“I’m happy with that,” she said. “And Max and Jackson know we’re more than friends. Hell, it seems that Max has always known.”
“Apparently so. I wish he’d said something back then so we weren’t hiding,” I said. “Things might’ve been different.”
Claire nodded, her eyes focused on mine. “That’s true. If everyone knew, we’d have had more pressure on us to stay together. And we’d have lost the excitement of it being a secret. I’m not saying that it wouldn’t have worked, but it wouldn’t have been the idyllic romance we remember.”
“I know. But maybe it would’ve been more real.” I said, hearing the truth in her words.
“And maybe we would’ve ended up married in our early twenties and now would’ve been getting divorced. We don’t know, Killian. But what we do have is a second chance. So that’s why you’re not my security tonight. I want this to be about us.” There was about six feet between us, too far a distance, so I covered it in two steps and pulled her into my chest, feeling her softness and smelling her perfume.
“I’m your security as well. But now I have even more reason to glare at any men who look at you,” I said, my voice quiet, half muffled by how I spoke into her hair. I had never been a possessive boyfriend or lover, even when I was with Claire when we were younger, because I didn’t want to smother anyone. I had seen some of my military friends take the light out of their girlfriends and wives because they were too protective. Any caveman tactics with Claire would result in her putting the boot into us and I trusted her. She wasn’t the type of person to mess anyone around; she was fair and kind and I didn’t need to show to other men than she was mine, because she wouldn’t even notice them.
“You’re not going to ask me to change, are you?” she said, eyes dancing as she looked up at me.
“Fuck no,” I said, my hands cupping her ass. “Although you might distract me from what I’m meant to be watching.”
She laughed, lifting herself up on her toes to kiss me. “I’ll let you look all you want when we get back here after. And I might let you touch too.”
I had already been half hard from looking at her and feeling her ass; her words sending more blood to my cock.
It was going to be a long evening.
The Kindness in the Community Awards had been set up by Katie two years ago to celebrate the work done by friends, neighbours, carers and other people who voluntarily cared for people in their local communities. Rather than the room being filled with celebrities and business men who were only there to raise their own profiles, it was filled with normal people; soccer coaches, teachers, young carers, an elderly neighbour who knitted things for premature babies at her local hospital. Everyone was dressed up, but not in designer gear, except for one or two celebrities who came across as genuinely giving a shit. There was also the media, and it didn’t take too long before a photo was snapped of Claire and then she was spotted, Vanessa’s campaign when Callaghan Green was rebranded a couple of months ago having made Claire more recognisable.
There was a series of awards given out, the nominations supported by video clips of the everyday heroes at work and the awards presented by local celebrities and Katie herself.
“She looks too thin,” Claire murmured as Katie came off stage, my brother lingering nearby. Denico was also around, as was another of our men. We didn’t think Lacey would try anything tonight; there were too many people around and he wouldn’t want to court any bad publicity, but that didn’t mean there couldn’t be an ‘accident’, a bit like the break in at the cottage yesterday, anything to intimidate Katie or Claire. “Nick needs to encourage her to eat when they go away again.”
“He knows,” I said. I’d heard my brother talk an awful lot about Katie in the past twenty-four hours, a lot more than he’d spoken about any woman for some time and I did wonder whether he was going to take a step away from being professional. Not that I’d blame him. And I liked Katie: she had a spine and was kind and genuine, but I did wonder whether either of them were in a position to get involved in anything other than just something casual.
A waitress passed by with miniature fish and chips. Rather than a sit-down meal, there were substantial finger foods and I’d probably already eaten more than I would’ve done at a three-course meal.
“It’s on social media already that I’m here and there’s speculation she’s divorcing Dean Lacey,” Claire said, checking her phone under the table. We were sitting close to each other, at a table that had just sat the four of us until Katie had to start the presentations. “Things happen quick.”
“What did Vanessa tell her to say?”
“To be vague without using a no comment response. So, she won’t confirm or deny anything about Lacey. I think this will start him into a meltdown. He’s clearly a control freak and he can’t control this,” Claire said, her eyes flitting around the room.
I nodded, threading my hand between her and the back of her chair so I could put my hand on the small of her back. “I know. But right now, nothing’s going to happen so just sit back and enjoy being here.”
She looked at me and gave me a smile that seemed happier than I’d seen for some time, maybe years. “I’m trying. I really just need this case to be over.”
“I know.” There wasn’t much more I could say. I couldn’t force Katie to hand over the evidence she had on Dean Lacey that would expedite her divorce and I couldn’t change what Dean Lacey was like so we had to just sit it out.
It was past midnight when we left the building, both women looking dead on their feet. Denico had already gone to get the car to bring it round so we could keep Katie out of the open for as long as possible. I heard the slight whirring of an electric engine and we left the building to meet it at the curb.
No one saw where the motorbike came from; it was suddenly just there, racing towards us at speed and heading for the pavement. The driver swerved away from us and then back again, seemingly heading towards Katie. Nick yanked her out of the way and pulled her into his chest, shouting for Denico, who was now out of the car. The few passers-by yelled and one guy had his phone out, filming the bike as it rode off, again at full speed.
“Is she hurt?” I said as Nick dropped to the floor in front of Katie.
“It’s just my ankle,” Katie said. “These stupid shoes – I lost my balance and I’ve twisted it. A bit of ice and no dancing for a few days.” She tried to smile but looked fucking terrified and Claire left my side to step towards her.
Footsteps ran passed me and towards her, every nerve in my body alerted and set into action but before I could move, Claire was on the ground with a sickening thud. A man dressed in a hoodie and dark jeans tried to wrestle her purse from her hands. I moved without thinking, needing to get him off her and throw him into next week. He saw me just as I was about to jump and took off, Denico already following him. I started to run, needing to bury the bastard who had dared lay his hands-on Claire in the Thames, but my feet wouldn’t move. I saw her. I couldn’t leave.
She lay still on the pavement, her head against a lamp post, her eyes closed. I had no desire to run after the attacker, instead going straight to Claire. I knelt down next to her, Katie’s loud cries ignored. Someone nearby was calling the police and an ambulance and I heard Denico shouting to Nick.
“Claire,” I said, checking her pulse and trying to steady my own. “Claire. Can you hear me?” I shook her gently, not wanting to move her too much. There was blood from a cut; she’d caught the sharp edge of the lamppost which was also as grimy as fuck.
She moaned and there was a flickering of her eyelids. Her pulse was strong but the lack of colour to her skin worried me. I’d dealt with head injuries before, concussions, bumps and worse in my time in the military. I could carry out more than basic first aid, but right now my own hands were shaking and I needed a paramedic to be here yesterday.
