Page 88 of Kissing Games
Her voice suddenly sounded very far away.
A blinding pain pierced her in the chest and she sucked in a breath. A vision flashed through her, so vivid it could have been taking place now. She was in the church for Alejandro’s funeral but away from everyone, in a corner by the door with her abuela. It felt so real but she had no memory of it. It was like she was living it for the first time. Her abuela’s face was right in front of hers. Her hands were holding Valentina’s arms tightly.
‘My baby, listen to me. This isnotyour fault.’
She heard her voice replying. ‘It’s all my fault, Abuela. If I had stayed home, he wouldn’t be dead.’
Her abuela looked so young, but her eyes were creased with pain. ‘No, my precious girl. That’s not true. Ale made his own choices. There was nothing any of us could have done to stop him, even you, my love.’
‘I won’t let this happen again, Abuela. I promise.’
She could hear Shauna asking if she was okay, but her voice was distant.
Why had she never remembered this until now? She had absolutely no doubt it had happened. Her family would never have blamed her for her brother’s death, but it was only at this moment that one of them had said it out loud, and her mind had shut the memory down.
Until now.
Sadness and relief flooded through her.Ale’s death was not my fault.She closed her eyes with a sigh. She would never let her brother go, but she could let go of the belief that it was her fault, and the conclusion to fix it she had to take her family out of the country they loved so much.
‘Valentina? Are you okay?’
She opened her eyes. Everything was the same, but everything was different.
‘Yes, I am. I just learned a lesson I should have learned many years ago, and one that I am going to make sure you learn tonight.’ She lifted up her mug and indicated for Shauna to do the same. ‘But first, I want to ask you something.’
Shauna lifted her mug. ‘Yes?’
‘Would you like a job working for me?’
29
The next morning Charlie awoke to Valentina kissing him. He flailed a half-asleep arm towards her.
She wriggled away. ‘I have to work today. I just didn’t want to leave without a kiss.’
He opened his eyes. She was standing by the side of the bed. ‘You’re wearing clothes,’ he grumbled. ‘Come closer so I can remove them.’
She shook her head with a smile. ‘I have to go and so do you. Rory messaged me to say I had to wake you. He needs you this morning.’
Charlie pushed himself up onto his elbows. ‘Hang about. You gaveRoryyour number but you won’t give it to me? How is that fair?’
She looked away, her cheeks pink. ‘I’ll see you later.’
As the door closed, Charlie flopped back onto the bed with a thump. They had three days left. She’d always been upfront about what this was between them – a fling with a clear expiry date, and he’d agreed to her terms. But he couldn’t picture a life without her in it. He’d never been happier than when he was with her. She actually laughed at his shitty jokes, for fuck’s sake. She thought he wasfunny. And she was hot for him.
His cock was already rock hard but she was gone and his hand was no replacement.Fuck!He threw back the covers and sent his desire into remission with thoughts of the biggest boner killer there was – Vlad. Last night in the corridor, Barbara had appeared to defuse the situation. When confronted by his mother, Rory had stormed off to the cabin to find Zoe. Later, when everyone had gone back to bed and the coast was clear, Charlie had returned to Vlad’s room, taken the last of the drugs out of his man-bag and escorted the two women in his bed out of the castle and into a taxi.
This morning he intended to do the same to Vlad.
After a cold shower, he searched the castle, but Vlad was nowhere to be found. Rory had messaged to say the paparazzi had turned up that morning at the cabin and he needed Charlie to help him construct a perimeter in case they returned. Even though Charlie would have preferred to have been with Valentina, the prospect of making things go bang with his best mate was the kind of fun he missed now he was out of the army.
The two of them drove to Inverness to get supplies, then spent the day making non-lethal surprises and reliving their glory days, whilst Bandit sniffed around happily. Rory didn’t ask him about Valentina, Caroline, Tabitha, or anything current in his life and he was glad. He needed a break from all the deep thinking and soul-searching, and there was no better antidote than running around outside preparing interesting presents for the lowliest members of the gutter press.
That evening, Zoe’s mates, Sam and Jamie, were performing songs they had written in honour of the film at the pub. Charlie didn’t want to go, but Valentina did. So they went and watched them play, her leaning back against his chest, nestled in his protective arms. As they watched the performance, he stared daggers at anyone who looked like they might approach her and fantasised they were a real couple on a regular night out. As soon as the duo had finished playing, he took her hand and they slipped back to the castle so he could show her just what she would be missing when they parted.
The next morninghe woke to Valentina shaking his shoulder.
‘Charlie, I need to ask you something.’
