Chapter 13
‘There’s so much I need to tell you,’ I say to Matteo as we scurry back to the bedroom to get our stuff together for this unplanned day trip. ‘So much happened when you and Jules left the room.’
‘Of course it did,’ he says with a wry grin. ‘We were apart for almost seven minutes. Of course “stuff” will have happened. Do I need my notes open in my phone or will you email a precis? I can barely keep up.’
‘So,’ I say, plonking myself down on our bed which is like a massive marshmallow covered in the softest cushions that money can buy.
‘Firstly, I managed to erase the footage of you and me… erm, doing what newly-weds do in the cellar. And I also erased the disposing of the broken vase and some clips of the puppy, although I couldn’t find the one of him knocking the vase over. ’
‘Good,’ he says, searching the wardrobe for warmer clothes. Although it is like a bright spring day outside, as soon as the sun disappears it gets cold. ‘One less thing to worry about.’
‘I also managed to delete the footage of Liberty and Nacho.’
Matteo swings round to face me. His lips in a tight line.
I hold up my palm. ‘It’s not what you think. It’s all innocent. I’ve seen it for myself.’
He frowns disbelievingly. ‘Nacho seems to be taking great delight in making me think otherwise. He’s annoyed at me for… well, it doesn’t matter.’ He sighs resignedly. ‘So, what are they up to, if not sneaking around having an affair behind Eddie’s back?’
‘Nacho is helping Liberty to make a bespoke calendar for Eddie’s Christmas present.
A very, very bespoke calendar. I’d say niche.
A one-of-a-kind.’ I can’t help sniggering at the vision of Liberty showering under the freezing-cold water fountain in a variety of poses. She must really, really like Eddie.
Realisation dawns on Matteo. ‘Are you sure it’s innocent?’
I nod. ‘She says it is. As for Nacho, well, who knows, but so far, he’s not done anything to jeopardise her relationship with Eddie or your working relationship with him.
I’d have thought, as your younger brother, he’d have more respect for you than that.
Is there something going on between you two that you’re not telling me about? ’
Matteo pauses. ‘Yes. I’ve been trying to find the right moment to tell you.’ He looks me dead in the eye.
A feeling of relief sweeps through me. ‘There’s something I need to tell you too. About moving to LA.’ I’m going to be totally honest with him and tell him that I have reservations. And that’s why I haven’t told my dad or anyone of our plans.
He nods sympathetically. ‘I figured as much.’ He strolls over to drop a kiss on my lips.
‘Whatever is going on, we’ll figure it out…
together, okay? And why don’t we plan our honeymoon over dinner tonight?
Just the two of us. It might stop everyone asking us every five minutes why we haven’t been on one yet and thinking that I’m such a horrible husband. How would you feel about Tokyo?’
‘Eh? Tokyo?’ So random. So unromantic. I suppress a giggle.
‘Okay. Before we start, I have other news too. One is that I didn’t manage to erase Tash calling Sister Kevin’s mother an interfering old soak, so we’ll need to borrow that laptop again.
And…’ I take in a deep breath and take hold of his hand.
‘Brace yourself. We saw Birdie on the camera feed.’
‘Fuuuuuuck,’ Matteo breathes out slowly, his free hand instinctively going to the top of his head. ‘Seriously?’
I nod sadly. ‘Why do you think she’s back here? Alone. At Christmas. Far from her family and friends.’ I suck in my lower lip while I wait for Matteo to digest this disappointing news. He knows her better than any of us.
He exhales loudly. ‘I can’t believe it. She promised me faithfully that she’d be on the yacht until after New Year’s. I just don’t understand it.’ He runs his hand through his hair, breaks away from me to walk over to the window and peer out. ‘I’ll text her.’
He sounds so deflated.
‘I thought once she acknowledged that we got married and are serious about one another that she promised to back off, romantically speaking.’
He spins round. ‘She has. She totally has. I swear the whole time in LA we were focused on work. Nothing else. If anything, she seemed to go out of her way to make sure I knew she wasn’t interested, if you know what I mean.’
‘I don’t but do carry on.’
‘She was nothing but professional, courteous. Not flirtatious at all.’
‘Isn’t that the way to win someone back though? Ignore them? Flirt with other guys? Make them jealous?’
He rubs his palm down the side of his face. ‘That must’ve been her in the taxi. She must know that we might have seen her. So why wouldn’t she just let me know that she’s back?’
‘Perhaps she doesn’t want to bother us?’
‘She might have backed off but she’s still a control freak.
I wonder if this has to do with the record we’re making with Eddie.
I couldn’t get either of them to agree on a single thing.
Maybe she’s back to meddle. She has a recording studio in the family wing.
