Page 60 of The Bridesmaid

‘It’s … really sad,’ she says, with feeling. ‘What happened to Silky. I don’t think it’s good for her, being around Petra.’

Her eyes glide to the sleeping Silky, whose breathing is coming in ragged and deep.

‘Why not?’ I ask.

‘You know Silky tried to sue the school?’ says Georgia. ‘Abuse, and neglect and stuff. She even had Petra in the dock. Bullying. Humiliation. They put the older girls in charge of the little onesand … stuff happened. But you can’t convict a minor after the fact. Plus, no one would testify. I think it sent Silky a little crazy, you know?’

‘You were in the same year as Silky, right?’

‘Right.’ She nods, eyes earnest. ‘But my mom didn’t raise me to be scared of a few mean white girls.’ She manages a smile. ‘It was lonely sometimes, being the only girl who stood up for herself. Luckily, I had Adrianna and Ophelia.’

We’re interrupted by a knock on the door. Georgia’s confiding expression drops away to something more wary.

‘Who is it?’ she asks.

‘I’m looking for Miss Stone?’ The door opens to reveal Fitzwilliam. After all the weirdness of the last few hours, it’s a huge relief to see him. His striking combination of black hair and pale blue eyes doesn’t look so aloof anymore. I notice Georgia taking in his square-jawed handsomeness with a thoughtful expression.

Fitzwilliam casts the barest glance at Georgia, but makes a pronounced double take at me. I remember I’m wearing the dress Georgia put me in, and tug the hem self-consciously.

‘Holly,’ he says, his eyes roaming up and down the dress distractedly, ‘you have a phone call from your mom. Do you want to take it in your hut?’

‘My mom?’ I’m half laughing. ‘My mom would never …’ I catch his expression. ‘Um. Sure. Yeah. Coming right away.’

Georgia checks her watch. ‘We’ll all be dressing for dinner soon,’ she says. ‘Yours is hut number seven. Meet us on the southern beach at seven p.m. The staff can show you the way.’

Fitzwilliam leads me out in silence, then turns, his blue eyes urgent.

‘Mark Li called,’ he says. ‘Nice dress, by the way.’

I ignore him. ‘Did Li call about something serious?’

‘Depends how you define serious. He’s arriving tomorrow morning, and he wants us gone before he gets here.’

‘But … that’s not fair! He gave us twenty-four hours.’

‘Guess he’s getting anxious about Adrianna finding out. Unless we can come up with something concrete, he wants us off the island. Staff boat leaves at ten a.m.’

I press a hand to my head. ‘Did you manage to find my luggage?’

‘Did you doubt your hard-working assistant?’

I smile. ‘OK. So let’s check out the invitation. If Simone was setting up a shoot forWrongly Accused, there’ll be something forensic to uncover. Maybe we’ll have something to convince Mr Li it was worth sending us out here.’

Chapter Forty-Seven

ADRIANNA

In the aftermath of the cake destruction, the Tower Suite has been cleared. I’m trying to process what happened to my cake. Who could do that? What freaks me out most is how easily I could imagine any of my bridesmaids wreaking the destruction.

I’m interrupted by the sharp trill of the telephone, and will my fingers to stop shaking as I lift the receiver.

‘Adrianna?’ I sag in relief to hear Mark’s voice.

‘Mark,’ I breathe. ‘Something happened. Someone destroyed my cake.’

He hesitates. ‘Why would someone do that?’

‘I don’t know,’ I say. There’s a long pause.