Marbella Truth

by Shel Stone

  “Just thought you should know, maybe check on her or something.”

  “Why? Were you a dick to her?”

  “No, but she’s not my problem anymore. Just letting you know.”

  “Why’d you break up?”

  Clearly Felix didn’t know. “She’s messing around with that poncy guy.”

  “For fuck’s sake,” Felix stated.

  “A mess happening there, mate. Not my problem, so I’ll leave you to deal with it. Sayonara, sucker.” Ricky hung up and felt fabulous. A bit of patience and things had worked out perfectly. Now he could focus his attention where he wanted to—Solraya.

  Chapter 30

  RICKY RANG AGAIN AND Solraya looked down at her phone without responding. The guy had persistence—she had to give him that. Ignoring him certainly hadn’t put him off. Maybe she actually needed to have a word with him.

  “Hey,” she said when she answered.

  “Hi, Solraya,” he said, almost as if he was surprised she’d picked up. “Just thought I’d see how you are?”

  “I’m fine. No reason I wouldn’t be.”

  “I’d love to grab a drink with you later.”

  There was an easiness about him. He had no qualms about asking girls out. The kind of guy who seemed to flow in and out of relationships with total ease. But at least he was honest about it. What she didn’t know was why he was so keen on contact with her. Maybe the reason was because she wasn’t falling for it. If that was the case, maybe it was time to set him straight.

  It was only fair to let the guy know he was wasting his time. “Alright,” she said. “Let’s meet at the café just off the entrance to my street.”

  She could assuage her craving for their toasted ham and egg rolls while she was at it. It had been her ultimate hangover food when she’d lived here. Not that there would be a hangover in her future for quite a while, which was exactly why they needed to have this chat. Ricky would not be interested in going in the direction she was going. And that direction wasn’t up for negotiation.

  “An hour?” she suggested. She was going to call it off if that didn’t work for him.

  “Alright,” he said. He seemed to agree with anything she suggested, as if she was his number one priority. It was both flattering and uneasy. If it was true. “See you then.”

  “Yeah,” she said with less enthusiasm. Come along so I can set you straight, she thought. Hanging up, she pulled her knee up and considered what else she was going to do that day. No one was up. Chrissy was out and Hannah was at work. Amber was somewhere. Probably off with Adelaide somewhere.

  Adelaide coming back had caused a new energy in the group. Suddenly everything was fun and exciting again, and she couldn’t help feeling it herself.

  Now that she had something to do, it felt as if time was passing slowly. How the hell was she going to manage being pregnant for months? Then again, everything seemed to have gone too fast lately. It was inconceivable that her stomach was going to grow massive. It was just… unfathomable.

  The TV was blaring. Her intention had been to watch the news, but she’d never changed the channel. Eventually it was time to go and she walked down towards the café. It was late afternoon and the sun was hot. Heat radiated up from the sidewalk, and she took a shaded seat and ordered a roll as she waited for Ricky to arrive. Maybe she shouldn’t be eating greasy food like this when she was pregnant. She had no idea. Then again, her mum would probably tell her to eat whatever she craved. She had to tell her mum soon.

  Ricky pulled in in his small, grey car. It didn’t suit him. Something flashy seemed more his style. A bright smile spread across his face as he walked towards her. What was going on in this guy’s head?

  “Hey,” he said as he sat down. “How are you?”

  “Good. Pregnant.”

  He blinked a couple of times and she wondered if he’d get up and leave at this point. “Wow, that’s kind of a big deal. Who’s the guy?”

  “Some guy. He’s gone now.”

  Ricky nodded absently as if he was thinking. What was there to think about? “How long?”

  “About twelve weeks. As I said, I’m kind of figuring out what I’m going to do next, but there are some givens involved. Like a kid.”

  Her roll arrived and she bit into it. It was just divine and it tasted just like it should. It transported her away for a moment. All the things she’d used to love about being in Marbella. Although a lot was missing from that time of her life.

