Page 28 of Original Sin

‘Or he told you he was separated,’ said Tess.

Brooke looked up, her green eyes flashing.

‘It wasn’t like that at all,’ she said firmly. ‘He had been separated from his wife for about twelve months before we went on our first date and his divorce came through a couple of months later. There was no overlap at all, none. I’m not a home–wrecker.’

Brooke rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. ‘David’s family are going to go crazy,’ she whispered.

Patty and Tes

s exchanged a look. They couldn’t really deny it.

‘What’s David got to say about it?’ asked Tess. ‘He’s the important one.’

‘He’s not very happy, as you can imagine,’ said Brooke, wiping her nose. ‘But he says he believes me.’

‘And have you heard from the Billingtons?’ asked Patty.

Brooke shrugged. ‘My phone is probably jammed with messages, but I haven’t been able to face it.’ She turned to Tess, her eyes pleading.

‘How did this happen? I thought the Billingtons were like the CIA; how come they didn’t stop it?’

Tess shook her head. ‘The first they will have heard about it was when someone read a first–edition paper this morning. I suppose you have to know about something to stop it.’

Tess squirmed, hoping that was not a dig. It was obvious Brooke was suffering enough over this without Tess reading her the riot act about keeping her past to herself.

Patty glanced at her watch and then rose to her feet. ‘I want to talk to Meredith and then I’d better go and make some calls.’

At the mention of her mother, Brooke’s face paled. Tess could sympathize; she barely knew Meredith Asgill, but she didn’t imagine this would play out well with her either. There was of course a chance Meredith would try to blame this on Tess, although – according to Sally the receptionist – office hours were eight until five, so strictly speaking Tess hadn’t even started work when the Oracle website ran the story.

‘So what’s the plan?’ asked Tess.

Patty folded her arms in front of her. ‘I can get it taken down from the website but it’s obviously too late for the paper. Good news is that the Oracle publishes a European edition, so I can threaten to sue them in the British courts. That should be enough leverage to make them print a retraction in tomorrow’s paper.’

She looked at Tess meaningfully. ‘Then I’m afraid it’s up to you to do the damage control.’

She spun around on her high heels and walked out of the room. When Tess looked back, she saw that Brooke had picked up the paper and was reading the story again.

‘I can’t believe Jeff would do this,’ she said dejectedly. ‘I guess he needed the money.’

‘Why do you think it was Jeff who went to the papers?’ asked Tess.

Brooke looked up sharply. ‘It must be Jeff,’ she said, her eyes widening. ‘They’ve run pictures of his wife and kids. How else did the paper get hold of those?’

‘Newspapers have their ways,’ said Tess, feeling a slight sense of guilt for having committed similar crimes at the Globe. It was different when you were on the other side of the fence.

She examined Brooke carefully. Tess’s last week at the Globe had been spent using its substantial resources to dig up everything she could about the girl she had been hired to protect. In fact, Brooke had led a very low–key life for a girl from such a wealthy background, which was no doubt part of her appeal for a politically ambitious family like the Billingtons. The big surprise for Tess was that Brooke Asgill appeared to be everything she was supposed to be: beautiful, clean–cut, honest. Certainly, none of the features or photographs did justice to Brooke’s natural beauty and grace. From her years in the media, Tess knew that average people with good PR and clever marketing could become household names, but with Brooke’s raw material – her looks, marriage, and sweetness, she really could become more iconic than Jackie O. More importantly, if Tess succeeded in helping her do that, it would put her in a very strong position indeed. If the rumours about David’s political future were true, she could even follow Brooke to the White House.

Tess smiled to herself. Before she could start indulging in any fantasies as a glamorous Chanel–clad aide climbing aboard Air Force One, she had to deal with the matter in hand. Scandal might do a B–list soap actress some good, but to establishment families it was dangerous, even fatal. Society could forgive anything except embarrassment.

‘And who is this Matthew Palmer?’ said Tess, rereading Danny Krantz’s column more carefully.

‘An old friend,’ said Brooke looking irritated once more.

‘Says old flame here.’

‘Another lie!’ said Brooke, her voice raised and trembling.

Tess raised an eyebrow.