“I am doing. I just don’t know…”
“Ash. Is this the Ash I know?”
I heard a thump and figured Marcus had hit something. “Yeah.”
“Fuck. You now owe him a favour? That’s not good, son.”
“You said you wanted to make headway on the island. This was meant to get us some leverage.”
“Through opening a club. Starting things slow. There are rules, even among thieves.”Lawrie paused.“Fuck it. Get your arse to Monte Carlo for a few days. It might blow over.”
“Doubt it. They fucked Ash over.”
I heard Lawrie laugh.“Just be glad it was him and not you. I’ve got to go. I’ll sort out your flight.”
“Sure. When?”
I didn’t hear the response, the door to the adjoining beach hut had opened with a creak and Marcus was probably stepping outside.
I waited for another few minutes, hoping he’d have gone. Hoping he would see me, or know somehow I was there. Then I headed back to the party, where people were laughing and smiling, the dark cloud that Marcus had brought shooed away by the light.
Just after thesun had set, Tommy found me again, his expression impatient, his body looking more taut than ever before. I didn’t know if anything had happened, or he was just ready to leave.
“Let’s go.”
His hand fell to the small of my back, something that didn’t go unnoticed by Lala, who grinned and made a rude gesture. She was partying sober and it didn’t make any difference to the way she was.
Livi was hammered in a way that only Livi could be, all laughter and flirting, her hands gesticulating wildly. She was close enough to me for me to need to tell her goodbye, let her know I was heading off.
She stopped worrying about where we ended up half a decade ago, knowing that me and Lala had our own inbuilt system for knowing where the other was.
“Baby girl!” Yep, she was definitely hammered. “Are you leaving so early?”
I nodded, Tommy trying to blend into the background. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
“But sweetie, the night is only just beginning.”
“I completely agree.”
Her face lit up with a wide smile and she looked at Tommy. “I approve. Show my daughter a good time.”
I’d given up cringing at things Livi said about a decade ago.
“Have a good night, Liv. Where’s Lawrie?” I threw the question in, trying to catch her unawares and unprepared. I wouldn’t tell her about what I’d overheard, I doubted she’d confide anything to me about Lawrie, or Marcus.
It didn’t work. She smiled again, this time it was coy, knowing. “Somewhere. Have a good night, Jay Jay. Enjoy yourself.”
Tommy drove.He had a beat-up jeep that was typical of the island, for people who lived there. That was all I noticed about the car, because he was all I was able to be aware of.
There was something intoxicating about him. He moved smoothly, even though he was a big man, with grace, as Livi would say. He was also quiet, and I had no indication of what he was thinking.
I told him bits about the conversation I’d overheard in the beach huts, keeping it light, questioning what he knew of Ash.
“He’s my cousin.”
I was only half surprised at the response. “Is he– I don’t know– is he decent?”
Tommy laughed and it sounded dangerous, as if there was too much there I didn’t know about. “Decent isn’t a word I’d use to describe Ash. What was Marcus saying about him?”