  “To be honest, I’m a little nervous about the change. They say everything changes, right?” she continued, noting Ricky’s quietness.

  This clearly had him stumped, as she’d expected. Kids were probably something that hadn’t ever entered his mind. Truthfully, it hadn’t entered hers until it’d had happened.

  “I take it it wasn’t planned,” he said.

  “No, it really wasn’t, but I suppose like you, I was ready for a change. I just hadn’t anticipated that the change would come to me, rather than the other way around.” Alright, enough confessions. “So anyway, that’s what’s going on with me.” She looked at him expectantly, aware she was creating an awkward moment. No doubt, he was formulating how to extricate himself from the situation right now.

  “I’ve never been to Australia,” he said. Not the answer she was expecting. Interesting strategy for a complete change in topic. He was quiet for a moment. “When do you think you’ll head back?”

  Solraya shrugged. “I haven’t booked a flight yet, but I guess I should. Just taking a moment, you know?” A moment to rest, because she wasn’t entirely sure what was to come, and it felt a little like she was about to close the door on a chapter of her life and wanted to savour the last chapter before she had to go.

  “Yeah, right. Quite a big thing,” Ricky said, both his words and voice sounding uncertain. It was obvious he felt out of his depths. “Wow.” In fact, he was squirming. Too polite to leave, even as he had no idea how to handle the situation he’d just walked into.

  How’d you like me now, bro, she wanted to say. Instead, she smiled serenely and watched his discomfort. Most likely she’d never hear from or see him again, and he’d be too afraid of being called out on withdrawing to come near their group while she was still around. Bye, Ricky.

  Chapter 31

  THE VIEW WAS NICE LIKE it always was as Inns sat on one of the sofas in the Fellworth’s living room. The tropical trees had a charm, the palm fronds swaying in the warm breeze. None of these plants belonged in this environment, which was a core objection he’d had to this place—the artificialness of it. A tropical jungle just didn’t belong in the south of Spain.

  Speaking of artificialness, he felt a bit artificial himself, considering what he’d done. It had preyed on his mind nonstop. And he’d flatly refused to let himself remember or in any way get caught in the memory of her.

  “I don’t know how these people can stand the heat here?” Annabel said.

  “You mean my family or the locals who live here?” he replied tartly, annoyed at some of the things she said, then feeling guilty about it, because he was guilty. Cheating wasn’t something he did. It wasn’t part of his character, but he’d done it. Damn Esme for being so completely able to get under his skin, for making him do things he didn’t want to do.

  Part of him knew it was utterly cowardly to blame her. The truth was that in the moment, nothing had mattered to him other than Esme. Not his girlfriend, not his family, his position—his pride. That had always been the problem with Esme—she could make him step away from everything he stood by. It was a distinctly dangerous quality.

  So what should he do? It had happened and there was no denying it. He wasn’t the kind of man who could just mess with other girls and then happily hide it. He’d betrayed his relationship, his character, his family. Obviously there had to be ownership, even punishment.

  “Annabel, I think we need to break up,” he said.

  She stilled utterly. “Excuse me?” she said harshly, star
ing at him intently.

  “I have done something that makes things… untenable.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I have dishonoured the trust we’ve held in each other.”

  “What are you taking about?”

  Hell, this was uncomfortable. Well, it wasn’t supposed to be fun. This was the consequence of his weakness. “I was weak. I succumbed.”

  “Succumbed to what?” she demanded. And then her face changed. “That little whore? You fucked that little whore?”

  Esme wasn’t a whore. And technically he could point that his belt had never been unbuckled, but what was he trying to prove—he'd only partially cheated? To say it was okay because he never came?

  “For fuck’s sake, Inns. How can you be so stupid? Just because some tart wants to play with your willy, doesn’t mean you have to let her. You’re ridiculous.” Annabel was venting her rage, which was perfectly reasonable. He deserved her anger and disappointment. He was just as disappointed in himself. “You know it’s all a ploy, right? These girls use their filthy little cunts to get ahead, and you fall for it like a complete tit.”

