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Authors: Sasha Wagstaff

Heaven Scent (40 page)

BOOK: Heaven Scent
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It was all so glaringly obvious now. Seraphina had been in freefall for a long time now – ever since their mother’s death, in fact. In Max’s confused teenage brain, he couldn’t help wondering if Seraphina had mistaken the attention her boyfriend had shown her for the love she so desperately craved elsewhere.
Max jumped as Madeleine appeared behind him.
‘Sorry!’ Madeleine apologised. She was wearing a long satin gown the colour of almond blossom and with her long, brown hair held up with a pretty, diamante comb, she was glowing. ‘What’s wrong?’
She looked nice, Max thought distractedly. Madeleine wasn’t the prettiest girl he’d ever laid eyes on but she had a quiet, reliable quality he was drawn to. ‘Listen, I can’t find Seraphina anywhere and I’m worried sick. Cat reckons she might be with her boyfriend somewhere.’
Madeleine shuddered. ‘Really? I saw him when he came to pick Seraphina up from college once. He’s at least twice her age.’ She looked apologetic. ‘Sorry, I thought you knew.’
Max panicked. It was worse than he’d thought. He hadn’t clapped eyes on the boyfriend and Seraphina had been so cagey about his age, he’d assumed the guy was only a few years older. Now he was absolutely sure Seraphina was making a mistake; no man over thirty should be messing about with a teenager – not unless he was only after one thing.
‘I thought he looked like a creep,’ Madeleine confessed honestly, seeing Max’s eyes flash with anger. ‘Do you think she’s in trouble?’
Not wanting to talk about it, Max listed all the places he’d already checked, counting them off on his fingers. ‘Any other ideas?’
Madeleine thought for a minute. ‘Did you try the pool?’
Max frowned. ‘No, but the place was full of guests earlier, so it’s not exactly ideal if you want to be alone.’ He snapped his fingers. ‘The pool house!’ he exclaimed. ‘It’s set back from the pool and Grandmother cordoned it off from guests because it’s being redecorated.’
Without thinking, Madeleine grabbed his hand. ‘Let’s go.’
As they hurried up to the pool house, Max thought he saw movement inside.
Seraphina
, he thought, alarmed. Not sure what they were going to find, Max burst through the door.
Seraphina, her face streaked with tears, was lying on a sun lounger with her dress half off. Her boyfriend was standing over her, rubbing his chin and looking wounded.
‘Fucking pervert!’ Max yelled, clenching his fists. He wanted to hurl himself at the man and beat the shit out of him.
‘Max, don’t!’ Seraphina screamed, holding her dress to her chest as she struggled to stand up.
‘Don’t stick up for him,’ Max snarled. ‘He’s clearly old enough to look after himself.’
‘Back off,’ the man said, holding his hands up. ‘What on earth is wrong with all of you? This family is insane.’ His expression became sulky. ‘I didn’t do anything anyway,’ he added, clearly feeling the need to defend himself.
Seraphina stood up and pulled her dress around her. Madeleine quickly helped her and Seraphina gave her a grateful smile.
Max noticed that a nasty bruise was appearing on the boyfriend’s chin.
‘You hit him?’ Max asked Seraphina in astonishment. ‘You’ve got the smallest fists in the world.’
Seraphina nodded. ‘I used that, not my fists.’ She gestured to a bottle of champagne which had rolled under the lounger.
‘Wow,’ Madeleine murmured, impressed. ‘Talk about girl power.’
‘I told him no but he didn’t stop. Not even when I threw up.’ She pointed to a towel in the corner. Seraphina was shaking slightly but she seemed surprisingly composed.
Max made for the boyfriend. ‘You slimy bastard,’ he hissed. ‘You would have fucking raped her if she hadn’t hit you with that bottle.’ He gave him a withering look. ‘Who are you, anyway?’
‘Yves Giraud,’ said a horrified voice behind them. Turning round, Max found his grandmother leaning heavily on her cane, as if she might fall down without it. She glanced at Seraphina’s flushed cheeks then turned her appalled gaze to Yves. He met her eyes without flinching and Delphine felt her stomach plummet.
‘You know him?’ Max asked, puzzled. ‘How?’
