Indy and Rory were beside her in an instant, with Chantal bringing up the rear.
The four of them looked over at where Savannah was standing with her husband.
‘He is not a nice man,’ said Chantal. ‘Cold. I think he hurts Savannah.’ There, she’d said it.
‘He couldn’t,’ began Indy. ‘She’d tell us, surely?’
Eden looked at her. ‘No, she wouldn’t. People don’t. That’s the whole point, people don’t. He might be beating her or he might not. There are lots of different forms of abuse. But look at her. She’s like skin and bone, she’s frail, she could float away. And she’s scared. I’ve been trying to figure out what it was all week, and now I know.’
They all kept watching.
‘She’s scared all the time. Did you see Clary today? She’s the same. They’re like two beautiful little scared creatures wandering through the world, waiting for someone to save them. And I never noticed.’
‘I’ll fucking kill him,’ said Rory.
‘No, that’s not the way we’re going to do it,’ said Eden, icily cold. Everything was coalescing in her brain. There were so many things she had to sort out. The abortion, her political career, moving forward, abuse against women. Making sure that that bastard got what he deserved.
How had she missed it? Her own sister. Her twin. But then again, as the woman in the shelter had explained to her, this always hid in plain sight. Street angel/house devil.
Not anymore.
Eden was still trying to figure out exactly how to prod Calum when she saw it happening in front of her eyes.
Quickly and quietly she made her way over to the little hall. It was open from both sides, an open doorway into the hall towards the ballroom and kitchen or into the breakfast room itself.
‘You stupid fucking bitch. How dare you make me look stupid.’
For a second, Eden just listened in absolute astonishment. And then the part of her that functioned at a high political level clicked in. She reached for her mobile phone, which she’d hung around her neck because of the tiny little bridesmaid’s bag, and clicked on the record button. Indy and Rory came quietly up behind her.
Calum was ranting.
‘First, you make the decision without asking me and then you take all the credit, making me look foolish. How dare you, how dare you treat me like this. You’d be nothing without me, you bitch, nothing!’
‘It was just an idea,’ Savannah stammered, ‘and I can say it was your idea.’
‘No! They all know you came up with it, you vicious bitch.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Savannah was saying, crying with apology.
Eden felt her heart ache at her sister’s distress.
‘You know fuck all, Savannah. You play with scents with Anthony but that’s just messing around. I understand business, not you.’
Eden listened coldly. Savannah had set up that business long before she’d met Calum, it wasn’t his idea. Stupid prick. He’d been hanging onto Savannah’s coattails, pretending he was the big business man while he frightened her to death.
‘Don’t think you can hide things from me ever again, you know I’m in charge of the finances. You know I’m the one who takes control; me, not you.’
‘I know, I know, it was just an idea. We can change it if you like—’
‘No, you won’t, I’ll take over, you’re not fit to run something like that. Just the way you’re not fit to bring up our daughter. Like what happened this week when she freaked out in school, that’s all your fault. It’s all your fault.’
His voice was so full of rage: it was breathtaking. Eden knew of nobody on the planet whom she would speak to in that way and yet here Calum was, speaking to his wife, darling Savannah, like she was dirt on his shoe.
‘I don’t know why you can’t get anything right, you’re such a useless bitch.’
‘I know, I know, I’ll do better,’ Savannah said, craven, crying. ‘You know Clary’s doing really well now and we’re going to do the ballet camp this summer and—’
Eden thought she might go in and stab her brother-in-law, but she waited. She had the steel in her soul now. A cold steel. Waiting was a good political tactic. She would give Calum enough rope to hang himself in every court in the land.
