This is an example of the type of synopsis I submit as a proposal for a new book. In other words, it needs to not only tell the story but sell the story. My editor prefers around 10 pages (double-spaced) but this one is slightly longer due to the continuity elements included.
Synopsis – VOWS and a VENGEFUL GROOM
Book 1, “Diamonds Down Under” continuity series
Premise:
The disappearance of Howard Blackstone’s chartered jet forces the return of his estranged daughter Kimberley to the family’s billion-dollar business. Working with her ex-husband — Blackstone Diamonds’ (acting) CEO, Ric Perrini — strikes powerful sparks of desire and conflict. Ric wants her back as his wife but can she trust his motives second time around? Does he want Kimberley...or does he want the boardroom benefits of a Blackstone bride?
Setting: Sydney, Australia
Timeframe: One month, January (mid-summer)
Character Summaries:
Kimberley (Kim) Blackstone, 32, elder of Ursula (d) and Howard’s 2 surviving children (she thinks.) Green eyes, long dark hair. Her looks are strong and dramatic rather than classically beautiful. Divorced from Ric Perrini and estranged from her family, she is devoted to her career as a gem buyer and jewellery appraiser for House of Hammond in Auckland, NZ. Passionate and intense, unafraid to speak her mind, appears confident because she is adept at hiding her vulnerabilities.
Ric Perrini, 38, 6’1”, with a broad-shouldered, lean-hipped build. No family since his single mother’s death. Blue eyes, thick black hair, could be a GQ cover model. Appreciates the luxuries he didn’t have growing up but he’s not all designer suits and smooth style. In business he is tough but fair and respected by colleagues and competitors alike. Earned his position of COO of Blackstone Diamonds’ mining division through hard work, ruthless ambition and a razor-sharp brain, not by marrying the boss’s daughter.
Backstory:
Ric Perrini is close-mouthed about his background. Most people assume he doesn’t have any family since his single mother (Allegra) died when he was a teenager. He supported them both for years without the help of the wealthy Italian family that cut Allegra off when she fell pregnant, finding innovative ways to make money while still excelling at school. He won a scholarship to an elite Perth private school and although he had to work harder for recognition above his smart AND rich AND connected classmates, those same boys gave him an insight into the world he vowed to conquer. After working his way through a business degree, Ric was recruited by Blackstone Diamonds. Howard Blackstone took a keen interest in the ambitious young man; he liked his ruthless drive and aura of confidence, and earmarked him for executive advancement. Ric rewarded his mentor’s faith in him by working even harder.
As a young child Kimberley Blackstone garnered more attention from her nanny than either parent. Shattered by the abduction and disappearance of her first-born son, her mother sunk into a depression that ended in suicide; her father buried his grief in work. Kimberley learned that the only way to win Howard’s favour was through his beloved business, and at an early age she set her sights on a future working beside him at Blackstone Diamonds. After working with Europe’s best cutters and jewellers, Kim returned to Australia with a plan to sell Blackstone diamond jewellery through their own chain of boutiques. Howard wasn't keen on the idea but she found an unexpected ally in Ric Perrini. Until then she had remained wary of the charismatic marketing executive who had forged a strong relationship with her father. Kim’s mistrust of Perrini was shared by her brother Ryan. He believed Howard saw Ric as a surrogate for his abducted elder son, James.
Ric had wanted Kimberley from the first moment he saw her, but he didn’t support her project to get her into bed. That was going to happen anyway. He believed in her passion and vision for Blackstone Jewellery and helped her put together a business plan that wowed Howard and the Board of Directors. After a celebratory dinner she finally asked him to take her home and they became lovers.
When Howard learned of their affair, he hauled Ric into his office. “If you want to bed my daughter,” he seethed, “you can damn-well marry her!” Ric called his bluff by marrying Kim in a spur-of-the-moment Vegas ceremony, and he returned from the honeymoon prepared to start job hunting. Instead of sacking his new son-in-law, Howard promoted him to head the new jewellery division. As well as a generous share and salary package, the contract included incentives on the birth of each grandchild.
