by Beth Abbott
And to top off forgetting Rory’s birthday and failing to show up for the meal, he’d left his wife and kids to walk the three miles home alone on a cold, dark and stormy December night. Anything could have happened to them.
Matt dropped his head into his hands, as the shame and regret washed over him.
He had the best wife in the world, and three amazing kids, and he had treated them like shit, all because he was busy hobnobbing with football royalty, and making a name for himself and Alpha Company.
That was the kind of thing you’d expect of a dead-beat dad, not a doting, loving family man like he… Matt paused that thought.
He’d used to be a doting, loving husband and father, but maybe not so much recently.
He needed to get his act together before the rest of the family found out about this, or he was going to get the ass-kicking to end all ass-kickings from his fellow Alpha Company team-mates.
More importantly, he needed to get his act together before his wife realised that she’d be better off without him and kicked his ass to the kerb.
Only one thing scared him more than getting a bollocking from his fellow directors, and that was the thought of losing his wife.
That was so not going to happen!
Chapter 3 – Evan
Evan climbed back into the car and sighed with relief.
He’d just dropped the football player he was supposed to be guarding back at his house, along with the wannabe WAG sister who trailed the poor kid everywhere.
Jesus, if ever there was a case of chalk and cheese, that pair were it.
The boy, Robbie, was quiet, polite, and totally focussed on his football, to the exclusion of everything else a typical teenager might want to get up to in his free time.
The sister, however, was your typical wannabe WAG, out to snag herself a rich footballing boyfriend.
She wore half an inch of make-up hiding what would probably be quite a pretty face, and everything else about her was just as false.
False nails, false eyelashes, even her eyebrows were tattooed on. What the fuck was that all about? Evan rolled his eyes.
There was possibly nothing about the woman you could recognise as genuine. Even her cleavage appeared to be enhanced by one of those padded bras.
Logan had already had the misfortune of overhearing one of her conversations with her younger brother, where she’d laid out all the reasons why he should pay for her to have a boob job. He’d shared the story with Evan over a pint a few weeks before, and somehow Evan hadn’t been surprised that Cerys was after more money. When wasn’t she?
Thankfully, quiet and polite as he might be, Robbie was no push-over. Apparently, he’d suggested that if Cerys was so desperate to have a surgeon cut her open, she could save the money herself out of the monthly allowance he gave her, because it would only take a few months to get the money together.
Logan’s impersonation of Cerys exploding had been hilarious, despite the fact that Logan’s Scottish accent was nothing like the strong Welsh accent Cerys slipped into, every time she shrieked at her brother.
Of all the accents to be found in Wales, the Cardiff accent wasn’t exactly the softest, as he well knew, but at least most of the time, Cerys tried to use the more refined accent you would expect of someone raised in Lisvane, one of the nicest parts of Cardiff.
It was only when she got worked up that her working-class background showed through, and she sounded more like the girls he’d grown up with in the terraced streets of Splott and nearby Tremorfa.
The main difference between Cerys and the Splott women, in Evan’s humble opinion, was that the women he’d grown up with tended to be honest, hard-working and family orientated, with a lot more class and decency than that spoiled bitch ever showed.
Which went to prove that money couldn’t buy character or class. Those were traits you either had or you didn’t.
“Straight home, Ev?” His driver’s voice cut into his thoughts.
“God, yes. Thanks, Len.” He grinned. “Logan’s picking up a take-out after they drop off the French kid. He’d better make it a good one after foisting Cerys on me for the next month.”
“Matt likes the protection officers to rotate the people they’re guarding.” Len shrugged. “It stops the clients getting too familiar with the guards, and stops the guards getting too complacent with the routines.”
“It’s a sensible policy.” Evan nodded. “I just wish it was only the players we had to look after. Having the whining, tag-along sister to contend with is a major pain in the ass.”
