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It had not been the most satisfactory encounter, although it had certainly been an improvement on their previous one. At least she hadn’t ended up taking off all her clothes and making a complete fool of herself.
It was not exactly a high bar to set, though, was it? Staying clothed and not offering herself on a plate to a man who clearly despised her?
Her phone rang inside her handbag. Reaching in to find it, she frowned. It was probably her mum. She’d told her she’d call her when she landed, but she really couldn’t face talking to her just now.
She felt a nibble of guilt. She had yet to tell her mother what she was doing in Argentina. Nor had she told her about Alicia’s wedding—mainly because anything to do with the Caines was a no-go area. She knew from experience that hearing their name would start her mother on that downward spiral of ‘if only’, so when her mum had assumed she was in Argentina for work she hadn’t corrected her.
Glancing out of the window again, at the faded, elegant architecture, she felt her heart contract. She hated lying to her mother, and resented having to do so, but there was no point in blaming anyone but herself for this uncomfortable arrangement. If she hadn’t encouraged her mum to marry Charlie, none of this would be happening.
Pulling out her phone, she glanced down at the screen and exhaled in relief. It was Alicia. ‘Hi, Lissy. I was going to call you later, to thank you for the bikini.’
It was so typical of her friend, she thought, some of her panic fading as she remembered the beautiful black and white bikini she had received in the post, together with a note telling her to relax and enjoy the sun and the pool.
‘Oh, I just saw it and I thought...’ Alicia hesitated. ‘I can’t really talk for long. I’m on the way to meet Philip’s aunt—for real this time. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.’
‘How could I not be okay?’ Mimi said quickly. ‘I’ve got people falling over themselves to be nice to me.’
She managed to inject a teasing note into her voice, even though right now she felt as if she was about to spend the weekend in a lion’s den rather than some opulent mansion.
Basa might have insisted that she stay at the Caine family home, but his decision had nothing to do with wanting to be hospitable. He just wanted to make sure she did nothing to bring his family’s name into disrepute.
It didn’t matter that he’d treated her appallingly. To him she was Charlie Butler’s stepdaughter and Raymond Cavendish’s niece. She was, and would always be, tainted by association.
‘Good.’ Alicia said quickly. She sounded a little breathless, as if she was rushing somewhere. ‘I’m sorry about lunch. I should have told you Basa was going to be there. It wasn’t fair to drop you in at the deep end like that, so thanks for staying and thanks for making all this effort for me.’
‘Yeah, travelling first class and being chauffeured around is a hard ask,’ Mimi said lightly. ‘But, hey, someone’s gotta do it.’
‘I didn’t mean that. I meant...’ Alicia paused. ‘Look, we never really had a chance to speak after the party...you know...because...’
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She hesitated again, and Mimi felt her stomach clench like a fist.
Because my stepfather and uncle had helped themselves to a bunch of pensioners’ savings, she finished silently.
‘Anyway, I just thought we should talk about it.’
‘About what?’
For a moment Alicia didn’t reply, and then she said quietly, ‘I know what happened with you and Basa, Mimi. At my twenty-first.’
For a moment her mind went completely blank. She felt numb. Her heart was beating with unnatural slowness, like a clock that needed winding, and she knew that her face was constricted into an expression of horror.
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ she said slowly. ‘Nothing happened.’
‘Oh, Mimi, please don’t.’
The hurt in her friend’s voice made her stomach squeeze into a knot of misery. She swallowed. Her mouth felt dry. She couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe that after all this time Basa had told Alicia about that night.
Imagining the spin he’d have put on the story, she started to feel sick. ‘What did he say?’ she croaked.
‘Who? Basa? Nothing. I didn’t talk to him about it. I didn’t have to. I saw how the two of you were together at the restaurant.’
Mimi felt her skin squeeze her bones. She was starting to shiver with shock and panic. ‘We were fine,’ she said quickly.
‘I’m not stupid, Mimi.’
She heard Alicia take a breath.
