have another child, something that hurt her deeply every time she remembered it. She might still have been young enough to try for a baby with Rahim if not for that.
But Oliver would have killed you if you’d stayed. This way, at least you can see Hugo and Sophie, the only two children you’ll ever have, from a distance.
Her fingers tightened around Rahim’s.
‘This will be our honeymoon,’ he said softly. ‘A few weeks together, on this island. Out of time. It’s a very odd honeymoon, I know, but to me, you’re my wife, Belinda. And this is the start of our life together.’
Belinda was a survivor; she had fought her way through her appalling marriage without losing her mind or her life, and the decision to fake her own death in order to be free of Oliver had been all hers. She was determined not to cry any more. She didn’t have everything she wanted, but she had her life, and the man she loved, and that was a very great deal.
So she picked up Rahim’s smooth hand and kissed it as she said: ‘Darling, you know something? You mustn’t call me Belinda any more. Belinda’s dead and gone.’
Rahim nodded.
‘I thought that maybe,’ he said, ‘if you like it, from now on I would call you Hana. It means happiness in Arabic. No—’ he thought quickly. ‘More than happiness. Bliss. It means bliss.’
‘I think that’s
lovely
,’ the woman who had been Her Royal Highness, Princess Belinda, and was now Hana, the official consort of Prince Rahim Mohajeri bin Azhari, said, smiling at her lover. ‘I’m about bloody due some bliss.’
She stood up, and with one swift movement slid onto her lover’s lap and wound her arms around his neck.
‘You know what? Let’s get started on some bliss right now. I’ve got
years
to make up for!’ she said, and kissed him so hard he tipped back in the chair, and they nearly both went crashing down to the mosaic floor.
Chloe
Present day
‘Bollocks! Bollocks bollocks fuckety-fuck!’
As Chloe emerged from the treatment room of the clinic, patting her chin rather gingerly after the vigorous salt microdermabrasion and UV light treatment she had just undergone, the loud voice of her new lady-in-waiting could be heard even through the glass entrance door; it sounded as if Lauren were standing on the staircase that led down to the ground floor.
‘What is she
doing
?’ Chloe muttered, as Lauren burst back through the door and stood, arms akimbo, in the hallway, shaking her head so furiously that even the several layers of hairspray she had applied that morning couldn’t hold her extensions perfectly in place.
‘Chlo, I’m sorry, babe, but the paps are outside!’ Lauren announced. ‘What a fucking disaster!’
‘What? Oh
no
!’ Both Chloe’s hands rose to her face now in an instinctive effort to cover it.
‘I didn’t say a word to anyone!’ Sujata, the owner of GiGi Medical Aesthetics, assured both girls, her expression horrified. ‘I cleared the whole appointments book so that no one would come in while you’re here, Chloe! I do all your treatments myself so I’m the only technician in the clinic—’
‘I know, I know,’ Chloe said swiftly to reassure Sujata. ‘I don’t think for a moment it was you.’
‘Client confidentiality is
so
crucial!’ Sujata wailed, going into her office, which had a window on the street, and angling herself to look down without showing her face at the glass. As soon as she did so, she screamed. ‘Oh my God, there’s a whole
crowd
of them!’
‘It’s all the foreign press too,’ Lauren said grimly. ‘Fucking hell, it’s a sodding mess, isn’t it? Let’s have a look at you, Chlo. Shit.’
She winced at the sight of Chloe’s face, which was not only pink and shiny all over, but dotted with small red marks where the tracer gun of the salt microdermabrasion had taken off the tops of several little bumps on Chloe’s skin. Chloe didn’t have a perfect complexion, and had been plastering on increasing
But Oliver would have killed you if you’d stayed. This way, at least you can see Hugo and Sophie, the only two children you’ll ever have, from a distance.
Her fingers tightened around Rahim’s.
‘This will be our honeymoon,’ he said softly. ‘A few weeks together, on this island. Out of time. It’s a very odd honeymoon, I know, but to me, you’re my wife, Belinda. And this is the start of our life together.’
Belinda was a survivor; she had fought her way through her appalling marriage without losing her mind or her life, and the decision to fake her own death in order to be free of Oliver had been all hers. She was determined not to cry any more. She didn’t have everything she wanted, but she had her life, and the man she loved, and that was a very great deal.
So she picked up Rahim’s smooth hand and kissed it as she said: ‘Darling, you know something? You mustn’t call me Belinda any more. Belinda’s dead and gone.’
Rahim nodded.
‘I thought that maybe,’ he said, ‘if you like it, from now on I would call you Hana. It means happiness in Arabic. No—’ he thought quickly. ‘More than happiness. Bliss. It means bliss.’
‘I think that’s
lovely
,’ the woman who had been Her Royal Highness, Princess Belinda, and was now Hana, the official consort of Prince Rahim Mohajeri bin Azhari, said, smiling at her lover. ‘I’m about bloody due some bliss.’
She stood up, and with one swift movement slid onto her lover’s lap and wound her arms around his neck.
‘You know what? Let’s get started on some bliss right now. I’ve got
years
to make up for!’ she said, and kissed him so hard he tipped back in the chair, and they nearly both went crashing down to the mosaic floor.
Chloe
Present day
‘Bollocks! Bollocks bollocks fuckety-fuck!’
As Chloe emerged from the treatment room of the clinic, patting her chin rather gingerly after the vigorous salt microdermabrasion and UV light treatment she had just undergone, the loud voice of her new lady-in-waiting could be heard even through the glass entrance door; it sounded as if Lauren were standing on the staircase that led down to the ground floor.
‘What is she
doing
?’ Chloe muttered, as Lauren burst back through the door and stood, arms akimbo, in the hallway, shaking her head so furiously that even the several layers of hairspray she had applied that morning couldn’t hold her extensions perfectly in place.
‘Chlo, I’m sorry, babe, but the paps are outside!’ Lauren announced. ‘What a fucking disaster!’
‘What? Oh
no
!’ Both Chloe’s hands rose to her face now in an instinctive effort to cover it.
‘I didn’t say a word to anyone!’ Sujata, the owner of GiGi Medical Aesthetics, assured both girls, her expression horrified. ‘I cleared the whole appointments book so that no one would come in while you’re here, Chloe! I do all your treatments myself so I’m the only technician in the clinic—’
‘I know, I know,’ Chloe said swiftly to reassure Sujata. ‘I don’t think for a moment it was you.’
‘Client confidentiality is
so
crucial!’ Sujata wailed, going into her office, which had a window on the street, and angling herself to look down without showing her face at the glass. As soon as she did so, she screamed. ‘Oh my God, there’s a whole
crowd
of them!’
‘It’s all the foreign press too,’ Lauren said grimly. ‘Fucking hell, it’s a sodding mess, isn’t it? Let’s have a look at you, Chlo. Shit.’
She winced at the sight of Chloe’s face, which was not only pink and shiny all over, but dotted with small red marks where the tracer gun of the salt microdermabrasion had taken off the tops of several little bumps on Chloe’s skin. Chloe didn’t have a perfect complexion, and had been plastering on increasing
Similar Books
