The One That Got Away (24 page)

I choke up at the sight of them and see how
proud they are of their daughter. I can tell that she is barely
holding it together and the photographer snaps madly away. We have
a few more photos and then we are ready to go into the drawing
room, that has been cleared and re arranged for the wedding. The
room has been filled with flowers and the chairs have been arranged
in rows beside a red carpet which Phoebe will walk down. Once again
there is a huge flower arrangement by the window where Boris, the
Registrar and the Best man are waiting.

The music strikes up and I follow Phoebe down
the aisle. Boris looks proud and emotional and I notice how smart
he looks for a change. The room is packed with friends and family
and I know that there are about another 200 people due this
evening. I can see Ben watching me and I look at him lovingly. I
can’t wait to be with him once my duties are over.

The service is beautiful and there is not a
dry eye in the room, from the ladies anyway. It seems that in no
time at all they are pronounced husband and wife and Boris swings
Phoebe high in the air and dips her to the floor for a kiss.
Everyone laughs and they head back down the aisle to make their way
outside for the photographs. I find Ben and my parents and we sip
champagne and watch events unfold.

I have my photograph taken with all sorts of
groups but my favourite is the one with just Phoebe and me. I am
going to miss sharing with her and every time I think about it
tears come to my eyes. Once my duty is done I find Ben and he pulls
me into his arms. “At last, you are mine,” he says laughing. I
relax against his body and wouldn’t care if I didn’t move from
there for the rest of the evening. However the wedding takes
priority and we all filter in for the meal.

Phoebe has organised the best wedding
breakfast that I have ever seen. I look at my mother and laugh
saying, “And you thought that she couldn’t pull it off. How wrong
you were.” My mother laughs but I notice that she looks a little
misty eyed at the reminder that it was supposed to be my day.

The speeches are hilarious and Boris does not
disappoint. We are all soon howling with laughter and Phoebe often
interrupts him which makes everyone laugh even more. Once the meal
is over we all get to have a break before the evening do. I notice
that Phoebe and Boris disappear upstairs and smile to myself. Ben
takes my hand in his and whispers, “Why don’t you show me your
room?” A tingle runs through me and giggling we race upstairs.

Before the door has even had time to close we
are pulling each others clothes off. I can’t wait to get him into
bed but before we make it there we hear a loud knock on the door
and my mother’s voice shouting, “Are you there Bella?” We freeze
almost in midair and I put my hand over Ben’s mouth stifling the
giggles. Luckily we locked the door and we soon hear her footsteps
walking away. Ben grabs hold of me and pulls me on to the bed. “I’m
sorry Bella, but I can’t wait any longer. You look so sexy as a
bridesmaid and I am going to live out one of my fantasies right
now.”

I can’t wait to feel him and we don’t hang
around. The wedding can wait as far as we are concerned. The only
thing that matters is our need for each other.

Sheepishly we head back to the wedding an
hour later. I had to re do my hair and make up as best I could and
I am sure that it is written all over my face what we have been up
to. My mother sees us coming out on to the veranda and says, “Where
have you been, I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Were you with
Phoebe and Boris, they’re missing as well?”

Not daring to look at Ben I say, “Yes they
should be around here somewhere.” She heads off to find them and I
say to Ben quietly, “I am going to Hell for lying to my mother and
using my best friend as an alibi on her wedding day.” He laughs and
flashes me a totally sexy look. “Well if you’re going to Hell, then
that makes me the Devil.” I grin at him and say, “I always thought
that you were.”

We spend the next couple of hours chatting to
various other guests. On the whole most are really nice. I know
lots of Phoebe’s friends and family but don’t know that many of
Boris’s side. I help Phoebe out on the odd occasion that she needs
help with her dress and generally we have a lovely time. There are
a few awkward moments with some of Boris’s friends who obviously
feel uncomfortable around Ben, and I remember that he was unpopular
amongst the banking crowd when he worked there.

The evening arrives and with it hundreds of
other people who descend on Harden Hall in their droves. The
wedding is now mainly outside as it is a warm evening and the
garden has been lit up with fairy lights and lanterns. A bar has
been set up on the lawn which is doing a roaring trade.

