Page 63 of Suddenly Tempted
Darcy breathed a sigh of relief. “I won’t. I promise. Thank you. Thank you. Here, I’ll help you to the car.”
They walked to the road together, the driver clambering out and opening the boot for them. Carefully, they laid Devlin’s clothes inside and the driver closed the boot, opening the back door. Sophia held out her hand and Darcy shook it.
“Thank you,” said Darcy, climbing inside. “I won’t forget this.”
“You’d better not,” replied Sophia. “And good luck. If he’s worth this much money, then he must mean the world to you.”
“He does,” said Darcy as the car pulled away. “He means everything.”
Chapter 34
DEVLIN
What am I going to do?
Devlin rested his head against the wall, his forehead pressed against the cool surface as he tried to calm the swirling blizzard of thoughts that whirled around his mind. The press conference was in twenty minutes. Twenty minutes until he would be expected to sit in front of the world’s media, smile for the cameras, and pretend like everything was fine. But it wasn’t. Everything was falling apart, and he had no idea what he was going to say when the cameras started rolling. Claudia would stay true to her word, he had no doubt about that. If he didn’t play along with her twisted plan, then she would hijack the entire conference and make it all about her. She would lie to the world and in doing so, she would ruin everything.
Devlin could already picture it: Claudia, with her flawless smile and icy demeanour, standing at the podium, weaving a tale of betrayal and lies, exposing him for the man he had always feared people would see — a fraud. His reputation would be destroyed, his business would crumble, and everything he had built over the years would be reduced to ashes.
The weight of it was suffocating.
Devlin had nobody to talk to. His mum was gone, he had no brothers and sisters. That was the trouble with retreating from life, he knew. That was the trouble with being a loner. Sure, there was nobody who could hurt you, but there was nobody who could help you either. And as much as Devlin hated being helped, he could really use some now.
But the only person who could help him was miles away, with no idea where he was.
Darcy.
With a grunt of frustration, he pushed himself off the wall and left the room. Claudia was nowhere to be seen, thankfully, and he made his way down the corridor towards the clinic’s large, open lobby. His doctor was there, speaking with a nurse, and he smiled at Devlin as he saw him approach.
“Mr Storm,” he said. “You’re recovering faster than I expected. It’s remarkable.”
“Please, I need a phone,” Devlin said, ignoring him. He didn’t have time for small talk.
The doctor blinked, taken aback for a split second with the sudden request.
“Of course, if you’ll follow me.” He nodded.
The doctor led Devlin to the reception desk, and the receptionist politely vacated her chair. Devlin sat down and picked up the receiver, using the computer to Google the number of the Royal Alpine. After a couple of rings, a young woman answered.
“Hello, the Royal Alpine. How may I help you?”
“I need to speak to Darcy Wainwright,” Devlin said.
“I’m sorry,” said the girl. “She’s not here. She left a little while ago. Can I take a message?”
She left?His chest tightened, a wave of panic crashing over him.
“No.”
Devlin hung up the phone. He thought about trying to find out Darcy’s mobile number, but there was no time. Anyway, the chances were she wouldn’t answer his call. He knew that photos of him and Claudia were splashed all over the news, and Claudia had told him they were trending on social media again. Darcy would have seen it all by now. She would have assumed he’d betrayed her, that he was back with his ex, and in twenty minutes or so it would be confirmed at the press conference. How else could she take it?
The thought of it was unbearable. It tore at his heart in a way he hadn’t expected. He had been prepared to live with regret, to carry the burden of the decisions he had made to protect his business, but he hadn’t been prepared for this. He hadn’t been prepared for the idea of losing Darcy. The truth was, he needed her more than he had ever needed anyone. She had been his lifeline in the mountains, not just physically but emotionally. She had seen him at his most vulnerable, and she hadn’t turned away.
But now she was gone, and it was his fault.
“Thank you,” he said to the doctor, walking out from behind the desk, barely noticing his polite nod.
Through the window he could see the clinic’s beautiful formal gardens. They were packed full of people, most of whom were holding video cameras or cell phones and waiting eagerly. There were two empty chairs at the head of the crowd, and Devlin knew that he would soon be sitting in one, Claudia in the other.
