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I almost can’t bear to see him give up, even though I’m doing the same myself.

“But what about telling her how you feel? What about the competition?” I’m trying to rekindle his fire, but he shakes his head again.Advertisement

“I think I lost the competition a long time ago, Fliss,” he says. “Fifteen years ago, to be exact. Don’t you?”

“Maybe,” I say after a pause. “Maybe you’re right.”

“She’s happily married with the love of her life. Good for her. Now I need to get a life.”

“I think we both need to get lives,” I say slowly. “I’m as much to blame as you are. I encouraged you.”

As I meet his eyes, I feel sadness at the realization that this is goodbye. If he and Lottie are over, then we’re over too. Over as friends. Over as siblings-in-law.

There’s another call for passengers on the flight to Ikonos, but I ignore it.

“Time to go,” says Lorcan, looking up from his BlackBerry. He’s sitting on an airport chair next to Noah, who is happily reading through a leaflet on security in Bulgarian. “What are you guys doing?” He takes in Richard’s stricken face. “What’s happened?”

“I’ve been an idiot, is what happened,” says Richard with a sudden intensity. “Finally I see it. Finally.”

“Me too.” I sigh. “That’s exactly how I feel. Finally I see it.”

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“We see it.”

“Both of us.”

“Right.” Lorcan seems to be taking in the situation. “So … it’s just me for Ikonos?”

Richard thinks for a moment, then picks up his newly acquired City Heights Hotel tote bag.

“I might come along. I’ll probably never have the chance to visit Ikonos again. I want to see the sunset. Lottie always told me the sunset was the best in the world. I’ll find a quiet place to watch it and then I’ll head back to San Francisco. She’ll never know I was there.”

“What about you and Noah?” Lorcan turns to me. I’m about to tell him that wild horses wouldn’t drag me to Ikonos now when his BlackBerry bleeps.

“It’s Ben. Hold on.” He starts reading the text, and an odd expression comes over his face. “I don’t believe it,” he mutters at last.

“What?”

Lorcan raises his eyes silently. He looks genuinely poleaxed.

“Lorcan, what?” I feel a blade of worry. “Is Lottie OK?”

“I will never understand Ben,” he says slowly, not answering my question. “Never.”

“Is Lottie OK?” I persist. “What’s happened?”

“It’s not what’s happened.…” A kind of sick expression passes over Lorcan’s face. “I’m not protecting him,” he says, as though to himself. “This is beyond the pale.”

“Tell me!” I demand.

“OK.” He exhales. “Two days into his marriage and he’s already fixing up a rendezvous with some other woman.”

“What?” Richard and I speak in unison.

“His PA is on holiday, so he wants mine to book him a weekend hotel in England. For him and some woman named Sarah. I’ve never even heard of her before. He’s saying …” He passes me the phone. “Well, look at what he’s saying.”

I grab the phone and scan the text. I’m so stressed I can take in only about one word in three, but I get the gist.

We met up after all these years … amazing body … you have to meet her.…

“Bastard!” My incandescent cry echoes around Sofia airport. I feel so white-hot with fury, I may spontaneously combust. “My little sister loves this man! And this is the way he treats her!”

“Even for Ben, it’s pretty low.” Lorcan is shaking his head.

“She’s given him her heart. She’s given him her body and soul.” I’m shaking with fury. “How dare he? Where are they now?” I consult the text again. “Still at the guest house?”

“Yes, but apparently they’re leaving there after lunch and returning to the hotel.”

“Right. Richard.” I turn to him. “We have to rescue Lottie from this vile, odious man.”

“Wait just a minute!” chimes in Lorcan. “What happened to ‘I’m never going to interfere in my sister’s life again’? What happened to ‘Hold me to my vow’?”

“That was before,” I retort. “That’s when I was wrong.”

“You’re still wrong!”

“I’m not!” pqdm.com