***
A few hours later, they had a plan. Once he’d ascertained that Selina was staying with Jack for the night, Charles had left, shooting Jack a quick sympathetic glance on his way out. Jack wanted to believe Charles was expressing sympathy for his injuries but he had his suspicions that Charles knew what he was in for.
One look at Selina’s face confirmed it: they were heading for a shit-storm of a fight.
‘Fractured rib, remember? You have to be nice to me,’ he quipped, with what he hoped was a winsome smile on his face.
Selina wasn’t in the mood to be charmed. ‘You don’t trust me,’ she said, sitting next to him again after letting Charles out, arms folded across her chest.
There it was, out in the open.
‘Bella, you came to steal a necklace. We’ve been on opposite sides since day one.’
‘Don’t “bella” me, and don’t be facetious. This wasn’t just about the necklace. You held out on me and it put me in danger!’
‘I might have made a mistake.’ All he could say was, telling her had felt like a mistake too.
‘There’s no “might” about it.’
She was right. ‘Okay, in retrospect, I should have warned you,’ he acknowledged. ‘But I didn’t know Lewis had had you followed. I didn’t know he would threaten you. I didn’t know he’d have me beaten up. I was going to tell you eventually but I thought we had more time.’
Her shoulders relaxed just a little. Slightly but not totally mollified. ‘I don’t understand. What were you waiting for?’
‘Till I had proof.’
‘But you were sure. You couldn’t prove it, but you were sure.’
‘Yes.’
‘So you should have told me.’
‘Look, Selina … We are—we were—competing for the necklace. I thought you might take it as a ploy to get you to leave. You had no reason to trust me—’
‘No reason to trust you? What was last night about?’
Desire. True, but more than that. It was about connection. Built on trust.
‘Lewis was offering you the world. I’ve seen for myself how much you need it.’
Her mouth twisted. ‘Are you seriously suggesting I’d ignore the fact that Lewis murdered my grandfather so I could pay for my sister’s operation?’
No. Not if she’d known for sure. But … ‘I couldn’t offer any hard proof.’ Without it, he didn’t know what she might have chosen to believe.
‘You thought I’d take the money, to hell with everything else,’ she said quietly, and the anguish there almost cut him in two.
‘No, Selina …’ But the truth was, yes, some part of him had feared exactly that. Running his hands lightly over his face, he considered how on earth he could make this better. ‘Please believe me, all I really cared about was protecting you.’
‘You don’t think that warning me about Lewis might have been part of protecting me?’
‘I came close.’
Close was not good enough.
‘You don’t trust me.’
Surely she could understand why that would have been the case. ‘Have you forgotten about the necklace? About what you did to me two nights ago?’ he argued gently. ‘If there’s a lack of trust, it’s not totally without cause.’
She shrugged, defensive, arms across her chest. ‘Finding and … removing a long-lost necklace is not the same as being complicit in murder.’
‘What about drugging me?’ he countered. ‘Where does that fit in your sliding scale?’
She frowned. ‘I don’t like what I’ve had to do this week. I just happen to like the other option, the one where my sister suffers needlessly, even less.’
‘I’ve seen Anna. I understand she suffers. But you know what? That doesn’t make stealing right.’
‘Really?’ she said, eyebrows raised in irony.
‘You planned to take something that wasn’t yours. That’s wrong. It’s pretty simple, Selina.’
She let out a bitter laugh. ‘Oh yeah, it’s really simple. I should just walk away from the chance to make Anna’s life better. Why help my sister when I could do “the right thing”?’ She emphasised the last three words with her fingers.
She was being sarcastic, but he didn’t care. ‘That’s exactly what you should do.’
‘Oh really? Have you got any degree of empathy whatsoever?’ Her mouth was still twisted. Her arms were still crossed.
‘Of course I empathise, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stand back and give tacit approval to anything and everything you think you have to do. There are other options, you know.’
‘You know what, Jack? Fuck you.’
