CHAPTER 2

          Gloriana Templeton was trouble, and if seeing her bent over his father’s prized nineteenth-century desk snorting cocaine at Em’s eighteenth party wasn’t proof enough of that, then surely her attempt to smuggle drugs through Heathrow today was.

          Not that Gloriana had ever admitted to taking drugs the night of his sister’s party. She’d just given him a phoney, imperious smile that had incited his temper to boiling and after that, he hadn’t wanted to hear any excuses. Why bother?

          And what had made him even more irate was that earlier that night, Gloriana had looked at him with those violet-colored doe eyes of hers as if he was the only man in the world for her. And, fool that he was, he’d very nearly bought it!

          Up until that point, Gloriana had been nothing more than an irritation, occasionally taking his sister to her stepfather’s industry parties when they were too young, and running away from him whenever he had come across her at the family estate during school holidays.

          But she hadn’t run away from him at the party. Quite the opposite, in fact.

          ‘Forget it!’ he told himself severely as his mind zeroed in on the potent memory of how he had danced with her that night, how he touched her… how he kissed her.

          The realization that he’d very nearly lost control with her still rankled. But she had tasted pure and sweet, and so hot and…

          Griffin shook his head and swore violently. Instead of reliving a moment that should never have happened in the first place, he should be remembering how he had come upon her in his father’s private study with a group of social mists, his beloved sister, and about half a kilo of cocaine.

          It had taken ten minutes to have Security dispense with everyone but his sister and twenty-four hours to shut down the internet photos of Emeline that had been taken on a guest’s cellphone.

          The taste of Gloriana, unfortunately, had taken a little longer to shift.

                                                            *****

          She squirmed uncomfortably on the hard metal chair she had been sitting in for the last four hours and seventeen minutes and wondered when this nightmare she was trapped in would end.

          Earlier today she had been equal parts nervous and excited at the prospect of returning to England, her home, for the first time in six years. She had been lined up at border control for ages and had just made it to the passport-check booth when the official behind the partition had directed her to a row of officers with sniffer dogs.

          She hadn’t been concerned as she’d seen she was just one of many being checked over. Instead, her mind had been on Emeline, hoping she would like the wedding present she’d bought for her and Kostas in Thailand, and also on how much she was looking forward to her long-overdue break.

          Then one of the attending officers had lifted a medium-sized plastic bag out of her tote and asked if it belonged to her. She honestly hadn’t been able to remember.

‘I… don’t know,’ she’d answered.

‘Then you’ll have to step this way.’

          He’d indicated a long, overbright hallway and sweat had immediately prickled on her palms.

          Now, looking around the small featureless room, Gloriana wondered where the two customs officials had gone. Not that she missed them, particularly the slimy younger one, who spoke almost exclusively to her breasts and threatened to deport her to Thailand if she didn’t start co-operating. Which was a laugh in itself, because all she had done since they’d detained her was co-operate!

          Yes, the multicolored tote bag was hers. No, she hadn’t left it unattended at any time. Yes, a friend had been in her hotel room the night she’d packed. No, she didn’t think he’d gone near her personal belongings. And doubly no, the small plastic vials filled with ecstasy and cocaine were not hers! She’d nearly had a heart attack at the question, sure they must have made a mistake.

‘No mistake, ma’am,’ the nicer of the two officials had said, and the prickle of sweat had made its way to her armpits and dripped down the back of her neck like a leaky tap.

          They’d then questioned her for hours about her movements to the airport and her reasons for being in Thailand until she was completely exhausted and couldn’t remember what she’d told them. They’d left after that. No doubt to confer with those watching behind the two-way mirror.

          Gloriana knew they suspected Gray Tucker, one of the guys working on the film she had just wrapped, but only because he had been in her room just before she had left for the airport.

          She felt terrible for him. She had met Gray at the New York rehabilitation center she volunteered at, and it wouldn’t take the authorities long to discover that he had once had a drug problem.

          Fortunately, he was over that now, but Gloriana knew from her work with addicts, that if anything could set off a relapse it was people not believing in them. Which was why Gloriana had got him a job on the film in the first place.

          Gloriana had wanted to give him a second chance, but she supposed when they found out she had been the instigator of having him work on the film, it would reflect badly on both of them. And yet, she knew he wouldn’t have done this to her. He’d been too grateful, and hopeful of staying clean.

          She sighed. Four hours and twenty-eight minutes. Her bottom was numb and she stretched in the chair, wondering if she was allowed to get up and walk around. So far, she hadn’t, and her thigh muscles felt as if they had been petrified.

