Diamonds Forever (2 page)

Her air-quoting fingers turned into furious flapping hands.

‘OK.' Deano got up, holding his palms towards her in surrender. ‘I know. I've got a lot to make up. But, Jen, I'm serious. I want you back. I'm going to do what I have to do to prove myself to you. Watch me.'

With that, he glided from the room in that particular feline, slinking way that had once made the pit of her stomach turn watery. Did it even now, just a little?

No.

She turned her face away and slammed her hand down on the leather seat cushion.

Just who the
hell
did he think he was?

Once everyone was out of the house, and Tabitha had given Kayley and Linda a lift home on the way to Bledburn's only half-decent hotel, Jenna realised that Jason was missing.

She looked around the ground floor of the house for a few moments before the mewing of Bowyer, his cat, gave her the clue she was looking for.

She followed the plaintive sound upwards until she found the animal standing by the shut attic door, crying for his master's attention.

‘Is he in there, Bo?' she whispered, crouching to ruffle the cat's neck fur.

She opened the door quietly. The cat streaked ahead of her. By the time she found Jason, lying on his stomach on the wooden boards, slashing them with paint, Bowyer was sitting in the crook of Jason's neck and shoulder, nuzzling him.

‘Don't try and stop me,' said Jason, without looking over at her. ‘I need to let it out. Leave me be, yeah? I'll be down when I'm done.'

‘Right.'

As she turned to leave, her eye caught a flash of the portrait he'd been sketching earlier in the day. The portrait of her. He'd scribbled a crown across her head and added a necklace made of pound signs. Across the top was scrawled in black paint, ‘Her Royal Fucking Highness'.

She knew he was just working out his feelings at the way the whole celebrity culture thing had hijacked his night, but all the same, she felt so hurt that tears came to her eyes, blurring her passage back to their bedroom.

Exhaustion washed over her as she brushed her teeth and undressed for bed. She remembered, as if it were distant history, their original plans for this night. She had been going to give him her anal virginity. She remembered the conversations they had had about it and how she had overcome her initial reluctance in the stronger desire to give him something of herself that nobody else could lay claim to. The intensity, the secrecy, the thrill of it had been on her mind whenever she took a break from the show preparations. Giving him permission to do this to her was the ultimate gesture of trust, and a token of how seriously she now took their relationship. But Lawrence Harville, his mother's bizarre revelations, and the return of Deano Diamond had all interposed themselves between that.

Anal virginity would have to stay on for a while.

She was dozing off, despite her highly wrought feelings, by the time Jason came to her. Was it three, four in the morning? She couldn't tell, but it was ridiculously late.

He sat silently on the bed, removing his shoes and socks, then he stood to divest himself of the expensive suit she'd bought for him in London.

It was covered in paint.

‘Jason,' she said, sitting up, suddenly wide awake. ‘I'm so sorry.'

‘Why?' He threw the clothes into the laundry basket. ‘Not your fault, is it?'

He disappeared into the bathroom for a while. She sat with her hands clasped around her knees, trying to imagine a life without this man. What if he decided it was too much and he wanted out? What if …?

She rested her forehead on her knees. It was too painful to contemplate.

He climbed into bed beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. She almost melted with gratitude and relief at his touch.

‘I love you,' she whispered.

‘I love you too,' he said. ‘But why does it have to be so fucking complicated? I was happy for a moment there. I thought everything was sound at last.'

‘Everything
is
sound. It will be. It has to be. I won't let it be any other way.'

‘But Deano?'

‘Deano can get straight back on the next plane to LA.'

‘Are you sure about that?'

She squeezed his fingers.

‘Don't ever worry about that. It's you I want. You've changed my life. I don't want the old one back.'

They kissed, a kiss of understanding and reconnection.

‘I think he's going to stick around,' said Jason. ‘That's the impression I got.'

‘Well, he won't be coming here. He can stay in Bledburn if he wants, but Harville Hall is invitation-only. He'll soon get fed up with this place, when he realises I'm not going back to him.'