Christ. Eddie’s due in two days. If she changes anything, he’ll go spare.
It’ll undo weeks of negotiations and long hours. ’
Poor Matteo.
‘That’s not all,’ I say gingerly. ‘She caught Nacho and Liberty red-handed. She watched him taking nude photos of her in the fountain. It didn’t look good. Do you think she’d tell Eddie, just to stir the pot?’
Matteo blinks in surprise. ‘Oh my God. Abso-fucking-lutely! We need to stop her. If it’s not too late.
’ He whips out his phone and taps a message to her.
‘I’ve texted to say I hear she’s back in France, at the house, and does she want to meet up for a drink tonight.
’ After a beat, his body sags, his shoulders dropping as though that’s the last thing he’d like to do, before he palms his forehead.
‘Shit. I forgot. We just made plans to have dinner.’
I wave him away. ‘No worries. Let’s sort this problem first. One thing at a time.’
From across the room, a half-smile lifts the corners of his kissable mouth. He looks back at me, relieved and grateful and ‘I can’t believe my luck’ all rolled into one. ‘You’re very understanding. Some women would be freaking out and having a major strop.’
I glow at the compliment. ‘Good job I’m not some women. So, tell me about Jules and the puppy. Any chance Ged and Liam can keep it?’
Matteo lifts his eyebrows. ‘Lucky for them the process is very simple. Once we check with housekeeping that the puppy doesn’t belong to anyone in the family or any previous guests, then we can register it online and fill out the passport application at any of the vets in town.’
‘Great. They’ll be so relieved.’
‘There is a snag, however.’
‘Of course there is.’ I groan softly.
‘There’s a strict no-pets policy here at the chateau. As soon as we declare the puppy, it will have to go.’
‘So, we must keep it a secret until after the wedding?’
‘What other way around it is there? Birdie hates all animals. She says she’s allergic, but I think it’s more that animals don’t like her.’
‘Red flag right there if ever we needed one,’ I mutter. ‘I’ll let Ged and Liam know the good and bad news. Meet you downstairs at the bar?’
‘But what about our talk?’
‘How about we talk while we’re strolling around the Christmas market?’
‘Perfect. I guess I’ll go and apologise to Nacho for leaping to conclusions.’ Matteo shrugs. ‘I’ll never hear the end of it.’
I knock on Ged and Liam’s door. ‘Who is it?’ Ged yells cautiously.
‘Just me. Connie.’
He slides the door open, does his checking up and down the corridor before beckoning me in, and slams it shut behind me. ‘Sorry. It’s just Louis is scampering all over and making a right racket. He’s desperate to go outside.’
‘He told you that himself, did he?’ As though to demonstrate, Louis toddles up to me, tail wagging, dummy firmly between his teensy teeth.
‘Before you ask, Peaches gave me her dummy. Just toddled right up to me and held it out to me. As if she knew somehow.’ Liam shrugs.
I have to admit, Louis is very, very cute. Almost like a tiny battery-operated toy dog. I crouch down to stroke him as he sidles up to me, his soft fur against my leg and his tiny hot tongue tickling as he takes a tentative lick.
‘He’s been starved of affection, as you can see,’ Liam says, falling to his knees, swooping Louis into his arms and smothering his wrinkled, furry face with kisses. ‘Haven’t you? Yes, you have. Who do you love? Dada. Yes, that’s right. Dada.’
I ease myself up to standing. ‘Wow, you’ve really bonded. Well, I’ve come to deliver some good news… and a bit of bad news, but nothing we can’t get around.’
‘Come, come,’ Liam beckons, standing up with Louis clamped to his chest, ‘tell us everything we don’t already know. Which is nothing so… off you go.’
I sit down on the edge of their bed, Liam on one side with Louis fidgeting in his arms and Ged on the other side regarding me hopefully.
‘The really good news is that a vet can do the EU passport registration, the microchipping and the vaccination all in the one visit. We’d need to start the process as soon as possible though because there’s a certain length of time you’ll need after the vaccination and before travel.’
‘Great. We’ll do it today in Nice,’ says Ged, hurriedly searching for vets online. ‘It’s a big city, there’s bound to be one.’
‘Great idea,’ gushes Liam excitedly. ‘And we can shop for cute outfits and Christmas presents and toys and treats.’
‘I’m not sure you two need any more cute outfits. You’re already using half my wardrobe space at home, and we can no longer eat in the dining room because of all the racks of clothes.’ They are such hoarders.
Liam chuckles. ‘Not for us, silly.’ He snuggles into Louis. ‘They’re for our baby boy.’
Of course.
‘What was the bad news?’ asks Ged.