All That Glitters (31 page)

‘It sounds fantastic,’ Stacey murmured. ‘Will I be identified in the photos?’ she asked, and Sancho shook his head. ‘You’ll be the mystery girl, and we’ll never identify you. If one of your mates happens to go running to the papers though, it isn’t our problem.’

‘Then I’ll do it,’ Stacey said. ‘Of course I’ll do it.’

Sancho gave her a huge grin. ‘Darling, once Johnny chose you, you never really had a choice.’

Stacey smiled sweetly, safe in the knowledge her MP3 recorder had picked up everything.

Ella could hear Stacey and Chastity talking to each other excitedly, but she couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. It was as if she’d fallen underwater, and everything was hazy. She could make out their voices, but she couldn’t define the words, couldn’t grasp what was going on. Ella knew her heart was racing, and that a thin film of sweat had suddenly coated her body, but she didn’t know how to stop the fear and panic that had engulfed her. She felt trapped in ice-cold terror.

‘Ella, are you okay?’ Chastity’s voice sliced through the fog that overwhelmed her, but it was all she could do to shake her head slightly.

‘I think she’s in shock,’ Ella heard Stacey say, but it sounded as though her voice was coming from far away.

‘I was set up,’ Ella murmured. Her voice was thin and frail, and she wasn’t even sure her words had even left her mouth. She tried again. ‘Sancho and Johnny set me up.’

Chastity and Stacey looked at each other. Their discovery about what Johnny Cooper and Sancho Tabora had been up to could wait.

‘She’s been asleep for a couple of hours,’ Ella heard Chastity whisper as she felt a warm palm on her forehead. ‘She had a bit of a shock.’

‘I’m not surprised,’ a male voice said, and Ella knew instantly it was Nash. She opened her eyes.

‘Hey, Sleeping Beauty,’ Nash said softly. He was crouching by the sofa, so close to her that Ella felt as though she was drowning in his brown eyes. How had she never noticed how gorgeous they were before?

‘Hey,’ she mumbled, and sat up. Her head was pounding, and it wasn’t until she looked around the room and saw the concern on her friends’ faces that she remembered. Johnny and Sancho. Shit. She could feel tears well up in her eyes, and she angrily brushed them aside.

‘I really thought Johnny loved me,’ Ella said eventually. Her voice was hollow, and matter-of-fact.

‘We all thought he did,’ Nash said softly. ‘He took us all in . . . and you’re not the only one he’s done this to.’

Ella looked down at the gleaming parquet floor of her living room.

‘But I am, aren’t I?’ she said. ‘Sancho and Johnny have always got girls to trap men who have affairs, but what Johnny did to me was in a completely different league. He knew that my marriage to Danny was a sham, and he exploited it. He got me on his TV show, he convinced his producers to make me a presenter with him, and then he seduced me. They could have used someone anonymous – like a male model or something – but Johnny must have actively decided he wanted this job for himself. Because he knew it would give him an even bigger profile. He used me, and he made money from me.’

The realisation of what Johnny had done to her washed over her again, and she began to feel sick.

‘Here, drink this,’ Nash said, as he held out a glass of water. Ella took it gratefully.

‘Sancho was always looking to make as much money from Danny as possible, and he found a way to do it. It was through me.’

Chastity looked confused. ‘I don’t understand,’ she said finally. ‘What’s Danny got to do with this?’

Ella buried her head in her hands. She’d kept Danny’s secret from her friends for so long that it had become second nature to her. Now though, both Chastity and Stacey deserved to know the truth.

‘Danny’s gay,’ she said simply, as she locked eyes with Nash who gave her a supportive smile. ‘Sancho knows, and he’s been blackmailing him about it for years. I suppose honey-trapping me with Johnny was just another way for him to make money out of the situation.’

The living room was full of silence as Chastity and Stacey tried to take in this new piece of information.

‘Danny Riding’s
gay
?’ Chastity repeated. Her big blue eyes were wide and she looked stunned. ‘When did you find out?’

Ella sighed. ‘I’ve always known. When we met on that beach in Thailand I genuinely had no idea who he was. I thought he was hot, but I wasn’t looking for a relationship, and we quickly became friends. When he told me he was gay I was pleased – it meant there would be none of that “is he being friends with me because he fancies me” stuff – and when he told me he played for Kingston United I was blown away.’