          Who knows if the police officer contacted Em? She hoped so… This way, Em wouldn’t be concerned about why she hadn’t made it through the arrival gate. Though, as to that, Em would likely be more worried if she did know what was holding her up.

          Gloriana just prayed she didn’t contact her overbearing brother for help. The last thing she needed was the deliciously gorgeous but painfully autocratic Griffin Blackwood-Carter finding out about her predicament.

          She knew he was supposed to be one of the best lawyers alive, but Gloriana had only ever had spiteful dealings with Griffin, apart from ten unbelievably magic minutes on a dancefloor at Emeline’s eighteenth birthday party.

          Gloriana knew he hated the sight of her now. He’d devastated her, first by kissing her in a way that had transported her to another world, and then by ignoring her for the rest of the night as if she hadn’t even existed. As if they hadn’t just kissed like soul mates…

          And just when she’d thought her teenage heart couldn’t break anymore, he’d come across her in his father’s study trying to clean up a private party Emeline should never have been involved in and jumped completely to the wrong conclusion.

          Griffin had blamed Gloriana, and her ‘kind’, and thrown her out of his home. In hindsight, she supposed she should’ve been thankful that he’d taken the time to organize his chauffeur to drive her the two hours back to London, but she hadn’t been. She’d been crushed, and so had her stupid girlhood fantasy that he just might be the love of her life.

          Looking back now, Gloriana couldn’t imagine what had possessed her even to think that in the first place. They were from different worlds and she knew he had never approved of her.

          Had always been as disgusted as she was herself at her being the only offspring of two notoriously drugged-out hippy celebrities who had died of a drug overdose. Not that she’d ever let him see that.

          She did have some pride, not to mention her late father’s wise words running through her head.

          ‘Never let them know you care, Glow,’ he’d always said.

          Of course, he’d been referring mostly to rock music reviews, but she had never forgotten. And it had held her in good stead when she’d had to face down more than her fair share of speculation and scandal, thanks to her parents and, sometimes, to her own actions.

          The hard scrape of the metal door snapped Gloriana back to the present and she glanced up as the slimy customs official swaggered back into the room, a condescending smile expanding his fleshy lips. He sat opposite her and arched an eyebrow.

“You’re one lucky lady, Miss Templeton,” he said. “It seems you’re to be released.”

          Gloriana stared at him impassively, blinking against the harsh fluorescent light and giving nothing away as to how she was feeling. The official sprawled back in the chair and rhythmically tapped the table with what looked like a typed report, staring at her chest… again.

          Men like him... men who thought that because she had a sweet face, brown hair, violet eyes, and a reasonable body shape, she was eager to jump into the sack at every snap of their fingers and ready to please them all in any way.

          This guy was a marine wannabe, with a flat-top haircut that, instead of adding an air of menace, made him look as if he should be in the circus. But even if he’d had the polish of some latter-day Prince Charming, Gloriana wouldn’t have been interested.

          She might make movies about love and happy-ever-after but she wasn’t interested in the fairy tale for herself. Not after her mother’s experiences with Johnny Templeton, and the humiliating sting of Griffin’s rejection of her all those years ago.

“That’s right,” Marine-man finally sneered when she remained silent. “You celebrities always seem to know someone who knows someone, and then it’s all peaches and cream again. Personally, I would’ve sent you back to Thailand to face the music. But lucky for you, it ain’t up to me.”

          ‘And thank heavens for that,’ Gloriana thought, trying not to react to his leering scrutiny.

“Sign these…”

          He shoved the stapled document across the table at her, all business for once.

“What is it?”

“The conditions of your release, Miss Templeton.”

          Release? She really was being released?

          Heart thudding, and as if in slow motion, Gloriana took the sheets of paper, not daring to believe it was true. She bent forward, letting her long wavy hair swing forward to shield her face from his prying eyes.

          She was shaking so badly the words appeared blurry on the page. When the door scraped open a second time, she didn’t bother to look up, assuming it was the other official, returning to oversee her signature.

          Then a prickly sensation raised the hairs on the back of her neck, and a deeply masculine and very annoyed voice shattered her concentration and stole the breath from her lungs.

“You’ll find it’s all in order... Glow. Just sign the damned release papers so we can get out of here.”

          Gloriana squeezed her eyes shut and felt the throbbing in her head escalate. She’d recognize that chocolate-covered voice anywhere and waited for the dots to clear behind her eyes before peering up to confirm that not only was her nightmare of a day not over, but it had just taken a distinct turn for the worst.

          Fortunately, Emeline had received the message about her delay… But unfortunately, she’d done exactly what Gloriana had feared: she’d gone to her big brother for help.