Heller's Girlfriend (44 page)

Later that day, we strolled
through the hotel’s boutique shopping arcade, after a coffee at the
beachfront cafe. With a glint in his eye, Heller told me sit on one
of the leather lounges scattered throughout the arcade and to wait
for him while he disappeared into one of the shops. He was gone for
about fifteen minutes, returning with a small gift-wrapped box in
his hands. He sat next to me and handed me the box.

“A little something for you,” he
said, kissing me on the cheek.

Excitedly, I opened the wrapping
paper and the small square jewellery box it was concealing. Inside
was a beautiful gold charm bracelet, the type with a vast array of
beads available to customise your own bracelet. Very pretty and
very expensive.

He had chosen some lettering for
mine, and when I read it, I laughed so loudly that people turned to
look at me. The lettered gold charms spelt out “I LOVE VIKINGS”,
each word separated by gold bead studded with an ice blue gemstone.
Heller explained he had specifically requested that the gemstone
match his eye colour to remind me of him. I held the bracelet up to
his eyes to compare, and it wasn’t a bad match at all.

“Thank you so much, Heller. It’s
very sweet of you. I love these bracelets,” I said sincerely. “I
promise I’ll never take it off.”

“At least not until you hate me
again anyway,” he teased, slipping it on my wrist and fastening the
clasp for me. We sauntered off back to our room, his arm around my
shoulders, me holding up my bracelet to admire it. We were just
about to press the button for the lift, when I heard someone call
my name. I turned around in surprise.

It was Will.

I froze. Heller’s arm tightened
around my shoulders and his body stiffened with hostility. I hadn’t
seen Will since he dumped me, and I was shocked at the nausea that
swept over me and the physical pain that seared through my heart at
the sight of him again.

“Tilly!” he exclaimed, and he
seemed extraordinarily happy to see me. I could hardly breathe with
the pain choking my heart.

“Hello Will,” I managed to say,
in what I hoped was a normal voice. He made a small move as though
he was going to kiss me in greeting, but looked up at Heller, and
didn’t follow through.

“Heller,” Will acknowledged
sullenly. Heller gave him an almost imperceptible nod, the smallest
possible gesture one human could give to acknowledge another
without completely ignoring them. I thought I detected some very
faint scarring on Will’s nose.

“God, it’s good to see you,” he
said, his eyes raking over me. I was amazed at the warmth,
sincerity and longing in his voice. “What are you doing here? Are
you staying here?”

I held my broken hand up.
“Heller’s taken me away to recuperate. I’ve had a pretty awful
couple of months.”

He had the grace to blush
slightly, but expressed his dismay at my injury and asked how it
had happened.

“Work,” I replied curtly. He’d
given up any right to know anything about me.

“I’ve just come to look at the
shops,” he said, a little nervous. “I’m . . . we’re staying nearby,
but not here. Too pricey for me!”

A woman came up to him, and slid
her arm through his.

“Sweetheart, aren’t you going to
introduce us?” she asked, flicking her long, straight brown hair
over her shoulders. She was shorter and rounder than me, with
intelligent brown eyes behind her stylish glasses, and a bland,
middle-class fashion sense. She looked at Heller and me with
interest.

“Penny, this is my . . . this is
Tilly and Heller. And this is Penny, my . . .”

“Fiancee,” she cut in, shooting
Will a puzzled look.

My blood ran cold, and for an
instant I thought my heart was going to actually stop beating.

“I had no idea,” I managed to
say. “When did I see you last? About six weeks ago? You didn’t
mention anything then about getting engaged. Congratulations.”

I really tried to sound sincere.
He’d obviously proposed the second he’d dumped me. Or maybe even
before.

Will looked as though he wished
he wasn’t having this conversation.

Helpful Penny jumped in again.
“It was about six weeks ago that you proposed, wasn’t it,
sweetheart? As soon as we found out . . .” She giggled coyly.

“Found out what, Penny?” I asked
pleasantly.

She put her hand on her stomach.
“That we’re expecting.”

The world was spinning around
me. I was simultaneously cold and clammy on the outside, but
burning with humiliation inside. If I hadn’t had Heller’s firm arm
around me, grounding me, I think I might have collapsed.

