Page 87 of The Making of Jonty Bloom
“Hi, Devan.”
“Am I interrupting?”
“Put your clothes on, Cindy. Leave my dick alone, Jamie. Stop licking my arse, Julian.” Cato moaned dramatically. “Okay. I’m all yours. I was deep in the study of the dispersal of protoplanetary discs by energetic radiation from the central star and by planet formation.”
Devan smiled. “Did Griff ask you to be his best man?”
“I said no.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s a git, because I’m not to going stand there and support what he did to you, and because he only asked me because you said no. At least you have some brains. Not as many as me, but still…”
Devan’s heart thumped. “What do you mean—what he did to me?”
There was silence from the other end of the phone.
“Do you know why the wedding didn’t go ahead?” Devan asked.
“Not hard to guess. Everything stops at literally the last minute with no good explanation? You don’t spend two years with someone, pay a fortune to get married, and then decide there are too many differences between you. Weak excuse, brother mine. Why you didn’t see he wasn’t right for you way before then, escapes me. Not long before Griff is being all secretive about his new guy. I saw them together in London—and thanks to my amazing powers of deduction—figured Griff was the reason the wedding didn’t go ahead. I had a quiet word with Griff and got the truth out of him.”
“Does anyone else know?”
“Venice and Ellen. And probably their husbands. Christ knows who else because our sisters can’t keep their mouths shut. But not Mum and Dad. Griff begged us not to tell them. You know how much they liked Ravi. They didn’t see anything suspicious in a friendship between Ravi and Griff. They were already friends. So why shouldn’t it develop into something more? Mum and Dad should have been told why you and Ravi didn’t marry. It wasn’t fair on you.”
There was another long silence.
“So why the call?” Cato asked.
“I’m up in the north-east on business. Ravi just turned up to try and persuade me to be Griff’s best man.”
“The little fucker. Is that all he tried to persuade you to do?”
“I’m not sure.”
“What does that mean?”
“He offered. He saidHe’d never know. I wouldn’t tell him.But I’m not sure he was actually offering. Something felt off. I don’t know what to do. If I tell Griff, it looks like I’m trying to cause trouble. You think it could be some sort of test?”
“I’d keep quiet. It serves Griff right. A lot of the family have said they won’t go to the wedding.”
“I thought holding it in the Caribbean would ensure that anyway. An excuse for not many to accept the invite.”
“People are upset for you, Dev. Your marriage slams to a halt and eight months later your brother is marrying your ex? Not hard for people to wonder and come to the right conclusion. Maybe that’s what has Griff worried, that people know the truth and blame him.”
Devan swallowed hard.
“I’ll tell Mum what Ravi said. That should stir things up. Other than being pestered by Ravi, how are you?”
“I’m okay. More than okay.”
“Ah. Do I need to buy another dress?”
Devan laughed. “I’m still in theI keep pissing him offstage. Thanks, Cato. I’ll let you get back to your stars.”
He sat in his car and tried Jonty again. Still no response so he left another message. “I’m on my way back to your place. Give me a call. Please.”
But no call came.
