I’ll still see his annoying presence about the apartment.’

Her sister gave a slow shake of her head. ‘He didn’t tell you?’

Beth raised her brows. ‘Tell me what?’

‘That he’s taken two weeks’ leave, effective immediately. In fact,’ Grace added with a frown as Beth gasped softly, ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if he hasn’t already gone.’

Gone?

Raphael had gone?

From Cesar’s apartment, possibly even Buenos Aires?

Without so much as telling her, let alone saying goodbye...

* * *

It was the screaming that woke Beth. A loud and piercing scream. And it was obviously a pained scream rather than one of fear.

And she wanted it to stop.

Now.

Wanted to just stay in her dream state, safe from the memories, the hurt, of Raphael’s defection.

Except the screaming was getting louder.

And louder.

‘Beth, wake up!’ Grace’s panicked voice pierced the last layers of Beth’s sleep as she felt her shoulder being shaken. ‘Beth, wake up now and tell me what’s wrong!’

Which was when Beth realised that she was the one screaming.

A pained scream rather than one of fear.

A ripping, roaring pain that began in her side and radiated out to her stomach.

She opened her eyes wide to stare up at a white-faced Grace. ‘It hurts, Grace! Oh, God, it hurts!’ she managed to gasp before the pain became too much, too unbearable, and the blackness carried her away...





CHAPTER THIRTEEN



‘IT’S BEEN TWO days now, Doctor.’

Beth frowned as she heard Grace talking to...a doctor? Why was Grace talking to a doctor? And why did she sound so worried?

‘You said she would wake up soon.’ Grace’s voice became even more strained.

Beth knew instinctively that the ‘she’ her sister was talking about was her, and she desperately wanted to open her eyes, to reassure Grace that she was fine, that she was awake. But her lids felt so heavy. Too heavy for Beth to raise them, no matter how hard she tried, just as her throat felt too dry for her to be able to talk. And yet she knew that she had to open her eyes, had to talk, that she had to reassure Grace. Had to—