Santa Baby (15 page)

She walked into the flat and froze. The place had been completely ransacked. Her clothes were strewn across the floor, it looked like some of them had been ripped, the duvet had been slashed along with the pillows, her framed
Vogue
covers had been knocked off the wall and broken, along with the framed postcards of clothes from the V&A she had collected for inspiration.

Her sandals crunched against the broken glass. It was going to take ages to put everything right. She suddenly remembered the one other piece of jewellery she owned: a Tiffany charm bracelet, a present from Marie and her dad for her eighteenth birthday, and one of her most precious possessions. She raced over to the wooden jewellery box on her dressing table. The
charm
bracelet was gone. Every charm on it had meant something to her; every one of them had been saved up for either by her family or by her. She would never be able to replace it. She spun round and now her gaze fell on the small plasma TV, which had been a Christmas present from her dad. The screen had been slashed. Then she saw her laptop – it had been dumped in the kitchen sink and the sink had been filled with water.

‘Why would anyone do this!’ she exclaimed, reaching out to pick up a photo album, the pages of which had been ripped out, though thankfully the photos were intact. She could feel her eyes brimming with tears. It felt as if someone had deliberately set out to cause her as much distress as possible. Her home had been violated and it was as if the person who did it was saying, ‘We can do anything we want, you are worthless.’

‘Don’t touch anything.’ Sean warned her. ‘The police will need to fingerprint the scene.’ He caught sight of the distraught expression on her face and instantly stepped over the broken glass and put his arms round her, pulling her close to him. ‘You’re OK, nothing’s going to happen to you, I promise.’ He gently tilted her face up and brushed away the tears. ‘I’m going to call the police. Why don’t you phone Kara and arrange to stay there tonight?’

‘She’s away this weekend,’ Tiffany sniffed.

‘You can stay with me then. There’s no way you can stay here.’

Before she had discovered the break-in, Tiffany would have experienced a rush of butterflies at the thought of staying at Sean’s. Now she felt exhausted, as if she’d gone ten rounds or run a marathon … well, a half-marathon. She supposed it was the shock. All she wanted to do was crawl into bed, pull the duvet over her and go to sleep. The day had gone from one extreme to the other and she could hardly take it all in.

The police came pretty quickly. Maybe Sean had been able to pull some strings. Once she had given a statement to a friendly male PC, he suggested she leave with Sean. There was nothing more to be done and Tiffany was longing to get out of her ruined flat. Sean arranged for someone to fix the door and then they were once again in the car, this time heading for central London. Heart FM was playing on the radio but Tiffany felt disconnected from the familiar love songs. She was still wearing Sean’s jacket but even with the car’s heating blasting out, she was cold.

‘Why did someone do that to my flat? They took my charm bracelet but they left everything else.’

‘I don’t know,’ Sean replied. ‘The police may have some idea once they’ve checked the forensics. But there may be no real reason. It could easily be a random attack. Kids messing about.’

It hadn’t felt like that. It felt like someone really wanted to hurt her.

Tiffany didn’t know what she had been expecting Sean’s place to be like but she certainly hadn’t been prepared for the ultra-modern penthouse flat by Chelsea Bridge, with its spectacular views of the Thames. There was even an outside terrace, large enough for a table and chairs. It must have cost a fortune! Tiffany wandered over to the huge windows and took in the view – it was dark by now and London was lit up before her, with the river a black silken ribbon reflecting the lights.

‘The flat belongs to Cal and Angel,’ Sean said as if reading her thoughts. ‘They wanted me to be located somewhere central.’

‘It’s lovely,’ Tiffany said, moving away from the window and sitting down on one of the soft-as-butter
leather
sofas.

‘Here, drink this, it’ll make you feel better.’ Sean handed her a brandy.

Tiffany didn’t like brandy but still obediently took a sip, and then coughed as the liquid burned her throat.

Sean switched on the plasma-screen TV, then he was busy sorting out the spare bedroom. He did everything so efficiently, it must be his army training, she supposed, thinking of her ex-boyfriend Billy who was hopeless at anything practical. She curled up on the sofa and flicked through the channels, unable to concentrate as every few minutes she would think of her ruined possessions. She had nothing left. It felt as if all the happiness of the day had been snatched away from her.

