by Annie Dyer
“Thank you for that pearl of wisdom.” I sipped my wine and chose to say nothing.
So, did Vanessa. For at least five minutes.
Then I caved.
“You can’t say anything,” I said, kicking myself at the same time as feeling relieved. “We had a relationship during my first year at university, but my brothers didn’t know. It was a long time ago and a lot of things have happened since then.”
She took another mouthful of wine. “Why did it end?”
“I ended it.”
“Why?”
I sighed, irritated. “It was a long time ago and it really doesn’t matter now.”
“Why?”
I shook my head. “Van, I was nineteen. We were kids.”
“Why did it end?” she repeated.
I shook my head, making a mental note to ask for water next time. “It’s a really sore point. He didn’t do anything wrong and he doesn’t know why I finished it. Can we move on?”
Familiar laughter filled the bar near the entrance and Vanessa nodded. “Yes, on the condition that you tell me about it at some point. But, if you’re still this touchy about it, God knows how many years later, you’ve still got feelings.”
I pushed my empty wine glass away, not wanting to admit to any of what she said, but knowing there was too much truth behind it. I had never gotten over Killian or what happened that year. It was something he didn’t know about and I wasn’t sure what his reaction would be, if I ever told him.
Chapter Five
Killian
“Blue’s a good colour.”
“It matches the colour of your balls. When did you last get laid?”
I rolled my eyes as Max continued to torment Seph, clearly enjoying himself. We’d all been measured up for suits with the expected comments about which way people hung and how much room was needed, plus the inevitable competition around bicep and thigh sizes, all of which I won fairly easily, enjoying the victory with a quiet smile and appreciating the glare Max threw me.
“Unlike you, I don’t flaunt my conquests,” Seph said, pushing his glasses further up his nose. I was pretty sure they were clear frames, purely worn for the effect he thought they created.
“I notice you never give Killian any grief about being single and not having a stable full of kinky professors.”
I raised my brow at Seph. “Some of us are subtler, kid,” I said. “We know haven’t gotten any since you broke up with your puppy love because if you had, you’d have told everyone. Don’t judge everyone by your standards.” Truth be told it had been more than a couple of months since I’d had a woman in my bed, or anywhere else for that matter. Claire had been socialising with her brothers more, which meant we’d seen more of each other, which meant no other woman was worth my time.
Seph pulled an expression that looked like a pout and pulled on his shoe. We’d done with the shopping so it was now time to patronise a few of the Oxford pubs and ensure they were kept in business. Which meant I’d be seeing Claire again sooner rather than later.
A sharp burst of laughter from the front of the store drew my attention and I turned to see Callum accepting a piece of paper from the girl who had been serving us. He was clearly getting hit on and was giving her his fuck me smile.
Max caught my eye, having noticed the same as me. “Guess he won’t be coming home with us tonight.”
“He won’t be going home with her though,” Jackson said, looking at cufflinks. “Not enough of a challenge.”
We walked past Callum, who, to be fair, looked like he was trying to escape the clutches of the very enthusiastic blonde. None of us offered a means of escape, leaving him to it, Seph passing a loud comment concerning STI’s and appointments that didn’t even raise an eyebrow from the girl.
We headed for the nearest pub, a small, real ale establishment that we hadn’t gone in whilst being students, which was almost a relief. There were no memories of Claire in here, nor was it a place the girls were likely to turn up at which gave me some breathing space. Sport was being piped through the TV and Seph was forced to the bar to get the first round.
“Your brother will be here in an hour or so,” Jackson said, putting his phone in his pocket. “Marie’s taken over babysitting duties with Katie so Nick’s just grabbing a shower and will meet us in the Pearl for lunch.”
“Good,” I said, accepting the pint and shot of what was probably tequila that Seph passed my way. I had wondered whether Nick would make it or not. He wasn’t part of the wedding party as such, although he would be on the stag do and certainly a guest at the day and evening events. His time was consumed by the twins and he was bound to them in a way he wouldn’t have been if their mother had lived, weighed down, I suppose, through being their only parent.
“Marie’s also messaged to say that it seems that Katie will be pretty much the live-in nanny. The girls like her already,” Jackson said, looking at his phone. “I think she might be trying to matchmake the two of them. You should warn your brother.”
“He can fight his own battles,” I said, taking a sip of the beer and ignoring the shot. “Katie’s got enough complicated shit going on at the moment without adding my brother and two babies to it.”
Jackson nodded. “I wasn’t sure about Claire taking on the case, only knowing what I knew then,” he said. “Now I’m pretty sure I would’ve said to refer it to someone else and I don’t think I know half of what it entails. You will look after her, won’t you?”
Something inside me stretched and boomed and I needed Claire to be here now so I could watch her and ensure her safety. I knew Katie’s ex had connections - connections and the means to cover shit up. It was in his best interests for Katie and her evidence to disappear and one of the best ways for that to happen was for her lawyer to renege from the case and for no one else to pick it up. “You know I will,” I said. “I’ll have my best men watching for her. And we’ll be having words about upping the security in the next week or so. Lacey’s got some contacts who will have already sussed her out. In fact, I’m not comfortable with her staying at her apartment after this weekend.”
