“How much?” I said through gritted teeth. She might have started off with five grand, but now she could reach for the stars.
“Oh, Dom, you don’t have to ask that. I’m sure whatever you offer will be reasonable,” she simpered. This was the tone I hated the most. Sweet and sappy, knowing exactly what she was doing. She was so fucking good at it that it was her second nature.
“I asked, ‘how much’?”
“Well, I think ten thousand, don’t you? Just to be safe. You can’t know how things go these days. Tides change so quickly and all that.”
I had to keep my breathing low, just focus on the rolling credits, all those names flying past of people living their lives; loving, working, doing whatever they could to experience something meaningful, even if they didn’t know it.
“Fine,” I said, the crack she had made when I was a child that was filled with pure fucking spite splitting wider as I gave up any hope of resistance.
“What was that?” she said with a playful lilt.
“I said, fine. I’ll transfer the money tonight.”
“That’s so kind of you. You know how much it means when you support us like this. Your sisters will be so happy.”
“I’m sure.” And I knew none of that money would go towards them. I didn’t even know what she did with it whenever she had money to spend.
“Well, if that’s all, I think I’ll get going,” she said airily, like we had just been chatting instead of her fucking blackmailing me. “So lovely to talk to you again.”
The phone clicked off immediately, but all I could hear was white noise.
There was nothing here, just a bland emptiness. Another confirmation that I had no power over one of the few things I actually cared about.
I’d already attempted to adopt my sisters twice, but I was ruled an unfit guardian because of my job. Long hours, dangerous clients, and back then I only had a one-bedroom flat. It was weak compared to two full-time stay-at-home parents in a three-bedroom house right by a school. Even when I started helping Cat out with Keiran, it wasn’t enough with the kinds of cases I took.
Even if Sally did put them in care, the adoption agency wouldn’t let me take them.
I’d been close to asking the Fischers for help so many times, but I didn’t want to take the risk. Sally could kick up a storm with maximum casualties. It didn’t matter if she was tiny compared to their vast business empire. I knew how dangerousshe could be, especially if she put her mind to it. I’d learnt how to weasel and scam from the best, after all.
Clutching my head, I pitched forwards, wrestling with the darkness that always threatened to swallow me when she got to me like that.
I just couldn’t stop it. I thought I was free, but it didn’t matter how far I’d come, how much I tried, how I spoke, dressed, or acted. I was always going to be fucking scum, and that would never change.
Dom
I’d been crushed on the sofa for an hour, thoroughly buzzed and still spiralling with the buildup of my dilemma. I was too used to my mum’s games to dwell on it any longer. But it didn’t stop me. My sisters were how she kept me bound to her.
Staring up at the ceiling, my eyes barely focused, I lay on the sofa like a plank of wood drifting on the ocean, with no direction, no idea what I was doing, or if I’d ever make it to shore.
The money was transferred, and I’d sent Sally a text to tell her the good news.
My phone went off, sounding out from behind me. I rolled my eyes.
“I swear to fucking God…” I mumbled. If that was Sally coming back for round two, I was going to lose it. I was raw enough from her emotional slap already. I couldn’t deal with whatever excuse she’d made to ring back just so she could gloat.
I twisted, trying to push myself off the sofa. I totally failed, landing on all fours on the carpet, squeezing my eyes closed as the world shook, and I groaned.
There was another ding, and I lifted my head. I was sure my phone was on the coffee table. I smacked my hand around, searching for it. My brow furrowed as I hit nothing but cold glass.
One more ding sounded from the wall of jackets in front of me, the hooks right next to the front door.
I had one phone for work, one for personal use that stayed with me all the time, and one for completely private, untraceable calls from Grace that lived in my home office.
I hoisted myself up and lumbered over to the door, wrestling with the neat rows of jackets for all occasions. If it was my sisters again, I needed to answer ASAP. Terry might have pulled some bullshit. He had absolutely nothing on Sally when it came to smarts, but he was a fucking brute. One of the reasons I worked out was to deal with him if he got out of hand. It had happened before.
Another ping came from my left, and in my alcohol-fuelled search, I managed to locate it in the leather jacket closest to the door.
