He drove fast, not caring if cameras clocked him. Paltry fines were nothing but a nuisance for his lawyers. His heart beat as he first caught sight of the building. This reaction was extraordinary—perhaps related to a fear that he would see her again with some man and react inappropriately.
A cloth-covered table stood to the left in the main hall; wine glasses and beers waiting to be claimed. He’d prefer something stronger, but settled for a beer. The standard of dress for this collection of people was mixed. Some in the higher echelons of society saw it as good form to support this school, relishing an opportunity to project themselves as cultured.
“I thought we agreed that we wouldn’t be crossing paths.” Her voice echoed through him and he turned to see her in a red dress that went to her knees. It had a high collar and short sleeves—something Malin would never wear, but it showed the form of Rosalie’s curves ever so slightly when she moved. He found it unimaginably sexy. Maybe this was all some echo of the attraction he’d felt for Rosalie all those years ago, the girl who had challenged him and turned him on at a deeper level than anything since.
Her eyes were bright; her lips had the sheerest gloss. She didn’t seem to wear any other makeup, just natural woman. A memory of their first night together in her cold and small room surfaced in his mind. It had been so exciting, the whole time he’d been afraid she would change her mind, when all he wanted was to be inside her. She hadn’t changed her mind though, and with shaking fingers and touches they had explored.
“I am still a patron of the school.”
She couldn’t argue that, knowing the school needed the funding—and it really wasn’t her place to chase a funder away. Money still talked, even in Rosalie’s world. Her lips opened slightly and then she closed them again. A rush of heat flared in his body. She smiled. “Your fiancé is not here today?”
“She is not my fiancé,” he said.
“Are you sure? I think she might have other views, and she really doesn’t like us being acquainted.”
“What interest has she in my acquaintances?”
Rosalie’s eyebrows rose slightly. “She has warned me that our acquaintance is not in your best interest.”
Now it was Alexi’s turn to be surprised. “When did she do this?”
“We had lunch the other day.”
“You invited her to lunch?”
“No, she invited me. I think she seems worried about your… regard. Perhaps she is right if you keep denying your relationship with her. I think she feels insecure.”
“She is no more.”
“Oh?” Rosalie said. “I’m sorry to hear that.” She actually looked concerned. “She seemed a very good match for you.”
Malin was an excellent match, on paper, but he just couldn’t bring himself to settle for it. “She always did what I told her,” he said, feeling only a tinge of guilt talking about a former relationship one of the parties didn’t at that point realise was over. It would be an uncomfortable and probably dramatic evening when he returned home.
Rosalie considered him. “Well, I am sorry. The end of a relationship is always difficult.”
Was it? he wanted to say. The decision to end his and Rosalie’s relationship had been one he’d agonised over. Since, it had been easy, a simple order, just like it would be later that night. He would tell Malin and then shut himself away in his office while she cleared her things out.
Again she smiled, a little guardedly. “I’d better see what mischief Paul has gotten himself into. Have a good evening.”
Alexi grabbed her wrist as she went to walk away. She paused and looked searchingly at him. He wasn’t rough, but he couldn’t bring himself to let go. There was nothing he could say at that point that made the least bit of sense. “Have dinner with me,” he said after a while.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, do you?” She twisted her wrist gently until he let go. Turning, she walked away, the skirt floating around her knees. The question had just come out, a knee jerk reaction to her walking away, because he wasn’t ready to end this, whatever it was.
For now, it was time to clean house. Then he would perhaps revisit this refusal to end the tentative connection between them. Without a doubt it was her that drove him to come here this evening, and maybe the memories of eating kebabs and drinking cheap wine on cold, miserable nights. He’d chosen to walk away from all that, but maybe he had run full circle now.
Chapter 49
After shuffling downstairs, in considerable pain from the broken ribs, Shania walked outside and sat on a sun lounger. The sunshine still felt odd. The swelling in her face had subsided a bit, but the bruising was still there. Apparently they’d had to put some metal along her jaw and she could feel stitches down the inside of her cheek. The ribs were the worst though.
The sad thing was, this wasn’t the first time this had happened. Back home, she’d been beat up by this guy, this asshole, who wouldn’t take no for an answer. Sure, she’d told him where to stick it in no uncertain terms, and he’d punched her. Guys weren’t all nice. Some of them were horrible. It was just that when she ran into one of them, she refused to act nice and cower at their anger. Fuck them.
This tendency had some clear downsides, and her ribs were reminding her of them. A small crack of a twig sounded somewhere behind her, but she was too sore to turn and look. Instead she pulled a cigarette out of the packet she’d ended up with in her bag after a particularly messy night, and lit one. She didn’t normally smoke, but she just needed something at the moment, and alcohol was not on the cards.
The smoke stung her lungs. She only really smoked when she was drunk. It wasn’t a habit she loved, but it did serve something when she needed a crutch.
She groaned when she saw Felix’s form walk into view. The last thing she could handle right now was another round with Felix. Yes, she was here; he didn’t like it. He could deal. She wasn’t leaving; at least not until she could walk properly.
“Just go away, Felix,” she said. “I’m not getting into it with you right now.”
