Page 9 of In Love and Revenge

‘No problem, Gabe.’

Dove’s brother stops as he spots me. ‘Hello, Aurora. Dove said you were dining together this evening.’

‘We are.’ I smile as I stand to greet him, but my attention’s caught by the baby sling tied to his front.

‘Benedict prefers to travel like this. It takes the weight off his hips,’ Gabriel says easily.

I smile politely, schooling my surprise at the sight of not a baby but a ginger cat bundled inside the carrier. He surveys me with luminous green feline eyes that hold a surprising air of authority.

‘Um, he looks very ... comfortable.’

Gabriel smiles, his warm eyes crinkling behind his Clark Kent glasses. My cheeks heat a little. He’s beautiful. Tall and broad. Short dark hair. Perfectly proportioned cheekbones and angular jaw. And he smells incredible. The Fairfax male genes in full force, leaving little hope for the rest of the male population.

He massages Benedict behind one ear and the cat’s eyes narrow into drugged slits as he purrs loudly. ‘He is. He’ll be asleep before we leave the building, I guarantee it.’

He grins at the cat with the pride I’d expect on the face of a parent of a child prodigy, before he looks up at me. ‘Nice to see you, Rory.’

‘You too,’ I say, listening to the cat’s retreating purrs as they leave.

‘They’re so adorable together,’ the receptionist comments.

‘Oh, yeah,’ I agree, taking my seat again and biting back my smile.

My father will love hearing about a cat in a baby carrier. I can almost hear his warm chuckle now. My smile falters. I haven’t heard it in a while. Each time I’ve visited him over the past months I’ve grown more worried. I know he puts on a brave face for me, but I can see right through it. Iknowhim.

My eyes drop to the magazine in my hand, and I stare at the man on the cover.He, however, doesn’t know my father.

‘I haven’t forgotten what you said,’ I spit under my breath, glaring at his face.

‘She’s the daughter of George Thorne, a criminal who defrauded the company he worked for, stealing millions, and almost causing the collapse of several firms as a result.’

‘Oh my God,’ the beautiful woman with him had gasped. ‘What happened to him?’

‘He’s in prison, where he belongs, eating slop and panicking if he drops the soap,’ Rafael grunted. ‘Best bloody place for scum like him.’

His words are etched into my brain. I’d come to meet Dove after work, a few weeks after my father lost his trial and was sentenced. Rafael had greeted me as he exited the lift with his date on his arm, asking what I was doing there with more than a hint of suspicion in his tone. It was laughable really, because the first time we met, when Dove introduced us, he was nothing but polite– even friendly. Especially once he learnt that my father was an investment manager who worked for a prestigious London firm he was familiar with.

I know his type. He’s a man who only knows how to behave with a modicum of class when he thinks there is something in it for him.

Bile rises up my throat and I tighten my grip on the magazine as I pull out a black marker from my bag. He probably thinks I didn’t hear what he said to his date that day. Somehow I doubt he’d care even if he knew.

The thing that stings the most is the way my father’s face had lit up when I’d told him who Dove’s older brother was, and that Rafael had shown an interest in meeting my father one day. He’d glowed, like being on Rafael Fairfax’s radar was an honour. He even proceeded to regale me with Rafael’s business accomplishments and tell me how much he had achieved for such a young CEO in the insurance business. How he had won larger and larger clients, including a global diamond jewellery business, airline, and hotel chain.

My father spoke with respect and awe for someone he saw as a fellow businessperson. Whereas ever since the trial, Rafael Fairfax spat out words laced with disgust and superiority for someone he hadn’t even met.

‘Rory? I’m so sorry!’

Dove rushes past the reception desk towards me with a flushed face, pulling on her coat.

‘It’s fine, I’ve only been here a few minutes,’ I reply, tucking my pen away and sliding the magazine underneath another one before rising to greet her.

She flings her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. Dove’s immaculate in her power suits and tailored workwear. Grown men sweat when she walks into meeting rooms. But with her friends and family she’s softer than the cosiest sweater straight out of the tumble dryer. However, in all the time I’ve known her, she’s never so much as glanced in a man’s direction. She’s got all this love and affection but won’t share it outside of her close circle of those she trusts.

‘Did you see Gabe?’ she asks. ‘I wanted to catch him, but he left already.’

‘I did. And Benedict.’

Dove unwinds a beautiful silk scarf from around her neck, tucking it inside her bag. ‘Was he in the baby sling?’