‘H-how did you know that?’
He shrugs. ‘Guess I could just tell by the way you are together.’
Are we that obvious?I think of the one time that Stuart has seen us together. Full business mode in the negotiation meeting. In fact, in business mode and sour with each other.
‘You must have good intuition.’
‘He’s lucky.’
I feel my brows furrow. ‘Thanks. Listen, Stuart, it would be helpful if you could be more responsive with the lawyers from now on, okay? And please come and talk to me if you remember anything, anyone who might have approached you to buy or license the game, anyone who might try to pass off the game as their own. You can speak to me any time. I’ll be here full-time from Monday; you can pop in to my office whenever you like.’
His smile reaches his eyes, the brown pools shining. ‘Thanks, Scarlett. I will do. It’s nice to know someone else in London. It can be a bit… ah…’
‘Lonely sometimes?’
He shrugs.
‘Any time, Stuart, just pop up.’
‘Scarlett, can I ask you something?’
‘Of course.’
‘Is Gregory pissed with me?’
‘No. Not yet. Just try to stay on top of your emails, okay?’
He nods and jumps down from his stool.
I watch him leave with a feeling like something just isn’t quite right.
* * *
After following up with the lawyers in China and the US and asking Richard to expedite theBlack Diamondsfilings in the UK and Europe, my first day back turned into a long and tiresome one. The last thing I needed was a call from the Real Estate team at my firm to tell me my dad’s house sale is set to complete a week on Friday.
I call Sandy as Jackson drives me back to the Shard, having already dropped Gregory home around six. I’ve arranged for a moving company to take care of the contents of the house but they need me to give them directions: what’s staying, what’s trash, what’s for charity, where boxes should be delivered if they’re kept. Sandy agrees to help and I gratefully accept. I can’t do it alone. My dad was a hoarder and as much as he pretended he wasn’t by putting all of my childhood keepsakes, toys and clothes in the loft, I’ve always known they’re there. The thought of having to go through them now, as if they’re nothing, throwing them away or marking them to be delivered to charity, that’s hard enough. I couldn’t let someone else go through our life and box it up, designate it as useless or ‘to be binned’; those are our memories. They’re all we have left and the only person who can share that and really understand the piece of my father hidden behind each item is Sandy.
Jackson drops me and heads off to Lara’s house to be with Sandy. It’s still strange to me sometimes that my only mother figure now lives with and works for my mother-in-law-to-be.Weird.
The lift rises to the sixty-fourth floor and dings to announce my destination in the clouds. I’m struck by a chill through my veins when I catch sight of the apartment door ajar. It stops me in my tracks, reminding me ofthatnight. My body tenses as someone’s fingers grip the side of the door.
Fear cripples my body and threatens to choke me. I’m frozen, trying to think of anything I can use as a weapon and wishing I wasn’t alone.
‘Scarlett, perfect timing! How are you, peaches? How was your holiday?’
Amy springs from the apartment and envelopes me in her arms as my lungs fill against her silver bubble coat. I hadn’t realised how much I’m still affected by this apartment and the events of the night I murdered Kevin Pearson.
‘Amy, hi. I’m well, thank you. How are you?’
‘Fine. Fine. I have to get home, the hubby is working night shift, but I’m glad I caught you. You’ll have to tell me all about the Caribbean next time. I’d love to go. Oh and the engagement. I want to hear all about the one and only time that man will ever be on his knees.’ Her words should make me happy but I know that’s not the only time Gregory was on his knees. In my head, I see him in Dubai, begging for my forgiveness after telling me about his past. ‘Now, hurry up and get inside; I’ve left you a little something. My way of saying congratulations to you both.’
‘Oh, gosh, Amy, you shouldn’t have.’
‘You don’t know what it is yet,’ she sings, bouncing forward to hit the button on the wall and keep the lift doors from closing, her blonde ponytail swinging. ‘Go on. Go on.’
As she skips into the lift, my heart rate returns to normal.
I close the door behind me in the apartment and ditch my bags on the rosewood flooring, trying to push dark thoughts from my mind. Gregory walks down the staircase into the lounge, rustling a towel over his freshly showered hair, his black T-shirt displaying the muscles of his lean chest above his indigo low-rise jeans. Laid-back Gregory. My heart rate begins to rise again, this time in a good way.
