Risking It All

by Stephanie Harte

  63

  Gemma

  Clearing my throat, I prepared to drop a bombshell. I had something on my mind, and I needed to get it off my chest. ‘Have you got a minute?’ I said when Alfie opened the door of his room later that day.

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘I just wanted to let you know that as of now I’m retiring from my life of crime. I’m not working for you again.’ I wiped the palms of my hands on my dress while I waited for his reply.

  ‘No problem.’ Alfie placed his hand over mine.

  I’d been dreading having this conversation with him, but his response surprised me. He’d taken the news better than I’d expected. He was obviously eager to please me.

  Alfie gave me a lingering look and slid his hands around my waist. I wriggled out of his grasp and took up a new position out of arm’s reach. Did this man never give up? I should have known he’d expect some kind of repayment.

  ‘You know, the main reason I kept increasing Nathan’s debt was so I could be near you.’

  His comment got under my skin. Tensing my jaw, I searched for a suitable reply, but couldn’t find the right words. There was nothing I could say to describe how I felt. As anger built up inside me, I struggled to contain it.

  ‘You’re mad at me now, aren’t you?’

  Alfie read the look on my face correctly. I’d never been good at hiding my feelings. As I went to answer him, he cut me off by raising the palm of his hand.

  ‘Look at this from my point of view: if I’d let you pay back the money and you were free to go, you wouldn’t have stayed, would you?’ Alfie scanned my face for a reaction.

  He was right; I would have gone home at the first opportunity. But thanks to him, that wasn’t an option now. I was wanted by the police in multiple countries, so I’d never be able to return to my old life. The realisation of that made me feel hollow inside.

  ‘In my line of work, life can be short. You have to make the most of every day because you never know when it might be over.’

  ‘What a sobering thought.’

  ‘Travelling the world, staying in the best hotels isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. It can be tough living a life of luxury, but I find it’s one way to spend my money. Do you want kids?’ Alfie asked, completely out of the blue.

  I wanted nothing more than to be a mother, and although I was thirty now, I was no closer to fulfilling that dream. Perhaps I would be if I’d listened to my parents and married a wealthy businessman like they’d wanted me to. They were determined to control my choice of partner and turn me into a clone of themselves. Money breeds money, so they say. But I told them I would never marry for money; I’d only settle for love.

  Rosa could see Nathan and I were infatuated with each other, so she let me move into their rented flat, around the corner from Mamma Donatella’s, two months after we met. My parents were disgusted that she was allowing us to live together under her roof, and this made our strained relationship even worse. I’d naively thought if I put some distance between us, it might improve matters, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. It made everything ten times worse.

  When we got engaged on my eighteenth birthday, it was the final nail in the coffin. My parents were disappointed in my choice. They were convinced Nathan was a gold digger. They threatened to cut me off and write me out of their will if I went ahead with the wedding. They made it clear: I had to choose between them and Nathan. I chose Nathan. We married a year later. None of my family came to the wedding.

  ‘Why the long pause?’ Alfie studied me.

  ‘Yes, I’d like a family,’ I replied, hoping my eyes didn’t tear over and give away how strongly I felt about it.

  ‘So why haven’t you started one?’ Alfie arched his brow. ‘You’re not getting any younger.’

  I bristled at his comment, well aware of the fact that women only have a small window of opportunity for these things. Having children was something I wanted more than anything.

  Alfie stepped towards me. ‘I can see how important this is to you. Why put it off?’

  I wondered how it could be so obvious to Alfie, and yet, my husband had never noticed how much starting a family meant to me. I listened to my biological clock ticking while I wrapped my arms around myself for comfort. Although I didn’t want Alfie to know my business, the words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

  ‘Nathan wants to wait. He thinks having children will be too much of a financial sacrifice at the moment.’

  I regretted saying that to Alfie as soon as I’d finished the sentence. I knew it was a cop-out. The real reason we hadn’t started a family had nothing to do with money, no matter what Nathan said. It was because my husband refused to grow up. He was still a child himself, and a spoilt one at that.