‘He seems to really want you back,' said Jason.

‘Probably just as his agent,' said Jenna with a brief, bitter laugh. ‘That new one didn't seem up to much.'

Jason kissed her forehead. ‘Professional jealousy, eh?'

She sighed.

‘I'll be honest, it does sting to see the twenty years of bloody hard work I put into Deano's career just cast aside like that. More than the twenty years of relationship stress, even. I can cope with being dumped as his wife, but as his agent …' Again the bitter laugh, but it warmed into something self-deprecating and apologetic. ‘Sorry. I must sound absolutely mad.'

‘No, not really. Your work's important to you. It's more than work. I guess it's the same way I feel about my painting.'

‘Yes, and because it changes people's lives. How do you put a value on that? How can the person who made you suddenly be so disposable? Ah, never mind. I'm just rambling on. It's been a long night.'

‘You're not kidding.' He was quiet for a moment. ‘My head's done in. Too much to think about.'

‘Are you thinking about what your mum said?'

‘I can't stop thinking about it,' he admitted. ‘It can't be right. She's just saying it to … to …'

‘Why would she lie, Jason?' asked Jenna gently.

‘'Cos she does,' he snapped. ‘She lies all the time.
No, I haven't had a drink today – yes, I did remember to sign on – no, I didn't shag your mate's dad
. She's bloody pathological. Why should I believe her on this?'

‘She seemed quite positive about it. She told me some of the circumstances around it. I believed her.'

‘Oh, and what were they, then?' Jason's tone was defiant, as if he didn't want to ask but had to.

‘The old Lord Harville seduced her as a sixteen year old. She was performing up here at the gala with her majorette troupe.'

‘She's always on about how she used to be a majorette,' said Jason, smiling now, a little sadly. ‘Used to be her party piece – getting her baton out and giving it a twirl.'

‘They had a short affair and she got pregnant.'

‘Yeah, but she was always having short affairs, usually half a dozen at a time.'

‘Not this time,' said Jenna. ‘Or so she says. But she told Harville that, so he wouldn't have the baby – you – taken off her. He threatened her, you see.'

‘Fucking bastard,' growled Jason.

‘You believe that bit, then?'

‘Anything about Harvilles behaving like bastards, yeah, totally believable. But … this is why, you see. This is why I can't believe it. I can't be one of them.'

There was a plea in his voice.

‘Well, you know it can be proved,' said Jenna.

‘How? The fucker's dead. I ain't digging him up so I can have my worst nightmare proved true.'

‘No. Lawrence. They can test whether you share paternity.'

Jason laughed, long and loud.

‘Yeah, I can see him agreeing to that, can't you? “Hold on, bro, while I just take a lock of your hair and a swab of your spit. What larks!” As if. And how the ever-living
fuck
did he get away with the drug charges? I want to go and find the CPS and give it a good kicking.'

‘I suppose everyone except Kayley was scared to stand against him,' said Jenna. ‘You did say he had some very frightening friends.'

‘Yeah. Thank God for you, or they'd be on to me right now. Got to be a worry for Kayley, though. They'll want to take revenge.'

‘Shit, do you think so?' Jenna sat up, looking around for her phone.

‘Might be an idea to let her stay here for a bit,' suggested Jason.

‘I will. I'll call her tomorrow morning, tell her to pack a bag.'

‘What did he say to you?' Jason's tone was intense now. ‘Did he touch you?'

‘He said he'd just come to tell me that the CPS had dropped the case. He was pretty menacing though. And insulting. He mentioned you, and Kayley. I think he was threatening you both.'

‘He can threaten me all he likes,' said Jason.

‘Probably best not to mention the thing about him being your brother,' said Jenna. ‘On reflection.'

‘He's no brother of mine.' Jason was obstinate.

‘Perhaps he's not a Harville at all,' said Jenna, trying to cheer him.

‘What, did he say something?'

‘No, I mean, not really. But he really doesn't know the truth about our skeleton in the cellar. If it's Harville business, they've kept it very quiet indeed.'

