Chapter 15
The sun is beating down on my face. In our brief sleep, I’ve wormed my way onto Gregory’s chest, one hand on his bare pec, one leg wrapped across his. He holds me to him with an arm draped over my shoulder, his hand resting in my hair.
There’s clattering and chiming coming from the dining area, followed by the sound of hushed voices. Gregory strokes my hair and presses his lips to my head. Without opening my eyes, I snuggle harder into his chest.
‘I prefer waking up with you,’ I mumble.
‘Me, too, gorgeous. Come on, Bertie’s setting up breakfast.’
I groan at first and cling to him. Then the curtain of blissful contentedness lifts. ‘Shit, what time is it?’ I sit bolt upright, the blanket around us falling to my waist. ‘I need to speak to Richard about the injunction.’
‘You need to get dressed before you do anything else.’
I look down over my skimpy nightdress. ‘Yes. I do.’ Pulling the blanket around me, I leave Gregory in only his lounge bottoms. I can’t resist a quick peek at him lying in the sun, arms stretched up behind his head. The epitome of man. In the process, I almost crash into Bertie.
‘Morning, Miss Heath,’ he says, attempting to disguise a smirk.
‘Morning, Bertie.’
‘Welcome to St Bart’s,’ Carl chimes through a bite of banana from the main salon.
‘Good morning, Carl.’
‘Hey, Scarlett, did you sleep well?’ Bryony is laughing and I look back to see my man laughing, too. Someone might as well write S. E. X. across my brow in lipstick. ‘Good morning everyone,’ I say, only mildly amused as I wave a hand lazily in the air and head to our room.
When I make it back on deck wearing slightly more clothes, Williams and Amanda are at the breakfast table. She’s leaning into his side and there’s a sparkle in her eyes across the table full of fruit, breads, meats, cheeses and pastries.
I guess I’m not the only one who had a good night.
Gregory is on his phone, pacing the front of the deck in smart navy shorts and a plain white T-shirt, shades in place, hair wet from the shower. I open my laptop and boot it to life.
‘You’re working?’ Amanda asks.
‘Something came up this morning. Sorry to have this on the table over breakfast.’
Williams holds up a hand as if to say, Don’t worry. ‘Everything okay?’
I glance back at Gregory as I take a seat and refrain from saying, Obviously not. ‘A London tabloid got wind of the case.’
‘The murder?’ Amanda asks, sitting forward and grabbing a slice of wholemeal toast.
I scowl at her flippancy from behind Bryony, who’s pouring me a cup of coffee.
‘He’s settling with them?’ Williams asks.
I shake my head and sip the soothing, rich coffee. ‘They’re going to print.’
‘A local tabloid and they won’t settle? What do they have?’
I set my cup on the table and type my password into my laptop. ‘They think Gregory bribed the police, or the CPS.’
The sound of Williams saying, ‘And they think they have sound intel,’ is drowned out by Amanda’s shouting.
‘Bloody hell, Scarlett!’ She’s out of her seat. ‘Bribes now? Christ, you could lose your job over an association with bribes. Your whole career. Your life.’
There are things I miss about the old me.
How uncomplicated and honest my life was.
There are other things I’m glad have changed.
Like the strength I’ve found in my own convictions.
The way I won’t be a pushover to keep people happy.
And something I’ve learned from Gregory: the ability to take control of a situation, to move at my pace.
I retrieve my coffee cup from the table and sip as Amanda stands in front of me.
‘At some point, Amanda, you’re going to realise that he is part of my life. A very big and important part of it.’
Her mouth opens and closes without sound, hands moving to her hips.
‘I appreciate what you’re saying, and I know you’re being a good friend, I do. But you don’t know everything about the situation and…’ I hate lying to my best friend but I have to, ‘…he didn’t bribe anyone. Money breeds enemies and Gregory has amassed a few. That’s all you need to know.’
‘Christ, you even sound like him.’
I rise abruptly from my seat to face her, acutely aware that all movement on the yacht has stopped. ‘I don’t take that as an insult.’ My words have much more strength than my eyes, which are pleading for her to trust me, to be my best friend.
This is more than a squabble over her stealing my clean towel, or taking my hair clips from my desk, or me letting her down for drinks after the office. But I can’t be the one to back down. Not this time.
‘What do you need me to do?’ she eventually asks.
Williams exhales and movement starts up again on the yacht.
‘Richard is filing for an interim injunction. He might even have it now.’ I check my watch. Nine-fifteen here, afternoon in London.