He walked closer. Really, were there no limits with this guy? With a sigh, she looked up. He looked pensive more than anything else. Then he sat down on the lounger next to her.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “If I’d have known this would have happened, I wouldn’t have done it.”
“You didn’t do anything,” she said.
“Why didn’t you tell me this would happen? Did you know?”
Feeling exasperated, she tried rubbing her hand across her face, until she discovered that touching the face was not a good idea. “This has nothing to do with you.” No doubt, Felix had heard about her discussions with the police, so knew roughly what had happened.
“Did you know?” he said again, a bit more strength in his voice this time.
“I knew it was a possibility. I tried to leave, but they found me.”
“And that’s why you were here,” he said. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“It was none of your business.” Shifting, she crossed her legs. “Look, you’re not responsible for me. I’m a grown-ass woman; I’m responsible for taking care of myself. That fact that I can’t seem to do so without getting the shit kicked out of me has nothing to do with you.” Sadness washed over her for a moment. “Everyone else seems to get by, why can’t I do it without constantly getting into trouble?”
She hadn’t meant confiding in Felix; it had just kind of flowed out of her mouth. Luckily, he just sat there and didn’t say anything. She didn’t actually want him to say anything.
“I’ll go when I can,” she finally added.
“You don’t have to,” he said quietly. “I was just so… ” He couldn’t seem to finish the sentence. “I didn’t know things were like this for you.” He looked a bit sunken in on himself and Shania realised he felt guilty about this. Dark circles marred his eyes and he looked sallow. It really wasn’t his fault, but he obviously wasn’t entirely ready to give that guilt up.
“
I get where you were coming from, and all. I suppose from you’re end, you were protecting your family.” Now she had no idea where she was going with this, so she just let it hang. “Right now, I can’t go anywhere. When I can, I will head out of town as quick as I can.”
“Where will you go?”
She shrugged. “Not sure.” The problem with having no money was that the seedier parts of town were often where you landed, because that was where someone got work fast, and that changed little from city to city. Guys like Michele existed in every city, on both sides of the Atlantic. “Amsterdam, maybe. London. I don’t know.” She felt too tired to think about it. Right now, she had exhausted her energy levels.
She lay back under the shade and curled up. Hopefully Felix would take the hint and go away. Talking to him was too tiring; thinking about the future was utterly exhausting.
“Hey there, you hungry?” a voice said.
For a moment, she didn’t know where she was as she woke. Birds were chirping and there was a lawn mower somewhere in the distance. Then pain returned—dull, unchanging pain. The realities of her situation reappeared as well. She’d run out of pain tablets, which she was supposed to do. The pain was manageable, but it wasn’t fun.
It was late in the afternoon. She must have slept for hours, which wasn’t surprising. It was all she did lately. Looking up, she saw Esme sitting down on one of the other loungers.
Yes, she was definitely hungry. Her appetite coming back was a good sign. “I could eat,” she said. “Provided it’s mushy.” Her jaw was apparently okay for a bit of chewing, but it still hurt.
“Will pasta do?”
“Sounds perfect,” Shania said, groaning as she rose off the sun lounger, wearing shorts and a hoodie. The grass was soft and cool under her feet compared to the tiles around the pool.
The cushions around the round dining table in the covered area were soft and she sat down, bringing one knee up.
“You seem a lot better today,” Esme said brightly.
“I guess I am.” Esme had been lovely since the moment she got back from the hospital. She felt guilty, too, but Shania seemed to have little success discouraging either of the siblings for taking responsibility. They certainly hadn’t discussed her late night activity with their father, although Shania was sure it preyed on Esme’s mind.
Felix walked out wearing a pale yellow shirt and white, long shorts riding low on his hips. He’d lost weight. With heaviness, he sat down at the table, pushing his sunglasses on top of his head.
Esme was scooping the pasta into bowls, which Shania was grateful for, because stretching was an ordeal. “You eating, Felix?”
“I don’t like pasta.”
“How can you not like pasta?” Shania said.
“I just don’t.”
“Felix had a worm issue when he was little.” He threw his sister a dirty look. “Seriously, Felix, you need to eat something. Whiskey is not a recognised food group. Maria?” Esme called rather inelegantly.
“Yes, miss,” Maria said, appearing from inside the house.
“Felix needs to eat something.”
“We have some fish,” Maria said.
“Good, that will do,” Esme said. “Maybe some salad, too. I’m pretty sure he’s leached every nutrient out of his body.”
Felix looked unimpressed, but he didn’t argue.
“Going out again?” Esme asked, giving him an unimpressed look. “God knows where he’s been sleeping. He’s barely been home at all.”
For a moment, Felix had the good sense to look admonished. Shania considered him between slow bites of spaghetti. He’d always been a bit of a party boy as far as she’d seen, but according to Esme, he’d been out of control.
Leaning back, he stroked his hand through his hair, seemingly avoiding anyone’s eyes.
“Or maybe he has a girlfriend,” Shania said. His eyes snapped to her, a tiny little smile at the corner of his lips.
“I doubt a girl on this earth would put up with his antics.”
