Fame (56 page)

Authors: Tilly Bagshawe

Tags: #Fiction, #General

BOOK: Fame

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Tish was so startled, that for once she did as she was asked.

‘Abel’s miserable here and you know it. And if you don’t know it, I’m telling you. He telephoned me last week in tears and told me how much he wanted to come home.’

‘This is home,’ said Tish stubbornly.

‘Bollocks,’ said Viorel. ‘Loxley’s his home and you know it. It’s your home too.’

‘Not any more it’s not,’ said Tish sadly, thinking of Jago and the sale.

Gently but firmly, Vio put a finger to her lips. The physical contact was like an electric shock. Tish was horrified to find she had an urge to take his hand and kiss it, but she resisted.

‘That wasn’t the only thing Abel told me.’

‘It wasn’t?’ She barely trusted herself to breathe, never mind talk.

‘No. He told me you’ve been sad. And that he thinks …’ Viorel took a deep breath. ‘He thinks you miss me.’

His hand was still on Tish’s face. The silence was unbearable.

‘Do you miss me?’

Imperceptibly, Tish gave the faintest of nods. She hadn’t fully realized it herself until he’d shown up on the doorstep. But it was true. She had missed him. Day by day, almost without her noticing, Viorel had inveigled his way into her thoughts like ivy breaking through an old stone wall. She’d missed his face, his voice, his humour. She’d missed the thrill she felt, even when they were arguing, when Vio walked into a room.

‘I’ve missed you too,’ he said gruffly. ‘Both of you. More than I thought possible.’

Stretching one arm along the back of the couch, he stroked the back of Tish’s hair. Tish placed her right hand over his and their fingers locked together.

‘I didn’t just come back for Abel,’ Vio went on. ‘I came to rescue you, too. Because I’m pretty sure you’re the only woman on earth who can rescue me.’

Disengaging his hand he eased himself off the sofa, sliding down onto one knee.

‘Will you marry me?’

It was all so sudden, Tish’s emotions were having difficulty keeping up. ‘What about Sabrina?’ she heard herself asking.

‘What about her?’ Vio’s gaze was unflinching. ‘I never loved Sabrina. I always loved you.’

‘You had a bloody funny way of showing it!’ Tish laughed. ‘You were completely obnoxious to me for most of the time you were at Loxley.’

‘Yes, well, you reminded me of my mother,’ said Vio, still on one knee. ‘At the time,’ he added hastily. ‘You don’t now. I think I was a bit confused.’

‘I think you must have been!’ said Tish, but she was too happy to fight about it. This was Viorel.
Her
Viorel. Hers and Abi’s.
He’s come to rescue us.

‘So?’ His voice cut into her daydream. ‘Will you?’

‘Will I what?’

‘
Marry
me,’ Viorel frowned. ‘Honestly, don’t you ever listen?’

A voice in her head was practically screaming.
Yes, yes, for God’s sake just say yes!
But old habits of practicality died hard, and the next words out of Tish’s mouth were: ‘But where would we live? You wouldn’t move to Romania.’

‘Damn right I wouldn’t,’ said Vio with feeling.

‘And I could
never
live in Hollywood.’

‘No,’ Vio agreed with a smile. ‘I don’t suppose you could.’

‘So?’

‘So we’ll live in England. Lord save us, Letitia, this is all just geography. You still haven’t answered the question. Will you marry me or won’t you?’

Tish released the smile that had been trying to escape her lips since the moment Viorel walked through her door. ‘I will. Yes. I actually think I will.’

‘You
think
you will?’ Grabbing her hand, Viorel pulled her down onto the floor so suddenly Tish gasped. Then he kissed her so passionately and for so long she thought she might be going to pass out.

‘Let me tell you what’s going to happen,’ he said, finally tearing himself away from her delectable lips. ‘First, we’re going to put Abel to bed.’

‘Oh, are
we
?’ Tish protested. This co-parenting thing was going to take some getting used to. ‘I see. And then what?’

‘Then,’ said Vio grinning, ‘I’m going to make love to you until you can barely stand.’

‘Vio
rel!
’ Tish blushed.

‘And after
that
, tomorrow, I’m taking you both home to Loxley. Whether you like it or not.’

Tish sat up. Slowly, depressingly, reality began to seep back in.

‘I love you,’ she said, kissing Vio again. ‘I do. But we can’t just ride off into the sunset together.’

‘Of course we can.’

‘I’m being serious,’ said Tish.

‘So am I,’ said Vio.

‘I can’t just up and leave Curcubeu. They need me.’

‘Au contraire,’ said Viorel. ‘What they need is to become financially sustainable over the long term, and managed by a full-time, professional staff. Carl Williams will be running the charity from now on. As your primary donor – actually, let’s be honest, as your
sole
donor – I’ve decided to make a few executive decisions vis-à-vis management.’

‘What?’ stammered Tish. ‘Since when are you a donor?’

‘Since I agreed to wire your foundation a million dollars.’

‘Oh my God!’ Tish gasped, then frowned. ‘You haven’t really?’