  ‘And his failed business ventures make financial sense, do they?’ Alfie shook his head. ‘Look at all the things you’ve had to sacrifice for him, and he repays you by taking away your chance to be a mother.’

  ‘I think it’s a bit premature for me to grieve for the children I will never have.’ I hope I sounded more convincing than I felt.

  ‘Maybe it is. But you’ve got to admit Nathan’s not treating you very well.’

  That was none of his business. But he was right. I could see right through what he was up to. Stirring the pot came naturally to Alfie.

  ‘Nathan’s number-one priority should be to make you happy, not miserable.’

  ‘I’m not miserable.’

  ‘You’ve got a face like a slapped arse, Gemma.’

  ‘And you’ve got such a lovely way with words, I can’t help being flattered by the compliment,’ I replied, unable to hide my sarcastic tone.

  ‘When you leave Nathan, you could start a family with me instead,’ Alfie said as if we had a rosy future ahead of us.

  Being skilled at manipulating a situation, Alfie wasted no time offering me what he knew I wanted more than anything. I looked him in the eye so he’d realise I was serious. ‘You can forget that idea. I’m never going to leave Nathan.’

  ‘You will,’ Alfie said with an air of confidence.

  64

  Gemma

  It felt like every time I turned on the TV, my description was being aired. Realising I was finding this unsettling, Alfie decided a change of tactics was in order.

  ‘We’re heading to Switzerland,’ he said when we took our seats in the car. ‘It’s only an hour away from France, but it’ll give us a base in a different country while the cops are sniffing around.’

  The thought of the police closing in on us made my pulse race, but there was nothing I could do about it. My fate was in Alfie’s hands.

  *

  The drive wasn’t at all what I’d expected. Instead of us travelling along a high alpine pass, on a road winding between snow-capped mountains, we spent the entire time on the motorway. But when the Mercedes came to a stop by Lake Geneva, the journey soon became a distant memory.

  I stood for a moment on the shore of the crystal-clear lake, nestled below the base of the Alps. I breathed in the crisp, clear air. As I watched the swans gliding on the smooth surface of the water, in the bright winter sunshine, I knew this was the kind of view that people wrote home about, and it made me think of Rosa. She would be so worried about us, but there was no way to put her mind at rest. It wasn’t possible to contact her as Alfie had confiscated our phones before we left England, and even though he’d given me a mobile to use, he’d told me it was only so I could communicate with him. Every day he checked the handset to make sure no personal calls had been made from it.

  ‘Come on, Gemma, we need to check in,’ Alfie said, distracting me from my thoughts.

  *

  In complete contrast to our surroundings, La Reserve Hotel resembled a safari lodge. I felt like I was in an African game reserve as we approached the building. Flaming torches burned brightly on either side of the main entrance.

  ‘I’m not sure I want to stay at this place,’ Alfie said when we walked int
o the lobby, and he saw the interior.

  ‘Why not? I love it,’ I replied, running my hand over the life-sized elephant that stood by the reception desk.

  ‘It’s a bit tacky for a five-star hotel, don’t you think?’ Alfie continued.

  I shrugged my shoulders. ‘Like I said, I love it, but it’s your call.’

  The decor of the colonial-inspired interior certainly wasn’t bland. It had loads of unusual, quirky details. Busy walls clashed with loud leopard-print carpeting and hanging from the ceiling were huge glass chandeliers adorned with multi-coloured parrots.

  *

  ‘What are you going to do while I’m working tonight?’ Nathan asked, looking me straight in the eye.

  ‘I don’t know; I hadn’t thought about it.’ I turned away and took in the exotic faux-safari décor of our room to break eye contact.

  ‘I’m sure Alfie will be happy to keep you company.’

  I could see Nathan’s reflection in the window. He clenched his jaw so tight, his cheek rippled.

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ I asked. Our eyes met for a split second before I turned away and began unpacking, so I didn’t have to face him.

  I could see Nathan watching me out of the corner of my eye and wondered if he’d guessed that something had happened between us.