‘I knew there was something a bit odd about your relationship,’ Stacey mused. ‘You were
so
in love with Fin, and before you went off to Thailand you promised yourself that you’d never get involved with another man again. And then the next thing I heard was that you and Danny were engaged. It’s not like you to jump from man to man.’

Ella gave Stacey a wry smile and tried hard not to look at Nash. It was true, she wasn’t the sort of girl who went from relationship to relationship, but it didn’t mean she didn’t think about Nash that way sometimes. That she didn’t wonder if Nash could be something more than just a friend. Ella pulled her knees up to her chin so she could rest her head on them. ‘It just seemed like the perfect thing to do. Danny could never come out, I never wanted to fall in love again, and we just got on so well that at the time it made sense to get married.’

‘But where does Sancho come into it?’ Chastity asked. ‘How does he know Danny’s gay?’

Ella explained how Danny’s ex-boyfriend had got involved with Sancho when he was still called Steven Turner, and how Sancho had started blackmailing Danny as soon as he could.

‘But why would Danny just give him money?’ Chastity said shrilly. ‘Surely Aaron would have put a stop to it.’

‘Aaron tried to stop it,’ Nash interjected smoothly. ‘He did everything he could to stop Sancho, but nothing worked. After the exposé on Johnny and Ella appeared in the papers Sancho stopped blackmailing Danny for a while, but I’ve heard he’s ramping it up again.’

‘He’s got to be stopped,’ Ella said wearily. ‘This whole situation has got to finish, now.’

‘We
can
stop it,’ Stacey exclaimed. ‘We can take the recording of my meeting with Johnny and Sancho to the police, and we can tell them what they’ve been up to.’

Nash shook his head. ‘I don’t think that will work,’ he said. ‘I don’t think talking about doing something is proof enough.’

‘Then I’ll go through with the job, and we’ll get proof that way,’ Stacey said. Her eyes were alive with determination.

‘But you’re pregnant,’ Ella said. ‘What if you get hurt?’

‘The only people who’ll get hurt will be Sancho and Johnny,’ she said with as much resolve as she could muster. ‘Mark my words.’

‘Are you really okay?’ Nash asked Ella as she lay on her bed later that night. Stacey had gone home, Chastity was catching up on her
YourHappyEverAfter.com
work, and Nash had refused to leave Ella’s side. He’d gone to the shops and come back laden with soup and bread, and after making sure she’d eaten a decent amount of food he’d carried her into her bedroom and placed her gently on her bed. Ella couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so lovingly looked after – in fact, she wasn’t sure she’d ever had a boyfriend who cared for her so sweetly – and despite the horror of finding out Johnny had been using her throughout their whole relationship, she felt safe and secure.

‘My headache’s gone and I’m feeling a lot better,’ Ella said with a smile, and she stretched slightly under her cream blankets. Her bedroom at Castle House had been perfect, but this room was really hers. It had duck-egg blue walls, distressed French style white furniture, and lots of fluffy sheepskin rugs everywhere. It was warm, inviting, and it felt like home. ‘It’s good of you to be here.’

‘When Chastity phoned the office to say you’d collapsed I rushed straight over. Of course I did. We’re friends, aren’t we?’

‘We are.’ Ella nodded, and touched Nash’s arm. ‘You’re like my fairy godmother or something. It always seems like you’re rescuing me or coming to my aid.’

‘In that case I’m your knight in shining armour.’

Or my Prince Charming, Ella thought, but she didn’t say it out loud. She didn’t dare.

‘I don’t mind if you want to go home, you know,’ she said, changing the subject. ‘You’ve been here for hours.’

Nash grinned. ‘Are you trying to get rid of me?’

Ella shook her head. ‘Absolutely not. But if you have something you need to do in the office or at home I’ll understand . . .’ Her voice trailed off as she caught Nash’s gaze.

‘I have nothing to do apart from be here with you,’ he said, and he lay down next to her. It reminded Ella of the time they’d snuggled up together in bed in Nash’s flat, and she wondered if Nash was thinking of it too. That had been the first time she’d realised just how much she liked him. That she wanted him.

‘God, you must have a really boring life then,’ she said lightly.

‘Must do,’ Nash agreed, and they lay in Ella’s bed in silence for a while, listening to their breathing as it began to mimic each other’s until they were perfectly in sync.

