Betrayed(27)

“What are these for? We’ve eaten.”

“Everyone likes to pick at food whilst drinking and talking. Will you put the music centre on as well, Babe?”

Kat carried a tray into the lounge and went back to the kitchen for the other. Rafael and Fran had gone out onto the patio, and the curtain had pulled slightly across by the breeze. As she reached to pull the curtain back into place, she heard Rafael speak. He said, “What are you trying to tell me Francine? Are you suggesting that I don’t respect a woman for what she is?”

“Prove it,” Francine said angrily.

“Do you think I’m the type who’d let you down? I hoped you could trust me.”

Kat frowned. What were they talking about?

“Trust is hard to win and easy to lose. Why should I trust you? How do I know what you’ve let out of the bag?”

Kat felt peculiarly afraid, and backed away from the patio door. People said eavesdropper never heard anything good. What the hell was the extent of their association?

She couldn’t allow them to think she’d overheard. She made a deliberate noise as if she’d just come into the room, and moments later Francine and Rafael brushed through the curtain from the patio.

“Hi!” Rafael said. “It’s stuffy. We were taking a breath of evening air. Francine has shown me how well the garden is doing.”

Kat tried hard to smile. “You were impressed?”

“Of course.”

“I’ve been getting to know your Rafael,” Francine said silkily.

“He’s not my Rafael.” Kat sounded barbed. “Rafael is free to do as he pleases, there are no to ties between us. Isn’t that right, Rafael? We’re both free agents.”

He frowned.

Fran said, “Well, whatever you say, he makes perfect company.”

“I’m glad you think so.” Francine wore a strained expression, and Kat began to wonder if this get-together had been engineered.

Fran said, “And what a charming couple you make. We should drink to your health.”

Rafael moved from the patio into the room. “I’ll second that.”

Francine’s eyes were on Rafael as he walked ahead. Something odd was taking place. Why else had Francine insisted they come here tonight?

“Do tell me,” Francine said smoothly. “You and Rafael; such an unexpected affair isn’t it?”

Rafael said, “It would’ve been a lot sooner if Katrina had been less resistive. We almost came together, years ago. She put up quite a fight against me.”

“Ah, one of our womanly wiles. We have to make ourselves seem interesting don’t we, babe?”

The CD ended. Kat said, “I’ll put more music on,”

“And I shall pour drinks. What would you like, Kat?”

“I wouldn’t mind a sherry.”

“Fino, amontillado, or dulce?”

“Fino please!”

“Cognac with ice and lemon Rafael?”

“Please.”

Kat looked up sharply. How come Francine knew Rafael took cognac with ice and lemon?

“The trouble is,” Rafael said, “I know very little about Kat. She’s secretive you know.”

“Then I shall show you something of her past.”

Francine went to a drawer and Kat groaned as she took out an old photo album. Some pictures were funny and she and Francine were soon recalling the incidents and private jokes.

Rafael suddenly said, “Good heavens! Is that the time.” He looked to Kat for approval, and she gave slight nod. “We did say we’d leave before now. I had an early start this morning,” he explained. He stood and held out his hand to Francine. “I’ve enjoyed meeting you again.”

Once they were back in her house, Kat flopped onto the settee, the conversation between Rafael and Fran still chewed at her mind. She said, “I’m sorry to drop you in it like that. Was it too awful?”

“No problems. Forget it. It wasn’t as bad as I expected.”

“She’s very beautiful isn’t she?”

“Yes.”

Kat sighed and settled back into the settee.

He said, “Drink?”

“A cup of coffee please. Espresso. The machine’s in the cupboard next to the sink. Coffee’s above.”

“I meant something stronger, actually.”

She shook her head.

“You sound tired.”

“I feel it.”

He glanced. “Too weary?”

“To drink a cup of coffee?”

He sat against her, “there are other things, or had you forgotten?”

“Such as?”

“You want me to show you?” He slid his arm around her waist. “I’m glad we’re using Fran for the presentation in Valencia.”

“You are?”

“With her already knowing us, it takes some pressure off, and allows us to concentrate on the real issues.”

Kat couldn’t look at him. She wasn’t so sure now. At the moment it felt pressure was mounting

Rafael flew back to Spain after three days, taking the same flight as Francine and her models. He arranged a photo-shoot before the display in Valencia, and said he wanted to oversee it, wanted everything to be perfect.

Kat stayed to finalise some last-minute details. If he sensed she was less than enthusiastic, he said nothing of it.

***

Late evening, her cell-phone buzzed, no name highlighted, a stranger. She flipped it on. “Hello.”

“Hi, is that Katrina Bligh?”

“Yes,” she said cautiously.

“My name is Nathan Ashleigh. I am lawyer, based in Canon Street, West London. I represent a client, who wishes to make known an offer of intent.”

Kat frowned. “An offer of intent, on what?”

“My client believes you to be working on a new type of fabric.”

Breath caught in Kat’s lungs. How did anyone know that? She hadn’t mentioned it to a single person. Only Fran new anything about it and she hadn’t said anything for ages.

“He also believes the fabric to be almost ready for public launch. He wishes to make known that he is willing to consider sponsoring your project.”

“I’m not seeking a sponsor. I’m already working under the umbrella of an international company.”

“My client understands that you have developed this project privately. He also wishes you to realise that it would be financially beneficial for you to consider moving your allegiance.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“That’s a commendable stance, Miss, Bligh. However, in my experience, in modern business practice, loyalty is an overrated virtue. My client says if you were to accept his sponsorship, all recognition and eminence would remain in your name. He would require association by name, but prominence would remain with you.”

“Who is this client?”

“He wishes to remain anonymous for the moment.”

“Well, as I said, I’m already working under the umbrella of an international company.”

“I’m sure my client will find your devotion laudable. I am, however, instructed to explain it will be a worthwhile offer, were you to indicate otherwise.”

Kat put the phone down thoughtfully. What was happening to her life?

Two days later, everything accomplished, Kat went to join Rafael, taking an overnight flight. The taxi dropped her off at the villa at seven-thirty, Rafael was yet not awake. The early morning was so fresh and sunny it seemed a shame not to take advantage of it, so she went for a stroll through the grounds.

Her walk took her around a circuitous route, up the moderate climb of a dirt track. There was no urgency in her, and she enjoyed the winding trail, climbing to a shaded spot, past a clump of dormant goldenrod.

She knew that as the fashion show drew closer, she’d be filled with nerves, but for now there were treasures to be seen in the estates and she was calm. She wandered haphazardly, trailed her hand over ugly stalks of wild fennel; snapped them so they exuded their powerful scent of anise.

Pines towered overhead. Through the trees, in the distance, she saw a log-cabin, and from it came the ring of steel and the dull clump of splitting wood.

Sunlight dappled through branches, with a single pillow of cloud in the unbroken expanse of sky above. She pushed her way forward through the fennel to the clearing ahead.

A voice bellowed angrily, “Qué usted está haciendo aquí?” A man strutted across to her, his face covered in sweat.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t realise I was trespassing.”

If Rafael was big, this man was a giant, unshaven, massive head awash with shaggy black hair. His rough shirt was opened to his chest, and sleeves rolled up to reveal stout arms.

“Usted debe. I tell you this before, eh!”