The Actuary's Wife

by K T Bowes

  “Yeah, that’s what Rohan did when we lived up the road,” Emma said, her face taking on a wistful look. “If he’d done that today I’d never have known what he was up to.” She finished the glass of water and pressed the last bite of biscuit into her mouth. “Come on. I want a test drive and then I’ll ring my solicitor and get him to transfer the money straight into your bank account. Please can I use your phone to get insurance?”

  Chapter 18

  “Mum, why are you driving Kaylee’s ‘Girly Car’?”

  “I bought it.” Emma took the book bag from Nicky’s hand and put it on the back seat. The weight of it betrayed the brick still inside. “Kaylee’s daddy let me take it today but the money will go into his bank account tomorrow morning. I’ve got my own insurance policy now.” Emma smiled and looked pleased with herself. “Would you like to go to the shops before they close and choose a brand new booster seat?”

  Nicky shrugged and climbed into the back of the vehicle, the red paint shining under the lamp light in the growing darkness. “Can Daddy come?”

  “Not tonight,” Emma said brightly. “I don’t know what he’s doing.”

  “He’s probably at home,” Nicky said, with hope in his voice and Emma raised her eyebrows.

  “I doubt it.” She afforded herself a small smirk at the success of her busy afternoon. Organising the insurance policy on Allaine’s phone was a relatively quick affair, helped by the use of her new credit card. The other call was to the company who maintained the security system at Wingate Hall. They rung her as she waited in the playground to advise her of the new gate and alarm code.

  Nicky was quiet as he chose himself a bright red booster seat to match the car. His brow knitted as Emma paid at the checkout and she pulled his head in to her waist to comfort him. “It’s ok, baby,” she whispered. “Uncle Anton made sure we wouldn’t have to worry like we used to.”

  “I think I’ll always be bothered,” he said. “It’s not naughty, is it, to worry about not having enough pennies?”

  “Course not, sweetheart.” Emma took the carrier bag from the cashier with a smile and handed it to her son. He hefted its bulk outside even though it reached almost to the ground. Emma squatted next to him before unlocking the vehicle, getting eye contact and making sure Nicky understood. “Nicky, I behaved badly this morning towards your father because he hasn’t been honest with me about some important things. I know how much you love having him in your life and I promise not to get in the way. I’ll organise things where you can be with him by yourself, but just for now, I don’t want him at the house or near me. Do you understand?”

  Nicky shrugged in the darkness, his face oozing misery. “Not really. I love you being together like a proper mummy and daddy. It’s what I always prayed for.”

  Emma stroked his cheek. “I liked it too, baby. I thought we’d be happy forever but sometimes things don’t work out like we want them to.”

  “What did Daddy lie about?” Nicky’s vibrant blue eyes fixed on Emma’s face, searching for answers. She swallowed, spite making her want to tell him but wisdom advising her not to.

  “Some important things. I’ll explain when you’re older, I promise, but at the moment we need to concentrate on putting our lives together and enjoying the lovely things Uncle Anton left for us. I’ve bought a car now which means we can go places and explore and we’ll keep renovating Anton’s house and make it into a beautiful home. But I can’t do any of it without you, Nicky. Nothing matters without you in my life.”

  “And the baby?” Nicky asked and Emma nodded.

  “Yes, definitely. We’ve got heaps to look forward to and things will work out; they always do.”

  “Ok. Love you, Mummy.”

  “I love you too, baby.” Emma kissed Nicky’s forehead. “Let’s put your new booster seat in the car and go home.”

  Nicky stared out of the window as the dark countryside whipped by. Emma indicated and turned left into the driveway, almost rear ending Rohan’s Mercedes. He unwound his long frame from the car as Emma sat rigidly in the driver’s seat with her hands clamped around the steering wheel. “Daddy!” Nicky squealed with excitement and started unbuckling himself.

  “No, Nicky! Sit still!” Emma got out, locking the vehicle with the key fob. Rohan walked towards her and they met in the space between the vehicles, back lit by Emma’s powerful headlights.

  “You borrowed a car?” Rohan said softly, jerking his head towards the vehicle. Emma gritted her teeth and didn’t answer. He licked his lips and thrust his hands into his pockets, keeping his legs slightly splayed to brace himself. Rohan towered over Emma without meaning to and she tilted her head back to watch his face. “I need to explain things to you,” he began and Emma shook her head.