  Esme wasn’t using him to get ahead. This was something else entirely. In fact, he was the one who’d been careless with her, had left her unable to defend herself against predators. Maybe guilt had driven him. Although he knew that wasn’t true. It had been much deeper than guilt. It had drawn from the very deepest part of him, which was the reason he had to break up with Annabel.

  If it had just been some stupid fling, that was one thing, but he felt things with Esme he didn’t feel with anyone else. His weakness with Esme didn’t stem from lust, it stemmed from something deeper, and his heart still hurt from the handling.

  And the bare truth was that he didn’t feel like that with Annabel. His world didn’t go to pieces when he kissed her, and that wasn’t right. Breaking up with Annabel wasn’t about Esme—it was about what was absent between them. One spectacular kiss now showed that stark absence. There was no driving need to kiss Annabel. In fact, he didn’t really want to. His heart didn’t contract when she was angry, or sad, or happy. That was the reason they needed to break up. “I have destroyed things. I acknowledge that. This had nothing to do with you, and everything to do with the past.” Now that was a lie and he felt bad for it, but it was also a partial lie. Because the way he felt about Esme was another string to this bow.

  “You can’t be this stupid,” Annabel stated.

  Was it strange that on some level he felt relieved? They were perfect for each other, but it was all superficial. In those moments with Esme, he’d felt more than he had during his entire relationship with Annabel, and maybe he’d seen that as a positive in the relationship. But as soon as Esme had needed him, he’d crumbled. Annabel never needed him, and he never needed her. That had to mean something.

  “You get that you are a prize for these cows? They’re falling over themselves for a guy with a title.”

  “It’s not like that,” he found himself saying.

  “Oh really? What is it like?” she countered harshly.

  Now he didn’t know what to say. I love her? Was that even true? He couldn’t even begin to say, but it had felt that way. Maybe not love, but something. “I have issues I need to deal with, especially with her.” That was as close to the truth as he could state it.

  “Especially with her? Some stupid little whore? Have you seen her? She’s pathetic. That little scared doe act is all put on, you get that, right? So no, if you don’t have the brains to see it, then I will see it for you. Seriously, Inns, don’t be such a doormat.”

  Alright, she was really going in with the knives. Obviously, he deserved it.

  “And clearly, if it needs stating, you can’t see her again.”

  Wait. Hang on. What was she saying? She couldn’t mean she was going just put up with this. He stared at her. It wasn’t hurt he saw in her features—it was anger. She was annoyed with him, not hurt that he’d cheated. Did she not see this as the end of their relationship? To him, this had meant the end. You couldn’t just forgive something like that. He certainly couldn’t. “In light of this, I think we need to take some time apart.” Which was what he’d expected her to say.

  “Why?” she demanded.

  “Because I cheated on you with my ex, literally the first minute we were alone.”

  “Which means you can’t be, doesn’t it? In fact, you can’t be near her at all. I am so disappointed in you, but perhaps this was bound to happen. You have a habit of making stupid decisions.”

  That was all this meant to her? He’d cheated and she was annoyed. If something ever told him that things were wrong in his relationship, nothing stated it more than this. How could them breaking up not be warranted? Because it was the relationship she wanted, more than him. She didn’t want this relationship to be over, even if he’d cheated.

  Something rolled in his stomach. Fundamentally, she didn’t care that he’d just made out with his ex. A mere annoyance and a chance to call him stupid. In fact, she probably thought he was stupid, some moron who needed managing. Or was it being Lady Bellingworth that she wanted? The title and the estate?

  On some level he’d known it was part of it, but at the same time, he’d thought that because they were from the same class, titles and estates were simply part of the picture. People in their peer group had titles and estates. It simply was, but now it appeared that it was the reason she was in a relationship with him in the first place.

  “So you had better behave,” she continued. “I don’t want you hanging out with those people. You clearly have no sense when it comes to gold diggers.”

