A Twist of Fate

by Joanna Rees

  Overjoyed to hear anything from Roberto, Romy had called Flavia, who’d filled her in on what had been happening in Italy since she’d left. Maria had been in hospital, the stress of losing Scolari having caused a heart attack. They’d all been worried they’d lose her, but she was getting better now. And the good thing to come out of it had been that Roberto and his estranged daughter Gloria had been reconciled.

  And Alfie? Romy had pressed her. Flavia had assured Romy that he was safe. Roberto and Maria had sent him to a wonderful prep school in Paris, which he’d been loving, having been selected for the football and skiing teams. The news had hurt. Romy knew that sending Alfie away had always been what Roberto had wanted for him. It had been Romy who’d fought to keep him with her in Milan.

  But best of all was that Alfie remained innocent of everything that had happened, Flavia assured her. Romy had slumped with relief then. Roberto had protected her son. Alfie might not hate her after all.

  And that had been when Lars had handed her a glass of champagne and kissed her again. Then they’d fallen into bed together and had stayed there for a whole week over Christmas, ordering room service and only remembering the outside world when they’d called Gretchen at her mother’s to wish her a happy Christmas.

  It had felt like a whole new beginning, Romy thought, And now, finally, here was the day she was going to see Alfie. She knew that Roberto planned to take Romy home with them, but she wondered whether home really was in Italy now, especially with Alfie away at school in Paris. Especially since she didn’t have a job.

  She pictured Lars in his apartment in Amsterdam. She’d Skyped him and Gretchen this morning, and they were just as excited as she was that she was going to see Alfie. Lars was still working all hours to find a tangible connection between Solya and Brett Maddox, although it was difficult since Solya had covered his tracks so carefully.

  But Romy had no time to think about it any long because there it was – a small black dot coming closer and closer – and Romy felt as if her heart might burst as the small plane landed and rolled towards her along the tarmac.

  She raced forward as the truck with the steps approached the plane. Then the doors were opening.

  ‘Mamma,’ Alfie called, racing down the steps, waving. He was taller than Romy remembered, as if he’d grown a foot since she’d last seen him, and he was tanned from skiing. His hair was different too. It was scruffy – just like Alfonso’s had been when she’d first met him. The likeness between them both took her breath away.

  And then he was in her arms, her cheek against the top of his head.

  ‘I missed you,’ she breathed, a sob in her chest. ‘Oh, how I missed you. My darling.’ She held his face, drinking in his features, kissing his cheeks and forehead.

  ‘How was the campaign?’ Alfie asked, his nose wrinkling at her over-the-top affection. ‘Flavia said you’d probably be so tired. Did you really have to go to Africa and all those places?’

  ‘Uh-huh,’ Romy lied. Flavia had explained how the family had told Alfie that Romy had been called away to do an important top-secret charity campaign and wouldn’t be able to be in touch with him for a while – a lie they’d all stuck to and one that Alfie hadn’t once questioned. Especially since he’d been sent away to school so fast, to a country where he wouldn’t understand the press.

  Romy didn’t want to spoil this reunion with the actual truth. Not now. But as soon as they were alone she’d tell him everything. Of that she was sure. But for now she was so grateful to Flavia for the lies she’d told. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t call. It’s been impossible.’

  ‘I know,’ Alfie said. ‘It’s OK. I knew it wouldn’t be that long. Anyway, I’m proud of you. And so much has been happening. The Elysée is amazing. Thank you so much for getting me in there.’ Again she realized the lies the family had told to protect him.

  ‘You like it?’ she asked.

  ‘I love it. Did you know I’ve been selected for the skiing team?’

  She nodded, trying not to cry. She saw that, as always, he was racing forward, just like his father had been. If he’d been hurt by her absence and lack of communication, there were no visible scars. The Scolaris had made that possible.

  And she knew then that, no matter how much she’d hurt them, Roberto and Maria had loved her son enough to protect him. Just as Flavia had said.

  As Alfie carried on, asking her permission to go on a skiing trip in the alps, she saw Roberto at the top of the steps to the plane.

