TENDER DECEIT (Romantic Suspense Mystery Novel): First Love Series ~ Book 1 (9 page)

“Are they at the Asian Civilisations Museum?”

“Oh, no, most of them were actually from private collections in Singapore. The most valuable dagger belonged to Bentley Warne. That was the gold one inlaid with rubies.”

Leah sat up straight. “Bentley Warne?”

He tilted his head. “Yes, you’ve heard of him? He’
s an Australian property tycoon; took up residence in Singapore several years ago. Apparently, he collects
kris
daggers, although the gold one featured in the article is his personal favourite. Always carries it with him—wears it on his belt at all times. He even came and stood by me, watching while I photographed the piece, and then put it straight back on as soon as I was finished.” Steve laughed. “Maybe Warne believes the old superstition that a
kris
dagger can ward off evil and protect its wearer.”

Leah thought of the picture of Warne she’d seen on her laptop earlier. So that was the multicoloured gold thing attached to his belt. The jewelled sheath and hilt of a
kris
dagger. Somehow, knowing that the man wore a killing weapon on him at all times made him fit better into Toran’s description of a ruthless murderer.

“What are you two gossiping about?” Julia turned away from her other friends and faced them.

“Bentley Warne, amongst other things,” said Steve, smiling.

Julia’s eyes lit up. “Bentley’s giving this fantastic party this Friday night at his house. They say it’s going to be the biggest bash of the season.”

“Do you know him well?” Leah asked in surprise.

Julia shrugged. “Arnold, my husband, has some business dealings with him. And I know Bentley’s wife, Susan. She’s at my tennis club. We meet at parties and charity do’s and things.” She looked eagerly at Leah. “How long are you going to be in Singapore? Because I can get an extra invite for Bentley’s party, if you’d like to come with me? You should come just to see his house. It’s fabulous—and he always goes the whole hog with his parties. Live band, food sculptures, and everything!”

Leah thought hard. Friday. That was three days away. Would Toran have found his evidence against Warne by then? She felt a stab of guilt as she remembered his plea for help the night before and the way she had ignored his Facebook message earlier. Would he be able to achieve his goal if she didn’t help him? And if he didn’t find a way to expose Warne? Would the Australian tycoon eventually hunt him down? Leah shrank from the thought of something happening to Toran.

She realised that Julia was still talking:

“…and I can’t remember what the dress code is—I have to check the invitation again—but I’m sure I can lend you an evening gown, if you don’t want to buy one.” Julia gave her an assessing look. “You’re only a bit bigger than me—”

Leah choked on a laugh. “A bit bigger? Julia, you’ve got to be kidding. I’m a lot bigger than you.”

Julia made a face at her. “Well, anyway, it might be themed, in which case, we’d need costumes. Oh, I love Bentley’s themed parties… although it would be a shame because I just got this new dress from Dior’s latest collection. It’s gorgeous—I must show it to you! I got it last week, but I had to get it dry-cleaned because the stupid shop assistant spilled some perfume on it. That reminds me—I must stop by the dry-cleaner on the way home…” Her voice became muffled as she bent over and dug into her handbag, pulling out keys, lipstick, compact, purse, miniature perfume, mobile phone, hairband, and finally something which she brandished triumphantly. “Aha! I thought I lost it, but I just found the tag.”

Leah stared at the small piece of paper in Julia’s fingers. Suddenly, she was seeing a similar piece of square, pink paper, with perforated edges along one side and faint numbers printed on top… the pink paper tag she had found in her father’s
concealed safe.

“What’s that?” Leah asked faintly.

“This? It’s my receipt—you know, to claim my dress from the dry-cleaner,” said Julia, waving the little piece of paper airily.

Leah felt a surge of excitement. She wanted to go back to her hotel immediately and examine the pink tag from her father’s safe. Why would he keep a dry-cleaner’s tag in a safe? Unless it was much more than just a dry-cleaner’s tag. Was this the evidence that Toran was talking about? What Warne’s men were searching for?

“Hello? Earth to Leah.”

Leah blinked. She realised that
Steve was smiling at her and waving a hand in front of her face. “Sorry.” She stood up decisively. “I’m sorry, Julia, but I’ve got to go.”

“What?” Her friend gaped at her. “But you’ve only just got here! And we haven’t had lunch yet—and besides, I haven’t even had a chance to talk to you. What’s going on with that whole Toran James business? Have you—”

Leah gripped her friend’s hand. “Julia, I’m really sorry. I’ll make it up to you another time—I promise. I’ll be in Singapore until this weekend so there’ll be other chances to catch up. There’s… there’s just something I need to go and do now.”