Sean came back into the living room and held out his mobile, ‘Angel wants to speak to you.’ It was on the tip of Tiffany’s tongue to say that she didn’t want to speak to anyone, but she took the phone. Angel was full of concern for her, wanting to know if she was OK. Wearily Tiffany replied to her questions about the state of her flat and how she was feeling.

‘I’ve got an apartment overlooking Hyde Park … you must move in there. I don’t want you going back to that place,’ Angel told her.

‘It’s OK, I’m sure I can stay with friends.’

‘I want you to be safe and that apartment has got great security. Please Tiffany, I sort of feel responsible for what happened.’ She sounded genuinely upset.

‘Why do you say that? It was just a random break-in, wasn’t it?’

Angel sighed. ‘We’re not so sure it was. It seems too much of a coincidence that it should happen after it was revealed that we are sisters. And that along with the kidnap threat … well, put it this way, we want to know that you are safe.’

Tiffany saw that she wouldn’t be able to persuade Angel to change her mind, and she felt too exhausted to argue, so she ended up agreeing. She finished the call and flopped back on the sofa. She supposed she should phone her dad but didn’t want to freak him out. It could wait until the morning.

‘Can I get you something to eat?’ Sean asked. ‘I’m going to make a sandwich.’

Tiffany shook her head. ‘I’m not hungry.’

He walked over and sat down next to her. ‘You’ve had a shock, but it’ll be OK. Angel’s got a nice surprise for you tomorrow.’

‘What’s that?’ Tiffany felt as if she was done with surprises.

Sean shook his head. ‘That’ll spoil it. So, what do you want to do? Watch a film? Go to bed?’

Tiffany must have been feeling subdued because she had no wish to banter back with, Is that an offer?

‘I’m really tired, but I don’t know if I could sleep yet.’

‘How about a glass of red wine, and we’ll watch a DVD?’

She nodded, just wanting someone else to make the decision for her.

Red wine after the brandy must have knocked her out because
Inception
had only been on for half an hour when Tiffany found herself falling asleep. Her head jerked up as she struggled to stay awake.

‘Come on,’ Sean said, ‘I’ll show you your room.’

He reached for her hand and practically pulled her up from the sofa. It felt as if he could easily have picked her up. He led her to the spare bedroom, which had its own en suite bathroom, and pointed out the new toothbrush.

Did he have many overnight visitors? she wondered once he had said goodnight.

Tiffany had a shower and brushed her teeth. The hot water revived her, and she found the energy to peek into the bathroom cabinet where there were two more new toothbrushes, some Nivea face wipes and a bottle of Gucci perfume. Had they been left by his ex-wife, or ex-girlfriend, or friend with extras? She used the wipes to remove the last traces of her make-up, then remembered the bag of Chanel goodies and rubbed on some of the Coco Mademoiselle body lotion to cheer herself up. Then she pulled on the tee-shirt Sean had thoughtfully left out for her and climbed into bed.

But sleep eluded her even though she was exhausted. She turned this way and that, tried to focus on all the things that made her happy, did one of her favourite tricks of creating outfits for the people she knew – a chic little black dress for pink-loving Kara; a navy-and-white polka-dot prom dress to showcase Marie’s curves and get her step-mum away from her uniform of jeans. But nothing worked and Tiffany became more and more wound up. She kept thinking of her flat and of the unknown person going through her things and deliberately destroying them. Why would anyone do that? It was such a cruel act. Why hadn’t they simply taken the few things of value? Why destroy everything? The questions kept going round and round in her head, on a loop. And she was still cold, chilled to the bone. Suddenly she wished Sean was with her. It had felt so good when he’d held her.

Finally she threw back the duvet and wandered into the kitchen to get a glass of water. She had the fright of her life when, just as she was running the tap, she heard Sean say, ‘Are you OK?’

She spun round. He was leaning against the doorframe, dressed only in a white vest and black boxers. Even feeling as upset as she did, she still registered how good he looked …

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. I couldn’t sleep.’

‘I’m not surprised, it’s been a hell of a day. Why don’t we talk in the lounge?’

She followed him into the room and curled up in a corner of the sofa.