  He looked older – the trauma of what had happened to Maria and the loss of his company clearly having eaten away his vitality. Romy hugged Alfie close again as Roberto walked down the steps towards her. Then, as he reached her, she saw that his eyes were full of tears, and she opened her arms and let him join in their hug too.

  ‘Can you ever forgive me, Romy?’ he asked.

  ‘Oh, Roberto, how can you even ask that?’ she cried, repeating what he’d told her on her wedding day. ‘You gave me back my son.’

  Thea smoothed down her lipstick, then the skirt of her simple cream silk suit. She felt her heart pounding with excitement as she looked at Michael. He was wearing a blue pinstriped jacket with a cream rose in his buttonhole, and Thea thought he’d never looked more handsome. He was being much calmer about today than she was, she thought, as she brushed his hair to one side.

  ‘You ready?’ Michael asked her, taking her hand.

  She recognized the beautiful strains of Bach’s Double Violin Concerto – the music they’d both agreed on – coming from the other side of the frosted-glass windows.

  In fact, they’d agreed on nearly everything, Thea thought, wondering how many other brides ever felt the same. Michael had proposed on Christmas Day, making her pull a Christmas cracker that he’d selected from the huge tree they’d put up in her house. Inside had been a simple diamond engagement ring.

  Every decision since then had been easy. There’d been no announcement and no press. They’d wanted the ceremony to be a small private affair that they could enjoy together. Thea had made it totally clear to Marie, their celebrant, that the press were not to get so much as the slightest hint that she and Michael were getting married.

  Yes, Thea was pretty sure she’d done everything in her power to make sure that Brett would not be able to ruin her day. Although he had more pressing issues on his mind, Thea thought – like running Maddox Inc. without her.

  From the few inside sources she still had, as well as reports in the newspapers, Brett hadn’t fared well since he’d fired her – he hadn’t banked on the fact that such a board reshuffle would rock the share prices. He wasn’t quite as universally popular as he’d assumed, it seemed. It hadn’t helped that Bethany had appeared in public last month with a black eye, her quiet ‘No comment’ sparking huge press speculation about affairs at the top of Maddox Tower and whether her celebrity marriage was on the rocks.

  For once in her life Thea was glad to be out of it. Since finding Romy she hadn’t had time to think about work. Or the life she used to lead. Everything was different now. She had the future to think about, not the past.

  She smiled at Michael now as he pushed open the door. Inside, the room was flooded with spring sunshine. A large vase of daffodils was on the table at the front next to the marriage register. Marie was standing close by, with a huge smile on her face.

  They had been going to have the ceremony all alone, but had both agreed on a few witnesses, and now Thea was glad they were here as they walked hand-in-hand up the soft green carpet to the front. Sandy, Thea’s trusted housekeeper – who, Thea noted, had made a big effort to be smart for the occasion – smiled, and Thea waved to her.

  Sarah, her old assistant from Maddox Inc., and her new husband Tony were also at the front. Sarah beamed at her.

  ‘You look beautiful,’ Sarah mouthed. Then she flicked her eyes to the man in the row behind her, clearly impressed that Ollie Mountefort – Thea’s old friend from college, fresh from his latest filmset – ha
d made it, just as he promised he would. He winked at Thea as she passed.

  She wished that Romy and Alfie could have been here, but Romy had been unable to secure a visa to get into the States, despite Thea’s protests about her sister’s criminal record having been cleared. But she hoped they’d be together again soon, and Romy had sent over a blue lace handkerchief that she’d had on her own wedding day, which Thea had tucked firmly up her sleeve.

  They’d both invited Johnny too, but at such short notice he hadn’t been able to leave South Africa, although he couldn’t have been more happy for them both. Thea and Michael planned to go over there for a week of their honeymoon to see him, and Johnny had told Thea on the phone that Gaynor and Marcel Leveaux were thrilled that they were visiting, and were insisting on them staying in their new luxury guesthouse at the Leveaux vineyard.

  On Michael’s side there were five soldiers, who were all smiling at their old captain. Thea knew them all, having met them when they’d arrived to take Michael out on a stag night that it had taken him a week to recover from. But today she hardly recognized them in their uniforms, they looked so smart, especially Bud, Michael’s closest colleague, who saluted him.

