Discarded

by Shae Banks

  I grimaced. “I’m sorry, I looked, I had to. You’re from a different background. You have everything. My family has fought for every penny. A bottle of perfume like this is a luxury.”

  He rolled into his back and looked at the ceiling. “When my father died, I inherited ten million plus shares in the company. It’s enough to live comfortably without touching the investment capital. We each took a property, too. Richard took the town house in London while, Cissy and Luke took an apartment each. I chose this place. Mother gave me the difference in value, and I invested it in the hotel. My eldest brother said I was mad, gave me hell for turning my back on the family business, but I needed to get away from the city. I might come from that, but I’m not like them. Money doesn’t mean anything to me. Honestly, it brings its own problems, and knowing what I know I’d rather work for something to call my own.” He rolled into his side again, and added, “I don’t want you to struggle, but you’re not a charity case, Bekah. You’ve held your own for years. You don’t need me or my money, but I need to be able to buy you a gift with you not feeling guilty.”

  “But I can’t repay it.”

  “Allowing me to be part of your life is all I could ever need. You can’t put a price on that.”

  I pressed the palm of my free hand against his chest and sighed. “I’m sorry I snooped.”

  “I’d do the same. Out of interest, what’s their guess at the company value these days?”

  “Over a hundred million,” I said, my throat feeling tight. That was a disgusting amount of money. I couldn’t even imagine it.

  His lips quirked up at one side. “Mother will be disappointed she doesn’t have her own page. She is worth that alone when you take her personal investments and properties into account.”

  There wasn’t a damn thing I could say to that. “Is she… What family is she from?”

  He laughed. “None of note, she’s just got a head for the stock market. She’s originally from a small mining village in Kent. Her father, Grandpa Callum, was a miner who came over from Ireland. Her mother, Grandma Molly, was a seamstress. Mother worked for the post office. There was holy hell when my mother married my father in secret. My grandfather, George Lowell, was furious, said he’d married beneath him. Grandmother was quietly supportive.

  “So I wasn’t raised with a silver spoon in my mouth all the time. Sometimes, I slummed it with the mining stock and had a happier childhood for it.”

  “Is that why you chose this place?”

  He shook his head. “I chose this place because it was as far away from London as I could get without leaving the country, but I won’t bore you with that story tonight. You have company arriving in just over half an hour, and you aren’t even dressed.” He sticks his finger into my cleavage and kissed me, then sat up and picked up the pen again. “It’s a beautiful piece.”

  “Yeah. You wouldn’t t dare use it though, would you? Give me a good old biro any day.”

  He looked back at me and smiled. “There’s nothing wrong with the finer things,” he said. “But it’s a good measure of character when someone really appreciates them. Get ready, I’ll see you downstairs.”

  I watched him leave, feeling a little guilty. I had this preconceived idea of how his family’s wealth would have influenced him, and it wasn’t true at all.

  Reminding myself we were still getting to know one another, I got up and finished getting ready. Assuming my friends were going to turn up, I should be there to greet them at the door.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The lounge, while not decorated to my tastes at all, was cozy with the fire lit. Callum had arranged two sofas to sit either side of the fireplace with the coffee table between them. On the table was an ice bucket and glasses, plates, cutlery, and napkins for four, and one of my CDs was playing.

  Callum came into the room behind me with a bottle of white wine in his hand and kissed my cheek as he passed and placed it in the ice bucket. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nervous,” I said, looking around the room. Some of the paintings on the walls looked as though they’d always hung there, and the sideboard on the rear wall was adorned with several items I’d never noticed before. “What’s all this?”

  He joined me. “A few antiques I picked up. They won’t fit with the new décor, so I’ll have to take them somewhere else. I may sell them, or even give them to my mother for safekeeping.”

  “I’m sure we can keep them,” I said, running my fingertips over the top of what looked like a chessboard. “Is this complete?”