Kimberley was appalled that Ric would accept such terms and incensed at losing the job she believed should have been hers. Ric disagreed. At 22, he argued, she lacked experience and management skills. Their quarrel escalated into dangerous territory when Kim accused him of marrying her to “become a Blackstone.” Ric had worked hard to show he was as good as the Blackstones of the world. He'd done that and more; he deserved this position and all its perks and he didn’t give an inch in their incendiary battle of words. He even made the mistake of admitting he wanted a wife who would bear him a stack of children and who would be at home as their primary care-giver. Kimberley said she couldn’t be that wife; that their marriage was a mistake in all ways; before walking out on him.
Unable to reconcile herself with either Ric’s or her father’s actions, Kim resigned from Blackstones. While overseas she had met her adoptive cousin Matt Hammond, who co-managed his family’s Auckland (NZ) antique and fine jewellery business with his father Oliver. Knowing of the bad blood between Howard and Oliver didn’t faze Kimberley. She needed a job that valued her skills and where she could prove her industry nous, and Matt was happy to offer her such a position at House of Hammond.
Ric gave his volatile wife time to cool down before pursuing her. Except she hadn’t cooled down and more heated words in the Hammond’s workroom caused Matt to intercede. Digging for reasons why she wouldn’t return to him, Ric accused them of being more than work colleagues. Matt took offence and the men would have come to blows if Kimberley hadn’t pulled them apart. When she sided with Matt, her hand on his arm as she told Ric where to take his dirty-minded insinuations – “Matt is my cousin, for God’s sake!” – Ric left without another word. Pride would not allow him to chase her again and a year later their short marriage was officially dissolved.
Over the next 10 years Kimberley poured everything into her work and became Matt’s “right-hand man” as well as a close friend. She has taken the duty of godmother to his son (Blake) very seriously, knowing she is unlikely to ever have her own child following multiple surgeries for endometriosis. She hasn’t spoken to Ric since their divorce or reconciled with her father, despite several offers to lure her back to Blackstone’s. The latest, delivered by Howard himself in November 07, ended with Kim telling Howard she would only return to Blackstone Diamonds “over your dead body.” Howard retaliated by threatening to disinherit her. Fuming from the exchange, Howard almost bowled over Matt Hammond on his way out and flung a last “you will pay for this” vow at Matt.
The Story:
On January 3 Kimberley returns from her annual escape-the-Christmas-festivities holiday to find Ric waiting for her at Auckland airport. Before she can recover from the thunderbolt of seeing her ex-husband again, he whisks her out of the terminal to a waiting car, shielding her from a cluster of press cameras. She comes to her senses with a stomach-dropping jolt when she hears snippets of shouted questions about her father and Blackstone Diamonds. Recalling that Blackstone’s is opening its much publicised Auckland store that day, she realises with a crushing sense of disillusionment that Ric’s presence is all about business. And Blackstones' way of doing business has always been in front of cameras, making headlines, grabbing attention. Nothing has changed. Then she sees the tension in Ric’s grim face and her heart stutters. She knows something is very, very wrong.
The instant Ric sees Kimberley walking toward him, he resents every one of their ten years apart, every angry barb, all the pride that prevented him chasing her down and dragging her home where she belonged, at his side and in his bed. He wishes their reunion was under different circumstances but as the limousine pulls away from the flashing cameras, he has to tell her that her father’s flight has gone missing over the Tasman Sea. Debris has been sighted in the water. He is here to take her home to await news of Howard’s fate.
Kimberley is staggered by the news. How could her all-powerful, larger-than-life father be dead? Despite their bitter estrangement, he is still the man she grew up adoring and vying to please, and she agrees to return to Sydney with Ric. On the way to the airport, she regrets that impulsive decision when the conversation inevitably turns to their failed marriage. They trade words about how/why it ended, leading to her estrangement from Howard and her move to New Zealand to work for the Hammonds.