“No girlfriend,” he finally stated. “I did spend a couple of tawdry days with your former flatmate.”
“Trish?” Shania said with surprise. From what she’d seen, not really his style, considering how snobby he was when it came to people less fortunate. Actually not a pair she would image together in a million years.
“She treats me like a scourge.”
“You are a scourge, Felix,” Esme said.
“Actually, she’s talking about skipping town, too.”
Shania’s eyebrows rose, her mind working. Maybe they could join forces. Granted, they were really different and had had a hard time finding common ground, but it would help massively having someone to move with.
Chapter 50
Cory felt more and more distant from Mirabel, and she’d been getting pissed off about it, to the point where she fired him, replacing him with Shane the new South African dude. So now Cory was back by the pool and he wasn’t exactly sorry. Mirabel was high maintenance, and granted, the sex was good, but her personality was getting tedious to deal with. The ladies at the club weren’t necessarily sorry he wasn’t being monopolised anymore either.
Sitting back, Cory took in the sun. It was another beautiful days and there was only an older guy doing laps in the pool. A bunch of kiddies had just left, so the pool area was quiet after an hour or so of madness. Pablo was happy to be back behind the bar, too.
As bright as the day was, his thoughts were still heavy. He didn’t know what was going on with Trish, and now there was the poncy rich guy following her around like a lost puppy. Both had said nothing was going on, but they’d also slept together in Berlin. And Cory couldn’t stop thinking about it; couldn’t stop imagining them together. Even the idea of it irked him uncomfortably. He knew full well he was being hypocritical, and Trish had called him on it a couple of times. Still, this was how he felt.
Nodding to Pablo, Cory took a break and wandered inside the club house. He would take a half hour and work some tension off in the gym. There was always the other option for working tension off, but Cory had lost his appetite for the perfectly tones and manicured bodies of the club’s female patrons.
Lying down on the bench press, he did some reps, appreciating the burn in his arms and chest. This weight pressing him down was something he could overcome, defeat. If only the other weight was so easy.
She snuck into his mind—Trish. The idea of her moving on hurt, but he couldn’t give her what she wanted. He wasn’t ready. There would be a no turning back thing, leaving everything else behind. Girlfriend, for life, hurtling down the road to middle age, with mortgage, kids, responsible jobs and boring suburban life. He sat up and drank from his water bottle. He wasn’t ready. But she wasn’t waiting.
Arms still burning, he rested and looked around, seeing Felix walk into the gym like the fates were conspiring to torture him today.
What Trish saw in Felix, he didn’t know. The guy was a waster. He might have money and connections, but he was looking to make an early exit out of this world. If she had ambitions of making a go of it with someone like Felix, she was setting herself up for a bumpy ride.
Felix walked over to the weight machines and was getting ready. He looked up and spotted Cory, giving a slight nod.
Against his own will and better judgement, Cory walked over to him. The urge to hit him was still there.
“Hey, Felix.”
“Cory.”
“Working out today?”
“I think the time has come that I start getting myself together.”
Cory’s eyebrows rose in surprise. Why? Why did this guy suddenly feel like he had to pull his shit together? Was this to impress Trish? Heat rose up Cory’s body. “Yeah?”
Felix sat down at one of the machines and started lifting. “Less shoulders, more back,” Cory said and watched as Felix tried to adjust his movement.
From what he’d heard, Felix was staying at the girls’ house more often than not. He couldn’t sh
ake the feeling that someone was lying to him. “How’s Trish?” he finally said, a perverse curiosity to see how Felix would react.
Felix let the weight down and sat forward. “She’s talking about leaving.”
“What do you mean leaving?” Unease crept up Cory’s gut, making him feel slightly nauseous.
“Skipping town. Moving on from here. Seems to be a common theme lately. Maybe it’s me. Although in Trish’s case, I’m pretty sure it’s you.”
Cory was too on edge to respond. She couldn’t leave. That wasn’t an option. He felt as if his guts had been ripped out. He felt in danger, as if someone was sneaking up on him. Air, he needed air and turned to leave.
“I don’t know what the hell is wrong with you,” Felix said. “I’m messed up, but you’re not far off.” Cory turned to look back at him. “If you’re so in love with her, why the hell aren’t you with her? The door was open for you, you decided not to step in.”
There was nothing to say, so Cory didn’t. He started walking.
“Door’s closing,” Felix called after him.
Cory hopped on his bike. He might not know exactly when he’d made this decision, but he was going to her house. She wasn’t working yet. Actually, his mind didn’t seem to work at all, just took him where he needed to go.
The white door to her house stood closed and he knocked, feeling the heat the door had gathered all day. It seemed like ages, but finally the door opened. “Cory?” Amber said with surprise.
“Is she here?”
Amber didn’t bother asking who he was talking about, but looked uncertain about letting him in. “She’s in the garden.”
He walked through the house and continued out to the back yard, where Trish was lying on her stomach on the large day bed, reading a magazine, her tanned legs stretching to small, peach shorts. For a moment, he had to acknowledge how lovely girls were, at home, lying around with soft, stretchy clothes. He was ready to grow hard if he didn’t watch himself.
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