The A-List Collection: Hollywood Sinners / Wicked Ambition / Temptation Island. Victoria Fox

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      ‘I’d love to have it one day.’

      ‘What?’

      ‘You know.’ Chloe took off her sandals. ‘A husband, kids–a family.’

      ‘I would, too.’

      Chloe squinted against the sun. ‘You’re nearly there.’

      ‘Nearly.’

      ‘Nate and I haven’t really talked about it.’ She tapped the surface of the pool with one foot. ‘He’s definitely The One, though.’

      ‘It’s great you’re so sure.’ Lana refilled their glasses.

      ‘You just know, don’t you?’ Chloe said softly. ‘And that maybe if everything isn’t brilliant, you know, maybe if you have the things that bug you or whatever, you just make it work, because that’s what relationships are about. You can’t just give up. It’s a commitment.’

      Lana thought about it. ‘No, you can’t just give up.’ She sat back. ‘I read how you two met, it’s quite a story.’

      ‘Romantic, huh?’ Chloe grinned, thinking what a heroic tale it would be to tell their grandchildren.

      Lana brought over Chloe’s glass and sat down next to her. She took off her own shoes and dangled her toes in. The water was cold.

      ‘I don’t think Kate diLaurentis likes me much,’ Chloe said. She’d been meaning to sound Lana out about it since the Romans’ wedding.

      ‘I wouldn’t worry about Kate,’ Lana assured her. ‘She’s just unhappy.’

      ‘She is?’

      Lana didn’t like to gossip, but Kate had been so foul last week that she didn’t feel too concerned about it. ‘Her husband’s fooling around, has been for years.’

      Chloe shook her head. ‘Why do people have to cheat? It’s so awful.’

      ‘Beats me.’

      ‘I’d never cheat on Nate. You’ve got to trust who you’re with.’

      Lana nodded, her thoughts darting guiltily to Parker Troy.

      ‘They’ve got kids as well,’ she went on, ‘which makes Jimmy even more of an asshole.’

      ‘I guess he’s handsome in a geeky sort of way,’ Chloe said mischievously.

      Lana made a face. ‘Not my type.’

      Chloe grinned. ‘Who is?’ she asked, interested. ‘Apart from Cole, obviously.’

      God, thought Lana, Cole was not her type at all. And yet he was her husband.

      ‘Ah, you know,’ she waved the question away, embarrassed, ‘the usual. Strong but sensitive. Handsome … but humble. Serious, but who can make me laugh …’

      Chloe’s eyes widened. ‘Some ex-boyfriend, I can tell!’

      ‘Shh!’ Lana gestured frantically.

      Chloe laughed, she hadn’t meant it. She turned to Lana. ‘I’ll bet Cole’s just the best husband ever,’ she said.

      Lana slipped her shades on. Memories of Robbie tortured her–she had to let him go. With the premiere fast approaching, she could no longer afford to indulge in the past. And yet it refused to set her free.

      The words came easily enough. ‘You got me,’ she said automatically. ‘He’s the best husband ever.’

32

       Belleville, Ohio, 1998-9

       ‘You know what you’ve got to do,’ Robbie had said that day he’d met Lester. ‘You’ve got to find the courage to face up to him. ‘

       But Laura couldn’t. She was too afraid of the consequences.

       Over the next twelve months they dated in secret. Laura was still underage and while there were times she wanted to give herself to Robbie completely, times she was desperate to and begged him to take her, he refused. He had waited long enough and he would wait a little while longer–she, he promised, would be worth every second.

       At school Laura was adamant that their relationship be kept quiet, in case word ever got back to her brother. Nobody could find out, not even Marcie. She knew that Lester would beat her–or worse-if he ever discovered it. For a while he had been dating a local barmaid and his attentions had been mercifully diverted, but lately, after that fell apart, he had been requesting more and more things from his little sister. He still hadn’t touched her, but occasionally he wanted her to touch herself. He always threatened her with a fist when she refused.

       Her first summer with Robbie was long and hot and she never wanted it to end. They would spend hours just kissing and talking, behind the school or in the park, under the stars at night when Lester was out. He would leave notes in her locker at school telling her he was thinking about her, that he liked what she was wearing that day, how much he wanted to kiss her and touch her. It was like she had the best-kept secret in the world. It made her feel mighty.

       She had asked Robbie to assure her of one thing: that he wouldn’t try to challenge Lester or go to the cops–it would be she who bore the brunt of it. She hadn’t told him the full story of the abuse, hadn’t told anyone, and knew he’d be unable to hold back if she did.

       Often Robbie talked of his ambition, to make enough money to give her the life he said she deserved. Laura had her own ambition–to make enough money to live independently, never to be reliant on anyone else–but Robbie seemed to have a thing about saving her and at that time she was happy to be rescued. He told her how he planned to follow his father into the hotel business. Wait until she saw the desert lights, she’d scarcely believe her eyes. In Vegas they could live happily together. Lester Fallon could never come near them again.

       On Robbie’s eighteenth birthday he told Laura he wanted her to come with him: he was quitting Belleville to study for a business degree and refused to leave her behind. She would turn sixteen in a month and a horrible instinct told him that Lester, with all his sick perversions, wouldn’t wait much longer. Robbie had seen the look in Laura’s brother’s eyes and he didn’t like it one bit. Lester was a hungry man, a twisted man. Hungry for his own sister.

       ‘I can’t …’ protested Laura.

       ‘Why?’ He took her in his arms. ‘Why can’t you? ‘

       She couldn’t think of a reason, except for a misguided sense of loyalty to the brother who had hit her, abused her and caused her such misery. She knew Robbie Lewis was the love of her life. They hadn’t used that word yet but there was no doubting how she felt.

       Weeks later, on the night she turned sixteen, everything changed.

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