“Yeah, well if you’re going to be with Robbie for the next month, I should warn you it won’t only be your ass that will be feeling the pain.” Len grinned. “When there’s an evening event they have to attend, Cerys is fond of a drink or six. When that happens, she can get quite handsy.”
“Handsy?” Evan frowned. “Is that even a word?”
“Handsy?” Len laughed. “Yeah, of course it is. It means she gets wandering hands. Sheesh! Do I need to spell it out for you? The girl likes to cop a feel of your package.”
“My package?” Evan snorted. “Shit! Logan may have forgotten to mention that little snippet.”
“Forgotten, my ass!” Len snorted. “He warned her if she kept trying to touch his crotch, he’d report her to the club for sexual harassment and have her barred from club social events.”
“Seriously?” Evan was surprised Logan hadn’t mentioned it to him.
“On my life.” Len nodded. “He flagged it up with Matt the first time it happened, and every time after that. He even had me speak to Matt as a witness, in case she turned it around and tried to blame him. She’s a menace, that one. Don’t trust her as far as you can throw her.”
Len pulled the car up outside Evan’s apartment block, and he opened the door.
“I’ll pick you up at eight in the morning to go and get your car.” Len grinned. “They should have the gates open by then, even if they’re not fixed yet. You’ll need it if you’re going to meet the kid at the training ground.”
“Sounds like a plan. Thanks.” Evan nodded.
Evan waved Len off and made his way up to the apartment he shared with Logan.
He could smell the curry as soon as he opened the door and was thankful his housemate had arrived home before him.
He walked into the kitchen just as Logan was opening the first take-away carton.
“I got you a Madras with extra coriander and a keema naan.” Logan turned to grab some plates out of the cupboard.
“Chips or rice?” Evan shrugged out of his jacket and pulled his tie loose.
“Both. I got two of each, so you can take your pick.” Logan pulled the rest of the food from the bags. “It looks like they threw in some poppadums and mint sauce as freebies.”
“Cool.” Evan grabbed a six-pack of beer from the fridge. “Dining table or tray?”
Logan scowled at him.
“Dining table.” He growled. “I ruined my grey suit trousers last week trying to eat my curry off my lap. It cost me ninety quid to order a new pair.”
“I warned you not to overfill your plate.” Evan sighed. “But would you listen? Erm? That would be a no.”
“Yeah, yeah!” Logan gathered the cartons together on his plate and carried his meal over to the glass table. “Pass me a knife and fork, would you? Ta very much.”
Evan grabbed some cutlery and transferred his meal to the table.
Once his food was dished out and he’d enjoyed the first mouthful, he sat back and looked at his long-time friend.
“So, when were you going to tell me?” He asked, before taking a swig of his beer.
“Tell you?” Logan mumbled, his mouth full of curry. “About what?”
Evan grinned.
“About Cerys?” He said simply.
“Aah…Cerys!” Logan chuckled. “The Cardiff Cougar.”
“The what?” Evan nearly choked on his beer. “Len told me she was fondling your ‘package’. He
didn’t mention anything about her being a cougar. Isn’t she a bit young for that?”
“She’s almost twenty-eight, not that she acts it, and she’s been hitting on her brother’s young team-mates.” Logan scoffed. “Mostly the eighteen and nineteen-year-olds with more testosterone than sense. She’s trying to snag herself a rich boyfriend-slash-husband, and she’s willing to use whatever assets she has to achieve it.”
“So, what’s she doing feeling you up then?” Evan grinned. “You’re old enough to be her dad.”
“Hardly.” Logan laughed. “Not unless I impregnated her mother when I was five.”
“Well, you hardly fit the demographic she’s looking at, do you?” Evan swigged his beer. “You’re much too old, and I’m guessing that while the testosterone levels may have dipped with your advancing years, you still have at least two functioning brain cells.”
“Thanks for the compliment.” Logan scowled. “Anyway, she doesn’t grope me because she’s interested in me. She does it when she’s drunk, and all the youngsters have flipped her off for an evening at home playing Fortnite or FIFA.”
