Jackie Braun - Exclusive! - Hollywood Life or Royal Wife? / Marriage Scandal, Showbiz Baby! / Sex, Lies and a Security Tape

‘But, my darling, you should have told me,’ he murmured, drawing back. ‘This puts a completely different light on the situation.’

He was about to withdraw completely when her arms came up about his neck and her eyes met his.

‘No. It doesn’t. I want you, Rodolfo. I want the first time to be with you,’ she whispered, drawing him back towards her.

‘Are you absolutely certain?’ he muttered, finding it hard to exercise self-control when her body was arching towards him, her eyes filled with such passion and longing.

‘Absolutely sure.’

For a moment he hesitated. Then slowly he entered her once more. ‘I promise I’ll do my best not to hurt you, cara,’ he whispered.

Victoria knew a moment’s pain as he penetrated her. Then it faded and her body relaxed. Heat rushed to her breasts, to her abdomen. She felt herself melting, needed to feel him deeper inside her. Her hips arched, following the rhythm of this new and exciting dance, until they moved together in a primal ritual. She threw her head back and let out a low gasp of delight when together they came, falling over the edge of a high precipice and collapsing in each other’s arms onto the rumpled sheets.

As he lay holding her in his arms Rodolfo let out a sigh of satisfaction. It was ages since he’d experienced anything so intense as their lovemaking. In fact, if truth be told, he’d only known it once before—with Giada. Now, as he stroked Victoria’s hair and kissed her temple tenderly, he felt a new and heightened responsibility towards this girl who had entrusted him with her womanhood.

‘Are you all right?’ he said, slipping away from her to lie next to her, his hand moving to her abdomen in a protective gesture that did not go unnoticed.

Victoria nodded. Her throat was knotted and she couldn’t speak. So many emotions were going through her. It was wonderful, thrilling. Yet it was difficult to face the fact that the situation was nothing but a transient affair which would end in a few days when life went back to normal.

‘I’m fine,’ she whispered, when at last she was able to speak.

‘Are you sure?’ He looked down at her tenderly, his dark eyes filled with concern. She could read the doubt. Yet there was also a look of pride in his expression. And she realised that he was taking her initiation into the world of love much more seriously than she had expected. It touched her, and tears filled her eyes. ‘Cara, what is the matter?’ he said, frowning, ‘did I hurt you?’

‘No, Rodolfo, it’s nothing. I’m just a bit mixed up, that’s all. So much has happened in the past few days, and now this. Don’t get me wrong. It’s wonderful. I’m glad it happened. I wanted it as much as you. It’s just a lot to handle, that’s all.’

‘I understand, cara.’ He held her close, kissed her hair and let his arms enfold her.

Victoria gloried in the embrace, wished it could go on for ever, and heaved a sigh of regret that soon she would be on her way and life as she’d known it for the past couple of days would be nothing but a distant memory.

‘YOU CAN’T STAY HIDDEN there for ever,’ Anne insisted next day, when Victoria phoned her, sitting perched on the balustrade of the terrace looking down past the olive groves at the sea.

‘Anne, I—’ Victoria wanted to tell her about Bill, about the awful phone call and how scared she was. But something stopped her.

‘What is it, Vic?’

‘Nothing.’

Anne hesitated. ‘Vic, is something the matter?’

‘No, not at all. In fact very much the opposite. The Prince has been a wonderful host.’

‘Look, they want to shoot those pictures in London in four days.’

‘Four days?’

‘Exactly. I’ve made arrangements for a jet to pick you up on the island and fly you to London. I’ll be there to pick you up.’

So she’d been right. It was all a dream that would come to an end as fast as it had begun. Victoria stared at the sea, at a woman leading a loaded donkey on the path below, and sighed.

‘Vic? Are you still there? Tell me, how did you like the island? See any property that you might want to invest in?’

‘It’s very nice. But frankly I’m not sure about it.’ The thought of being on the island, so close to Rodolfo and having to perhaps see him with another woman, would be unbearable, she realised suddenly. The last thing she wanted was to live here if she couldn’t be with him. ‘We’ll talk about it when I see you.’

‘Okay. Fine. Have a good time. I’ll call you again with the departure time. By the way, I think things are beginning to die down on the press front. Ed’s cooled down.’

‘Good. Bye then.’

Victoria swallowed as she laid down the receiver. She thought of Bill and the twenty-four-hour deadline he’d given her to come up with some cash. Should she pay him off and be left in peace for a while? Or would he simply become an ongoing threat, always there, ready to blackmail her whenever he wanted more money?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a movement from inside the castello. She looked up. A tall, slim blonde woman in well-cut white trousers and a black linen top, with a large leather handbag flung over her shoulder and a haughty expression, stepped onto the terrace.

‘And who,’ she demanded peremptorily, ‘are you?’ She tipped up her designer sunglasses to take better stock of Victoria.

‘I’m staying here,’ Victoria replied, bristling. Who was this creature, and what right did she have to question her?

‘Oh. How strange,’ she said. She had a foreign accent. ‘Where is he—do you know?’

‘Who?’

‘Why, the Prince, of course. Who else?’ The woman cast Victoria a withering look.

‘I have no idea. Perhaps in his office,’ Victoria replied coldly. ‘He said he had business to attend to.’

‘I see. Are you the new secretary?’ the woman enquired, looking her up and down. ‘Why aren’t you inside working?’

‘Look, I really don’t see what business it is of yours who I am or what I do,’ Victoria muttered icily.

At that moment Rodolfo stepped out onto the terrace. He took in the scene and cleared his throat. ‘Alexandra. What an unexpected surprise. I didn’t know you were on the island.’

‘My yacht anchored this morning. You look in good form, mein lieber.’ The woman sidled up to him, slipped an arm around his neck and deposited a kiss on his lips.

‘Uh, yes, I’m fine. I see you’ve met Victoria,’ Rodolfo added hastily, amazed at Countess Alexandra’s extraordinary behaviour.

She was one of the women the council had suggested he marry. Seeing her now, next to Victoria, he realised how impossible that would be. Alexandra was domineering and cold, even though her beauty and chic were undeniable. He glanced at Victoria, saw the tempestuous pain in her eyes, and felt his heart sink. The way Alexandra was behaving, Victoria would naturally believe there was something between them.

‘I haven’t been introduced. I didn’t know you allowed your staff to dawdle about,’ Alexandra pronounced in a low sultry voice.

‘Staff?’

‘Well, isn’t she your new secretary?’ Alexandra said, as though Victoria weren’t there.

‘Whatever gave you that idea?’ Rodolfo returned, annoyed, and stepped pointedly away from her. ‘Victoria, may I introduce Countess Alexandra von Bellinghof? This is Victoria Woodward. You have perhaps seen her in the movie which won so much acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival.’

Alexandra looked taken aback, but she quickly came about. ‘Ah, yes, of course. I should have recognised you immediately. After all, you’ve been front-page news for the past few days, haven’t you?’ The Countess’s tone was patronising and laced with venom.