  At the front, Michael’s mother’s wheelchair was being turned by Rudy, her helper. It had been touch-and-go whether Caroline Pryor would make it from the Brightside home, but Rudy had driven her the whole way and would take her back later. Michael didn’t want his mom to miss today, even if she didn’t remember it.

  Thea bent down to kiss her cheek as she arrived at the front of the room. ‘You made it,’ she said. ‘I’m so glad.’

  Then to her surprise Mrs Pryor smiled. ‘Thea,’ she said, speaking like she always used to, her voice full of joy, ‘I knew you and Michael should be together. God bless you both.’

  Thea turned to Michael, her eyes wide with shock, hoping he’d heard his mom say something so lucid. She saw tears in his eyes as he hugged his mother and kissed her, knowing that this moment would vanish and he’d lose her again. But it had happened nonetheless. His mom knew how happy they both were.

  Then Michael stood and took both of Thea’s hands, and she felt as if they were kids, embarking on a daring new adventure, as Marie started the ceremony to make them man and wife.

  It was exactly two months after Thea and Michael’s wedding that the Solya scandal hit the States. Thea would think afterwards how ironic it was that it should happen at the very moment when she felt so peaceful.

  It was a perfect spring day. Thea was out jogging in Central Park, going over the conversation she’d had with Michael before he’d left for work this morning about getting a puppy, when Romy’s name flashed up on her iPhone. She and Romy had spoken for an hour on Friday, so she was surprised that she was calling again, especially since Romy was in Amsterdam for the weekend with Lars.

  Thea slowed down, switched off her running playlist and answered the call, still out of breath.

  ‘Lars has done it,’ Romy said, and Thea could hear the excitement in her voice.

  Thea walked down towards the lake, trying to take in the magnitude of what Romy was telling her – her heart beating hard now, not from her run, but from what Romy was telling her. Because after months of careful and meticulous searching (and not a little of his ‘dark arts’, hacking into certain seemingly impregnably fire-walled personal email accounts), Lars had finally uncovered a trail of video files sent between Brett Maddox and Heinz-Gerd Solya.

  ‘What kind of files?’ Thea asked, but she already knew the answer.

  She closed her eyes, feeling a mixture of relief and disgust as Romy told her about the underage girls and how it looked as if the files led to a huge Europe-wide network of pornography-sharing. Lars couldn’t believe what he’d uncovered, and the more he looked, the more he found.

  ‘Late last night Lars called Tegen, and then he sent the files to the German and American anti-child-pornography police and the paedophilia task forces. All hell broke loose this morning. And now Tegen’s just called. She’s just heard . . . ’

  ‘Heard what?’ Thea asked.

  ‘The police are on their way to Maddox Tower. They’re going to arrest him,’ Romy said. ‘They’re going to get Brett. We’ve done it, Thea. We’ve got him.’

  The TV cameras were already blocking the sidewalk as Thea arrived in a cab with Michael outside Maddox Tower half an hour later.

  ‘Miss Maddox, how do you feel about your brother’s arrest?’ a reporter asked her as she stepped onto the kerb.

  She saw the cameras turning towards her. She glanced at Michael as he got out of the other side of the car. He nodded, telling her to go for it.

  It had been Michael who’d come straight back from work and forced Thea to have a shower and change into her smartest suit, then get down here to Maddox Tower. He for one, he said, was not going to miss a moment of Brett’s public humiliation. And neither was his wife.

  ‘Glad,’ Thea replied.

  She pushed her way through the reporters in time to see Brett being escorted out of the front doors of Maddox Tower, both arms held by two officers. He looked furious as the camera flashes strobed. There was no sign of Bethany.

  Lance Starling followed close behind, shouting over the media, as the journalists clamoured to picture Brett. Thea watched as the officers led Brett into the back of an armoured police van. He didn’t look in her direction as the doors slammed shut. Lance Starling got into a Maddox car behind the police van. Thea watched as the van pulled away, the siren blaring, cameras snapping.

  More police vans got into position now. Thea saw the giant glass revolving door of Maddox Tower swinging round as several officers came out carrying computers. In the foyer Thea could see a crowd of Maddox employees, their hands to their mouths in shock and disgust.