His head jerked a little in shock at that, but Selina only leaned forward, ready to push her point. ‘Your beat-up car, your artfully dishevelled appearance, your constant preaching, your “I quit my high-paying job because it was all BS”. You make out like you’re above monetary concerns, like you’re operating on some kind of superior moral plane, but the fact of the matter is, you don’t have any monetary concerns. Look at this place,’ she said, waving her hands around. ‘You’re loaded.’
He shook his head. ‘Don’t try to turn this around. My financial status doesn’t have anything to do with whether it’s wrong or not for you to steal.’
‘What it has to do with is that you’re not in my position. You have money.’
‘So what? Are you trying to argue that there should be different rules depending on how much money you’ve got? That stealing should be okay if you’re poor?’
‘No, of course not. I’m just saying you’re not me. You’re never going to be in my shoes, so you have no right to judge me.’
‘Come on, Selina, think about what you’re saying. It’s okay for you to take the necklace because your sister needs it. Where does that line of argument end? Where’s that line in the sand? What wouldn’t you do for Anna?’
‘Jesus Jack, intense much? I’m not setting off a nuclear bomb. It’s a necklace—some stones pasted onto metal. And it’s sitting somewhere, lost. I don’t see what the big deal is.’
He wondered if she’d deliberately thrown Dani’s words back in his face. He knew she was exaggerating slightly—she’d come to search for the necklace because she had to, not because it wasn’t a big deal to her—but he wasn’t going to let her get away with her flippant statement. ‘It is a big deal. Our choices matter, Selina. You don’t like that I don’t trust you, but how can I when you don’t know right from wrong? Or worse, you do, but you ignore it.’
‘You know what? You can think what you want. I’m not going to apologise for putting my sister’s welfare over a bunch of stones.’ She shifted back on the couch, apparently done with their argument. ‘And by the way, I’m not Dani.’
What the fuck? ‘I know you’re not. This has nothing to do with her.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes, really. This has to do with you and me.’
‘What you and me? Is there a you and me?’
‘I want there to be, but how that can happen if you can’t look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn’t take the necklace?’
‘That’s stupid. I don’t even know where it is.’
‘If you did,’ he pressed.
She made a tutting sound with her tongue. ‘You know I can’t.’
There it was. He looked at her, and she looked back at him, and even though she was only a few feet away, the distance seemed insurmountable.
‘I don’t have a choice, Jack.’
‘Yes, you do,’ he argued. She knew that, right? Selina was so smart and so capable, she could be doing anything. ‘There are other choices apart from marrying for money, stealing or lining up to be Lewis’s heir.’
Keith spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on financial advice every year, and he was impressed with what she’d said the other day. Didn’t she realise what that meant?
‘Oh, are there? Thanks for your opinion and judgement about my life, Jack, but we aren’t all like you, hav
ing opportunities galore handed on a silver platter, then waking up one day and deciding that “making money is bullshit”.’
He winced. He should have known that stupid statement would come back to haunt him.
‘I quit school at sixteen, remember? I do alright, but life’s just not that abundant for all of us.’
She didn’t know. She didn’t know how amazing she was.
He shifted, wondering how, through the mess of this conversation, he could at least get that through to her. ‘This has all come out wrong,’ he started. ‘I get that you’re mad because I didn’t tell you what I knew, I get that you’re frustrated because you think I’m judging you. The only reason I’m judging you is because I know what you could be. The only reason I don’t trust you is because you don’t trust yourself.’
‘Jack—’
‘Wait,’ he interrupted. ‘Let me finish. You have to know how incredible I think you are. You give all you’ve got to taking care of your family. Everything I’ve taken for granted and tossed away, you’ve had none of that. You’ve had no one to help you. Everything you’ve achieved, it’s all you, and it’s amazing. But it’s nowhere near what you could achieve. There’s nothing you couldn’t do, Selina, if you believed that. Nothing.’