‘So he still thinks it's the first wife or whatever?'

‘Apparently. Unless he's deliberately lying,' said Jenna.

‘And, let's face it, that's not exactly unknown.'

‘Perhaps he never went into the cellar. Perhaps his father didn't. But there are boxes and boxes of family records, so somebody did …'

Jason yawned. ‘Maybe take a look at them when the dust settles. See if they say anything about Harville tracking that runaway wife of his, Frances, down, or getting the baby back.'

‘That's a good point. All the birth, death and marriage certificates'll be in there, probably. I'll do that.' She shuddered. ‘Much as I'd prefer never to go back down there.'

‘I'll come with you. Hey, maybe we could take some friends down. Lawrence, Deano …'

Jenna gave his arm a light smack.

‘I'm pissed off with both of them but I think I'd draw the line at murder. God, I'm exhausted. Let's try and sleep, eh? Everything might be easier to look at in the morning.'

Jason sighed. ‘Not what I had planned for tonight, is it?'

‘No. But we've got all the time in the world.'

JENNA AWOKE TO
the sounds of hammering and creaking from downstairs. Above it all, the stentorian tones of Tabitha, directing the operation, were clearly audible.

She pushed her face into the pillow. They were dismantling the exhibition. She was happy to leave them to it, given the enormous raft of other problems that had crept into her sleep and infected her dreams.

Jason still slept sweetly, one arm hanging over the side of the bed, long eyelashes fluttering on his cheeks.

The thought of what the morning papers would bring, in terms of reportage of the event, caused a sinking sensation in the pit of Jenna's stomach. She hoped beyond hope that some column space would be given to the subject of Jason himself, his great talent, his enormous potential.

If it was all about Deano, she would throw up.

She sat up in bed, suddenly needing to know the worst. She retrieved her tablet from the bedside and went to the local news site. It had a video online, of a press conference with Deano.

She watched it with the sound as low as she could get it without disappearing altogether.

‘Yeah,' Deano was saying, blinking into the flashbulbs but not allowing them to wipe the wicked smile from his face. ‘An, if you will, rockumentary.'

There was laughter. It turned out that he was quoting
Spinal Tap
with very good reason. He explained that he had returned to Bledburn in order to make a documentary about his early years and inspirations.

‘Nothing to do with the fact that Jenna Diamond has moved back here?' The question, from a front-row hack, was inevitable, but Jenna still sucked in an angry breath.

Of course it's to do with that, you muppet
, she replied in her head, only to hear the thought spoken aloud in Jason's sleepy, sardonic tones.

‘Oh, Jason,' she said, flustered, looking for the pause button.

‘Don't turn it off,' he said. ‘Know your enemy, eh? That line about the documentary is pure bullshit. He's come here after you.'

Jenna nodded tensely, listening to the remainder of the conference.

‘It'll be great to catch up with Jenna,' was Deano's reply. ‘But that's not what I'm here for.'

Liar
.

‘I've spent too long in a privileged bubble,' he continued. ‘Of wealth and celebrity. I've forgotten where I came from, and I need the reminder.' He grinned again. ‘A good kick in the ass. That's what I'm here for.'

‘Did you hear that?' said Jason excitedly. ‘Sounds like an invitation to me.'

‘Oh God, Jason, don't.' Jenna watched as the video ended and the ‘Play it again' arrow filled the box.

‘Why not?' he demanded. ‘It'd make a fucking boss birthday present.'

Jenna was confused. ‘It's not Deano's birthday.'

‘No, but it's mine.'

‘What? When? Not today, surely?'

‘Yep. Today.'

Jenna slapped her palms down on the duvet.

‘Why didn't you say anything, for God's sake?'

Jason shrugged.

‘Dunno. Too much other stuff going on. Didn't seem relevant.'

‘Relevant? Oh, Jay. Of course it is.'

He leant back against the headboard, his face troubled.

‘I've never bothered much with birthdays,' he said, and there was a note of defiance in his voice.

Jenna, reading between the lines, deduced that he'd got used to nobody else bothering with them.