Julia gave a dramatic sigh. “Fine. What about Bentley Warne’s party on Friday? Shall I get you an invite to that?”

Leah hesitated. “I’ll let you know.” She bent down and kissed her friend quickly on the cheek. “Thanks, Julia.”

“You’re going to have to do a
lot
of explaining later.” Julia wagged her finger at Leah.

“I’ll walk you to the taxi stand,” said
Steve, getting up and falling into step beside her as she walked away.

“No, I…” Leah looked towards the street entrance of the courtyard. “I’m not going to take a taxi. I think I’ll walk a bit. But thank you.”

“Any chance you might be free for dinner tonight?” he asked, sliding an arm up around her shoulders.

Leah smiled and gently disengaged herself. “
Steve, you’re a lovely guy but—”

“There’s someone else?”

“No! No, there’s no one else,” Leah said, a bit too vehemently.

“I see.” He gave her a shrewd look. “Well, here’s my card—and if there’s a chance that I might see you again before you leave Singapore, I would really love that. I mean it.”

“Thanks.” Leah took the card and stiffened as he leaned in to peck her cheek.

She watched as he went back to the table and tried to ignore Julia’s meaningful looks as her friend waved her goodbye. Turning, she headed out of the Raffles Hotel courtyard and stepped out onto the street. She had barely walked a few steps past the Raffles Shopping Arcade, however, when she felt a hand seize her arm. Leah spun around in surprise to see Toran. He pulled her aside, into the shadow of a large palm tree, so that they were shielded from the people walking past.

“What are you doing here?” She stared at him.

His face was dark with anger, his eyes like a stormy sea. “Who was that man?”

“What man?” Leah asked, confused.

“The blond one who was all over you just now like a bad rash and groping you at the table.”

“The—you mean, Steve?” She was stung by his biting tone. Instead of admitting that Steve
had
made her feel uncomfortable, Leah raised her chin and said, “He wasn’t groping me.”

“I saw him,” said Toran tightly. “He was… trying to touch your hair.”

Leah felt a flash of anger. “How could you know that? Were you spying on me? How dare you!”

“I wasn’t spying,” Toran bit out. “I was just waiting for you to finish lunch so I could catch you and talk to you.”

“Couldn’t you have left a message like a normal person?”

“I tried,” he said impatiently. “On Facebook. You never answered it. I had to see you so I waited for you outside your hotel and followed you here. It’s safer if I try to talk to you outside—I think they’re watching your hotel.”

“Well, maybe I don’t want to talk to you,” said Leah childishly.

“Would you rather talk to
Steve? Is that it?” asked Toran, a muscle ticking in his jaw.

“No, I—” Leah reeled back, staring into his eyes. She couldn’t believe that this hostile stranger standing in front of her was the same boy she used to know.

“What did he want?” demanded Toran. “What was he asking you?”

“It’s none of your business,” retorted Leah, furious to find tears pricking her eyes. Why was she crying? Because she had never heard Toran use that tone of voice with her before? Never seen him with such cold fury in his eyes?

“I know men like him,” said Toran, his fists clenching. “They can’t keep their hands to themselves. They only have one thing on their minds.”

“So what?” she flung at him, tears really threatening to choke her now. “What’s it to you? Why should you care?”

“Because—
ah,
hell!
” He pulled her towards him and his lips came down on hers.

Leah gasped as she felt his mouth possess hers, hard and demanding. Her senses whirled as he kissed her savagely, his arms holding her in a crushing embrace. She had never been kissed this way before. If it had been anyone other than Toran, it would have been terrifying, but instead, she felt a strange thrill ripple through her.

Then suddenly the kiss gentled as the anger seemed to leave his body. His lips became soft and caressing. Leah felt her own body melt against his as his mouth moved sensuously over hers, his hands sliding up to tangle gently in her hair. She sighed and was just about to slide her own arms up around his neck when he released her abruptly. She stumbled backwards, her lips parted in surprise.

Toran ran an agitated hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, Leah. I… I don’t know what came over me. That was unforgivable.”

Unforgivable?
Leah stared at him. He had just given her the most thrilling kiss of her life and he thought that it was unforgivable? Surely he had felt what had passed between them just now… or was it all just on her side?

Toran cleared his throat, not quite meeting her eyes. “I shouldn’t have said what I did about you and…
Steve. Of course, you’re free to do whatever you like, with whoever you like. As you said, it’s none of my business.”