  “No, you don’t Rohan. I thought you loved me but you don’t rate me enough to be honest with me. You have this whole other life I know nothing about and I can’t live like this anymore. Please move your car. Nicky and I want to go home.”

  “You changed the gate code.” Rohan’s voice was laced with hurt.

  “I don’t want you here, Rohan. I’ll gather your gear up and drop it at your other house in the next few days.”

  “But I don’t want this, Emma. I just need to explain...”

  “No, Rohan, I’m done. Your sordid love life doesn’t interest me, thanks. I thought the problem was your double life as the Actuary but it’s clearly more than that.”

  “Sordid? Love life?” Rohan screwed his face up and shook his head. Emma flicked her long curls over her shoulder and squared her shoulders.

  “I’ve spoken to Nicky and when we’ve got our separation amicably sorted out, I’m happy for you to see him by agreement. Until then, stay away from us.”

  “I don’t want to stay away from either of you!” Rohan’s eyes flashed in the headlights and he took a step towards her.

  Emma stepped out of range and raised her hand to stop him following her. “I mean it, Rohan, don’t touch me!” Her voice cracked and she felt the sob well up into her throat. “Just go!”

  “Em, I know about the messages Dolan sent you,” Rohan said, lowering his voice so Nicky couldn’t hear.

  “I didn’t know they were from him!” Emma snapped. “You can’t hold that against me. Don’t try using that as an excuse for your behaviour!”

  “I’m not, Em, I promise. This isn’t tit for tat, dorogaya.”

  “Don’t call me that, I’m not your girl!”

  “Shh, Em, please. Nikolai’s watching us.” Rohan took another step towards her and gripped her wrists. “Stop!” Rohan hissed as Emma struggled. “This isn’t fair on him!”

  “You should have thought of that!” Emma snapped. “You’ve lied to me!”

  “Emma, my new tech traced the messages. I can’t tell you the truth about anything because of him; because of Dolan. I couldn’t ring you or tell you where I was because of him.”

  “So you’re keeping another woman and a baby because of Christopher Dolan texting me?” Emma sneered. “You have to be kidding! That’s the best excuse for infidelity I’ve ever heard!”

  “Infidelity!” Rohan spat, anger surfacing. “Ya ne veryu etomu!”

  “I don’t care what you believe!” Emma stormed. “Let go of me and move your car or I’ll call the police. I’ll tell them everything, Rohan. I’ll tell them about the Actuary and everything you’ve ever done which has crossed the line. So don’t push me!”

  Rohan let go of Emma’s wrists as though she was contaminated. He stepped back and took a deep breath. Steeling his face into a smile, he walked to the side of the car and put his palm against Nicky’s window. Nicky placed his tiny hand against it and Emma turned her face away, her eyes pricking with tears at her cruelty. The car key in her hand prevented Nicky winding the window down and she heard him crying from her spot between the cars.

  “I love you, syn,” Rohan called to the sobbing boy. With a stiff posture and a face filled with anger, Rohan left his wailing son and ste
pped in front of Emma. “Get rid of Dolan!” he told her forcefully. Then he dipped his head and covered her cold lips with his. Emma inhaled his familiar scent and tried to suppress the need in her gut to plunge into his safe, strong arms. Instead she turned her face away and felt Rohan’s warm breath in her hair. “Ya lyublyu tebya, Emma Andreyev,” he whispered and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. I love you. “Don’t believe everything you hear.”

  He revved the powerful engine and swung the car around in the small space with skill. Rohan smiled and waved at Nicky but ignored Emma, leaving her on the dark driveway facing the equally dark, chilly manor house high on the hill.

  Emma climbed back into the red car and started the engine, keying the new number into the gate lock through the open driver’s window. She drove up the driveway in silence, hearing Nicky’s hysterical sobs in the seat behind her. Her heart constricted in her chest and by the time they reached the front door, both were sobbing.

  Chapter 19

  Emma slept late the next morning, waking stiff and tired despite the eight hours of sleep. She groaned as her eyes opened to the grey light filtering through the thick drapes. “I think someone rolled a steam roller over me in the night,” she hissed, bending her joints to test them.