‘I keep thinking of my flat … of someone in there, wrecking all my things,’ Tiffany said quietly. ‘It was like someone hated me, but how can that be?’ She looked at Sean, her beautiful green eyes brimming with tears.

‘I don’t know. It could be someone who is jealous of your connection to Angel, or it could be someone who wanted to hurt her, by hurting you.’ He sighed. ‘There are some nutters out there, I’m afraid.’

The tears spilled out of her eyes then, ‘Today was so good … and then that. I feel like it’s ruined everything.’

‘It doesn’t have to. Come on, where’s the feisty, opinionated girl I was getting to know?’

‘She’s been crushed,’ Tiffany said miserably.

‘That could never happen, that’s why I like you. You’re tough, you’ll get through this.’

He put his arm around her and Tiffany leaned against his shoulder. Suddenly she felt hyper-alert to his touch and the feel of his body against hers. She put her arms around him. He felt so good, so strong … she couldn’t resist slipping her hands under his vest, feeling his smooth warm skin. She was crossing a line, but she couldn’t stop herself. The moment seemed charged. It wasn’t comforting she wanted … she wanted him. And it seemed as if the feeling was mutual as Sean lightly kissed her neck and then his lips touched hers. A kiss that began tenderly, slowly, built up and became deeper, hotter, more insistent … A kiss that said,
I want you
. And she did, so much.

They lay back on the sofa. She ran her hands down
his
back, pressed her body against his and knew he was as aroused as she was. But then Sean was gently pulling away. ‘I’m not sure if this is a good idea right now, after what you’ve been through.’

It bloody was a good idea! The best! Tiffany looked up at him. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips felt swollen from their passionate kisses. He stroked her hair, seeing that she was about to protest, ‘Come on, you need to sleep. I’ll stay with you.’ And he lay beside her and put his arms round her. Even though Tiffany was convinced that there was no way, absolutely no way she could go to sleep, she found herself lulled by the warmth of his body. There was always the morning … she’d find a way of waking him up …

The curtains were open and both of them were bathed in the orange glow of a lit-up London. Tiffany felt suspended in time, away from everything. For the first time since the burglary, she felt protected; felt that everything was going to be all right, more than all right. She sighed and snuggled closer to Sean. Maybe a bit of deferred gratification would make the moment all the sweeter. It felt so right to be lying next to him, so close she could hear him breathing. Yes, everything was going to be all right …

Tiffany woke up hours later as sunshine streamed through the window. A duvet had been laid over her, but Sean was no longer beside her. She sat up feeling disorientated.

‘So you’re finally awake?’ Sean walked into the room. Unusually for him he was dressed in a smart dark suit. He looked even more handsome in it and she was about to comment on it, and ask him teasingly if he’d had a secret makeover, but his expression stopped her. He had his serious face on again. Tiffany felt at a distinct disadvantage, sitting there in a tee-shirt. She most likely
looked
like crap. Sean set down a cup of tea on the table next to the sofa.

‘I hope it’s OK but I have to take you to the new apartment within the hour, then I’m at an event all day with Angel and Cal.’ He avoided looking at her and instead gazed out of the window. He was being so formal, as if they didn’t know each other, as if last night hadn’t happened. As if he hadn’t kissed her like he meant it …

Tiffany was feeling more and more awkward.

‘Sure,’ she mumbled, ‘I’ll have a shower. It won’t take me long to get ready.’

WTF was going on! Last night she was convinced that he had been as attracted to her as she was to him! She wasn’t making it up. You couldn’t make that kind of thing up. It had been the most erotic, passionate kiss of her life! Now he was behaving like a complete stranger. She quickly got dressed and put her make-up on in record time. When she emerged from the bedroom, Sean was already waiting by the front door.

‘All set?’ he asked.

She nodded.

‘Are you warm enough? Do you want to borrow my jacket?’

Tiffany was feeling cold again, but the moment for wearing his jacket seemed to have passed. ‘I’m fine,’ she said. ‘Are you?’

Sean avoided eye contact. ‘I’m fine thanks, Tiffany. I just have a lot on at work and would appreciate it if we could get off.’

‘I’m not stopping you,’ she replied. And she opened the front door and marched out, feeling horribly hurt by his distant treatment of her.