Delphine’s cheeks coloured. ‘That doesn’t matter. What matters is that you all tell me what’s—’
‘Yes, Madame Ducasse,’ Yves cut across her. ‘Why don’t you tell your family how you know me?’
Guy and Ashton appeared at that moment.
‘What’s going on?’ Guy panted.
Ashton went and put his arm round Seraphina. ‘Are you all right, darling?’ She nodded and clung to him, clutching at the lapels of his dinner suit.
Guy pointed at Yves. ‘Who’s this?’
Seraphina hung her head. ‘He’s my boyfriend. Don’t look at me like that, Dad! You have no idea what’s going on in my life, so don’t you dare judge me.’
Guy recoiled. Turning to Yves, he suddenly noticed how old he was and exploded. ‘How old are you? You better not have laid a finger on her, you bastard . . .’
Yves shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded at Delphine. ‘She was about to tell you all something.’
Delphine swallowed, realising she had little choice but to confess. Otherwise, Yves would enlighten everyone himself and she would look even worse. ‘I . . . hired Monsieur Giraud to do some work for me. Some . . . detective work,’ she added.
Max glanced at Seraphina. Judging by her expression, she was just as surprised to hear this as he was.
Guy stared at his mother in confusion. Ashton looked totally baffled. The conversation was in rapid French and he was only just keeping up.
‘Detective work?’ Seraphina repeated, looking dazed. ‘Please don’t say it’s something to do with Cat.’
Delphine went pink.
‘You were trying to find something to use against her,’ Guy realised, sickened.
‘Grandmother!’ Max said, forgetting any suspicions he’d had about Cat. ‘This is ridiculous. Why can’t you believe Cat married Olivier in good faith? She’s said she’s not interested in the Ducasse business or fortune. Why go to all this trouble to investigate her?’
‘I was trying to protect the family,’ Delphine said, her voice breaking slightly. ‘It seems I have done the opposite.’ She stared at Yves, suddenly realising something. ‘No wonder you haven’t been able to come up with anything, you’ve been far too busy chasing my granddaughter.’
Ashton tightened his grip on Seraphina protectively.
Yves shrugged. ‘She’s past the age of consent,’ he said. All the men bristled; they were itching to get their hands on him, even Ashton. Yves backed away. ‘All right, all right. I’m going.’ Without even bothering to give Seraphina a second glance, Yves made a swift exit.
Seraphina realised everyone was staring at her. ‘Don’t worry,’ she snapped, guessing what they were all thinking. ‘I’m still intact. Hope that makes you all feel better!’ Tearing away from Ashton with a sob, she ran out of the pool house.
Ashton cleared his throat and laid a restraining hand on Max’s arm. ‘I suspect she’ll want to be left alone for a while.’
Delphine nodded, doing her best to compose herself. She was as pale as a ghost. ‘I’m . . . I’m sure you’re right, Ashton.’
Guy looked shell-shocked, as if he couldn’t quite believe what had just happened. Ashton pushed his own distress over Leoni aside and took control. ‘I think it’s best if this is dealt with later. The party is still going on and the guests out there need attention. And aren’t there some speeches planned?’
Delphine swallowed. ‘Yes. Speeches and . . . and a surprise.’
Max rolled his eyes. ‘God help us,’ he said. He looked at Madeleine. ‘Let’s go and get a drink.’ Dutifully, she followed him out.
Ashton headed for the door. ‘Shall we?’ he said, politely holding his arm out to Delphine. She took it gratefully, painfully aware that Ashton was able to be so forgiving because he wasn’t family. Turning to Guy, she found him staring at her angrily. ‘Are you coming, Guy?’
He shook his head. ‘I’ll give your speeches a miss, if you don’t mind, Mother. That and your . . .
surprise
.’
Delphine flinched as though she’d been hit.
As Ashton and Delphine left, Guy almost lost it. He wanted to punch the wall, he wanted to smash everything up. He wanted it all to go away. How had this happened? And why hadn’t he known what Seraphina was up to? Was it his fault? Guy threw himself into a chair, his jaw tight and his nerves crackling. No, this was all down to Seraphina’s immaturity and recklessness and something needed to be done about it.