  He nodded, opening the lid. “Ebony and ivory, hand carved in France around eighteen hundred and five. It matches the coffee table. That painting”—he pointed to the one hanging above us— “is an original Olsson. I won’t tell you what I paid for it, even to me it’s obscene, but it captured my feelings when I arrived here.”

  I looked up at the painting that hung in its gilt frame, illuminated by an overhanging wall light. It was a seascape depicting the tumultuous waves of a high tide crashing against the rocks where the painter sat. The sky was clearing, a stark contrast to the churning waters below. In the distance was a lighthouse, it’s light weak against the dawn. But there was a light. Sanctuary from the now calming storm. At first glance the whole scene was bleak and dangerous, but when you stopped to really look you could see the changes coming. The storm was passing. The sea would calm. The lighthouse wouldn’t be needed by any passing boats because the dawn brought light and clearer views.

  It was a picture of hope.

  The sound of the heavy brass knocker on the front door startled me, dragging me from my study of the painting.

  “I’ll get it,” Callum said, heading straight for the door.

  I followed.

  “Hi, you must be Nicky,” he said, allowing her inside. “And Karen?”

  “Kaz,” she said, stepping inside

  I stood by the lounge door, feeing awkward, and smiled when they both looked at me. “Thanks for coming.”

  “And miss the chance to nose around this place without spending sixty quid on a meal?” Kaz said, walking over and pulling me into a tight hug. “Missed you.”

  Callum closed the front door as Nicky took off her coat. “Shall I take that for you?”

  She looked at him and raised her eyebrows. “Thanks. I brought wine.”

  He nodded to me. “I won’t be staying. I’ll hang your coat in the dining room.”

  When he’d gone through to hang her coat, she mouthed, “What the fuck is going on?”

  I shrugged and pointed to the lounge, and they both went through.

  They both looked around at the various antiques, and I pushed the door almost closed. “I’ll explain, just wait five minutes.”

  Nicky nodded, looking at the coffee table. “Bloody hell.”

  “Yeah. He likes to make an impression. Sit down, the wine’s open. I’ll stick this bottle in the fridge.

  The second I left the room they erupted into excited chatter. I didn’t want to know what they were saying.

  With the wine in the fridge, I was heading back to them when Callum backed through the kitchen door with two heavy boards. “Can you get the doors?”

  “You didn’t have to go to that much trouble,” I said, allowing him to pass.

  “It’s no trouble at all,” he said, nudging the lounge door with his elbow. He placed the two boards on the coffee table and turned back to me. “I’ll leave you ladies to it. If you need more wine help yourselves to the bar.” He turned to leave. “And I’ll see you tomorrow if you’re not busy.”

  He kissed me gently before heading for the door.

  “Yeah. Umm, I’ll see you in the morning or… yeah,” I spluttered, turning to follow him.

  He smiled back at me. “I’ll let myself out. Need the car from the back. Have fun.”

  I was left looking at the door, Nicky and Kaz behind me.

  “He’s nice,” Nicky said as I turned around.

  I sat on the edge of one of
the sofas and began pouring wine. “He is.”

  “So…?”

  I glanced up at Kaz, who sat down opposite, and pushed a glass toward her. “So what?”

  “Where the fuck has you been? How did you meet Prince Charming? And how long has this been a thing?” she asked. Kaz was never one to hold back. She’d just say what was on her mind and that was that.

  Nicky was more diplomatic, but if Kaz wasn’t around she could fire the questions just as well.

  Nicky nodded, apparently satisfied with the line of questioning. “Start with him.”

  “He’s my boss,” I said, taking my own glass. “We sort of got to talking over a drink on Christmas Day, and we got together after that.”

  “Okay, shagging the boss. Fair enough. Where have you been for a year?”

  I glanced to Nicky, she was nodding again.

  “I got myself in a bit of a mess,” I said, looking at the two boards loaded with food. “I was seeing someone. He was married so it was a secret. Ruth saw us together once, and it freaked her out. Having plans didn’t work well around his impromptu visits so I stayed at home a lot waiting for him. Sometimes he turned up, sometimes he didn’t, but—” I looked away.

