Page 96 of Judging Duke

“I don’t know. Maybe I thought I was no good.”

“You’re more than good. Now here comes Cyril. Are you ready to show him your surprise?”

The snappily dressed man approached, a beaming smile on his face.

“Simon, my boy, what a fantastic night this is. Barbara would have loved it. Not just the pictures, but seeing you two together.She mentioned to me it was her wish for you to get together. She was very astute, often seeing things others didn’t.”

Duke spoke, a little misty-eyed, “She would have loved it, you’re right. Especially the upstairs exhibition. Have you been up there?”

“I have. What a fantastic collection of photos. I’ve put a few stickers on some of them. I’ll be having them shipped back to France to hang in the villa.”

I scuffed the floor with my shoe, apprehension sinking in at what I was about to show him.

“I put this together for you. It kind of felt right after she passed. Duke and I agreed you should have it.”

I went over to the counter and pulled out an album. “This is for you.”

Duke squeezed my hand. We’d planned it together.

“I’m lost for words,” Cyril said as he leafed through the album of pictures: Barbara, the villa, the yacht we’d spent time on and a few pictures of Cyril and Barbara together. Candid shots. Shots where their love for each other leapt off the page and straight into your heart.

I rubbed my hands down my trousers, now moist with nerves.

“This is quite possibly the best gift I’ve ever been given. How can I ever thank you?”

“We thought, seeing how she was instrumental in getting us together, without even knowing, that we should pay tribute to the force of nature that was Barbara.”

Duke’s words were perfect and had the effect of bringing Cyril to tears.

He closed the book and clutched it to his chest. “I’ll cherish this until the day I die. Words are just not enough.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. I’d known he’d love it, but there was always the thought it wouldn’t go down well.

The remainder of the evening was spent watching in awe and wonder as all but six of my photographs sold. There were so many enquiries about Duke’s picture despite the huge ‘not for sale’ sticker on it.

I’ll admit to being jealous at the attention he was getting, but he was who he was, and at the end of the day, he was mine.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

DUKE

So, the guy you hated, the one that threatened you all those years ago, is now your boyfriend. Is that right?”

Ziggy took a drink of his fancy cocktail. He sneezed, the feather in his drink almost sticking up his nose.

“That’s about it, yes.”

“The very same guy that Marc told off in the gym.” He twirled the feather between his fingers now, contemplating my words.

“Yes,” I said, exasperated. How many times did I need to tell him?

“Well, I’ll admit I’m a bit confused. I thought he hated you, swore to put you in prison. What changed?”

“We connected when we were in France, and we’ve been spending a lot of time together.”

“I know how your connections go. How was it? You can tell me.” He grinned, leaning forward in his seat.

“Ziggy, don’t be nosey.” Marc sat next to him, his arm around the back of his chair. Marc stroked up and down Ziggy’s neck with his thumb. I’d noticed that about these two; they were always touching.

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