INICIAR SESIÓNWarm sunshine greeted them. A gentle breeze stirred the leaves overhead and carried the fragrance of freshly cut grass and blooming roses. In the distance, a string quartet played the processional. The music swelled softly as every guest rose to their feet. Just a handful of people, really. Mostly the Delano siblings and friends and associates, very close ones, from St Just’s and O’Grady’s circles. A hush settled over the decorated lawns, anticipation replacing the cheerful chatter that had filled the bridal suite only moments before. Her heart hammering, Bianca paused for just a heartbeat at the top of the stone steps overlooking the lawn. White chairs lined either side of a flower-petal aisle leading to a beautifully decorated arbour. The handful of friends turned as one, smiles spreading across their faces as they caught their first glimpse of her. The Delano siblings and their spouses. She noticed Siobhan, looking tense, standing by Big Rudy’s side. She swallowed t
Meanwhile at the Shangri La, the festivities were still going on, in full swing. Bianca and her husbands, as she thought of them in wonder, were still coming to terms with the change in their positions in society's eyes. She was no longer a woman and her Masters. She was now their wife!When a waiter approached her and murmured, Mrs. …umm?” she looked baffled. Then, with a smile, she said,“I’m Mrs St Just O’Grady. Yes? Did you want something?”*The entire stretch of gardens that had been earmarked for their celebrations shimmered beneath the fading gold of the evening sun, its manicured grounds spilling onto broad stone terraces overlooking a tranquil stretch of sea. Claude and Louis had spared no effort to make this a special day for their friends, the Masters. White fairy lights had begun to glow in the trees, while crystal lanterns flickered along winding pathways, casting pools of warm light across polished marble and fragrant flowerbeds. Soft music drifted through the air,
When Bianca rose the next morning, she savoured the moment of being alone. She sat up slowly and stretched. Anna and Beth had insisted that she spend her last night as a single woman at the Shangri La, and so, for the last night before she got married, she had been set up in one of the suites, a room in the Shangri La, and accompanied by Jamie.Her phone rang. She smiled as she saw that it was St Just. And O’Grady.A conference call. The Masters had called her intermittently, all night long, to make sure that she was safe, till she had begged them to let her catch up on her sleep.“We miss you, Pet,” O’Grady had sighed, longing in his voice.St Just had grunted,“It’s just for tonight. And then, Cherie, we’ll never let you be alone.” Bianca had laughed and cried. She was so happy…*As she waited for the people who were going to help her into the gown to arrive, she looked around her room in undisguised awe. The room was, unlike the chalets and villas, not designed around a theme,
When they got back, the Masters were still not home. But Barry the aging Biker, a suitably angered Barry, stormed up to Bianca, demanding to know where she had slipped off. He took his responsibilities very seriously and was infuriated.But the sight of the lovable, bristling old man-made Bianca remember that he was the closest to a father for her now. Impulsively, she threw her arms around the older man who stiffened in surprise.“You’re going to give me away tomorrow, Barry,” said Bianca, her face pressed against the older man’s chest, and she felt his heart thumping. The old biker was sentimental when it came to Bianca and her children, and he soon let her off the hook after delivering a stern warning. Roxanne left, picking up her crestfallen children, who wanted to spend time at Bianca’s.As she reached the door, Roxanne smiled. “Big Day coming up, Bee,” she said, and left soon after.Anna and Beth held Bianca’s hands as she sank down on the bed. Her sisters were fussing over he
Bianca turned to her sisters, her eyes wide and dark, afraid of the future but determined to end this before her children became the targets of this madman.“We’ll be back soon,” she whispered, kissing her sisters on the cheeks, hugging them tightly.“We’re here for Cian and Meg,” said Anna, looking so much like Bianca at the moment, her chin jutting out, that Roxanne smiled.Then the Ice man’s wife said,“We need not leave before Barry and his boys find out.” Bianca turned to look at her in alarm. She had been wondering if she could possibly run in and kiss her kids, who were sleeping now, before she left. It was their siesta time, and Syl, who was in on their plan, had quietly taken them off to bed.“You mean, without any security for us?” cried Bianca, horror writ on her anxious, pretty face as she stared at her friend in disbelief.Roxanne smiled and shook her head.“I have arranged for Hila Zaidi to help us.”There was stunned silence. Bianca gasped.HILA ZAIDI?Roxanne went on,
Bianca stared at her friend in shock.“You …you can’t be serious…Rox…”She stood up and began to pace furiously, hysteria overcoming her. She laughed and cried, turning to face Roxanne and her sisters, who were staring at her,“HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN? I’M…I’M GETTING MARRIED! IN TWO DAYS!”She sank onto the low couch, tears overwhelming her as she sobbed helplessly,“I can’t go…running around the countryside, nabbing villains!”Roxanne’s small, sandalled feet appeared in her line of vision.“So, what do you intend to do, Bianca Cruz? “asked Roxanne in a hard voice that made Bianca look up in shock.Her friend, normally soft and submissive, had a hard side to her; Bianca was well aware of that, as much as the next person. After all, she had faced off her evil stepbrother all by herself and shot him dead.She had not roped in the help from her powerful Mafia husband, had kept him in the dark all along, and Alex Van Dyke had been shocked to see what his quiet little Baby Doll was capable of
Serena opened her eyes slowly. She was still too weak to move. Her body ached; her mind was still in a state of fugue. She kept drifting in and out of consciousness.Her mind was in a fog. Thoughts drifted in and out of reach. Where was she? What had happened? Her body refused to move, her arms nu
Once Piers Delano took charge, things moved swiftly.And young Siobhan was also bundled along to the hospital, as someone informed her, despite her reluctance to go along with the strangers.Siobhan Sweeny was flustered. She never let anyone get to her, had never known what love was. As for making
A few hours earlier, a long time after the clock had chimed two in the morning, there was a movement in the street....At this hour of night, the narrow alley on one side of the hotel was cloaked in shadows. The walls of old stone houses pressed in on either side, their plaster cracked and weather
Again, thought Claude, his eyes misting over, his father had said that before. What had he meant?Claude shut his eyes and tilted his head to heaven as his father growled on,“We need to find the leak. Get Paddy on it, boy.”The call ended.The second Delano son lowered his head, his shoulders slum