She just looked at him, wide-eyed, breath coming a little heavy.
Probably that was all a little much. But she had to know, and he had to tell her. Life didn’t always provide second chances.
He didn’t know what else he could say, how he could make her see his point, and all of a sudden, whether it was the bruising he’d taken today, the pain meds, or just this stupid argument, he was bone tired. ‘We’re going around in circles, aren’t we? I don’t want to fight with you. Not tonight.’ He slumped against the sofa, head back, eyes closed.
‘Are you okay? Do I need to get the doctor back here?’
‘Yes. And no.’ He opened his eyes. She was close, leaning over him, gorgeous green eyes centimetres from his. He had a strong suspicion he was in love with her, but what good did that do either of them? It didn’t stop him being frustrated and angry with her. He lifted a hand to her waist, focused on the eyes so close to his. ‘You’re right, you’re not her. You’re so much more than she ever was.’ He just wished she believed it.
She smiled. ‘Is that sorry? You’re forgiven.’ She put a finger to his lips to silence his protest. It had been a peace offering, but not an apology. ‘Quit while you’re ahead, buddy.’
He couldn’t help but smile back. There was no maybe about it. He was crazy in love.
He made his way to a stand before he could do something stupid like pull her closer, kiss her. ‘We should try to get some sleep.’
He went to his bedroom, and sat on his bed, wondering how he was going to manage to get his shoes off past all the pain.
Selina appeared in the door. She watched, head cocked, no doubt wondering the same thing. ‘Let me,’ she said softly.
He stood passively and let her undress him. So soft, those hands, so gentle. So efficient. But then, she was probably well used to helping her sister.
Jack was starting to feel the body blows he’d taken that day, but when Selina crawled into his bed and curled up soft and warm next to him, he had to admit, it helped.
‘I don’t want to fight with you either,’ she said.
‘Stupid,’ he agreed. ‘Anyone would think we didn’t have other things to worry about.’
‘Stupid. We’re fighting about what to do with a necklace neither of us can find.’
He held her hands against his chest. ‘For what it’s worth, I’m sorry things turned out the way they did. I’m sorry you don’t get the money.’
‘Thank you for saying that,’ she said softly. ‘I should have known. He chucked nonna out, he made no effort to make sure that she or the baby—my mum—were okay. He never made any attempt to contact me. If it seems too good to be true?’
He shifted a little to face her. Nose at her neck, he breathed her in, the toffee apple smell he loved. Within the space of one week, she’d become so dear to him. ‘I don’t want you to do this.’
‘I have to.’
He knew. He understood. It didn’t help. ‘I hate it.’
‘I know.’ She kissed him lightly on the lips. ‘My turn to tell you to sleep.’
‘Like that’s going to happen.’ Not with what was coming tomorrow.
‘You need to sleep to heal,’ she pressed. ‘Besides, by this time tomorrow, Lewis will be behind bars.’
He liked the sound of that. He just wished they were there already. ‘Sing to me?’
‘Like I do to Anna?’ she joked.
‘Yeah, exactly like that.’
She sang, something soft and sad and Sicilian, and before he knew it, he was gone.
Chapter 16
Looking around the dim burgundy dining room, Selina decided she hated it. Hated the colour, hated the room. Rich dark red had been a favourite of hers, but she’d never buy anything this colour ever again.
God, she was rambling. To herself. At least it wasn’t out loud.
The sooner Lewis got here the better. Too much time could be her undoing.
She was as ready as she was going to get.
She was wearing wires. They had a police presence on hand, the benefits of connections. If—no, when—she got a confession, they’d be able to apprehend Lewis immediately. Jack and Charles were near, listening to every word, ready to charge in if things took a turn for the worse.
Everything was taken care of.
This was going to work, she stressed to herself. Her stomach might feel like cold porridge shot through with jolts of electricity, her palms might be sweaty, her hands trembling like a trapped bird, but none of that mattered. This was going to work.
