Chapter 13 #2
Business taken care of, I tuck my shirt into my tapered trousers and wiggle the material at the calves, adjusting them so they fall just above my pointed heels.
My reflection seems older than it did two months ago.
So much has happened; so much is happening.
Things were so simple when it was just Dad, Sandy and me.
That feels like the life of an entirely different person and right now, I don’t know which Scarlett is best. Old Scarlett had a father, a career she could be proud of, morals.
New Scarlett is confused, up and down on a daily basis, a liar, a murderer.
But she has a man she adores. A man she’s so utterly infatuated with, she’s about to throw away a huge opportunity at work because she can’t stand the thought of leaving him.
A man who could be carted off in cuffs at any moment for a crime he didn’t commit.
He’s standing outside John’s room, leaning one hip against the wall and holding my black wool coat across his arm. ‘Ready?’
‘You’re done?’
‘Yes.’ He opens out my coat for me to slip in my arms, then turns me and fastens the buttons to my neck. He drops a kiss on the tip of my nose. ‘Right. What’re we doing with our day?’
‘Are you joking?’
‘Scarlett, I’m not letting this whole thing keep dragging us down.’
‘What happened in there?’
‘We agreed to request another ballistics report.’
‘Can you just request another ballistics report?’
‘Well, we aren’t changing our story and the report doesn’t match our story, so John’s going to make a case for it. If not, we’ll go independent.’
I mull the idea over for a moment, trying to get things clear in my head. ‘Let’s say we get a second report.’
‘We are.’
‘What if the report comes back exactly the same, which, let’s face it, unless they’re utterly shite at their job, it will do.’
‘Was there really a need to swear then?’
‘Stop changing the subject, Gregory, and yes. Since meeting you, I’ve found a lot of reasons to swear so please let me indulge my new vice.’
He steps towards me and wraps his arms around my lower back. I turn my head because I know I’ll see hooded eyes if I look at him and I’ll completely lose my train of thought.
‘Look at me.’ His words are heavy.
‘No.’
‘Look. At. Me.’
I do. His eyes are filled with desire. ‘I like that I give you a reason to swear… in some departments. In others, please watch your dirty fucking tongue.’
I laugh at his forced hypocrisy. ‘Can we be serious for a minute? If both reports say the same thing, Gregory, you have two damning pieces of evidence to rebut. They make you look like a liar.’
‘True. But if they’re both different, they completely undermine each other.
John still thinks that if it’s an obvious case of self-defence, given my father’s history, there’s a good chance the CPS won’t even charge but if they did and the case went to trial, their reputation would suffer because of the conflicting evidence and it would be hard to refute our story and my claim of self-defence. ’
‘But we have no way of knowing and now it’s another week of waiting.’ I take an enormous breath that doesn’t settle the tightness in my chest. ‘Gregory, why did you get the ballistics report early?’
He sighs. ‘I’ve told you. Barnes is an old friend of Jackson’s. It was a heads-up.’
‘He was angry.’
‘Well, he’s conflicted. He has to investigate a friend. Relax, baby, this is our day. We can’t change things.’
As if that’s supposed to make me feel better. I throw my arms around him and bury my head in his neck that still bears the faint evidence of that fatal night because I really don’t know what else to do or say.
‘I won’t give up without a fight, Scarlett. I’ll make this right. You’ll see that what happened, what we did, was right.’
He closes the passenger door to the DB9, locking me inside, then slips into the driver seat. ‘Right, what do you want to do?’
‘Mm, let’s go for a walk. Let’s go to Primrose Hill.’
‘It’s freezing.’
‘You’re a big baby, Gregory Ryans. We’re wrapped up.’
He leans his head back against the headrest with a sigh, then looks at me. ‘One condition. We don’t talk about the case or anything to do with it. Just us for the rest of the day.’
I open my mouth to speak then press my lips shut again.
‘What?’
‘I just… You mentioned your father’s history like it’s on record. Do you mean… was he arrested for… for what he did to Lara?’
His eyes noticeably flick away then back to me before he speaks. ‘He has a record. Now, can we stop or am I going to have to take you home and spank that pert little arse of yours?’
I gasp, then follow it up with a laugh. ‘So if I don’t talk about Saturday, we get to go to Primrose Hill. If I do talk about Saturday, I get a spanking? Hmm, I’d like to talk about Saturday, please.’
He shakes his head with a laugh and pulls out into the road too quickly. A full afternoon of relaxed Gregory. I’m giddy with excitement.
He turns into a street near Primrose Hill Road and parks up. He lifts the collar on his coat and buttons it up to his neck.
