We arrived in Thailand this afternoon and I am in Kamala surrounded by my loved ones. The sun is setting over the horizon and the staff are lighting the candles that are scattered throughout the garden. Joshua and his family are here along with Adrian, Nicholas and Abbie, and my family. We are sitting around the pool area of the main house after enjoying a beautiful meal, it’s been a big day… a big month, actually. Exhausted doesn’t even come close to how I’m feeling, but the very last thing that I want to do is go to bed. I don’t want to miss one single second with these beautiful people. I’ve missed them all so much and family has never been more important. Didge, Abbie and I are in the pool and we have swum to the other end to talk in private.
On the steps of the pool, in the darkness, we talk quietly. We haven’t had a moment to ourselves since I was found two days ago.
“I’ve missed you two,” I breathe. I can’t believe I’m actually here with them.
Abbie smiles and wraps her arms around Bridge and I as we sit on either side of her.
“Tell me, what exactly have I missed?” I whisper.
“A lot of crying.”
I smile sadly.
“Nothing has happened since you left, Tash. Our whole world stopped.”
My eyes flick to my beautiful man who is sitting opposite Nicholas on a deckchair at the other end of the pool. He is writing in a notepad the requirements for tomorrow’s wedding. Glancing up, he catches me watching him and smiles sexily.
“How was Joshua?”
The girls exchange looks.
“When I was missing and he thought I was dead, how was he?” I ask again.
“He was…” Abbie screws up her face and stops to articulate her wording.
“I can imagine he was a raging lunatic,” I add as my eyes flick back to him.
The girls both exchange looks and shake their head. “No.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“He was different.”
“How so?”
“He withdrew and became a recluse.”
My heart drops and my eyes find him again as I deepen my frown.
“He was too broken to be angry,” Bridget whispers sadly.
“Oh.” I sit and think for a moment. “He wasn’t going berserk like a maniac?” I ask. I don’t believe this – I thought he would have been raging like a bull.
The girls both shake their heads. “No, he would have been easier to handle if he acted how we all thought he was going to.”
“He hardly spoke,” Abbie whispers.
I sigh. My beautiful man has been through so much.
“He just gave up,” Bridget says sadly.
We all sit and look straight ahead, lost in our own thoughts.
“Adrian was probably the strongest.”
“Adrian?” I smirk. This is unexpected.
The girls both smile. “He was awesome. He ran the company and organised the press releases, not to mention how much he was trying to keep everyone calm.”
I smile and our eyes flick to Adrian as he sits with Mum. He is being all animated, telling her a story, and she is laughing out loud.
“Is he back with Nicholas?” I ask.
“No, Nicholas just came to help him.”
My eyes drop to the dark water. God, they have all been through so much. I need to talk to Joshua. “How did Adrian and Cameron find me?” I forgot to ask this question before now.
“It was Adrian. He heard Amelie call you Cinderella.”
My mouth drops open in shock. “You’re kidding?”
Bridget shakes her head. “Nope, she was at the jail visiting Joshua and she said something in the waiting room about Joshua never being suited to Cinderella. Adrian caught on and then they all followed her to the house.”
I put my hand over my mouth. “Oh my God.” I frown, my stupid plan actually worked.
“They staked out her house and she was walking around in the rain with a gun looking for you in the forest.”
My stomach turns at the memory of the heavy rain on the tin roof, that horrific sound will haunt me forever. A vision of her dead body lying in the rain flashes through my mind and a cold shiver runs through me.
“It was like fucking James Bond shit.” Abbie shakes her head in disbelief.
“More like Quentin Tarantino,” I whisper.
Abbie nods. “That, too.”
“How often did Amelie visit Joshua in prison?” I ask. I bet she was trying to slime her way in. How dare she visit him in prison when it was her that put him there?
Abbie shrugs. “I think that was the first time. She didn’t even get to see him because she got a call and ran out, that’s when the boys followed her back to the house where you were being kept.”
I narrow my eyes deep in thought. “So, she got a call and ran out?”
“I think so,” Sighs Bridget.
“It must have been when they realised I had escaped.”
The girls both nod in agreement. “Probably.”
Holy hell, what a fuck up. My mind drifts to Amelie. On one hand, I feel bad for what I have done, and yet I feel a venom in my bloodstream that I have never had before. How could she have done this to Joshua? Her love and my love for him were so different. I gave him away to give him time to pursue her because I thought that’s what would make him really happy, and yet she would rather he be dead than with me.
He could have died. I nearly did die. My eyes drift down to the horrible, thick purple scar on my wrist.
I hate her. I hate every damn thing about that poisonous bitch. My gaze wanders to Joshua again, and when our eyes meet, he seems to read my mind, and frowns in question.
I shake my head softly in a dismissive gesture and smile.
“I’m going to go see my man,” I whisper.