Taking a deep breath in and out, she attempted to settle herself again by recalling the details of her strategy. She was the one facing the door this time. At a different table, in a different chair. Lewis was a creature of habit and she was going to use anything and everything to put him off balance. He was going to have to be well and truly unbalanced for this to work.
First she needed him to turn up.
Speak of the twin-murdering devil. Lewis, framed by the doors as he peered into the room. He faltered, looked perturbed and disapproving when he saw where she was sitting. Good.
He headed towards her. His security detail were at his flanks for the first few metres, then peeled off to take their place at the bar.
Her heart was pounding, she felt light-headed, but she used the time it took him to reach her to calm herself. Breathe in, breathe out. Staying grounded by attentive observation of the present. She wasn’t one for new-age bullshit, but right now, she’d use anything that seemed like it might work so she mindfully observed Lewis’s gait. If all she’d had to go on were the porcelain teapots and the soft manicured hands, she would have imagined Lewis would have a mincing step. He didn’t—it was a forceful stride. Something to remember: no matter how soft he might seem, he was anything but. Realising that helped her toughen up, don some armour of her own.
He took the seat opposite her. He might be uncomfortable, being in the weaker position, unguarded back to the door, but he didn’t show it. His eyes, always intense, were fixed on her hungrily.
‘Good afternoon,’ she said, taking the lead, and doing her best to keep her face a pleasant neutral.
‘Good afternoon, Selina. You’ve come dressed for business.’
So he’d noticed the upgrade. ‘I have,’ she replied simply. Charles had turned up at Jack’s apartment not long after dawn with clothes. A black suit—pencil skirt and fitted jacket—and a cherry-red silk shirt. Exactly her size, exactly her style, about ten times her normal budget. Give the man credit for a sharp eye for fashion.
‘You wanted to discuss something prior to our meeting with the architects?’
Returning to the hotel earlier, she’d called Lewis on the phone he’d given her, and asked him to meet her fifteen m
inutes before their pre-arranged time. The conversation had been short, to the point: all she’d said was that she had something important she needed to talk to him about. Fifteen minutes didn’t give her much time to muck around, but if she couldn’t get it done in the given timeframe, she couldn’t get it done at all.
‘Yes.’ She dropped the smile, allowed her tone to turn serious, conspiratorial. ‘Lewis, I haven’t been totally honest with you.’
‘No?’
‘No. Given how generous you’ve been, I feel I owe you more than that.’
He inclined his head slightly to the side. Mildly curious, but not concerned. Not yet.
‘I was talking to nonna this morning. She was recalling what a big Beach Boys fan Andrew was.’
He sat back in his seat. Not so interested anymore. ‘What’s this about, Selina?’ he asked, glancing at his watch with ill-disguised impatience.
‘It wasn’t just the Beach Boys, was it? He loved everything to do with surfing. Nonna said that he dreamed of moving north, to the Gold Coast. He dreamed of spending each and every day in the sea and the sun.’
‘That was our dream. We were going to do it together,’ he replied tartly.
‘Really?’ she queried dubiously.
He glared at her through sharp, narrowed eyes. ‘Yes. We planned to start our own resort, so different from the typical stuffy Melbourne establishment hotel. So different from the way our parents ran this place. It was going to be tropical and fun and modern.’
Lewis? Tropical and fun and modern? Get some self-awareness, dude.
He looked around, grumpy and distracted, clearly ready for this conversation to be over.
Time to rattle the cage. She shrugged. ‘That’s not the impression I got from nonna. She seemed to think it was just going to be the two of them.’ She giggled. ‘Well, baby makes three, I suppose.’
He didn’t like not knowing why she was talking like this, and he didn’t like not being in control of the conversation. He was used to compliance—cowering compliance—not that he’d got that from her to date, and he certainly wasn’t getting it now. He was clearly unhappy. Irritable. She’d heard irritability was a sign of mental illness.
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