  And now he had given her ammunition to manage him how she wanted, by way of his guilt. Inns snorted. How could he have been so utterly blind?

  Chapter 32

  “HEY!” ESME HEARD AGGIE call. Maria, the housekeeper, must have let her in, or even her father, but he wasn’t supposed to be in town at the moment. Then again, she had little idea of her father’s schedule.

  “In my room,” she called back, wondering if she should be doing something other than sitting on her bed, staring out the window. Things had just changed so quickly, and granted, she didn’t really know how things had changed. Or had they—she didn’t know. Likely Inns was going to be furious with her.

  In all honesty, she wasn’t sure what had happened. It had just happened. One moment they’d been talking, and she couldn’t quite remember about what. The next moment, they’d been kissing and it had just evolved into this urgent, desperate thing that he’d eventually stopped, which was embarrassing in and of itself. Again he had put the breaks on.

  She should probably feel ashamed of it, being that he was with someone. She wasn’t the type to go after guys with girlfriends, and there were those kind of girls around. Darius’ sister had been one of them.

  “There you are,” Aggie said brightly, and Esme could tell by looking at her that she didn’t know. “Want to go for a coffee?”

  It would mean dressing in something nicer than the shorts and tank top she was wearing, and she wasn’t sure she could be bothered.

  “You didn’t stay with Ricky last night?” Aggie asked, obviously seeing it from the state of her room.

  Esme groaned. Aggie was going to think she was a complete idiot. She’d never understood the thing between her and Inns. As far as Aggie was concerned, Inns was a snobby cock, who shouldn’t leave his estate, or at least not English soil. They were cousins, but Aggie never saw past the mask, or didn’t want to. Perhaps it was the mask that so offended her.

  Perhaps she had little sympathy for the environment that had created him. The mask was a consequence.

  Alright, it was fair to say that one had to dig really deep to see Inns’ good qualities. Qualities she had kind of undermined by getting it on with him. From his perspective, she’d probably seduced him.

  “We broke up,” Esme admitted.

  “Why?” Aggie asked, a look of concern on her fa
ce. “Are you alright?”

  “Well, I did something.”

  The frown deepened on Aggies face. “What did you do?”

  A small groan escaped Esme as she tried to formulate some way of saying this that conveyed the complexities of what had happened. “So Inns was trying to comfort me, and one thing led to another. Like, not fully another, only partially.” Why was she going into details?

  Aggie was quiet and didn’t move for a moment. “For fuck’s sake, Esme. Inns? What’s your thing with that guy? I honestly don’t get it. Although that does explain why Annabel was yelling this morning.”

  “There was yelling?” Which had to mean that Inns had told her. A wave of discomfort washed over her. If it wasn’t for the fact that someone was getting hurt in all this, she’d have little regret. Or would she? Especially as she’d given Inns one more way of rejecting her. She was so utterly confused.

  “Oh yeah. Not happy.”

  Esme bit her lip. “How’s Inns?”

  “Don’t really give a fuck, if I’m honest. He’s obviously made a mess. Can’t say I’m surprised.”

  The rebuke itched, wanting to say he wasn’t like that.

  “Although, if this gets rid of that cow, it will only do him good.”

  “You think she’s bad for him?”

  Aggie rolled his eyes. “None of your business. You’re not his saviour. His miserable life is completely self-inflicted. He’s my cousin, but he’s exactly what he wants to be: a misery prick. Do yourself a favour and stay away from him. You broke up for a reason.”

  These were all things Aggie had said the first time they’d gotten together. And to some degree, it was true, but there was that part of him that he showed no one. Maybe he showed them to Annabel and for some reason, it felt as though that part belonged to her.

  This was all such a mess of emotions and intentions. It had been so easy with Ricky. No deep feelings involved, secret parts of personalities and longing that gripped deep in her gut. Well, she’d messed that up, and now Inns was going to hate her again—more so his girlfriend.