“How much do you need?”
“Eight hundred k.”
“Euros or sterling?”
“Sterling.”
“And your dad can’t lend it?”
Another shake. “He’s not got it. He lost a shit ton in that deal that was reported.”
“I thought that was just rumour.”
“Rumours always start from somewhere.”
“Does Livi know – about your dad?” She hadn’t said anything to us, but then she never did speak about money. It wasn’t the done thing to talk about finances.
“I think Livi knows about everything. She won’t help him out though. Not now.”
“I figured something was going on between them.”
He looked indifferent. “Their marriage is over. She knows he’s been fucking someone else.”
“That doesn’t usually bother her.”
“But I don’t think he’s been fucking Livi anymore. That’s the problem.”
I shrugged, the water starting to feel cold, so I climbed out of the pool and back to my lounger. “Livi’s always had strange relationships.”
“I think this one’s about to be over. So after this summer, you won’t have to put up with me here anymore.”
I actually felt some shade of sadness. Marcus had been a part of our lives for so long, disliking him had become ingrained in us like breakfast routines when we were here.
“You might decide to get a place here yourself – if things between them are over. They might not be.” Livi’s relationships were never straightforward. Lala and I gave up trying to work them out when we were about thirteen.
“I’m not staying on the island, Jay. I can’t.”
“What have you gotten yourself involved with? I thought…”
His smile interrupted me. It was dark, as if he’d seen something that resembled hell and knew he was going back there.
“Would you lend me the money?”
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have a monthly allowance from my trust. Anything left each month is taken back, so we can’t overspend. If I need a larger sum, I have to apply for it. It’s there to stop us being taken advantage of, or blowing what we have on partying or stupid investments. Lala’s the same.” We’d never argued about it. The monthly allowances were more than I could spend, and we’d been brought up by Gav, at least, to always think about the future. Unlike Livi, he’d come from nothing, growing up in a small terrace house in a rough part of Manchester, and he’d seen too many people in the industry end up with nothing after having it all. It also protected us from anyone who was interested in our wealth.
“Fuck.”
“Ask Livi.”
“I can’t. It’ll be the nail in the coffin for Dad.”
“You’ve already said their relationship’s over…”
He sat back down. “Your mum doesn’t want a scandal like what this could be. If she knew, I wouldn’t be here now.”