“Toran—” Leah reached out a hand towards him, but he stiffened. She felt the chill of rejection. She dropped her hand. They stood for a moment in awkward silence. Then she said in a quiet voice, “Why did you want to see me?”

“I… There’s something I need to tell—” He hesitated, then gave his head a shake. “I was worried. After last night and the way you left… I thought you might have been upset or frightened. Anyway, I can see now that it was totally unnecessary. You were managing fine without me.”

Leah felt something warm fill her chest. Was he jealous? Was that what this whole scene was about? She took a step closer to him. “Toran, I was leaving because I was going back to the hotel to contact
you
.”

He looked up and something flared in his green eyes. Leah stared at him. It was time to decide. Trust him? Or keep him out? He was still a stranger, still an enigma to her, and yet somehow she felt safe with Toran in a way she never felt with any other man. But was this genuine intuition speaking—or was she just basing her feelings on an adolescent fantasy? Maybe the real question was whether she could trust herself.

Leah took a deep breath. She made the decision. “I didn’t tell you everything in the cable car last night.”

Quickly, she told him about the hidden safe and what she had found in there, as well as the similarity to Julia’s dry-cleaning tag. She also mentioned
Steve’s connection with Warne and the upcoming party. It was a relief to finally tell him everything. “I was just heading back to the hotel to check out the pink tag I found in my father’s safe. But I think I’m right—I think it’s a receipt for something he’s left somewhere, maybe at a dry-cleaner or some similar service.”

“Yes,” said Toran thoughtfully. “I said your father was a careful man. That would be the perfect hiding place.”

“I have an appointment with the police this afternoon,” said Leah. “They want to talk to me about my father’s death. I don’t know how long that will take, but this place might be shut by the time I’m done.” She hesitated. “I was thinking I might go look for it tomorrow morning. Would you… would you like to go together?”

Leah caught her breath as a smile lit up Toran’s eyes, turning them from brooding olive to dazzling viridian.

“Yes. I’d like to do that,” he said. “Together.”

Leah smiled tremulously back at him and, for a moment, she thought he was going to reach out and pull her close again. Then he stepped back and the shutters came down over his face.

“Leah, there’s something else...” He hesitated, his eyes searching hers. Then he seemed to change his mind. “But it’ll keep. Listen, do you want to grab some lunch?”

Together
. The unspoken word hung in the air between them.

Leah nodded and smiled. “I’m starving.”

They found a food court nearby packed with enough people to give Toran some anonymity in the crowds. Leah ordered a selection of
dim sum
dishes and Toran watched in amusement as she sank her teeth into a steamed
char sui
bun with a blissful sigh.

“You just don’t get food like this in London, even at the best restaurants,” she explained with a grin. “I’ve missed the food in Singapore.” She looked around the bustling food court, with its raucous din of voices talking in Hokkien, Malay, Tamil, Mandarin, Singlish, and Cantonese, and added with a faint note of surprise, “I’ve missed Singapore.”

“Would you ever come back here to live?” Toran asked, wondering why his body tensed as he waited for her to answer. It wasn’t as if he cared.

Leah hesitated. “I don’t know,” she finally said, softly. “My life’s in London now. And anyway, it isn’t as if there’s anything here for me to come back for.”

Toran felt a sudden urge to contradict her and bit his tongue on the words. He sat back, alarmed at his own reaction. What was he thinking? Okay, so he may have discovered that Leah had grown up into an incredibly alluring woman and it wasn’t surprising, given their past history, that he would still find her attractive, but he wasn’t fourteen anymore and after the way she had treated him then, he wasn’t making the same mistake again of offering her his heart. As for his powerful attraction to her… well, it was nothing more than that. A physical need. Easily satisfied. He knew she felt it too—this awareness between them. Why didn’t he just take advantage of that?

“Toran? Are you okay?” She moved her hand across the food court bench and tentatively touched his.

He shut his eyes briefly at the touch of her fingers. He felt a prickle of irritation at himself for letting her still affect him so much.

He pulled his hand away from hers. “I think I’m going to get something else,” he said, with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Standing up abruptly, he moved away, his body tight with tension. Sexual tension, that’s all it was, he told himself. It was just the temptation of the unknown, the frustration that came from wondering. He just needed to satisfy his sexual curiosity, then it would go away and he would be at peace again.

He ignored the tiny voice in his head that laughed mockingly and whispered that with Leah back in his life, he would never be at peace again.