The Sun Sister (The Seven Sisters #6) - Lucinda Riley Page 0,33

on the beach.

‘Okay, Electra!’ the director boomed through his megaphone. ‘Three paces forwards, then start to raise your arms until I say cut.’

I gave him a thumbs up.

‘And . . . action!’

Off I went again for maybe the twentieth time, praying it would be the last and I could strip off the white chiffon robe – with its bulging hood that shot out like a parachute behind my head, the underslip clinging wetly to me – and throw myself into the massive waves roaring behind me.

‘Okay, cut!’

I stood where I was, waiting for the director to check the frame.

‘People, that’s a wrap for today!’

I almost tore the robe from my body and stumbled across the sand to the wardrobe tent.

‘Anyone for a swim?’ I asked as both the director and Mariam poked their heads inside.

‘I’m not sure the insurance covers you for swimming in the sea with that kind of swell, Electra,’ the director cautioned me.

‘Oh, come on, Ken. I can see little kids swimming further along the beach.’

‘How about tomorrow afternoon when we’re done? Then I’ll happily allow you to drown,’ he quipped. ‘Joaquim has just arrived, so it’s all looking good.’

‘Okay. I’ll go back to the hotel and take a dip in their pool. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to get changed.’

‘Sure, honey.’ Ken left and Mariam stayed, handing me a bottle of water.

‘Good job,’ she said, smiling at me. ‘It looked amazing on camera.’

‘Great. Now, let’s get out of here,’ I murmured under my breath as I turned back to the wardrobe lady and smiled at her sweetly. ‘Thanks for your help today.’

‘It was a pleasure, Electra. See you at seven a.m. tomorrow,’ she said in her strongly accented English.

As I arrived back at the Copacabana Palace, there was a cluster of autograph hunters gathered by the entrance. They shouted at me as I got out of the limo, and I smiled for their cameras and signed their photos and autograph books.

Once inside, I almost ran to the elevator in my eagerness to get up to my suite.

‘Would you like me to come with you?’ Mariam asked me.

‘No, I’m gonna take a cold shower and get some rest. It was a long day today.’

‘What about your swim?’ she asked me as the elevator doors opened.

‘Maybe later,’ I said as I stepped inside and pressed the button for the top floor. ‘I’ll call you,’ I added as the doors closed behind me.

Back in my suite, I headed for my holdall and poured myself a vodka. My hands were visibly shaking as I put the glass to my lips – I hadn’t dared bring any chemical supplies with me on public aviation and had relied on there being someone on the shoot I knew who could share his or her supply. But this shoot was clean (so far as I knew anyway) and I didn’t know anyone well enough to trust them. Yet I was in South America, where drug trafficking probably brought in more money than any other business. If the worst came to the worst, I thought, I’d go pay a visit to the concierge. This was Brazil after all, and I was sure they’d be able to help.

Just as I was stepping into the shower, the room telephone rang. I left it, thinking that there wasn’t a person on earth I was interested in talking to.

Standing under the water, I let out a torrent of expletives that Ma, who’d drilled it into us sisters never to swear, would have shuddered at. Still, Mitch deserved every one of them. Grabbing a towel and padding back into the living room, I saw the red light indicating a message winking on my phone. I walked over, picked up the receiver and pressed the button to listen to the message, which was probably from housekeeping asking me what time I wanted my turn-down service.

Instead, I heard the comforting tones of my sister Maia’s voice.

‘Hi, Electra, sorry I missed you. Floriano spotted a photo in a newspaper this morning of you arriving at the Copacabana Palace. I don’t know how long you’re here for, but obviously I’d love to see you. I only live around the corner from the hotel, and my number is . . .’

I grabbed the pencil by the phone and wrote the number down on the notepad provided. Then I contemplated the evening ahead. There was dinner at some flash restaurant for the cast and crew, which I had said I’d attend, but could easily