Page 188 of Guilty Pleasures

‘Who would want Emma out of the way?’

‘Anyone who wants control of the company.’

‘Can I have a look at the Articles?’

‘I have them somewhere.’

They finished their meal and Rob went to pay the bill.

As they left the restaurant she exaggerated her limp and Rob put out his arm to support her.

She leaned into his body, enjoying his scent.

‘Can I give you a lift home?’

‘Thank you. I’m just a couple of minutes away.’

He stopped outside her appointment, went round to open her passenger door and helped her to the front door.

‘Do you want to come in?’ she whispered. ‘We could go through the Milford Articles together.’

Rob looked at her a moment longer than was necessary and then nodded.

‘OK. Quickly.’

They went into her apartment and Cassandra switched on a solitary lamp. Soft, flattering light spilled around the room. Cassandra opened a bottle of wine and pulled out the Milford Articles and Memorandum from a box file.

‘I think I’d better go,’ said Rob, picking the documents up.

‘You’ve not touched your drink.’

He shrugged uncomfortably and Cassandra understood immediately.

‘You’re in love with her,’ said Cassandra with a small smile.

He nodded. ‘I think I am.’

Leaving Cassandra’s apartment he did not notice a lone paparazzo across the road. The photographer took his picture and immediately phoned the story through to his boss.

Emma was released without charge after twenty-four hours, but had been told to keep police informed of her whereabouts. When she left Oxford police station a reporter stopped her on the steps and thrust a Dictaphone under her nose.

‘Can I get a comment about this?’ said the reporter, pushing a copy of the Mirror under her nose.

The pages were flipped back to page seven: there was a grainy shot of Rob getting into his Range Rover next to a head-shot of Cassandra taken at London Fashion Week five months earlier. The headline read: Record Mogul’s Secret Tryst with Tragic Cass.

The reporter immediately turned her attention to Rob who was standing by Emma’s side. ‘Is it true you are having an affair with Cassandra Grand?’

He hadn’t read the paper but had received a phone call from his assistant warning him about the story – that he had been spotted coming out of Cassandra’s apartment in the middle of the night.

It took every ounce of willpower he had to stop himself from grabbing the woman’s Dictaphone and smashing it to the ground.

‘Get back on your broomstick and piss off,’ he growled, angered that Emma hadn’t heard it from him.

They got into the Range Rover and Emma sat in the front seat shaking.

‘So. Is it true? Did you sleep with her?’ asked Emma, her voice cracking.

‘Of course I didn’t,’ said Rob angrily.