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She stopped as he paused as they reached Selene and explained in an undertone, ‘Kat has a headache. I’m taking her outside for some fresh air.’
‘But you can’t—This is—I have to stay. Some aspirin, Selene, and I’ll be fine.’
‘That too, please, Selene. You nearly passed out,’ he condemned.
‘For heaven’s sake, I tripped, is all! It’s the damned heels and don’t blame me—you bought them for me! Not bought as such,’ she tacked on hastily in case anyone had heard and got the wrong impression.
Zach stood over her as she swallowed the painkillers and, ignoring his frowning disapproval, washed them down with a mouthful of wine.
‘I thought you didn’t drink.’
‘A mouthful and, anyway, what did you think I was going to do—spit them out?’ She took a deep breath and massaged her temples. ‘OK, back to it.’
‘You need some fresh air.’
She looked up at him, exasperated by his insistence. ‘I need to get back in there.’
‘They can wait.’
‘Make up your mind. I thought this party was ultra-important...first impressions, burying bad news with my stunning personality, and all that stuff?’
‘The pain is making you cranky. You need some fresh air to clear your head.’
She sighed. It was easier to give up, and the idea of escaping for a few moments had distinct appeal. The lively music the live band struck up made up her mind.
* * *
He didn’t say anything until they got outside. ‘So, you met Spiro.’
She inhaled as they stepped out into the scented night and she let her head fall back. ‘Uh-huh, a real charmer, isn’t he? If you go for snakes, that is.’
‘Not a man to be underestimated, though.’
She lifted her head and walked alongside him onto the sloping lawns that ran down to the beach. The breeze tugged at her hair, dislodging several strands from her updo. She stuck them back in haphazardly.
‘He is a poor loser. He takes pleasure from revenge...’
She flashed a look at his profile in the moonlight. ‘What did he do?’
‘He tried to sabotage something that is...important to me.’
It had taken a while to work out there was actually a pattern to the seemingly arbitrary flurry of false, damaging stories circulating online. The near career-ending false stories about abuse, about a dedicated and vital staff member at the charity for street kids that few knew had anything to do with Zach, and simultaneously the exposé about bullying in the mentoring scheme set up for teens emerging from care.
A firm specialising in forensic investigation had taken about five minutes to reveal that the older man’s grubby hands were all over the mess.
The threat of litigation had made the problem vanish. For good measure Zach had explained that he didn’t need to resort to lies to bring Spiro down, and that he had in his possession several verifiable documents that would ensure the older man did jail time. As bluffs went it was a no-brainer. A man like Spiro always had dirty secrets.
‘Your mentoring scheme for street kids, you mean.’
He stopped dead and looked at her in astonishment. ‘How the hell do you know that?’
‘What?’ she said, dancing ahead and turning around to face him as she continued to skip backwards on her crazy high heels. ‘That you are a bleeding heart do-gooder...?’ she taunted, allowing herself a triumphant little laugh, frustrated that the shadows across his face meant she could only see his mouth, not his eyes. ‘I talk to people. They open up to me. It’s a gift.’
He swore.
‘I don’t know why you act like it’s a dirty secret. I think it’s marvellous!’
‘You know nothing about me—the things I’ve—’
