Page 1 of Desperate Lies
1
DIANA
I’ve got about thirty seconds to escape before Dad comes after me. Clattering down the steps of the Hawkston Mayfair Hotel, I nearly trip on the silk of my evening gown. If I had time, I’d take my heels off and sprint, but I can’t waste a second.
My heart pounds, sweat gathering on the back of my neck and under my arms. I need to get out of here. Now.
I’ve just sabotaged the biggest business deal my father ever had by refusing to marry the man he chose for me.
I shoot a glance over my shoulder. No sign of him. Maybe he’s inside having a heart attack. After the stunt I just pulled, it wouldn’t surprise me. But if he isn’t dead, he’ll come for me.
God knows what he’ll do if he catches me.
A cab. I need a cab.
I spot a taxi rank inside the hotel forecourt, cross the tarmac at a rapid clip and haul open the door of the nearest cab. Throwing myself inside, I slam it behind me and slump into the backseat.
My hands are shaking and I clench them into fists.Hold it together, Diana. I need to get out of here in one piece.
Until now, I’ve done everything my father wanted, including agreeing to marry Seb Hawkston, youngest son of hotel magnate, William Hawkston. It was all arranged so the Hawkstons could build one of their fancy mega-hotels on land my father owns, and tonight he was going to parade his plans in front of the board members and shareholders.
It should have been an elegant evening of food, wine, and celebration. Dad stood to make millions. And now? Now, he probably wants to kill me.
“Where to, love?” comes the driver’s voice through the partition. He sounds casual; there’s no way he noticed my desperate, Cinderella-esque escape from the hotel.
I’m about to tell him where I want to go, where Iplannedto go, as soon as I was officially single again.
But heading straight to London’s most exclusive sex club when my heart is pounding, head spinning, and I’m barely keeping my shit together, feels insane.
But where else could I go? Who would want me like this? Sylvie, my sister, wouldn’t put herself in the cross-fire for me, not when she values her relationship with Dad. And what about Lizzie, my best friend?
I don’t want to drag her into this mess.
“Diana!” comes the roar of my father’s voice from outside the cab.
I jolt in my seat, an involuntary shriek escaping me as I turn to see him tripping down the hotel steps, his face a red-blotched vision of middle-aged fury, cheeks puffy, one outstretched hand violently beckoning me back to the hotel. He holds his gut with his other hand like he needs to stop it leaking over his trousers as he runs.
“Get back here,” he yells, his eyes flashing an anger so violent that it sears me through the cab window. The driver glances overhis shoulder, eyes widening when he sees the mad man that is my father.
“Where to?” he squawks, both hands gripping the wheel. The engine roars with a heavy rev like he’s as eager to escape as I am. “Where do you want to go?”
I fumble to secure my seatbelt.
“Diana!” Dad yells again, closer this time.
He’s crossing the forecourt.
Ten seconds.
Nine.
Eight.
It’s now or never.
Stick to the plan, Diana.Stick to the motherfucking plan.
The rest can wait.