To break the tension inside the car, Kim calls her assistant at House of Hammond and then her boss who is in Japan. Acutely aware of Ric’s presence at her side, she leaves a stilted message on Matt’s voicemail saying she needs to take a short leave. She misinterprets the new stiffness in Ric’s posture. Thinking this is about the old Hammond-Blackstone feud or – worse! – Ric’s ludicrous accusation that she and Matt were lovers, she snaps at him for holding this grudge way too long. Ric tells her that he wishes that were all this is about. Chapter one ends with the stunning revelation that Howard wasn’t alone on the chartered jet. He was travelling with his lawyer and Matt’s beautiful but capricious wife, Marise Davenport-Hammond, but no one knows why they were together.
Kimberley spends the three-and-a-half hour trip trying to come to terms with her jumbled emotions and an overwhelming sense of disbelief. On top of that, she struggles to deal with her awareness of Ric. Exhausted after flying to New Zealand direct from a longer return trip to the Blackstone mine, he takes advantage of the plush jet’s bed to take a short nap. She wishes her response was only physical, a response to the potent chemistry that drew them together from the start, but there are strong emotional undercurrents to the unexpected reunion and their shared disbelief over Howard’s demise. Feeling fragile and very alone, she has to hug herself tight to stop herself crawling onto the bed beside him.
They arrive at Howard’s luxurious mansion overlooking Sydney Harbour and are welcomed by Kimberley’s aunt, Sonya Hammond, who has lived with the Blackstones since she was twelve and has served a huge role in bringing up her sister Ursula’s children. Kim is also reunited with her brother Ryan, her cousin Danielle (Sonya’s daughter) and Garth Buick, the Blackstone company secretary who is also Howard’s closest friend. They discuss the latest from the search area, including an unconfirmed report of a body recovered. Although clearly distressed about Howard, Sonya makes sure everything runs smoothly, meals are served, and rooms are made ready. She won’t hear of anyone leaving.
Kimberley is unsettled by Ric’s continued presence. Everyone else treats this as normal, and she realises that in her absence he has become one of the Blackstones, just as she’d accused him of wanting in their last bitter argument. She feels like the outsider and realises how much she forfeited by cutting her family from her life.
Through a contact in the police, Ric learns that the body brought in was female, leading to speculation about why Marise was with Howard. The Hammonds and Blackstones have not been on speaking terms for thirty years, so what is the connection? The possibility of an illicit affair is raised and then dismissed as improbable by everyone...except Kimberley. She knew that the Hammond marriage was on rocky ground and wonders how far her father would go to exact revenge against Matt. The notion weighs heavily and she leaves the room, seeking air and solitude on the terrace.
Guessing Kim knows more than she is letting on, Ric follows and asks what’s on her mind. Kim won’t give away confidences about the state of Matt’s marriage. Instead she tells Ric about her last blow-up argument with Howard six weeks ago. He’d come to Auckland to lure her back to Blackstones', but their argument grew heated when he accused Matt of stealing her, the same as his father had stolen the Blackstone Rose necklace. As well as vowing to cut her out of his will if she didn’t return to Blackstones, Howard swore he would make Matt pay. “You think he was sleeping with Marise as vengeance?” Ric asks. “I don’t know,” Kim replies, “but it sounds like something he would do.”
Two days later the pilot’s body is found. Search and Rescue calls off the hunt for survivors and the NSW Water Police are called in to locate the wreckage and retrieve the bodies. Ric breaks this news to Kimberley, and when he sees the tremor in her hands his consoling words almost bring her undone. Desperate to keep the tears at bay, she switches to the practical question of what next. Ric tells her that Blackstone Diamonds requires three Blackstones as directors. The Board is meeting next week and she should consider her future, as her name will come up as a contender for the vacant directorship.