Tearing down to the stables, Xavier looked around for Seraphina. Where the hell was she? Yanking open each stable door in turn, he checked every corner and hidden square inch of the stables, feeling more panicked by the second. As he was about to head into the last, empty stable, Xavier started as Cat walked out. Wearing a tight, black dress that emphasised every deliciously toned curve, she took his breath away.
‘What are you doing here?’ he said more roughly than he meant to.
Cat looked taken aback at his aggressive tone. ‘I was looking for Seraphina.’ He looked drop-dead gorgeous in a dinner suit, she thought wryly. The man was built for made-to-measure couture. Cat pushed the thought aside. ‘We’re all really worried about her because—’
‘I know, nobody can find her.’ Xavier interrupted distractedly. He ran his hand through his dark hair, leaving it unruly. ‘I was looking for you and then I bumped into Dad . . .’
‘I’ve checked everywhere,’ Cat told him, wondering where on earth Seraphina had got to. And, more to the point, what had happened to her. ‘She’s definitely not here.’
‘Where in God’s name is she?’
Xavier looked half crazed. Then his phone went off in his pocket. Putting it to his ear, he listened to a message and his anxious expression immediately changed. ‘They’ve found her,’ he told Cat, his voice flooded with relief. ‘That was Ash. He said Seraphina is absolutely fine.’
Cat let out a shuddering breath, feeling unexpectedly emotional. ‘Thank God. I was imagining all sorts of hideous things.’ She shivered slightly and sat down on a nearby bench to pull herself together because she couldn’t help thinking she might burst into tears at any second. ‘Seraphina is so very innocent . . . I tried to tell her she didn’t have to give in to this older man but I think she felt she had no choice.’
Xavier looked appalled. ‘I feel so guilty . . . I’m her brother, I should have been there for her. Myself or Max, at the very least.’ He’d been so caught up in himself recently – they all had.
‘I wouldn’t beat yourself up about it.’ Cat rubbed her bare arms with her hands. ‘I think some conversations can only be had with another female.’ She smiled. ‘I just happened to be there at the right time. If your mother had been around, she would have been the person Seraphina turned to, I’m sure.’
Xavier nodded, looking stricken. ‘Of course.’ He suddenly noticed how cold Cat looked. He took off his dinner jacket and wrapped it loosely round her shoulders. ‘Better? I just need to grab my cigarettes . . .’ He delved into one of the pockets.
Cat glanced at him. ‘You . . . you said you were looking for me. Before you started to search for Seraphina.’
‘Yes.’ Xavier lit a cigarette and blew smoke out. ‘I have a prototype of the bottle you designed in Grasse . . . I was going to show it to you.’ He glanced down at his hands. ‘God knows where I left it, it must be in the château somewhere. I kind of forgot about everything when Dad seemed so worried about Seraphina.’
Cat looked impressed. ‘Wow, that was fast work. So how’s it going with the new fragrance?’
‘It’s almost there, just a final ingredient needed from Morocco.’ Xavier dropped the subject. ‘That wasn’t the only thing I wanted to speak to you about.’ He paused. ‘Grandmother said you were leaving as soon as your new passport arrives.’
Looking down at the ground, Cat wrapped Xavier’s jacket more tightly around her shoulders. The sharp tang of his aftershave wafted off it and she closed her eyes, wondering if she really had the strength to leave La Fleurie . . . or rather Xavier. This wasn’t supposed to happen, she told herself. How had she ended up here? She had come to Provence to meet Olivier’s family; she had seen the trip as a way to let go of the past and move on. Instead, she had become embroiled in the Ducasse family and had fallen hopelessly for her dead husband’s cousin. Forget England; I’m going straight to hell, Cat thought despairingly.
Xavier stood up abruptly and starting pacing. ‘Do you think that’s . . . appropriate?’ he said tightly. ‘Leaving now, after . . . after everything that’s happened?’
Cat gaped at him. Why was he angry with her? What had she done now? Maybe he meant because of Seraphina; perhaps Xavier thought she was abandoning the one person his sister could confide in. Cat sighed inwardly. The kiss in Grasse had changed everything. Someone she knew once said that when you kissed someone, you knew how you felt about them. It was true. She’d tried to deny it but she was lying to herself and the only way forward, as far as she could see, was to leave before she made a complete fool of herself.
BOOK: Heaven Scent
8.73Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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