‘Miss Heath,’ he says, offering me a hand to step out of the car. Two scrutinising eyes fall to my high heels. ‘Didn’t think this through, baby, did you? Looks like we’ll have to take you home for a spanking.’
I actually belly chuckle and it feels amazing. When I’m sufficiently composed, I pull two blue dolly shoes from my handbag and hold them up, my opposite hand resting on my hip. ‘A true London girl always carries her flats.’
He holds me up with an arm under my shoulder whilst I switch my shoes and throw my heels back into the car. I mirror him in pulling up my collar and fastening the gold buckle at the neck.
We walk up Primrose Hill Road hand in hand, passing a row of white townhouses and local shops with a quaint, homey, village feel. Gregory Ryans and Scarlett Heath do normal. Maybe old Scarlett and new Scarlett don’t have to be worlds apart.
‘Mm, smell that.’ Freshly baked French sticks fill wicker baskets on a table outside a small Parisian café, a red canopy blowing in the breeze above them in case of rain. ‘I love the smell of fresh bread.’
‘If we survive the cold to the top of the hill and back, we can come here. Frost bite or no frost bite, I won’t keep my lady from her fresh bread.’
I nudge into his side as he blows his fingertips for effect and hunches his shoulders.
At the bottom of the hill, a brilliant-white Scottie dog comes running towards us and jumps up at Gregory’s leg. I expect him to bat it away but instead, he bends and fusses the dog.
‘Oh dear, I’m sorry. She gets excited and I’m not quick enough to catch her.’ The Scottie’s owner is a petite, elderly lady whose mink coat is drowning her body.
‘It’s not a problem at all,’ Gregory says, giving his Most Charming Man impression. ‘How old is she?’
The owner is next to us now, beaming back at Gregory. ‘Older than she thinks. Like me.’
She’s not flirting?
‘You’re only as old as you feel, wouldn’t you agree?’ He stops fussing the dog and stands.
‘Hey, you got a saying right!’
Now I’m smiling. Gregory winks at me and it’s hard to know who’s swooning more, me or the little old dear.
‘We’ll let you both get on,’ Gregory says with another dashingly handsome smile. ‘Have a good day.’
‘And you.’ She turns to me and drops her gloved hand to my arm. ‘You hang onto him, young lady.’ She leans into me as far as she can and I lean down until her mouth is next to my ear. ‘He’s a hottie.’
I laugh, for the second time a total belly chuckle, and wave as the little old dear and her Scottie move on.
‘What was that about?’ Gregory asks as I slip my arm through his.
‘Girl talk.’ I lean up and plant a kiss on my hottie’s cheek.
‘Race you!’ I set off running up the hill before he answers but it only takes him a second to catch up.
He sweeps me from my feet without breaking his stride and keeps running up the hill.
His breathing isn’t even laboured when he puts me down just shy of the top.
Then he takes two more big steps to make sure he reaches the peak before me.
‘You cheated! I would’ve won if you hadn’t picked me up.’
‘Get here.’ Those magnetic, brown gems burn into mine.
I go to him and let him wrap me in his arms. ‘How did I find you?’ He drops a kiss on my brow, then turns me, dropping his arms over my shoulders, pulling my back into his chest. We look out over the city in the quiet calm of the hilltop.
I’ll make you fall in love with me, Ryans.
I pull his arms tighter over my shoulders and drop my head onto his forearm.
‘That’s the zoo,’ I say.
He nods his head, then drops his mouth to my neck, inhaling deeply.
‘And Canary Wharf.’
His lips gently suck my skin.
‘St Paul’s Cathedral.’
His tongue slides up to my jawline.
‘The Gherkin.’
He kisses my lobe.
‘The London Eye.’
He draws a line of kisses along my jawline.
‘And that’s home,’ I say, looking at the Shard.
He twists my head to face him and covers my lips with his. I shift into his chest and wrap my fingers through his hair as I breathe in his rich, fresh scent. He pushes my hair over my shoulders and his fingers gently tug me into his body.
He turns us slowly on the spot, faster and faster still until my lips peel away from his and I throw my head back, giggling, my arms outstretched above my head. A moment of total and utter happiness amongst our anguish.
He slows our turns, then spins us once in the opposite direction, which makes me smile.
My dad used to say that was the only way to counteract the Dizzy Duck Effect created by spinning over and over in one direction.
This is exactly where I want to be. In this moment, nothing else matters except Gregory and me.
The thief who stole my heart, me his accomplice and willing victim.
He slides me down his body to my feet then strokes my hair back from my face and pecks the tip of my nose. ‘You’re cold.’