‘After that, he’ll need to make a case to force them into settlement.’ She snaps into work mode but flashes me a fleeting conciliatory smile.
‘Exactly. Sydney, Gregory’s PR manager, has been sending through details all morning. I need to call Richard for an update. If you could start pulling together a case summary.’
‘Got it.’
‘He’ll need to know the details and background. I can help you with that.’
She bites her toast, takes a mouthful of tea then holds out her hands, bending and flexing her fingers as a request for me to hand over the laptop.
* * *
By eleven-thirty, Richard has confirmed that the interim injunction has been granted and he’s putting together a strong case for further action, not really with the intention of pursuing a trial but to use as leverage to get the paper to settle.
The settlement agreement will be so tight, they’ll have to drop any leads remotely connected to the case.
The way things are looking, Richard is confident that will happen, particularly with the amount of money Gregory is willing to stump up to keep the press away from Elsa.
Gregory joins us around the dining table and I give him the update.
He’s relieved, that much is a true reaction, but I know the way he holds himself, the shades of his irises, the tone of his voice.
This is just another hurdle he’s had to climb.
He’s tired and I find myself wondering how he’s carried the weight of so much darkness for so many years.
I rub the dull ache beneath my breastbone and lay a hand on his thigh.
My want to protect him is overwhelming. I want this to end forever but the feeling of restlessness in the back of my mind is increasing.
Something tells me Katrina Martin is not going away.
That night isn’t going away and until they both do, Gregory will never be free of his past. We’ll never be free of Kevin Pearson.
‘Thank you both,’ Gregory says to Amanda and me.
Pressure mounts behind my eyes.
‘Amanda, would you come for a drink with me? Soft, of course. A short walk around the harbour? I’d like to talk to you.’
If she’s taken aback, she doesn’t show it.
Maybe she feels like it’s time to put some feelings to bed, too, but the lump in my throat is one of gratefulness.
Grateful to Gregory for reaching out and trying to make yet another thing right.
His life on paper looks like the dream, but he must be exhausted by it.
‘Sure.’
Williams and Gregory have an unspoken exchange, in that way they do. Williams’s soft eyes tell me he’s also thankful for Gregory taking the high ground.
‘We’ll be back soon,’ Gregory says, pressing his lips to my temple. ‘Hydrate, I’ve got a surprise for you this afternoon.’
In all the sex and legal battles, I think I’ve forgotten my hangover long enough to be sober.
As soon as Gregory and Amanda are off the boat, I take off my glasses and cover my face with my hands, pulling my knees into my chest on the chair.
‘Hey, hey, what’s this about?’ Williams moves quickly to replace Gregory on the chair next to me and wraps an arm around my shoulder.
‘Nothing.’ I try to stifle my tears but one escapes. ‘It’s nothing. I just need to take a breath.’
‘Talk to me, Scarlett.’
I sniff and turn on a fake smile for Williams.
Another silent drop escapes and rolls down my cheek just thinking about what to say. ‘I love him so much, all of him. I love him so much, it makes everything ache. And the one thing I want to give him, I can’t. I’d do anything for him, anything in my power, I’d do it.’
‘I think you’ve already proved that, don’t you?’
I snap my head round to look up at him. He knows.
‘He didn’t tell me. Nobody told me, until I just saw your reaction.’
All I can do is stare at him, my tears suspended.
‘I know enough about the case to know things didn’t add up.
I don’t know the detail and I don’t need to.
All I’ll say is this, what you did for him is more than anyone has ever done for him.
He loved you before that but now, he’ll never let anything come between you.
Ring or no ring, you two are unbreakable. ’
My next breath blows out my cheeks. He knows and I think it’s a relief.
Someone to talk to who knows Gregory and me.
Who won’t judge us. ‘I thought that was it. I stupidly thought that with his father out of the picture, Gregory could be free. But it just keeps coming back to haunt him and it’s killing me to think that I might have made things worse. ’
Williams tugs me into his side. ‘Scarlett, he’s already changing.
He is changed and you’re the reason. I’ve been his friend for twenty years and I’ve never seen him so happy.
Give him more time. There are a lot of years of hurt that he’s never shared with anyone and he needs to get past them but he’s doing it, trust me. You gave him that chance.’
‘Oh, crap, you’re going to be a super daddy,’ I say, nudging into him and drying my cheeks again.
‘I hope so.’
‘Are you nervous?’
‘Nervous doesn’t cover it. Petrified is more apt,’ he says, shaking his head.
‘You’ll be amazing. I know it.’