Jackson stared at his pint and then looked up at me, his expression stony. “Then she doesn’t. She can stay with me. It should be easier to secure than her place.”
“Yes, but I doubt she’ll want to stay with you and Vanessa. Who wants to cramp the style of almost newlyweds?” I said, having already heard Claire comment on the amount of shagging Vanessa was doing with Jackson, said with an expression of disgust that was more than just amusing.
“Max? Better she stays there. At least he’d be around,” Jackson said. “Someone else looking out for her.”
“And they’d kill each other within two days,” I said. As much as Claire adored her eldest brother, the two would spat like a cat and dog. I saw it when they were at university together and when they were at home. She had a much more harmonious relationship with Jackson and even Callum, her and Max tending to lock horns at times, just because they could.
“True,” Jackson said, looking worried. Max sat down next to us, looking interested. “Then where can she stay until we secure her apartment?”
“Here,” I said. “She can work remotely for a couple of days. We’re looking at security for the key members of her team, but that’s easier to sort out as two of them room together and are nowhere near as difficult as Claire.”
“If she keeps her distance in general and we publicize that, would it help? She’ll have to interview key people, but they can travel to her if we cover expenses,” Jackson said.
I nodded, knocking back half of the pint in one. “That would be ideal. Even better would be to be move her somewhere more remote, Katie too, if things get a little intense. Not that Claire will want to shift anywhere.”
Jackson nodded, the tequila disappearing quickly. “She can stay here for a couple of days while your people sort out security in her apartment. She’ll be all in for this case. I wish I’d told her no. We had enough w
ork without her taking this one on.’
“When’s the last time you told your sister no and she listened?” I said. “This is Claire. She’ll battle with her own shadow.’
Max shook his head. “I don’t think she will as much as you think. I think she has a good idea as to what Dean Lacey is like.” He glanced up at me in much the same way as he had done when we were together at university and he was questioning the connection I had with Claire. “I like the idea of her staying here for a few more days. There’s nothing in her diary that can’t be moved or someone else can’t cover.”
Jackson sat down on the bar stool. “I won’t let her have a choice. If Claire starts being an idiot, we’ll cease work on the case. That should be enough to almost make her compliant where her safety is concerned.”
“Because as Killian knows, she’s not compliant in any other way,” Max muttered into his pint.
For a moment I wondered what he was referring to and was about to defend myself when Seph emerged with Callum, a tray of shots in hand. “For fuck’s sake,” I said, glaring at him. “We’re not still students, you know.”
Callum grinned broadly. “Are you saying you’re too old for this?”
I eyeballed him, took a glass and knocked it back, grimacing at the sweet taste. I didn’t mind tequila occasionally, but the stuff of teenyboppers was not my thing. “Next time, you can drink the lot.”
Seph laughed, nudging the tray into Jackson’s arm, much in the same way I remember him nudging a games consoler when he was a kid and we were at their parents’ house for summer.
“Vanessa’s just messaged to say they’ll meet us at the Star and Garter,” Jackson said, gazing at his phone.
“Then you’ll stare at her for the rest of the day instead of the messages she sends you,” Max said. “How long after the wedding will you be able to claim your balls back?”
Jackson put his phone in his pocket and downed most of his pint, ignoring the shot Seph had left next to it. “She’s got my balls for as long as she wants them,” he said. “One day, you’ll understand.”
“Seriously?” Callum said. “You’re happy with being owned? No more nights of freedom with whichever woman you can manage to persuade to go home with you? I mean, I know you didn’t have the same degree of success as the rest of us, given the way you look and all…” Callum was silenced with a light punch to the chest from Jackson’s fist before mock collapsing and holding on to the bar. “Truth hurts, brother,” he said, standing back up. “But seriously, won’t you get bored just being with one woman?”
I thought back to when I had been certain that Claire was it for me. I’d been twenty and if I had never touched another woman I wouldn’t have cared as long as I had her. The expression on Jackson’s face was one I remembered being on my own. “Not when that one woman is Vanessa. Remember this conversation because at some point you’ll be in my position, with your balls in a woman’s handbag and you’ll be too damn happy about it to care what your brothers think.”
The sound of female voices filtered into the bar, all of which are instantly recognisable. “Vanessa couldn’t stay away,” I heard Claire say. “She’s even mentioned having a joint hen and stag night.”
Max shook his head. “No. That is not going to happen. Spending time away from each other is healthy. You can manage a weekend and we’ll arrange it so it’s the same one.”
“Excellent,” Claire said. “Someone else sees sense. I was thinking a weekend somewhere warm. With a decent party scene so Vanessa can have one last fling before having to put up with Jackson forever more.”
I watched Jackson’s expression turn to pissed. “No,” he said. “Can’t you just have a nice spa weekend somewhere remote. There’s no need for any partying or looking at single men. Or even married men. Just have a girly weekend and do each other’s hair and shit like that.”