  “Aye, you look like it too, so yer do.”

  Emma shot to a sitting position, her dark hair curled around her face and her tee shirt clinging to her. Christopher Dolan smirked and shifted uncomfortably. He sat on Rohan’s side of the bed, one hand resting on the foot board. “Don’t you fancy a quick tumble with me instead of that great Russian eejit?” he asked, his voice soft. A few strands of black hair slipped into his eyes, giving him a seductive air.

  “No!” Emma folded her arms to cover the obvious outline of her breasts and raised her knees. “How did you get in?”

  Christopher lifted the bunch of keys in his hand and slipped them back into his jacket pocket. “Mind you,” he smirked, “I didn’t need them. I could’ve gotten in anyways.”

  “I changed the codes and set the alarm downstairs. How did you get past that?” Emma’s face showed panic. If he could get in, so could Rohan and anyone else he’d upset.

  “Aw, steady on, Em. You set the alarm when I was already in and I know the override for the gate code anyway.”

  Emma exhaled and closed her eyes. “Please go away. You’ve done enough damage.”

  “Aye, sorry about that.” The smirk gave him away, lifting his handsome features into a jovial expression which infuriated Emma.

  “You’re not sorry at all. Get out before Nicky wakes.”

  Christopher pursed his lips and Emma lost her temper. She slid from the bed and stalked to the bathroom, the tee shirt exposing her shapely legs and the bottom of her knickers. Christopher watched her progress across the room with intense interest and stood as though to accompany her. Emma’s eyes flashed in warning and he sat down again.

  Emma sat on the toilet with her head in her hands, ruing her sudden change of fortune. The flush covered the sound of Nicky’s pounding feet and he burst into the bathroom as she dried her hands on a towel. “Mum!” His eyes were wide and full of fear and Emma panicked.

  “It’s not what you think,” she began, raking the bedroom with her eyes but seeing no sign of Christopher through the partially open doorway.

  “Mum, there’s cops everywhere! Outside the front gates. I seen ‘em from my window!” Blonde hair stuck up on his head and his pyjama bottoms were askew, showing a pale hip under the flannelette fabric. Nicky grabbed her hand to drag her into the bedroom. “Come and look!”

  Emma followed her excited son, staring around her empty bedroom with surprise and watching for signs of the Irishman. Nicky ran ahead to his bedroom at the front of the building. “Hurry, Mum!”

  “Yep, coming.” Emma bobbed down to look under her four poster bed and heard a snort of derision from the walk in wardrobe.

  “Look, Mummy, look!” Nicky tugged her hand and yanked his curtains back to reveal a grey wintry Saturday swathed in low overhead cloud. In the distance beyond the trees were a series of blinking red and blue strobes. “Can we go and look?” Nicky begged, excitement dancing in his eyes.

  “A traffic policeman probably pulled someone over in front of our driveway,” Emma groaned. “They’ll be gone before we get there and staring at people in their misfortune is mean, isn’t it? That’s not what we do.” Emma ruffled the white blonde hair and listened to a muffled bark from downstairs. “I can’t believe it’s after eight in the morning.” She yawned. “Poor Farrell probably needs the toilet.”

  Nicky tore around his room, decimating drawers as he searched for clothes he could pull on at speed. He settled on a pair of tracksuit pants which were too small and an old sweater with hard glue stains on the front. Emma exhaled and shook her head. “You haven’t had a shower and you’re not going down there by yourself!”

  Nicky halted half way through pouring his bottom into a pair of briefs and eyed his mother in horror. “But you’ll be ages! Can’t I just ride my bike and take a little look? I’ll pretend I’m getting the post from the box.” His blue eyes looked eager and filled with enthusiasm. Emma remembered the bereft, quiet little boy who ate his microwave meal in her bed, only half watching the movie she put on the TV. She felt grateful for his new focus and relented.

  “Fine! But Nicky, I’m warning you, if you open those gates there’ll be bigger trouble than you can handle.”

  “I won’t.” The child hopped around the room pulling on his socks, his face all eagerness. “Where did Daddy put my skateboard?” He stopped in front of her, his little face tilted upwards to read her expression.