  Kaz frowned. “So you just dropped everyone and everything on the off chance?”

  I nodded. It sounded ridiculous now, but at the time it had felt like the right thing to do. “Yeah. I fell for him. He was just keeping his dick wet.”

  “What happened?” Nicky pressed.

  I sighed. “I lost my shit when he turned up for a quick fuck on Christmas Eve then pulled up his pants and left me to be with his family. That was when it finally sank in. I started shouting. He strangled me, I cut him off. I stayed here Christmas Day, so he couldn’t find me to try and apologise, then Boxing Day he tried to blackmail me.”

  “You stayed here? With him?”

  “Callum,” I said, not liking the way she said him at all. “He let me stay in one of the guest rooms. When I got home the next day Johnathan was waiting for me. It carried on for a few days, but I tried to break up with him again on New Year’s Day, and he hurt me. I ran, and Callum found me on the pier. Took me back to his place, I stayed the night, then left to sort my shit out. Then we kind of… well, somehow we ended up in bed, and it’s gone from there.”

  They were both glaring at me. I took a large mouthful of wine and waited uncomfortably for one of them to say something.

  I didn’t have to wait long.

  “So who is Johnathan?”

  I looked down into my glass. “Johnathan Pierce.”

  “That slimy wanker? Fucking hell, Bekah,” Nicky spat. “I could have warned you if you’d said something.”

  “I didn’t…”

  “At least you’re away from it now,” Kaz said, surprising me with the gentleness in her voice. “I assume Callum’s better?”

  “Oh god, yeah,” I said grinning. “He’s so different. I mean this”—I indicated the table with a sweep of my hand— “was his idea. All of it was. He told me to get hold of you both. He said I should get back to normal. How I was before Johnathan.”

  “He made you see your friends?” Kaz asked in surprise.

  I nodded. “I wasn’t sure you’d come, but he was.”

  Nicky looked wounded. “Why wouldn’t we come?”

  I shrugged. “I dunno. I just dropped you, and I expected you to tell me to fuck off.”

  Kaz put her glass down and leaned forward, helping herself to the meat, cheese, fruit, and bread on the table. “Well, I thought about it, but that wouldn’t do any good. We missed you, Bek. We didn’t know what we did.”

  “I thought it was because I had Jensen,” Nicky said sadly. “I know things changed a bit, but once I stopped breastfeeding, I was back to having nights out and stuff. It wasn’t forever.”

  Tears filled my eyes as I shook my head. I’d never considered she would blame herself, that she would think it was because she’d had a baby. We’d all been so excited waiting for him to be born. “It wasn’t you. God, Nicky, I mean, Jensen is gorgeous. It was me. I fucked up.”

  “For fuck’s sake,” Kaz muttered, abandoning her food and joining me on the sofa.

  She pulled me into her chest, squeezing tight and said, “It doesn’t matter now. Everyone’s okay, you’ve got a new start. Yeah, we’re mad at you for not telling us. We could have fucking helped, but everything’s okay now, isn’t it?”

  I nodded as well as I could with my face crushed against her.

  “Think you’re suffocating her, Kaz,” Nicky said, refilling her glass and putting the empty bottle down. “That didn’t last long.”

  Kaz released me, and I smoothed down my hair. “There’s another bottle. Let’s have something to eat, and I’ll get it.”

  “This is amazing,” Kaz said, going back to her plate.

  “Callum got it all from that deli at the market place. The wines from the merchant on the Main Street.”

  “No wonder it’s going down well. You need a mortgage to buy wine from there.”

  “I think he’s okay for a few quid,” Nicky said, gazing around the room.

  “He does all right,” I said, dipping a thin slice of ciabatta into some oil.

  “I heard he was a millionaire,” Nicky pressed.

  I shrugged. “He inherited some money, moved in here, and turned it into a hotel. He just made me manager.”

  They both looked at me with their eyebrows raised.

  “Not because I’m… I showed him some ideas I’d had. And when I told him I’ve got a degree in hospitality he threw a contract at me. That’s why we’re closed, he’s renovating and rebranding based on my ideas.”