Phoebe and I manage to find time to dance and
Camilla is hilarious to watch on the dance floor with her husband
Henry, who turns out to be just as eccentric as she is. My parents
are sitting with Phoebe’s parents and they are just chatting
happily away whilst getting steadily drunk.

Ben and I take to the dance floor and he
pulls me into his arms. I lean against his broad chest enjoying the
feeling of security and allow him to move me around the dance
floor. He runs his hands over my back and I arch my body closer to
him. I play with his hair as we dance and he gently kisses my head.
“How much longer before we can escape upstairs?” he whispers gently
in my ear. Feelings of longing shoot through me and I grip him more
tightly. “If I had my way now,” I say breathlessly. “But we should
wait until Boris and Phoebe go up, hopefully it won’t be much
longer.” He squeezes me tighter and says, “You’re driving me mad
here. I want you so much. This is torture.” I laugh at the sound of
his voice. He sounds tortured and I can feel his body hard against
me. Pulling back I say, “Well I am sure that nobody would miss us
for half an hour.”

Grinning at me he says wickedly, “Oh no
Bella, you won’t get off that easily. What I have in mind for you
will take a lot longer than half an hour.” He laughs as he sees my
expression. I must have lust written all over my face and my body
has suddenly turned to liquid. He reluctantly pulls away and says,
“Come on I need a drink.”

We head over to the bar and order a couple of
drinks and then take them inside to see if we can find Phoebe and
Boris. I notice that the evening is still in full swing and realise
that it will be some time before it finishes. I can see Phoebe in
the distance and notice that she has changed and is looking
gorgeous in a white cocktail dress. Seeing us coming she shouts,
“Bella, Ben over here.” She is standing with Boris and who I assume
to be some of his friends. I notice that Boris suddenly looks
nervous and Ben tenses beside me. The expressions on the faces of
some of Boris’s friends aren’t that welcoming and I fear that it
will be awkward. Holding tightly onto Ben’s hand we go over and
Phoebe says, “Guys this is my best friend Bella who I love like a
sister and her gorgeous boyfriend Ben.”

Everyone politely murmurs greetings and I
wish that we were anywhere but here. Boris tries to lighten the
atmosphere and turns the conversation onto safer ground but I still
feel uneasy. Suddenly I notice that Phoebe’s eyes widen and as
Boris looks to where she is looking his expression grows wary. I
follow their gaze and see Nathan standing there behind us, his
expression hard and angry. Ben turns at the same time and I feel
him tense up even more than he is already and he pulls me behind
him gripping my hand tightly. Boris coughs nervously and says,
“Nathan, good to see you mate. Um let me take you to get a drink.”
Phoebe looks nervous and I feel sorry that Nathan is obviously
going to make a scene at her wedding.

Nathan speaks in a cold voice. “Phoebe,
Boris, I am sorry to crash your wedding, oh no wait, shouldn’t this
be our wedding Bella?” I can see the confused looks on the group of
Boris’s friends and my heart sinks. Looking sternly at him I say,
“Nathan, whatever you have come here to say please don’t. It’s
Phoebe and Boris’s day and I don’t want you to ruin it.” He runs
his fingers through his hair and a look of anguish passes over his
face. “I am sorry but this is the perfect time for me to say what I
need to say.”

I step forward and say, “Then come with me
and say it outside, away from the wedding.” His head jerks up and
his eyes flash. “No, I will say it now, in front of all these
people. He looks at Ben with hatred in his eyes and it makes me
gasp at its intensity. Ben pulls me back again and says in a
tightly controlled voice, “Then say it and then get out. You are
not welcome here Nathan and you are making a fool of yourself.”

Nathan laughs derisively. “On the contrary
Ben, it is you who are the fool. Did you really think that I would
allow you to get away with taking my girlfriend away from me? You
may think that you hold all the cards but I am here to tell you
that you don’t, and by the time I have finished Bella and everyone
here will see you for what you really are.”

I look at Ben and notice that his face has
tightened and the look he is giving Nathan sends chills down my
spine. You can almost hear a pin drop and it appears that the crowd
around us has grown as more and more people have joined the group
to hear what is going on. I look at Phoebe and see the anguish on
her face. This isn’t fair on her and it makes me angry so once
again I step forward and say, “Enough Nathan. Please leave. This is
Phoebe’s wedding and you are not welcome. How dare you try and ruin
it.”