“Again, to both of you,
congratulations. That must have been wonderful news for you.”

Penny again. “Well, to be
honest, it came as a shock to us both. It was
very
unplanned! But it was a lovely surprise. Will has
always
wanted children, haven’t you, honey? He’s told me that a million
times. He’s very excited about becoming a father.”

He nodded, looking as ill as I
felt. Suddenly I couldn’t bear another second of his deceptive,
cheating face.

“It was so nice to meet you,
Penny. And Will, nice to catch up again. Sorry, but we have to run.
Enjoy your shopping, won’t you.”

“Tilly . . .” Will remonstrated,
but faltered under the sharply inquisitive eye of his wife-to-be
and the murderous glare of Heller.

I turned and pressed the lift
button desperately.
Hurry up!
I screamed silently at it. It
finally arrived and as I stepped inside, my last view was of Will
staring back at me in frustration.

Back in our suite, I sunk into a
chair and covered my eyes with my good hand. Heller pressed a cold
glass of water into my hand and sat opposite. I gulped the water
hoping for some relief from my turbulent emotions.

“You handled yourself very well,
Matilda. Calm, friendly and very dignified.”

“I thought I was going to be
sick or collapse. That lying bastard! He must have knocked her up
when we were still going out.”

“Anger’s good,” he said. “You
have every right to be angry.”

I knew what he was trying to do
– stop the coming deluge. But it was no use. The tears welled up
unbidden and spilled over my cheeks. I’d thought I was done crying
for Will. I guess I was wrong. But this time, Heller
was
there for me and he didn’t let me down. He held me tightly as I
sobbed a giant wet patch on his shirt, gently stroking my hair and
handed me his hankie when I was gasping for oxygen. He listened
patiently to my incoherent and detailed listing of all the wrongs
that had been done to me recently, interspersed with great watery
snorts. When I had finally exhausted myself, he suggested that I
take a long bubble bath.

I was immersed in bubbles, eyes
closed, head resting against the rim of the deep spa bath, when he
entered the bathroom, paying no heed my protests of privacy. He
carried a tray with a fluted glass of very expensive French
champagne, three beautifully sculpted and decadent chocolate
truffles atop a lacy paper doily, and a single perfect red rose in
a crystal vase. I laughed when I saw the tray. He smiled at me
affectionately, tactfully ignoring my puffy red eyes and nose.

“Heller, that is so thoughtful.
And absolutely perfect! It’s just what I need.”

“I call it the Bastard Recovery
Platter. I’m thinking of patenting it.”

“You should. You could retire in
a week on the profits. There are a lot of bastards out there.” I
tried not to sound too bitter. He was one of them himself.

“If you’re feeling better I
thought I might just squeeze in one last swim in the surf today
before dinner. Will you be okay for a while?”

“Sure. I’m heaps better now. Go
and enjoy yourself.”

I took my time, finishing my
leisurely bath, enjoying both the champagne and truffles. I paced
the vase on my bedside table, so I could smell the beautiful rose
all night. Dressed in a bathrobe, I sat on the lounge and flicked
through the TV channels. My mobile rang. It took me a while to find
it, so I put it to my ear without checking the caller. I was
worried it was about Daniel.

“Hello?”

“Tilly, it’s Will. Don’t hang
up! Please! I really need to speak to you.”

I should have hung up. I’m not
sure why I didn’t.

“Thank you. God, Tilly. I don’t
know what to say. I’m sorry. A million times, sorry. I never wanted
you to find out this way.”

I stayed silent.

“I never meant for anything like
this to happen, I promise. It started with just one moment of
weakness at that conference. I couldn’t stop thinking about you and
Heller. I was so jealous. Penny was there and we started talking
and drinking and before I knew it, I woke up in her bed the next
morning.”

Silence.

“You don’t believe me. I don’t
blame you.” He sighed. “Then she kept wanting to see me. When she
told me she was pregnant, what was I supposed to do? It was the
only honourable thing to do. Her family is very religious. They’re
angry enough that she’s pregnant without being married. She was
terrified of telling them.”

Silence.