Horrified that he could be thinking business at this sensitive time, Kimberley lashes out at Ric, accusing him of moving in a little too swiftly and asking how else he aims to profit from his mentor’s death. In a cool, even voice Ric explains his obligation to both shareholders and employees who need the reassurance of a stable management base. It is a bitter reminder that Ric is all about the company, and that he only pursued her all those years ago because she is a Blackstone. Ric counters this claim, reminding her with words and the dark heat of his eyes that he always wanted her, the woman. She gauges that he still does and despite the hostility in their exchange, she feels an echo of response deep inside. This is a wake-up call and a warning to Kimberley – the incendiary attraction between them could so easily flare out of control. She will need to take care about keeping her distance.
Matt Hammond arrives in Sydney to identify his wife’s body and Kimberley calls him to express her sympathy. She learns he is arranging a swift, private burial and is hurt when he asks her not to attend. The phone call leaves Kimberley upset and unsettled. A funeral means Marise is dead and she is forced to face the fact that her father, too, is gone. She is angry with him, she will never forgive him for all the grief he’s caused the Hammonds, but he was her father and their last argument weighs heavy on her mind. Especially the “over your dead body” line.
She has been thinking about her future, but she isn’t sure her father wanted her to have one at Blackstones'. She badly needs someone to talk to, but Sonya isn’t home. Garth doesn’t answer her call. Ryan wouldn’t understand. Restless energy carries her to the Bondi clifftop walk and she is drawn to Ric’s home by the light in his bedroom window. She is faced with another kind of anguish – potent jealousy over whether he has replaced her in that house, in that bedroom. She is tempted closer, almost to the door, but afraid of what she may find or what she might say or do, she turns away at the last moment.
From inside the house, Ric forces himself to let her walk away. He will have her again, but only after she takes that final step and knocks at his door. There will be no coercion this time, no external pressure, no spur-of-the-moment decision. It will be Kimberley’s choice on her timetable. Although his body is insistent on action – now! – he curbs that enthusiasm in a moonlight swim. He will have her again, and this time it will be forever.
Despite pressure via the Blackstones’ political connections, police divers focus on an urgent criminal matter and recovery of the crashed jet is delayed for several days. Media focus switches from the current tragedy to those in Howard’s past – his kidnapped son and his wife’s suicide. They even mention his falling out with family members, including his only daughter. At the offices of Blackstone Diamonds, Ric, Ryan and Garth meet. All are concerned about the effect this negative press will have on the company’s profile and share price. They discuss the distribution of Howard’s 51% stake and Matt Hammond’s recent purchase of company stock. Garth poses the mother of all questions: What if Kimberley sells the sizeable shareholding she is due from her father’s estate to Hammond, her boss and close friend? He would relish the chance to seize control of the diamond wealth. Ric says he has a plan to ensure Kimberley’s loyalty to Blackstone’s. A skeptical Ryan asks, “How?” and Ric replies, “With whatever it takes.”
Stir-crazy from inactivity and impatient with the lack of progress in finding her father, Kimberley accepts a dinner invitation from Ric. When he takes her to his home instead of to a restaurant, she is instantly on guard. After explaining that he wants to talk business without interruption and away from curious eyes, he asks if she’s thought about returning to Blackstones and she says she has a job she loves, at House of Hammond. Ric points out that she will soon be a major shareholder in Blackstone’s. Stunned, Kimberley asks why her father didn’t cut her from his will.
Ric assures her that Garth, as executor of Howard’s estate, can confirm that he didn’t. Ric stresses that the company needs her help to counter the negative press. Blackstones needs a show of family unity and a plan to generate positive impressions. When she still demurs, he challenges her with the words she flung at Howard during that last confrontation. “You said you would come back on one condition.” Over his dead body. He gives her a deadline to make a decision prior to Thursday’s Board meeting.
When the wreckage is located on the seabed, Kimberley realizes that, for the first time, she is free to make a decision without Howard’s all-pervasive influence. He really is gone. She is stirred by the prospect of righting his wrongs and working toward ending the family feud. As a Board member and as a Blackstone executive, she can make positive change. Instead of calling Ric with her decision, she signals her intention by arriving at the head office of Blackstone Diamonds in time for the Board meeting.
