Stolen by Roberta Kray

Author:Roberta Kray [Kray, Roberta]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780751569650
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2019-11-06T16:00:00+00:00

31

Wednesday 21 September. West Henby

At seven o’clock, Lolly was up in her old bedroom searching through the wardrobe for something to wear. She still had a lot of things here. When she’d left – or perhaps, more accurately, been thrown out – she had gone in a hurry taking only a small suitcase and the bare essentials. She could have returned for the rest, but pride had stood in her way. She had sworn she wouldn’t set foot in the house again until Mal was a free man and back where he belonged. She glanced towards the window. Well, he was certainly home but not in the circumstances she’d imagined or hoped for.

Lolly’s fingers quickly separated the hangers as her eyes flew from one garment to the next. Eventually her gaze settled on the dark red silk dress she had only worn once. That occasion had been another party, the last party she’d attended here. Even though she tried her best, it was impossible to forget the excitement she’d felt that night, the fluttering in her chest, the anticipation at the knowledge that Jude was coming. Jude was back in her life.

Although she couldn’t have known that he was only using her to get to Esther, Lolly still cursed her naivety. How had she been so stupid? Blinded by desire, she hadn’t seen what should have been staring her straight in the face. A pink flush spread across her cheeks, a hot mix of anger and humiliation. What a fool! He had trampled on her feelings, leaving her shattered and bereft. Even now, she wasn’t completely over it. She said she was, swore she was, but the memory still haunted her.

Lolly went to the full-length mirror, held up the dress and examined her reflection. The dress certainly couldn’t be described as lucky but that was why she wanted to wear it, to purge those demons and prove that her present was not controlled by the past. A putting aside of all things negative. On top of that, it was a damn nice dress and it suited her.

There was something else Lolly had worn that night, her eighteenth birthday present from Mal. It was another item she’d left behind, too afraid of it getting lost or stolen in London. She went over to the dressing table, opened the box, drew out the ruby necklace and fastened it around her neck. The red stones glowed like fire. The rubies had come from Burma and had probably passed through many hands before they’d finally ended up at Mal’s shop in Hatton Garden.

Before she could change her mind, Lolly pulled the dress over her head, put on her shoes, brushed her hair and took one last look in the mirror. The girl who stared back seemed more defiant than pretty but she would have to do. Her last job was to spray on some perfume, a fine mist of Chanel No. 5.

Just as she was about to leave, she remembered Terry’s diamond ring still lying in her handbag.

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