  ‘I hope you won’t be bored while I’m out.’

  ‘Don’t worry about me. I’ll find something to do.’ I turned to face Nathan and forced myself to smile.

  ‘You could always go to the hotel bar for a drink. I know how much you and Alfie enjoy doing that.’

  I gave Nathan a filthy look. ‘What’s got into you?’

  ‘Do you find him attractive?’

  Nathan appeared to be transforming into the green-eyed monster before my very eyes. I knew it wouldn’t be long before it reared its ugly head again. Jealousy is a challenging emotion to deal with, so I’d have to choose my words carefully.

  ‘Of course I don’t.’ I kept my eyes down when I felt the colour rush to my cheeks and hoped it wasn’t visible.

  Nathan took hold of my hand, pulled me around to face him and his eyes searched mine. ‘Tell me the truth, Gemma.’

  ‘There’s no reason for you to be jealous, I don’t find Alfie attractive.’

  Nathan stared at me while he thought about what I’d just said. I’m sure he wanted to believe me, but the look on his face told a different story. My guilt was getting the better of me as we stood watching each other, and for a brief moment, I considered confessing. But if I told the truth, Nathan would go through hell, and although I’d be relieved of the burden, it would be at the expense of his emotional well-being. The last thing I wanted to do was feed his insecurity, so I stayed silent. My heart pounded, as I waited for him to speak. Nathan didn’t say another word. Instead, his eyes scanned my face as if it was the last time he was ever going to see me, and the thought of that chilled me to the bone.

  65

  ?

  Tommy drove Nathan and Johno from Geneva to Lyon so they could carry out a job for Alfie. He’d discovered through inside information, given to him by his French contact, Jean-Claude, that certain supermarkets funnel cash from their tills, along pneumatic suction tubes, into their safes.

  Tommy and the others were scheduled to arrive at midnight. They were going to keep the supermarket under surveillance for approximately an hour, before attempting the break-in. Alfie had come up with a highly organised plan to remove the used banknotes from the safe.

  *

  ‘It’s time to go,’ Tommy said, checking up and down the street to make sure it was empty.

  Wearing ski masks, Nathan and Johno entered the store through an emergency door at the back of the building. They quickly located the heavily armed room that housed the safe. Alfie had worked out it would be much easier to make a hole in the suction tube than in the vault, so Nathan and Johno drilled into the pipe, before attaching a strong vacuum to it. They sucked the money back out of the vault, bypassing all the impenetrable security devices that protected it.

  ‘Let’s get out of here,’ Nathan said.

  Less than ten minutes later, after filling two black holdalls with cash, Nathan and Johno were safely back in the car.

  66

  Gemma

  Troubled by the conversation I’d had with Nathan earlier, I declined Alfie’s offer to go for a drink in the bar, deciding to stay in our room instead. I had a lot on my mind and wanted to be alone while I thought things through. Also, it didn’t seem right for me to be relaxing with a drink while Nathan was spending his evening breaking into a safe. As I lay on the enormous wooden bed, my phone buzzed. A new text had come through from Alfie.

  You don’t know what you’re missing. I’m drinking a Mai Tai out of an artificial cow horn!

  His text made me smile, but I didn’t reply. The last thing I wanted was for Nathan to come back and find Alfie in our room.

  *

  I must have fallen asleep but woke with a start when I heard the bedroom door opening; it was almost four in the morning. I had a horrible feeling it was going to be Alfie, but to my relief, it was Nathan.

  ‘Thank God you’re back.’ The hardwood floor felt cool under my bare feet as I crossed the room to where he was standing. Reaching up, I placed a kiss on his cheek. ‘How did it go?’

  ‘Really well, we walked away with sixty thousand euros in a matter of minutes, so Alfie’s happy,’ Nathan replied, as a contented smile spread across his face.

  ‘You must be shattered.’ Rubbing sleep from my eyes, I tried to stifle a yawn.

  ‘I’m not tired at all. But you look exhausted; Gemma, you should go back to bed.’