  Then Storm was coming out of the building too. She looked like a painted clown, she was wearing so much make-up.

  ‘My son is innocent,’ she declared, dramatically stopping in a pose as if she were at the end of a catwalk. She was wearing a low-cut silk blouse and high heels with a tight pencil skirt. She looked ridiculous. ‘Whoever has instigated this slander has made a huge mistake. And they will pay.’ She stood defiantly in front of the cameras. ‘He’s innocent, totally innocent,’ Thea heard her reiterate as the cameras closed in on her.

  ‘Miss Maddox, Miss Maddox,’ Thea heard a reporter say to her, as she pushed through the crowd towards Storm. ‘What do you make of these allegations against your brother?’

  ‘I’m sure they’re all true,’ Thea said.

  She could sense the frenzied atmosphere amongst the journalists. She knew what she was saying was truly sensational – that this was news-breaking gold – and yet she felt strangely calm.

  But Storm was far from calm.

  ‘You! You!’ Storm said, turning to Thea. ‘Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare say anything. He’s family.’

  ‘He’s not my family,’ Thea said. ‘And neither are you. Brett Maddox has been arrested today on utterly justifiable charges. I hope this is the start of a thorough investigation into the despicable practices in his personal life. I also urge anyone who has any evidence, or has been affected by Brett Maddox in any way, to come forward and help the police.’

  ‘She’s a liar!’ Storm screamed, pointing at Thea. ‘She’d do anything to get where my son has got. This is all her fault.’

  Thea – along with the rest of the world – watched in horror as Storm launched herself at Thea, trying to scratch and hit her. She was immediately restrained by two officers, but that drove Storm even wilder. She kicked and bucked, as the reporters stared at the spectacle. Then she turned and punched an officer in the face.

  In the pandemonium that followed, more officers bustled into the throng to grab Storm, her blouse unhitching from her skirt as she screamed at Thea. Michael was by Thea’s side.

  ‘Are you OK?’ he asked, holding her elbow. ‘Did she get you?’

  ‘No, she didn’t,’ Thea replied as Storm was
dragged away by the police. Thea watched as the policeman Storm had hit pushed her head down to make her sit in the back of the patrol car.

  ‘Thank God for that,’ Michael said. ‘You’re going to have to do some serious damage-limitation after that little spectacle.’

  ‘Ms Maddox,’ one reporter shouted. ‘What are you going to do now?’

  Thea stared up at the skyscraper and the huge M at the top. Then she smiled at Michael and squeezed his hand, knowing that he would support her.

  ‘I’m going to try and save my company,’ she said, walking towards the revolving door.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  September 2011

  Romy moved the room-service tray out of the way, then kicked off her shoes and joined Thea on the cover of the double bed in Thea’s bedroom in the Presidential Suite of the Ritz Hotel in London. She smiled at her, glad that they were alone; that they had this last night to discuss everything that had happened.

  Sitting barefoot on the bed in comfortable tracksuit bottoms and a T-shirt now, Thea Maddox looked as far away from her corporate image as it was possible to get. But Romy had come to learn never to underestimate her little sister. She was a formidable businesswoman – one who had completely turned around Maddox Inc. in the last year. And one of her first decisions as newly instated Chairwoman of Maddox Inc. had been to sell Scolari back to Roberto and put him back in control of his company – a favour Romy knew she could never repay, and one that had delighted Roberto.

  ‘What time will Lars be here tomorrow?’ Thea asked.

  ‘His train’s not in until eleven. So we’ll get a lie-in.’

  ‘That’s if we ever get any sleep.’

  ‘True,’ Romy said, with a sigh.

  ‘Although you should get some beauty sleep before you see him,’ Thea teased, knowing how much Romy was looking forward to her first proper holiday with Lars.

  ‘You’re the one who needs sleep,’ Romy reminded her. ‘When are you going to finish work?’

  ‘Soon,’ Thea said. ‘But I can’t sit around waiting. Anyway, I’ve already gone down to four days a week, and when the baby’s born I’ll take a full nine months off. Hey, feel this,’ Thea said, rolling onto her back, grabbing Romy’s hand and putting it underneath her own on her swollen stomach. ‘It’s kicking.’