Ric impresses Kimberley with his decisive leadership of the meeting. She sees the respect in which he’s held by the other directors and knows that can only be earned through on-the-job performance and strength of character. This is a different Ric to the one she remembers – the one she married – and she is even more intensely drawn to the man he’s become. When he is voted interim chairman and CEO, she catches his gaze and silently applauds the choice.
Ryan is not so happy. After the meeting he accuses Ric of lobbying the other directors to snatch power before Howard’s been declared dead. Kim takes Ric’s side, and Ryan looks pointedly from one to the other but leaves without another word. Unwilling to answer Ric’s quiet question about why she defended him to her brother, Kim switches to business mode. She tells Ric that she will take the PR role offered and they discuss the areas she can concentrate on.
Later that afternoon Kimberley calls Matt to tell him her decision. Unimpressed that she’s left him in the lurch, he calls her “Blackstone ethics” into question and says he will accept her resignation. Then her godson, Blake, grabs the phone and the sound of his dear voice asking if his mother is there breaks Kim’s heart. She is battling tears when Ric walks in. He sees the stack of cuttings on her desk – evidence of all the press about the crash – and misinterprets her distress. Without a word he takes her in his arms and holds her, but the combination of physical proximity and high emotion shatters the comforting tenor of the embrace. The tender kiss explodes into a passionate exchange that only ends when they’re interrupted by a knock at the door.
Holly McLeod, an efficient PR assistant, is also working late and she brings news of another sensational magazine story, this one from New Zealand where the Hammonds are as high profile as the Blackstones in Sydney. Kim tells Holly the real backstory of the feud, how it escalated with allegations surrounding the stolen necklace and the stolen baby. She also reveals that Howard never gave up believing his eldest son, James, was alive somewhere. Holly asks if that is possible and Kim answers, sadly, “No, he is gone.”
A new collection of Blackstone jewellery is to be launched at a February 29 show, which will also celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the retail business. Ric and Kimberley identified this as the perfect vehicle for positive publicity and she visits the flagship store to learn more about the show from store manager Jessica Cotter. The two women bond over a mutual love of beautiful gems and their conversation shifts from the show to the history of Blackstone's Jewellery. Ryan, who heads the jewellery division, joins them and Kimberley picks up a vibe that sets her wondering about their relationship.
Back at the office she asks Ric if there is anything going on between Ryan and Jessica, and he laughs dryly. In the past Ryan was critical of Kim and Ric’s office romance; he would never allow himself to make that mistake. The wording of that casual remark creates a tension between them as they remember Kim calling their marriage a mistake. Ric shocks her by bringing that out in the open...and by agreeing that he made a monumental mistake, not in marrying her but in the way he rushed her into it. If he hadn’t been so young and cocky and full of himself, he would have told Howard what to do with his bonus incentives. He didn’t look at it from Kim’s point of view – that was his mistake.
This candid admission, from a man who has always been so confident in his own course of action, marks a turning point in their relationship. When he invites Kim to accompany him on an overnight trip to the company’s outback diamond mine, she asks if this is a PR move. He says it won’t hurt but in all honesty, he asked because he wants her with him. That is all Kimberley needs to know. She accepts without hesitation and in the company jet, she goes willingly to his bed. Their lovemaking is every bit as sensual and powerful as her memories, and when Ric tells her that this is no mistake – that losing himself in her body was never a mistake – she realises that she has tumbled headlong back into love with him.
While they’re away the divers recover three bodies from the plane wreckage, meaning one is still missing. The remains will need to be identified using dental records and DNA testing, a process which will take up to fourteen days.
On their return to Sydney, Kim moves into Ric’s Bondi house. Over the next ten days they talk about the past and arrive at a new level of trust and understanding over what caused the break-up of their marriage. For the first time Ric reveals how his upbringing drove his need to succeed and why he remained loyal to Howard despite the man’s many flaws. Finally Kimberley comprehends the many layers that make up this complex man, the only man she’s ever loved, and hope stirs in her heart for their future together.