Vanessa moved closer in to him, allowing him to put his arm around her waist. “If I want to go to Vegas and ogle male strippers, I will. I will also probably get drunk and upset over the fact that the strippers aren’t you, so drop the caveman routine and chill the fuck out.” She spoke softly, punctuating the sentence with a kiss at the end. “What are you going to do for yours?”
“We’re going fishing,” he said.
I raised my brows at Max knowing that this had not been suggested.
“What for?” she said knowingly.
“Beer. Food. Trying to lose Seph in a foreign country for the gazillionth time. I don’t know. Maybe something in the same place as you then we can meet up,” he said, pulling her closer.
“For fuck’s sake, get a room for an hour then you’ll hopefully be able to acknowledge the other people you’re out with,” Claire said. She had moved closer to me, accepting a drink from Sophie. “At least you managed to control yourselves when you’re at work. Although the disabled toilets did smell of sex yesterday.”
Vanessa smiled coyly. “I can neither confirm nor deny anything to do with the disabled toilets.”
“Really?” Seph looked disgusted. “You can’t do that. It’s unsanitary.”
Jackson rolled his eyes. “Just because you haven’t done something doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Hypothetically, of course.”
Claire edged closer to me and I could smell her perfume. My body turned to stone and I barely moved, worried that anything sudden would scare her away.
“This is where we have to be quiet, isn’t it?” she whispered.
I turned to her and saw the glimmer of a smile that I recognised from when we were students. There had been more than one occasion when we had been out drinking with Max and Jackson and other mutual friends, no way of spending any time together alone, so we would disappear into store cupboards, toilets, wherever we could find that would give us half an hour’s privacy.
“You remember?” I said, surprised.
“Yes. I’ve had a couple of drinks. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t bring it up,” she said, and moved away towards Sophie. I brushed her arm with my hand, making her turn towards me.
“Nothing to be sorry for,” I said. “I was remembering too.”
The bar doors swung open and a range of greetings filled the air as my brother entered. He looked dishevelled and his expression was serious, his forehead creased. I stood up immediately, catching his eye.
“Guinness,” he said, glancing from me to Claire. “And you two for a minute. Sorry to break up the party.”
Max ordered his drink and we slipped to a table near the window, Claire bringing Nick’s Guinness and what looked like a gin and tonic for herself.
“Is everything okay?” she said, sitting down next to me. She looked concerned, her dark eyes wide, cheeks slightly flushed.
Nick took a long swig of his drink, clearing more than half the pint. “Katie’s house was broken into the early hours of this morning,” he said, wiping the white froth from his beard. “No signs of a forced entry but the house has been turned over. Drawers opened, cupboards ransacked, furniture slashed. It’s a mess. Her mattress was pretty much ripped open which is more than a bit disturbing.”
“How did you find out?” Claire said, gripping her glass. “Did a neighbour call the police?”
Nick shook his head. “I sent two of my men round to have a look at the place to sort out security. The police have been by, taken photos, and done a cursory investigation but have pretty much put it down to addicts or petty thieves who got lucky with the door or a window. Katie’s looked around through Facetime but I’m not having her go over there.”
“You think they were after her?” I asked, my fists clenching. I knew the answer to that.
Nick shrugged. “Her place is set upon the first night she’s away – my guess is that they were expecting her to be home. Needless to say, the cottage and Claire’s parents are being thoroughly kitted out security wise. I've got the private forensics firm we use to go through Katie’s place before a clean-up crew gets in there. Our plans don’t change with regards to where Katie�
�s staying.” He looked at Claire long and hard. “You going to stay here for an extra few days while we sort out your living arrangements? Killian can keep an eye on you.”
“There’s nothing to suggest that they’ll take an interest in me,” she said calmly. “You’ve already installed extra CCTV and panic alarms in my apartment and at the offices. I’ve had someone from your firm lurking around me for a few weeks, since I agreed to take this case on. Is there really any need for any more?”
“Is there any reason not to?” I said. “Katie’s trying to divorce one of the most powerful men in the country and we know she has fairly strong evidence against him. Dean Lacey’s going to want those photos and the video footage she has that could end up with him serving jail time. There’s no way he’s not going to intimidate you.”
She sipped her drink, looking at the table. “I know. And part of me thinks that this case is too much trouble and not worth it. There’s no way we can get any better than a settlement out of court. He’s out to take everything from her so she’s left with nothing. If she’s pregnant and he finds out…” She visibly winced. “Yes. I’ll stay here for a couple more days. I need to spend some time with Katie anyway and I’ve brought all the case files here.”
“Because you didn’t want to leave them at the offices?” I said, my knee nudging her leg. I was conscious of our closeness, of the heat coming from her body.
Claire nodded. “This isn’t fair,” she said quietly. “Why should a power hungry, fuckwit of a man be allowed to dominate someone’s life just because he’s wealthy?”
“Why won’t Katie take her evidence to the police?” I said, emptying my beer.