  Kaz broke the silence.

  “Wow.”

  “What?”

  “He’s playing the long game.”

  I frowned. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  She rolled her eyes. “How long have you been together?”

  I shrugged. “Three weeks.”

  She shook her head. “He’s been in this longer that you have.”

  “Do you think?”

  Nicky nodded as Kaz popped an olive into her mouth and hastily spat it back out. “Yep.”

  “Good thing since I signed the contract and moved in here then,” I said, taking more food from the boards. “Because if he wasn’t, he’d be stuck with me.”

  “You actually live here?” Nicky asked. “Like this?”

  She meant the antiques. While I loved them, I certainly couldn’t live surrounded by them every day. I was glad I didn’t have to clean round them. It’d take ages.

  I laughed. “No, I live in the flat on the top floor. I only just moved my stuff out of Johnathan’s flat.”

  “He was your landlord, too?” Kaz said, incredulous.

  I shrugged. “Got me a discount in the rent for a year.”

  Nicky snorted into her glass. “Sorry. I shouldn’t laugh.”

  I smirked. “Yeah, well, if I can’t laugh I’d sit and cry. I’m well away from the prick now. Fuck him.”

  “Yeah, prick,” Nicky agreed, raising her glass. “Now, much more importantly, are we getting to snoop around the posh rooms?”

  I gulped my wine and raised my brows. “Yeah, if you like. The four-poster room is lovely.”

  “Even after you’ve christened it?” Kaz snorted.

  “Shut up, dirty bitch,” I said, putting down my glass and heading for the door. “Come on. I’ll take you up to the flat, too. My bath is fucking amazing.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Three more bottles of wine and a guided tour later, it was eleven o’clock and Nicky’s taxi had arrived and Kaz decided to share with her.

  I hugged them both and thanked them for coming.

  “Just glad you’re back, chick,” Kaz said, descending the front steps. “You’ll have to come to mine next time.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I’ll let you know when I’m free. It’s going to be mental in here starting Monday, and I’ve go
t loads to do.”

  Nicky wobbled her way down the steps after her and called, “Say bye to Callum for me.”

  “Shut up, you drunken tart, and get in the car,” Kaz snapped, helping her open the taxi door.

  I waved them off laughing, and when the car wasn’t visible on the road any more, I went inside and locked the door behind me.

  It was so quiet. I was used to the hustle and bustle of the place full of diners. The place felt so empty. I didn’t like it.

  Back in the lounge, I made sure the guard was securely in front of the grate and gathered up our dirty glasses and empty bottles. After two trips, I had the lounge back to normal, and went back to the kitchen to wash up, pouring myself a final glass of wine.

  With everything clean and put away, I turned off the lights and was about to go upstairs when I couldn’t remember having locked the back door after Kaz had been out for a cigarette.

  “Fucking hell,” I muttered to myself as I slid the bolts over on the door and turned the key. It was bad enough I’d forgotten, but now that I knew some of the antiques downstairs were very valuable I was even more security conscious.

  Lights all off, I picked up my glass and made my way into the entrance hall to set the alarms and get myself up to my flat when the lounge door opened.

  I startled, almost dropping my glass, and said, “Callum, you said you were staying at the apartment.”

  My blood ran cold when I recognised the long, woolen coat, and I backed toward the dining room door.

  I connected with it sooner than I expected, halting my retreat. “Johnathan, you shouldn’t be in here. You should leave.”

  How long had he been in the building? I knew how he’d gotten in, the fucking gall of him, letting himself into someone’s home was beyond anything I thought he’d do. But he didn’t look like he was thinking clearly. His eyes were wild, the look on his face just like the one he’d worn the first time he hurt me. He took a step closer as though he hadn’t heard me.

  I reached for the handle, hoping to get into the dining room and put some distance between us.

  “You’ve cost me everything,” he said as I scrabbled with the door handle. In my panic, my hand slipped on the smooth copper, and I turned my back to him to shove it open.