The only blimp occurs on a lazy wet Sunday morning, when they’re in bed together watching a business news program. The analyst mentions a rumoured takeover threat at Blackstone Diamonds and Kimberley jackknifes upright in worried affront. Ric doesn’t even blink and when questioned he reveals that Matt Hammond has been circling like a ravenous shark ever since he acquired William Blackstone’s stock. Kimberley realises, with a jolt of hurt, that she’s been kept in the dark about this important company business. She asks if he’s been hiding anything else from her and he distracts her by revealing what he’s hiding beneath the sheets.
Later that week, Kimberley calls into Blackstone's Jewellery to see Jessica. From a distance she watches Jess and Ryan together and knows her instincts were correct – there is something going on between them, but by the solemn intensity of their conversation she senses it is not all good. Her own relationship with Ryan has been strained since she moved in with Ric and she regrets not paying more attention to her brother who she notices looks drawn and tired. She invites him to coffee where he lays the blame on the stressful wait for identification of Howard’s body. Before she can ask about Jessica, he expresses his concern over her relationship with Ric. He tells her about the meeting immediately after her return, recounting word-for-word how Ric planned to buy her loyalty to Blackstone’s.
Back at the office she confronts Ric and asks if Ryan’s retelling of events is correct. Did he offer the directorship to buy her loyalty from Hammonds? Did he say he would do “whatever it takes” to get her back to Blackstone’s? Did whatever include wooing his way back into her bed? Ric denies the last point but Kimberley doesn’t believe him. She won’t listen to his explanation; she doesn’t even argue. With disillusionment dimming the dark beauty of her eyes, she turns and walks away. Ric knows he must act swiftly or risk losing her forever, even if that means exposing his greatest vulnerability.
Nine years ago he bought a block of land, the ideal site to build a home to bring up their family. When he came to Auckland to talk her into coming back to him, the deeds were in his pocket, his gift of commitment to their future. Even after he walked away, after their divorce and through all the years since, he’d kept the land, unable to give up that dream. He takes her there now, and uses words to draw the picture in his mind’s eye of the home he will build, of their children chasing across the acres of grass, of them growing old together, still arguing and still making up in the best way. By making love to the only woman he has ever wanted as his wife; the woman he wants as the mother of his children.
Kimberley is devastated knowing that no matter how much she loves Ric, she cannot give him the picture he’s drawn so vividly that it is now etched in her soul. With a breaking heart she explains that she cannot have his children; she can’t have any man’s children. Although Ric attempts to convince her that it doesn’t matter, that he wants her with or without the babies, Kim saw the momentary flash of regret in his eyes.
Before they resolve this emotional crisis, Kimberley’s phone rings. Howard’s body has been positively identified and will be released to the family on Monday. She insists on returning to the mansion but Ric won’t let her shut him out, refusing to leave her side. During the night he patiently breaks down her defences and makes love to her with heartwrenchingly tender intensity. Afterward she tries to turn away but he holds her and consoles her as silent tears stream down her face.
The next days are filled with formalities and funeral arrangements, with press statements and holding herself together. Through it all Ric remains a source of solid support and of extra despair. One day Kim observes him in the street, helping a young mother lift her stroller and twin toddlers up some stairs. There is something in his posture, in his concentration as he watches the young family disappear into the building, that squeezes her heart like a fist. She loves him but she can’t give him what he desires more than anything, the family he was denied as a child.
On the eve of Howard’s funeral, Garth calls Kimberley with the startling news that a new will was signed and filed on the day of the crash. Although he cautions her not to jump to conclusions, that there are probably only small, cosmetic changes, Kim knows in her heart that her father has made good his word and cut her out of the will. She realises that this past month has all been for nothing. She has fallen in love with a man she cannot make truly happy; she has lost the respect and friendship of her cousin Matt; she doesn’t have a job at House of Hammond and how can she stay at Blackstone’s, knowing her father didn’t want her to have any part of the company into which he poured his whole life?
