‘Around twenty minutes. It is a very beautiful area. Very secluded and private. Very secure. Perfect for children.’
Dora tried to smile. Secluded. Private. Secure.
Great. It sounded exactly like a prison.
The sick feeling in her stomach was intensifying and, reaching over, she stroked Archie’s face. Immediately he gazed up at her, his mouth curving into a smile that made her heart contract.
She felt a nibble of guilt. He’d hardly slept on the flight and he was tired. His eyes were practically popping out of his head, and his tiny baby brain probably thought it was lunchtime. But on Macau time she would be giving him his tea soon and getting him ready for bed.
She bit her lip, and not for the first time wondered if she’d ma
de the right decision bringing Archie here.
All the experts said that babies needed certainty, and after everything that had already happened in his short life, wasn’t that especially true for him?
She just needed to be more decisive, more definite.
Like Della.
Like Charlie.
She tensed, not wanting to throw even the smallest unspoken compliment in his direction, but she knew she was right.
If their positions were reversed, he wouldn’t still be dithering over whether he was doing the right thing. He had the kind of focus and determination she had only ever found when she sang. Up on stage, in the circle of the spotlight, was the only place where she felt centred and whole.
Not any more, though.
Her chest tightened, as she remembered the clammy horror of that evening. It had been her first performance after Della’s death. Nowhere fancy...just a club.
She shivered. She could feel it now: the heat of the spotlight, the sudden hush dropping like the curtain at the end of a performance.
Except it hadn’t been the end.
Or maybe it had.
A man like Charlie would never understand how it felt to lose control like that. Whatever obstacles got in his way, he would find ways to get around them. Nothing and nobody would stop him from getting what he wanted.
Remembering how badly she had wanted to lean into him, she shivered. If he had wanted to lean into her she would have been in big trouble. Although why she was even thinking about that was a mystery, given that he couldn’t have made it clearer that whatever he felt for her was against his better judgement.
‘Are you cold, Ms Thorn?’
Dora looked up. Li was staring at her, her beautiful face creasing with anxiety. ‘I will tell the driver to turn down the air-conditioning.’
‘No, it’s fine. Really. I’m not cold. Or warm,’ she added quickly.
Charlie might think she was a world-class screw-up, but it was clear that his staff, and in particular Li, had been briefed to not just meet her needs but anticipate them with alarming speed.
The temperature in the limo suddenly ceased to matter as the car began to slow.
‘We are here.’ Li beamed as two towering security gates swung open. Five minutes later, the limo came to a smooth stop.
Given Charlie’s foreboding manner, she’d been half expecting a stone fortress. But, although his home sat behind high walls, and was guarded with electronic gates, the house in front of her was an elegant testament to his wealth and position.
With its pale green walls and cream-coloured shutters, it looked as if it was made of icing. If it hadn’t been smothered with swathes of wisteria, she wouldn’t have believed it was real.
Her heart dipped and she instinctively held Archie closer as Li gave a small bow. But the dark-haired man stepping into the sunlight wasn’t Charlie.
‘Ms Thorn, welcome. My name is Chen, and I oversee the running of the house.’ He gave a small, swift bow too, and then, smiling, made a second, smaller bow. ‘And this must be Archie.’