Evan shook his head.
“It comes to something when the youth of today will turn down the opportunity of a night of sex with a cougar, for an evening on the sofa with their Xbox One or PS4.” He chuckled.
“What’s the world coming to, right?” Logan smiled. “But on a serious note, I’d keep my distance if I was you. That woman is trouble.”
“I have no intention of going anywhere near her.” Evan said with conviction. “I prefer to keep my private life private, and my professional life professional. No blurred lines.”
“Yeah, well just watch yourself, and make sure she doesn’t blur them for you.” Logan broke off a piece of naan and dipped it in the curry sauce. “And maybe think of keeping a groin protector handy. That woman’s grip is relentless. And don’t forget to report any incidents to Matt. You can’t risk her turning around and saying you groped her. Your job is far more important than a little embarrassment.”
“No fear.” Evan nodded. “I’ll keep Matt’s number on speed-dial. If she steps out of line, I’ll let him know straight away. I love this job… well, not this job exactly. But I love being a Guardian. I can’t wait for another mission to come up, so we can get the team back together.”
“I spoke to Hannah this morning.” Logan confirmed. “It looks like Drago and Kellen’s new lady-friend, Micky, will be done with the Russian military by Christmas, and will be joining the Guardians full time in January. Niko will be well enough to start work, at least part-time, after Christmas, so they’re trying to line up the next job.”
“I thought Drago was going to stay in the military and just work with the Guardians on the side.” Evan frowned, reaching for another beer.
“Yeah, well, losing a friend will always make you rethink your life choices.” Logan shrugged. “Plus, I think there was concern that his cover may have been compromised since he had to give evidence at Lebedev’s trial. Lebedev had Drago’s image on file from when he visited the casino, and it’s bound to have been circulated by now. Even with Hannah’s help shutting Lebedev’s computers down, somebody out there is bound to have Drago’s details.”
“So, the next operation won’t be in Russia.” Evan guessed. “Did Hannah suggest where it might be?”
“Nope.” Logan swallowed a mouthful of curry. “But she did say there were a few jobs on the horizon, where she’s working with various organisations to build up credible intelligence packages. She’s just waiting to see which one comes through first before she tells us what our next assignment will be.”
Evan returned his attention to his curry. He knew Hannah would keep the details close to her chest until there was something to tell them. He just hoped that something came up soon.
“So, how do you find Robbie, then?” Logan asked. “Aside from having the cougar for a big sister, I found him to be a good kid. The new Welsh Wizard they’re calling him. The next Gareth Bale.”
Evan raised one eyebrow.
“I’m sorry, but there is only one Gareth Bale… and Gareth Bale is his name.” Evan crossed himself in reverence at the name of his favourite Welsh footballer. “If the kid gets anywhere within touching distance of Gareth, I’ll be amazed. Until then, let’s just call him potentially the next Ryan Giggs, shall we?”
Logan grinned at him like he was simple, but there was a pecking order to Welsh footballers past and present, that unless you were Welsh, you really didn’t understand.
There was Bale, or Saint Gareth, as he was known in the pubs in Cardiff, and then Giggs, if you could overcome the fact that he played his club football at Manchester United, which was close to being a mortal sin to anyone who wasn’t a United supporter. Then you had Gary Speed, God rest his soul, followed by Robbie Savage, Craig Bellamy, Aaron Ramsay and Joe Allen.
They might only be a small country, but Evan could go on for hours about his favourite Welsh players of the previous twenty-five years. If the kid was as good as Logan claimed, then he should think himself lucky to even be compared to Giggs.
“Yeah, whatever.” Logan rolled his eyes. “But you haven’t answered my question. What do you think of the kid?”
Evan shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t think I’ve exchanged more than twenty words with him yet.” He admitted. “Every time I’ve got anywhere near him, his sister has been running her mouth off. I’ve kept my distance. Why do you ask?”
