‘Shall I go first?’ he asked.
She shook her head. ‘No, it’s fine. I’ll be happy enough knowing you’ve got my back.’
Tasha hurried to the door and, on opening it, heard another loud smashing sound. ‘I hope he’s not breaking things from this house,’ she said, surprised that Riley would do something like that, but presuming it must be what was happening.
‘Hey!’ she yelled, running towards the noise into the kitchen. Spotting Riley’s girlfriend, Brooke, holding an expensive vase above her head ready to throw it onto the marble-tiled flooring, Tasha raised her hands, stunned to see the woman there after what Riley had assured her. How the hell had she got here this fast? Tasha shot a panicked look at Callum. Seeing Brooke raise the vase a little higher, Tasha shouted at her, ‘Don’t you dare break anything else.’ She took the opportunity of the woman’s shock at seeing her and Callum bursting into the room to snatch the vase from Brooke’s hands.
She turned and handed it to Callum who immediately put it safely out of harm’s way onto the furthest worktop.
Tasha gasped at the shocking sight of all the broken porcelain and glass shattered on the floor.
‘How did you get here so quickly?’
‘I caught the red-eye of course. As soon as I saw the headlines in the early hours, I booked a flight here.’
‘But why? You and Riley broke up.’
‘Hah, is that what he told you?’
Tasha seethed. The damned liar. Why had she been willing to believe him so readily? She could have warned Erin if she had known Riley and Brooke were still seeing each other after all. She saw a glint of anger in Callum’s eyes and hated to think he might feel let down by Tasha not stepping in and trying to protect Erin.
Brooke went to pick up a plate.
‘What the hell are you thinking?’ she demanded, shaking her head. ‘Put that bloody thing down, now!’
Where the hell was Riley? Hearing footsteps, Tasha looked over to the door and saw him hurry into the kitchen from the utility room.
‘You took your time,’ he snapped.
‘Me?’ She gritted her teeth for a moment in an effort to stop herself from saying exactly what was on her mind. ‘I came here as soon as you called, if you must know,’ she said sarcastically. ‘Anyway, never mind me, why didn’t you do something to stop her trashing this room? Look at all this breakage.’ Tasha glared at him. ‘How are we going to explain how this happened to the poor owners?’
‘I can speak to them, if it’s easier?’ Callum suggested, his face ashen.
She was grateful for the offer. ‘No, thanks. This is for us to sort out. I’ll do it. We will obviously pay for all broken pieces to be replaced and just hope there’s nothing here that’s irreplicable.’ Tasha gave Brooke a pointed glare.
Tasha knew better than most how frustrating Riley was to deal with, but most people had enough respect for others’ belongings not to want to damage their possessions.
‘Maybe I should be the one to apologise to them,’ Brooke said, her voice quiet and quivering.
‘I think that’s the very least you can do,’ Riley snapped.
‘I do wish the pair of you would communicate better,’ Tasha said. ‘Then at least you’d both be on the same page about whether you have broken up, are on a break, or simply not speaking to each other.’
‘You didn’t know?’ Callum asked.
She turned to him, having no intention of Riley’s selfishness causing a rift between her and Callum. ‘If they don’t know what’s going on between them, I don’t see how I can possibly keep up. Anyway, if I did know they were still together, don’t you think I’d tell Erin?’
‘You’d betray me?’ Riley asked. ‘You work for me, remember.’
Tasha spun round to face him. ‘Exactly, I work for you. My contract does not stipulate that I also lie for you, Riley. So don’t you dare start giving me a hard time for having morals.’
Remembering why Brooke had lost her temper with Riley, Tasha calmed slightly. ‘I will contact the property manager first,’ she said. ‘I’ll tell them everything will be replaced or paid for and it’s up to you and Riley to decide who foots the bill, but one of you will need to do it.’
Tasha turned to Callum. ‘You get on; we’ll be fine here. Thanks for coming in though. I appreciate it.’
‘No problem. I’ll catch up with you soon.’
She hoped any anger Callum might have felt towards her was now placated. For now though, she needed to concentrate on damage limitation because it was perfectly obvious by Brooke’s make-up-streaked face that broken porcelain was the least of Tasha’s concerns.