“God, Tilly. I know how hurtful
this must be for you. I miss you so much. I think about you every
day. I dream about you. Great dreams, hot dreams. I feel like I’m
going to go insane if I can’t touch you again soon.”

Silence.

“And anyway, you can’t be too
hard on me. I mean, you and Heller –”

I hung up. He rang back
immediately. I must be going soft in my old age or something
because I picked up again.

“Tilly, I’m so sorry. God, I
can’t do or say anything right. Nothing will ever make this up to
you, will it?”

“I’m hanging up again now, Will.
I hope you have a good life with Penny.”

I heard him curse in frustration
as I hung up. He rang again, but I didn’t answer. Instead, I busied
myself dressing for dinner. Heller returned not long after and had
a quick shower.

I gave him all of my attention
over dinner and later in the piano bar over a few drinks, where he
even had a whisky. I sat close to him and wrapped my arm around
his, listening to the pianist. Heller was so relaxed and so
beautiful that I felt a surge of emotion for him that left me
needing to take a deep breath.

“Is something the matter?” he
asked.

“No,” I smiled. “Everything’s
just right.”

That night in bed, our final
night together, lying in each other’s arms, I told him everything
that had happened with Violet on that terrible night. I didn’t
spare myself, admitting how terrified and despairing I’d been, sure
that I was going to die. He told me how badly she’d taken their
breakup and how she’d begged and screamed for him to change his
mind, threatening to kill herself, clinging to his legs and
offering to do the most degrading things for him.

“I tried to have a relationship
with her,” he said, his eyes on the ceiling. “I thought I’d try
seeing the same person over and over, as you do. But it didn’t
really work for me. She was too demanding. I was bored. I won’t be
doing that again.”

“You didn’t choose the right
woman, Heller.”

“There’s no woman that’s right
for me.”

“They’re all just pastimes to
you,” I said sadly, remembering what he’d said about Violet.

“Not quite. There’s one woman
who is so very wrong for me.” His eyes stayed on the ceiling. “She
causes me so much trouble that I’m pulling my hair out in
frustration. She’s not a pastime, she’s a curse to me. Why did I
employ her? Why do her big beautiful eyes make me forgive any
misbehaviour? Why do I think about her all the time and worry about
her even more? Why won’t she ever do what I want her to do?”

“Sometimes a curse can be a
blessing in disguise,” I reminded him, smiling.

He laughed loudly and rolled
over to lean on his elbow. He reached out and tweaked my nose.
“That’s so true, my sweet. You’re my blessing, disguised as a
trouble-making, stubborn, disobedient security officer.”

“I’m not
that
bad.”

“No, you’re not,” he said in a
low, growly voice, kissing me, his hand reaching up under my
singlet top. “Sometimes you’re very, very good indeed.”

After we fooled around a little
and he was asleep, I lay there listening to the ocean and thinking
about everything that had happened, thinking a lot about love. I
wasn’t one of those kinds of people who hold a torch for someone
for years without telling them. Heller had called me emotionally
open and that was probably true. If I loved someone, I wanted to
tell them, otherwise how would they ever know?

My phone beeped. Quietly I
retrieved it from my handbag and checked the screen. A text
message.
Tilly, u know I luv u stll. pls c me soon 2 talk. cant
live without u. will

I deleted the message and went
back to bed, cuddling up close against Heller. He roused and drew
me close, his arm around me. I settled on his chest and when he was
asleep again, I whispered, “I think I love you, Heller.”

“I heard that,” he said, his
eyes still closed, his arm tightening around me. A smile curved his
lips.

I laughed. “Good. Now you
know.”

And I went to sleep.

Chapter 33

Heller, Daniel and I were
summoned as witnesses in Violet’s trial, as were Clive and all the
Heller’s
men who’d responded to my panic button call.
Predictably, the whole case had caused a media sensation, and
everything that happened in the case against ‘Violent Violet’ as
they’d dubbed her, was breathlessly reported. Heller, as usual, had
been blunt during his numerous police interviews and had given
details of what she’d been prepared to do in the bedroom for him.
The lurid sexual overtones of the whole sleazy affair and the
elements of torture involved in the assault titillated the public
for weeks.