“No reason, really.” Logan speared a piece of chicken on his plate. “I just got the impression he knew you.”
“Knew me?” Evan stopped moving with his fork half an inch from his mouth. “How would he know me?”
“When we first arrived in Birmingham, and went into the club to meet the teams, I noticed he was staring straight at you.” Logan explained. “Then a couple of days later, when we were at the training ground, you pulled up with the Dutch kid, and he noticed you again. On the way home, he asked me what your name was.”
“Did he say why he was asking?” Evan frowned.
“Nope. I just gave him your name and he nodded, as though it was the name he expected to hear.” Logan shrugged. “A couple of times over the weeks he’s asked whether you’ll be his new security guard when we rotate, but that’s about it.”
“Then if he thinks he knows me, why hasn’t he said something before now.” Evan puzzled. “Although, I can’t think where he’d know me from. I haven’t lived in Cardiff for more than a decade, and even when I did, my family lived in Splott, and Robbie’s family is from Lisvane. They’re not exactly in the same council tax bracket.”
Logan smiled.
“I got the impression that Robbie’s family didn’t always come from money.” He shrugged. “Not that he ever said anything to me directly, but I think it’s one of those complicated families with divorced parents, remarriages, and half-siblings all over the place.”
Evan sighed.
“There’s a lot of that about these days.” He scraped the last of his curry onto his naan bread. “Although, with so many people not bothering to even get married these days, at least it cuts out the divorce and remarriage part. They can just move straight in with the next partner.”
“Is it any wonder the next generation is confused?” Logan shuddered. “They could be chatting up a woman in a nightclub, only to find out the next day that they shagged their half-sister. Eww!”
“Ok, that’s a little too vivid an image for my liking. And it’s also why when I go back to Cardiff for a visit, I never go out drinking, and I absolutely never go to nightclubs.” Evan pulled a face. “To the best of my knowledge, my dad only has the one family, and I base that assumption on the fact that my mam hasn’t cut his balls off yet. I do, however, have a lot of girl cousins, most of them quite a bit older than me.”
“And that’s a cause for concern, how?” Logan frowned.
“That’s a concern because most of those girl cousins now have adult daug
hters of their own.” Evan explained. “I haven’t seen most of those girls since they were in nappies. The last thing I want to do is take a girl home after a good night out and wake up the next day facing one of my cousins’ husbands. No, thank you very much.”
“Exactly how many girl cousins do you have?” Logan wondered.
“I think it’s around seventeen.” Evan grinned. “And each of them has between two and four daughters each. Too many to take a chance.”
“True.” Logan laughed. “But there’s no reason why you can’t take me to the next family gathering, is there? I’m rather partial to a Christening or an engagement party.”
Evan’s glare told Logan everything he needed to know about his response to that suggestion.
Chapter 4 – Suzy
Suzy lay in the double bed in Rory’s room, tears streaming down her cheeks.
How could her life have turned around so much in the last twelve months?
A year ago, she was giving birth to a much-wanted baby boy, and Matt had been the proudest daddy in the world, holding his new son for the first time, while cuddling Taylor and grinning at Charlie, in her favourite family photo.
The kids were excited for Rory to arrive, Matt was over the moon, and she thought her life couldn’t have been more perfect.
So, when had it all changed?
She didn’t have to think back too far to work that one out.
The day she came home from hospital with Rory, Matt announced that he and JT had discussed the Birmingham office, and they’d both decided that as Suzy was going to need months to get back on her feet, it would be a good idea for a new PA to be appointed to take some of the pressure off Matt’s shoulders.
That meant that when Suzy was ready to come back to work from maternity leave, she would be able to come back part-time, so she could continue to be there for the kids’ school runs and stuff, and her mum would only have to look after Rory on a part-time basis.
Suzy had tried to tell them that she didn’t really mind working longer hours, but that seemed to fall on deaf ears.