‘I certainly have. I’ve also agreed to invest a further million for long-term income generation,’ said Viorel. ‘
On the condition
that you and Abel move back home to England. For good.’

Tish sat back and thought about it for a moment.

‘That’s blackmail,’ she said at last. ‘You’re holding me to ransom.’

Viorel’s smile broadened. ‘Yup.’

He kissed her again then, carrying her into the bedroom and laying her down on the bed. Sliding his hands up under her T-shirt, he finally caressed those gorgeous, round apple breasts through the cotton of her Gap bra. Reaching around her back, he’d almost managed to unclasp it when Tish sat up again, so quickly that she almost head-butted his nose.

‘There’s something else. I can’t believe I forgot.’

Viorel sighed heavily. ‘Good grief. What now?’

‘It’s Loxley,’ said Tish. ‘We can go back to England if you really want to, but I’m afraid we’ll have to find somewhere else to live.’

‘Oh?’

Tish nodded sadly. ‘It’s been sold. Jago sold the place off to some American buyer and did a runner with the proceeds. Poor Mrs D’s been beside herself, and the Connellys. The new owner’s moving in next week, so they’ll all have to be gone by Sunday.’

‘Shit.’ Viorel jumped to his feet. ‘That reminds me.’ Walking back into the living room, he picked up his discarded coat and started rifling through the pockets, looking for something.

‘For you.’ He handed Tish an envelope.

She looked at it suspiciously. ‘What is it?’

‘It’s anthrax,’ said Viorel.

Tish raised a sarcastic eyebrow.

‘Open it up and find out.’

Still frowning, Tish pulled the single, folded sheet of paper out of the envelope. She read it once, then twice, then a third time.

‘Aren’t you going to say anything?’ said Vio.

‘It’s … it’s the deeds to Loxley,’ whispered Tish.

‘Well, you did say we needed somewhere to live.’

‘
You
bought it? The lawyer told me it was an American.’

‘It was. You don’t think Jago would have sold to me, do you? He still hates my guts over the whole Sabrina thing. No, he sold it to a charming Texan named John Dwight. I should warn you, it took some persuading to convince Mr Dwight to pass the place on to me and I’m afraid he didn’t let it go cheap. Which means I’m going to have to do an awful lot of movies to pay off our debts. Do you think you could tolerate Hollywood in short bursts?’

‘
Our
debts?’ said Tish. ‘Funny, I don’t remember borrowing anything.’

‘What’s mine is yours, Mrs Hudson.’ Vio grinned wolfishly, his eyes moving down unashamedly over Tish’s glorious but –
How had it happened? –
still-not-yet-naked body. ‘And what’s yours is about to become mine.’

‘Excuse me,’ came a familiar, reedy little voice, just as Viorel was reaching for the fly buttons on Tish’s jeans. ‘My dinosaur’s not roaring properly. I … Oh!’ Noticing suddenly Tish and Vio were mid-embrace, Abel smiled contentedly. ‘Good. You’re married then.’

‘Not exactly.’ Tish giggled.

‘Nearly,’ said Viorel.

‘Cool. Well, anyway, my dinosaur definitely has something not proper about it and I think it needs new batteries. Can you come and fix it, Viorel?’

Vio looked at Tish longingly.

‘Pleeeaaase?’ begged Abi.

Tish grinned. ‘Welcome to fatherhood. Go ahead. Fix it. I’m not going anywhere.’

Watching Viorel follow her son into his bedroom, Tish thought happily:
He’s already fixed it. He’s already fixed everything.

Tish Crewe was going home at last.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to everyone at HarperCollins, especially my saintly, patient editor, Sarah Ritherdon and the wonderful sales team, Oli Malcolm, Laura Fletcher and Lisa Doyle. Also to my agents Luke Janklow and Tim Glister, and everyone at Janklow & Nesbit. FAME is partly set in Romania, a country I have come to know well through our charity, F.R.O.D.O (Foundation for the Relief of Disabled Orphans). My husband Robin founded F.R.O.D.O to help improve the lives of Romania’s thousands of forgotten, institutionalized children, and their work is nothing short of miraculous. Any readers who are interested can see more about our programs at www.frodokids.org. This book is dedicated to two of those children, the brave and beautiful Viorel Rezmives, and Abel Teglas, whose short life changed mine and Robin’s forever and who we will never forget. I would specially like to pay tribute to the amazing Sarah Wade, who transformed the lives of these two little boys and so many others. You are a true inspiration. Finally, I would like to thank all my family for their unending love and support through a difficult year. I would be lost without you.

Also by Tilly Bagshawe

Scandalous

Adored

Showdown

Do Not Disturb

Flawless

Sidney Sheldon’s Mistress of the Game

Sidney Sheldon’s After the Darkness

This novel is entirely a work of fiction.
The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

Harper
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Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

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FAME
. Copyright © Tilly Bagshawe 2011. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Tilly Bagshawe asserts the moral right to be identifi ed as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-0-00-732652-5

EPub Edition © APRIL 2011 ISBN: 978-0-00-734188-7

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