PROLOGUE
He lies face down on the sun-baked earth, his right arm tucked neatly under his head and his left flung out at a right angle. His expensive deck shoes, linen suit and chunky gold bracelet look absurdly out of place among the piles of rubble and rusting machinery surrounding the half-finished villa with its stunning views over the glittering Ionian Sea.
What drunken idiot thinks it’s a good idea to sleep off a hangover in the middle of a dusty Greek building site?
I sink onto my haunches, swat away a bluebottle buzzing around his head and give his shoulder a shake.
‘Hey, you can’t crash here.’
He doesn’t stir, so I nudge him with my foot.
‘You have to wake up,’ I shout, my patience snapping. ‘It’s dangerous.’
But he doesn’t so much as twitch.
Exhaling loudly, I roll him onto his back, recoiling in horror. It’s a sight I know will haunt me for the rest of my life.
A scalp matted with blood, a pulpy mess where his left temple should be, and wide, vacant eyes that stare unseeing into the cerulean sky.
Not drunk.
Dead.
1
AMBER
‘How d’you fancy a week in the sun?’
Dominic and I are lying in bed, a tangle of arms and legs, when he drops the bombshell. I wriggle upright, my eyes wide as I search his face for clues. Though we’ve been together for over seven months, I still can’t always tell when he’s joking.
‘What, like a holiday? With you?’
He smiles indulgently. ‘That’s what a week in the sun generally is.’ His pupils darken as he traces a finger down my cheek and along my collarbone, but I brush his hand away.
‘Where?’
With a sigh, he pulls himself onto his elbows. ‘Greece. Well, Pelagia to be precise.’
‘Pelagia?’
‘It’s a tiny island eight miles south of Corfu.’
‘Nessa went to Corfu for a hen do last summer. Kavos.’
Dominic snorts. ‘Pelagia is nothing like Kavos, I promise.’
‘You’ve been there before?’
‘Lots of times.’
I’m about to ask who he’s been with when I bite the words back. I don’t want to sound jealous. ‘When?’ I ask instead.
‘End of June. Reckon you can get the time off work?’
‘I’ll check with Rob.’ The thought of asking my boss for a week off at such short notice makes me prickle with anxiety. He’ll use it as leverage, one way or another.
Dominic frowns. ‘It shouldn’t be a problem, should it?’