Nathan looks at me and his face softens.
“Bella, you know that I would do anything for you, which is why I
have to do this. All that matters to me is you and I have to save
you from making the biggest mistake of your life. It has to be
done, I am sorry.” He once again faces Ben and speaks in a
controlled voice. “This man in front of you doesn’t care who he
hurts to get what he wants. I have not been idle since he warned me
off from contacting Bella. I have made it my mission to find out
everything I can about him. I found out that he was the most hated
man in the City just before the banking crisis. In fact many
believe that it was his actions that brought it all about.” I
notice one or two of Boris’s friends nodding and my heart
sinks.

Nathan carries on. “Around that time many
people lost their jobs because of Ben Hardcastle. He was a trouble
shooter for the banks and he rode roughshod over people’s lives,
good honest hardworking people who didn’t deserve what he did to
them.” I can feel that Ben has gone very still and his body is
tense. Nathan continues, his voice sounding like steel. “There is a
strong rumour that Ben caused a prominent banker to take his own
life. Apparently he had an affair with the man’s wife and used her
to gain access to top secret files that exposed the bank to a
takeover. The man was ousted from the bank and faced ruin. His wife
left him and then Ben left her after he received a huge payout from
the people that received the information from him which
subsequently meant that they took control. The banker committed
suicide and it was all because of Ben Hardcastle.”

I start to feel sick and I can see the
shocked faces of everyone around me. Everyone is looking at Ben
with hatred but I cannot let his hand go. I squeeze it and he
tightens his grip on me but continues to look at Nathan. Nathan’s
eyes narrow and he says bitterly. “He started buying up Independent
department stores from people that had spent their lives building
them up. He targeted the weakest first and because it was now a
recession they were desperate and he paid them well below what they
were worth. One by one they fell to him. It was convenient to him
that his actions had caused the chaos and he was going to benefit
from it the most. Oh it was all legal and above board but was
morally corrupt. He came to Kingham’s and it was there that he met
my beautiful Bella. He knew her from his past and he had to have
her. I don’t know how it happened but my life was destroyed and he
moved in on her at her weakest moment. She didn’t stand a chance.
He told me that if I told anyone at any of the stores about their
relationship and if I ever contacted her again then he would kill
me.”

There is a collective buzz of disbelief
around us and I can now see that mine and Phoebe’s parents have
joined the group, their faces set in worry and disbelief. Ben is
still silent and offers no defence or explanation. Nathan carries
on regardless, this is his platform and he is going to say
everything that he came to say. “Well I am here to tell Bella just
what sort of monster you are. If anything happens to me now there
are many witnesses who can link you to it Ben, so I wouldn’t try
anything if I were you. I no longer need your job and you can take
this as my resignation speech. Oh, and I have also sent an email to
every single one of your employees telling them what I have just
said.” A gasp is heard from the listening crowd but still Ben says
nothing. I am so confused and can’t take it all in.

Nathan looks at me and his expression
softens. “I’m sorry to have to spell all of this out to you Bella.
It must be a lot to take in but I had to make you see what sort of
monster you are with. Now you know the truth I know that you will
do the right thing. This is not the world you live in. You are
decent and kind and deserve more than him. Just remember that I
have always loved you and you would make me the happiest man alive
if you would allow me to look after you and love you as I did
before.”

I look in confusion between the two of them
and Ben suddenly looks at me. His eyes are darker than I have ever
seen and his expression is blank. He looks back at the crowd of
people and then directs his words to Nathan. “Have you finished
now?” he says, his voice full of steel. I flinch at his tone and I
can see the crowd looking nervous. Nathan stands still just looking
at him and nods. Ben then says, “I cannot believe that you have
come here tonight with your own twisted agenda and hi jacked Phoebe
and Boris’s wedding. I do not have to explain myself to any of you;
the lies that you have spoken Nathan are just that, they are not
based on fact but on rumours. I am glad that you have tendered your
resignation as it will save me the trouble of dismissing you. Now
if you have finished I suggest that you leave and let everybody get
back to enjoying the wedding.”