  “It’s in one of the stables, I think,” Emma replied. “The first one on the left.”

  “Thanks!” Nicky tore down the long hallway to the stairs and Emma shouted after him, “Wear your elbow pads!”

  She heaved a huge sigh and stared at the commotion beyond the gates. A plain black van pulled up, just visible through the trees and was joined by another strobing police car. “It looks like more than just a traffic offender,” she mused to herself, turning to find herself inches away from Christopher’s strong chest.

  “Aye, bit of a crime scene outside yer gate, then?” he stated, as though he knew the answer. “I wouldn’t have let my wee boy go down to stare at a dead man’s body, but I’d be a shite parent anyway, so who am I to criticise?”

  “A body?” Emma’s voice sounded flat, even to her. “There’s a dead body outside my property?”

  “Well, technically it’s on your property, because that wee piece of driveway belonged to Anton, so I’m sure it belongs to you now.” Christopher smirked at the horror in Emma’s face. He smoothed an index finger across her brow, pushing her fringe out of her eyes. Emma slapped his hand away and took a step back, wedging her thighs against the hot radiator and releasing a hiss of pain. She had nowhere to go but forward into his body. “And I don’t hide under a lady’s bed, Em. It’s not dignified. I believe in hiding in plain sight, love.”

  “You Irish idiot!” Emma gave him a hearty shove and Christopher stepped back, openly laughing at her. “What did you do?” Emma pointed a shaking finger at the scene through the window, a scene towards which her six year old son currently skated, trailed by an excited, barking black spaniel.

  “I was waitin’ to tell ya,” Christopher snorted, thoroughly enjoying Emma’s horror. “But you looked so beautiful, so ya did. It was just a wee accident, Em. And not entirely my doing. Maybe you’d like to send them the Actuary’s way. That’d be a mighty fine revenge, so it would. Then he’d have to tell everyone who the wee family at his place belonged to, wouldn’t he?”

  “You killed someone on my doorstep to flush Rohan out?” Emma sounded appalled and her eyes widened in anger. She set off towards the door. “I’m going down there right now to turn you in!”

  Christopher snatched at Emma’s wrist and spun her round so she cannoned into his chest. “That’d be a
very bad idea, sweetheart.” His fingers were unyielding on her soft flesh, biting into the bone and hurting. Emma struggled, but it was pointless.

  “Are you threatening me?” Her voice sounded hushed and strained.

  Christopher shook his head. “No, Emma. It’s a promise. That wee dead guy out there came here after you. Your husband brought his crap home and he didn’t even realise. There’s nothing to tie that body to me or you, but now’s your chance. If you want rid of Rohan and the Actuary, now would be a great time to follow through. Once he’s out of the way, the Contessa’s men will have no need of you. It’s him or you, Em. Choose.”

  Emma broke free and pushed Christopher’s chest hard enough to take him by surprise. His strong body moved back a few steps, giving her passage. “You don’t know, do you?” Her terrified eyes searched his for an answer, her bottom lip trembling and her fingers unclenching and clenching into fists. “You don’t know who the woman and baby are, do you? For once, Christopher Dolan, even I know more than you.” Emma turned and jogged from the room, running a hand through her unruly hair.

  In her bedroom she threw on underwear, a jumper and a pair of tracksuit pants. Grabbing her wellington boots from the built in cupboard next to the front door, she pushed her bare feet inside. The clatter of a skateboard hitting the stone steps heralded a puffing Nicky and a black dog, both equally thrilled to meet Emma coming down the steps. “Get down, Faz, don’t jump up!” Emma chastised the bouncing hound and turned to Nicky, trying to disguise the shake in her voice. “What’s going on, baby?”

  “The policemens want to see you, Mummy. There’s heaps and heaps of them. They had a dummy under a blanket. They’re doing practices and want to know if they can come in. There’s a van with dogs in it though and they did barkings at Faz. He didn’t like it so I came back.” Nicky’s face looked troubled as he fondled a sleek, black ear. Farrell looked up at him in doggy adoration.

  “Ok, keep Faz here and I’ll walk down and see what they want.” Emma smiled at her son, hoping she offered reassurance and not what she really felt; a mixture of trepidation and doom.