Chapter 40 Tierney
This had to be one of the longest weeks of my life.
I hadn’t seen London since that first day.
While trying to remain incognito, I’d visited the apartment building in Soho every single day and been turned away. London wasn’t picking up the phone or answering my texts.
I left her a daily voicemail too.
I’d been trying to consider what hold Nick had over London.
My best friend had always been so fiercely independent because of how shitty her parents were.
She’d always been the one in the driver’s seat in a relationship because that’s what made her feel safe.
In the past, if a guy had tried to take control, she would dump him at the first sign.
Nick had somehow emotionally manipulated my friend. She feared him. I could feel it emanating from her.
How, then, did I convince her that she didn’t need to be afraid of him?
Last night I’d left her another voicemail.
“It’s me again, Spoon. I wanted to say …
no one is too big or too powerful that they can’t be fought.
Haven’t I proven that with Halston? The sad reality is that there are people out there who don’t have any power, who bad people target because they can.
But you aren’t one of those people, Spoon.
We grew up with a privilege that means we have a certain amount of cache too.
We can find something on Nick. Is it playing dirty?
Yes, but I don’t care if it means getting you out of there.
You can come back to Scotland with me. Be the chef at the B and B.
You’ll be safe there. No fear. No guilt.
No shame. Not anything but safe. Please.
Please, London. Talk to me.” I was careful not to remind her she was the only family I had left.
Or make it about me. I didn’t want to be another person in her life emotionally manipulating her.
Because I was sure that’s what Nick was doing.
I was certain of it.
Striding into the coffee place around the corner from my hotel, my worries weighed down my steps. I could see Perri already at a table, tapping away on her phone while she waited for me.
The New York Chronicle’s building was in Midtown, and I’d arranged to meet Perri around the corner from it to catch up in person.
My friend, because I thought of her as a friend now, stood as soon as she saw me and enveloped me in a warm hug. I squeezed her, holding tight to the tears of gratitude that wanted to spill out all over her. We pulled away, and I gave her a watery smile instead.
She chuckled and gestured for me to sit. “Don’t look at me like that or my ego will get out of control.”
I laughed and sat across from her. “How are you?”
“Things have been a little crazy since the article. But more to the point, how are you? What brings you back to the city?”
I didn’t tell her my worries about London or that I missed my friend.
We chatted for a while. I told her my lawyer had called yesterday to tell me the case against Shawn Prescott was going to court and the court date would likely be set for some time next summer.
We still didn’t have word on the case against Halston Cole because it was more complicated, but we’d hear from the presiding judge in the next few weeks whether it would go to court.
My lawyer had no doubt that it would.
“It’s a tough time ahead.”
“But worth it?” Perri asked.
“It’s worth it for me.”
“And for Ben’s family,” she reminded me. Ben’s family didn’t have the evidence to prove Ben’s death had been ordered by Cole, so their only hope was that he’d pay for what he’d done to my family and to the islanders he’d regarded as a nuisance he could plow through.
Perri asked about my B and B and promised to book a vacation to come and see me.
We chatted for a bit longer before she had to get back to work.
I stayed at the coffee shop after she left, checking my messages from back home.
Trying not to think about the fact that Ramsay had never responded to my voicemail.
Concentrating on London had made it easier to not think about the man I’d left behind.
I answered texts from Taran, Cammie, and Quinn, and then left the coffee shop to do a little shopping.
If there was one thing New York had over Glenvulin, it was the stores and the restaurants.
I’d noticed Taran loved a purse of mine, so I wanted to spoil her with something pretty as a thank-you for letting me stay with her.
Cammie always wore unusual necklaces, so I was on the hunt for something special to bring back for her too.
As I turned the corner, distracted by a million things, I wasn’t looking where I was going and pain ricocheted up my shoulder as I collided with someone walking in the opposite direction. I stumbled as a male voice snapped “Watch it,” and I opened my mouth to apologize.
And stopped when our gazes locked.
Hugh.
Of all people.
Hugh’s expression slackened with surprise. “Tierney. You’re back?”
“No, I’m not back.” I skirted around him, not wanting to engage with him at all after his visit to Scotland.
“Wait.” He grabbed my biceps, and I shrugged him off with enough force he dropped his hold and raised his hands in surrender. “I’m not … Sorry. Look … I wanted to say, I read the article in the Chronicle. I’m sorry about what happened to you. Are you doing okay?”
He actually thought we could have a normal conversation. I guffawed. “Seriously? We’re not doing this. Ever. The world knows why I gave up the shares in my company and that it was for a pretty good reason. Good luck trying to put me under a conservatorship now, asshole.”
Hugh had the audacity to blanch.
“Yeah, did you think I’d forget that horrendous threat?”
“I shouldn’t have said that.” He nodded, fake remorse etched carefully into his features. “I said it in the heat of anger.”
I scoffed. “The fact that the thought even entered your mind tells me all I need to know about you, Hugh.”
The fake remorse fell as easily as it appeared. “Is that right?”
I took a step toward him. “What happened to Michelle?”
Rage flashed in his eyes and he bent his face toward mine, hissing in warning, “Nothing. And you and your boyfriend better leave well enough alone.” How easily he switched from remorseful to aggressive was slightly terrifying.
“I’d have thought a knife in the gut would’ve smartened you up, sweetheart.
” He moved to leave me behind with a sinister smile thrown over his shoulder, but my rage at powerful men like him getting away with actual murder overtook my sense.
I grabbed his arm, my fingernails biting into him. “If that was a threat, I’d think again. If you haven’t noticed, assholes who do very bad things tend to find Karma once I dig up their shit.”
Hugh almost bared his teeth at me but seemed to think better of retaliating. Instead, he shrugged off my grip and marched around the corner out of sight.
I trembled with anger.
At him.
At Nick.
At Halston.
With Halston, I’d only half dealt with it. We still had the trial. The verdict.
Hugh had gotten away with whatever he’d done to Michelle and God knows what other controlling crap he’d tried to pull with women.
And Nick … he was abusing one of the people I loved most in the world.
If I could help London get away from Nick, then at least one of them would be dealt with for good.
It was difficult, though, when my best friend didn’t seem to want help.
Thoughts of shopping abandoned me and I found myself walking back to the hotel instead. If I were a painting, I was sure I’d be shrouded in wintry dark clouds of grim thoughts. As I moved through the lobby heading toward the elevator, however, a familiar voice called my name.
A shot of adrenaline spiked through me as my head jerked left.
Walking slowly toward me was London, wearing big sunglasses and a ball cap. Her fingers threaded nervously together in front of her as she approached.
Not wanting to draw attention to her, I reached out, took her hand, and hit the call button for the elevator.
We didn’t say a word as we waited and then stepped inside. I swiped the key card over the panel and we rose to my floor. The whole time I kept her hand tightly wrapped in mine.
I could feel how violently she was shaking, but I held it together as I led her into my hotel room.
The door closed behind us and I waited for London to make the first move.
She dropped my hand, her arm trembling as she raised it to take off the cap and sunglasses.
Fury exploded through me, and I had to suck in a breath to contain it.
Her right eyelid was swollen and there was dark bruising all around the socket and top of her cheekbone. A sob burst out of London, and I grabbed her to me, wanting to shelter her from Nick with my entire being.
I tried not to cry, but I couldn’t stop the tears.
When one of us was in pain, we were both in pain.
She clung to me so hard, her fingernails bit into my back, but I didn’t care. I held her as she rattled both our bodies with the force of her sobs.