‘You’ve had a hell of a day again, Ella,’ Nash said eventually. ‘If I found out I’d been given a new career and then seduced just to create a sensationalist news story I don’t think I’d be as calm as you.’

Ella let out a short little laugh. ‘I’m not calm inside,’ she said. ‘But I don’t see the point in throwing things around. Besides, I wanted to find out why Johnny broke up with me and now I know why he did – he didn’t need me any more. His job was done.’

Nash let his gaze trail across Ella’s face. Despite what she’d found out her violet eyes still had innocence in them, and she was still able to smile.

‘Aaron always said he never asked questions if he wasn’t sure he’d like the answer, and he was right. I knew that Chastity’s digging would unearth something horrible – but I had no idea it would end up being something like this.’

‘What did you think she and Stacey would find out?’

Ella thought for a moment. ‘I suppose I assumed that Johnny had been stringing me along and that he’d met someone else. That was what Fin did to me, and it seemed obvious that Johnny would do the same thing.’

Nash eyed Ella thoughtfully. ‘Not all men are assholes, you know,’ he said eventually. ‘And not every man will cheat on you or fuck you around.’

Ella bit her lip. ‘It doesn’t feel like it sometimes.’

Nash pulled Ella close to him, and she shut her eyes and breathed in his scent. He smelled of washing powder and of something peppery. She loved it.

‘Trust me, some of us are good guys.’

For some reason Ella felt like she was going to cry in despair, so she concentrated hard on the matter at hand, rather than matters of the heart.

‘It’s really good of you to put us in touch with a photographer,’ she said briskly. ‘Do you really think he’ll be up for the challenge?’

Nash shifted slightly away from her and Ella could feel his body tense.

‘Oh, absolutely,’ he said smoothly. ‘Adam Russell used to take photos of wild animals in Africa, and the fashion shoots he’s currently doing are boring him to tears.’

‘And he knows what he’s got to do?’

‘Ella, he knows what he’s got to do. Don’t worry about a thing – we’re going to nail these creeps once and for all, and then you can have your happy ever after. Dot com.’

Ella laughed, and she prayed that Nash was right. She also refused to listen to the voice in her head that said you never really had a happy ending without a man.

Chapter Twenty-One

Stacey stood in the lobby of the May Fair Hotel and waited anxiously for the signal. She’d told Jay that she was spending the night at Ella’s flat again, and when he’d believed her she’d felt wracked with guilt. She hated lying to her fiancé, but if Jay had known the truth there was no way he’d allow her to go through with it. Not that she was sure what ‘it’ was, or how it would end.

She spotted a flurry of activity in the dark bar, and Stacey knew that Elliot Thomas – the former soap star who’d recently won
I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!
– had left his suite at the top of the hotel and made his grand entrance. Elliot’s star had been on the wane since he’d left
Jubilee Crescent
– the soap that had made him – but ever since he’d shown off his tanned, buff body in the jungle, teenage girls and housewives across the country had fallen in love with him all over again.

They loved him almost as much as his wife did.

‘Time to move in for the kill,’ a passing man murmured to Stacey, and she took a deep breath. It was show time. She teetered on her heels and walked from the lobby into the bar and scanned the room. Elliot Thomas was lounging on one of the deep velvet sofas, and he already had drinks lined up on the copper-coloured table in front of him. Plenty of party girls in various states of undress surrounded him, and Elliot looked as though he didn’t have a care in the world.

If Johnny and Sancho had their way he soon would do, she thought darkly.

Stacey ordered a glass of tonic water at the bar and shifted her position slightly so she could see if Elliot had noticed her. As predicted, Stacey was the only redhead in the room, and she’d already caught the actor’s attention. Elliot was openly staring at her, drinking in the curves of her body that were tightly covered by a burgundy Jean Paul Gaultier dress. Ella had chosen it from Chastity’s overflowing wardrobe because it matched Stacey’s hair perfectly.

‘God, men are stupid,’ Stacey muttered to herself, and she turned back to watch the barman create a complicated-looking cocktail. She could feel Elliot’s eyes on her, and she knew the best way to entice him was to play hard-to-get. Being obvious wasn’t her style, and besides, she didn’t want to come across as desperate.

‘I couldn’t help but notice your fabulous dress,’ a voice murmured in her ear ten minutes later, and Stacey shivered in revulsion. She plastered on a sexy smile and turned around.