At her lowest point, she goes on an aimless drive to think about her future and ends up at the block Ric chose for their combined future. That is where Ric finds her, where he listens to her carefully composed speech aimed at shutting him out and pushing him away. And when she’s finished he takes her in his arms and kisses her, then kisses her again until her objections and her resistance melt. Then he answers every objection. He doesn’t care if the new will means she’s disinherited because he only wants her, the woman standing before him. This time he won’t let her walk away, not unless she can look him in the eye and tell him she doesn’t love him. That she doesn’t want to spend the rest of her life with him.
“What about the family you yearn for?” she asks, and he tells her there are other means, other methods, and together they can investigate. Together they can decide. But for now all he wants is Kimberley, not for any boardroom benefits and not because she’s a Blackstone, because as soon as she says yes he intends making her a Perrini again. Convinced by the conviction in his voice and the love in his eyes, Kimberley agrees to marry him and to offer lots of bedroom benefits for as long as forever lasts.
They walk away, hand-in-hand, heading back to the city and to whatever the new will dictates.
Continuity Points and Timeline, Book #1, January:
Wed. Jan 2 (Backstory): Howard Blackstone’s chartered jet disappears. Also on board are Marise Davenport-Hammond and Howard’s lawyer, Ian Van Dyke.
Thurs, Jan 3: Ric hears that debris has been sighted off the Australian coast. There is no doubt the plane went down. Media is waiting in NZ and he wonders who leaked the story so soon. He breaks the news to Kim and together they fly back to Sydney. At Howard’s mansion they are met by Sonya, Danielle, Ryan and Garth Buick. They learn that a female was recovered from the sea but died on a fishing boat and there is speculation about why Marise was with Howard. The possibility of an affair is raised and dismissed.
Sat, Jan 5: The pilot’s body is found in the sea. Search and Rescue calls off the hunt for survivors. NSW Water Police are called in to locate the wreckage and retrieve the bodies.
Mon, Jan 7: Kim talks to Matt, who is in Sydney to identify Marise’s body. He has arranged a swift, private burial for Wednesday. He isn’t prepared to let the feud go.
Tues, Jan 8: Media focus switches to the scandals in Howard’s past — his kidnapped son, his wife’s suicide, the family feuds. Worried Blackstone executives meet to discuss how to counter the negative publicity and the threat of a Matt Hammond takeover.
Thurs, Jan 10: Wreckage is found on the seabed. Kimberley attends the board meeting and accepts a directorship and a PR position. She meets the head of HR, Max Carlton. Ric is voted as interim chairman and CEO of Blackstone’s and Ryan isn’t happy at being usurped. Kim calls Matt and resigns from Hammonds. She meets Holly McLeod and they discuss the kidnapped Blackstone baby. We learn that Howard never gave up believing his eldest son was alive somewhere.
Fri, Jan 11: Police divers locate three bodies in the wreckage, which means one is still missing. Due to the depth of the water and adverse weather conditions on the surface it may take several days before the bodies are recovered using remote operation equipment.
Mon, Jan 14: Working on PR for the February jewellery launch, Kimberley meets Jessica Cotter. They talk about the history of Blackstone’s and the infamous Blackstone Rose necklace.
Tues, Jan 15: Ric and Kim leave for the outback mine and become lovers. They learn that the bodies have been recovered but it may take weeks for them to be identified using DNA and dental records.
Sun, Jan 20: On a Sunday business show, Blackstone Diamonds is mentioned as a prime takeover target. Ric tells Kim that Matt Hammond is buying up shares.
Fri, Jan 25: Kimberley’s 32nd birthday. She sees Ryan and Jessica together and wonders if they’re lovers. While discussing the jewellery launch, Briana’s name comes up and Kim wonders if she’s as self-obsessed as her sister Marise. Howard’s body is formally identified and will be released to the family on Monday.
Wed, Jan 31: Garth advises Kim and Ric and Ryan that Howard made a new will, but we don’t learn anything of its contents.
Fri, Feb 1 (Book 2): Howard’s funeral and reading of the new will. |