  *

  ‘They’ve just reported the robbery on the news,’ Nathan said when I woke later that morning.

  Nathan was sprawled out on the luxurious red velvet sofa in the living room of our suite and seemed completely unfazed by what he’d just told me.

  ‘Oh shit!’ I clenched my hands in front of my mouth, then covered my lips with my fingertips.

  ‘The manager discovered the break-in when he opened up this morning. There weren’t any witnesses, but the CCTV cameras captured everything. They don’t have a description of us though because we were wearing ski masks,’ Nathan said, flicking through the channels with the remote control.

  ‘I wish I’d seen the report.’

  ‘You didn’t miss much. It showed the CCTV footage and it said the police were appealing for information.’

  I let out a long breath. ‘Aren’t you worried you’re going to get caught?’

  ‘No. They won’t be able to identify us from the footage they’ve got.’

  *

  The hours dragged by with nothing to do apart from stare out of the window at the view of Lake Geneva and the snow-capped mountains beyond. Lying low was becoming hard work. To pass the time while Nathan slept, I decided to go for a wander around the Christmas Village, set up in the grounds of the hotel. Ordering warm waffles and hot chocolate from one of the wooden chalets, I took a seat on a luxurious sofa, covered with faux fur throws, next to the ice rink. Suddenly my phone buzzed as a new text came through from Alfie. My heart sank as I read it.

  Pack up your stuff. We’re leaving tonight.

  *

  ‘What are we waiting for?’ I asked as we sat outside a supermarket in Geneva town centre.

  ‘We’re just going to withdraw some money, and then we’ll hit the road.’ Alfie smirked.

  Tommy pulled back his sleeve and checked his watch. ‘Are you two ready?’

  Nathan and Johno nodded before putting on ski masks. They got out of the car and quickly disappeared behind the building. After what seemed like an eternity, they reappeared carrying two bulging rucksacks. As soon as they closed the door of the Mercedes, Tommy sped off towards the autobahn. Nathan settled back in his seat, pulled off his mask, and sat staring out of the window for most of the three-and-a-half-hour drive.

  ‘If we cross the
border from one of the minor roads we’ll avoid going through customs,’ Alfie said.

  Tommy came off the autobahn and drove through a valley filled with pine trees. As we prepared to pass into Germany, I saw a sign at the side of the road.

  ‘Did you see that notice,’ I said.

  ‘No,’ Alfie replied.

  ‘It said if we have goods to declare, we mustn’t cross here.’

  ‘What were you planning on declaring?’ Alfie laughed.

  ‘Oh for fuck’s sake, there’s a roving patrol up ahead,’ Tommy said, having spotted it in the distance.

  ‘What are the chances of that? You wouldn’t think they’d bother doing random checks at four o’clock in the morning, would you?’

  Alfie leant between the front seats so he could get a better look at the checkpoint. He seemed perfectly relaxed, like this was a minor inconvenience. He was so unbothered, anyone would think he’d taken the lid off the biscuit tin and found that somebody had eaten the last chocolate finger. I could feel myself going into meltdown the closer we got. What were we going to do?

  ‘Do you want me to turn around?’ Tommy asked.

  ‘No, keep driving and see what happens,’ Alfie replied. ‘Jean-Claude has assured me that all you have to do is slow down so the guard can check if you have a vignette fixed to your windscreen. Then they’ll wave you through without you having to stop.’

  Tommy slowly drove the car forward. As we approached the guard, he peered in the window, then gestured for us to pull over.

  ‘Everyone stay calm. Unless we give the Swiss police good reason to suspect something, we’ll be on our way in less than five minutes,’ Alfie said.

  I hoped he was right. My heart began pounding as the Mercedes came to a stop. When Tommy lowered the window, and the official scanned his eyes around the car’s interior, I had to fight back tears and will myself to hold it together. But that was no small task. My mind was whirring as one thought played over and over. If Nathan hadn’t been stupid enough to borrow money from an underworld boss in the first place, we wouldn’t be mixed up in this now.