Page 135 of Stanton Unconditional

“On what?”

“Can you not cage fight anymore?” I need to stop him from fighting Jesten, and if it’s the last thing that I do. It can only end badly. He rolls his eyes as he finishes his mouthful. “Tash, we are on day one.” He holds his pointer up to accentuate his point. “Can you not start your shit, please? We have had this conversation before, and I am not giving up something that I love just because you perceive it as dangerous.” I smile goofily.

“What?” he asks.

“Are we on day one?”

He smirks and raises an eyebrow. “Yes.” I smile.

“So was yesterday negative one?”

He shakes his head as he breaks into a smile.

“No, yesterday was zero.”

I nod. “Right, so where were we a month ago?”

His eyes hold mine. “In the black hole. Now eat your break- fast.” I smile and shovel in a mouthful of food…loving day one!

Joshua

I walk into Ben’s room. “What do you want to see me about?” I ask. His nervous eyes flick to me. “I’ll call Murph.”

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“Murph, Stan’s here. Okay, see you soon.” He flips his phone shut.

I bet Max has resigned and they are telling me together. Good, I want him gone.

Adrian walks through the door with his laptop and smiles at me nervously. “Hi Stan,” he murmurs.

Adrian turns on his computer and then flicks the jug on while it boots up.

“Take a seat,” he says quietly.

“What for? Aren’t we going to the gym?” I ask.

“We’ve got a problem.” He opens an email and I read the words:

‘Contact me on [email protected] or the wife gets the lot.’

Wife? I frown at the screen. “Who sent this?” I ask. Adrian shrugs.

“It was sent to the work email in LA.”

“Play,” I sigh.

He presses play and my stomach clenches. It is a vision of me and a woman. I can tell by the legs. I frown as I try to remember when this was. I sit back in my seat and run my pointer over my lip as I think. “When was this?” I ask.

Adrian’s nervous eyes flick to me. “Here in Australia.” “What?” I frown.

He points to the screen. “Here, see, it’s the house in Bondi. It’s the girl who told us the other night Natasha’s email, remember?”

My eyes widen in horror. I sit shellshocked as I watch myself get a drink and then walk up the stairs with her.

“What was your name again?” I ask.

“What do you want it to be?” she replies.