34. NICO
34
NICO
“ N ico. What’s going on back in the UK? Still raining?” Matt bellows a laugh and my stomach twists because he’s in a good mood and I’m about to destroy it.
I lean forward in my chair and prop one elbow on the desk. I’ve been putting this call off. And not just because I don’t want to give Matt the bad news. Ever since I had sex with Kate in here, I’ve been consumed with guilt that I lied to her about Martin Brooks.
I glance out the window, memories of Kate pressed against it flooding my mind. I blink to focus on the glass as it is now—rain running down in rivulets.
I grit my teeth and haul my attention back to Matt. “Yes. Pissing it down. Listen.” I fist my hand, press it to my lips and cough. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
An empty moment stretches too long before Matt speaks again. “Knew you wouldn’t call for a chat. What’s on the agenda?”
“Charlie. And Gemma.”
“God, what happ—”
“They’re fine. Everyone’s alive and healthy. But this isn’t good news.”
“Okay,” he says, elongating the K. “Hit me.”
I’ve rehearsed this in my head, but it's harder to string the words together now Matt’s listening. “I had to pick Charlie up from the police station the other night.”
There’s a crackle on the other end of the line, as though Matt is scrunching paper in his fist. “What happened?”
The door to my office creaks open and Seb pops his head in, eyebrows raised in a silent question. “Matt?” he mouths, pointing at the phone.
I nod and beckon him in.
“Seb’s here,” I explain, and click the phone to speaker as Seb takes the seat opposite me.
“Hey, Matt,” Seb says, his usual cheerful tone markedly absent.
“What is this? An impromptu board meeting?” Matt asks, his voice rough. “Hurry up and tell me why my son was in a police station. What did he do?”
“He graffitied a van,” I explain. “But the owner didn’t press charges.”
“A van? Whose van?”
Seb and I look at one another.
“Hello?” Matt barks. “What’s going on?”
“Gemma’s sleeping with someone else,” Seb spits out, before rolling his lips together like he’s trying to stop himself from saying anything else.
“I knew it,” Matt roars, and a smashing sound follows, as though he’s breaking things.
Seb and I sit quietly while Matt swears, calling Gemma all kinds of unrepeatable names. His voice is distant, like he’s on the other side of the room from the phone.
I rub my jaw. “We should have done this in person.”
“Fuck, no,” Seb says, eyeing the phone like Matt might leap out of the handset and strangle him. “You want to let that beast loose in the same room as us?”
“What does Gemma fucking someone else have to do with the van?” Matt barks, his voice suddenly clear again.
Seb jerks in his chair like he’s been electrocuted and begins to vomit words. “Charlie walked in on them having sex on the kitchen table and sabotaged the bloke’s van as payback.” As soon as he’s finished, Seb slams one hand to his mouth and raises the other in a gesture of helplessness.
“Fuck,” I mutter as I drop my face into my hands.
The silence on Matt’s end of the line is excruciating. Finally, he speaks, his voice frighteningly calm. “I’m coming home,”
“That’s not necessary,” I tell him. “Everything’s fine. Charlie’s been staying with us.”
“Been staying? How long have you known about this?”
“Since last week.” Shit . Maybe that was a mistake. I’ve been so preoccupied with Kate that I didn’t really think about it.
“You pair of idiots. I’m definitely coming home. Right now. Hayden!” He hollers his PA’s name. “Get the fucking jet ready. I need to go to London.” Matt’s voice lowers, directed once more at us. “Lucie. What about Lucie?”
I look up at the ceiling while Seb clenches his fingers around the arms of his chair.
“She’s still at home,” I say.
“What?” Matt yells. “You left her in the house when some strange man is visiting? Who is he? What do we know about him? This is a serious lapse in judgment from both of you. Fuck’s sake.”
“We couldn’t kidnap a three-year-old,” Seb explains. “She’s with her mum.”
“We don’t know anything about the man,” I say. “Other than where he lives and that he drives a van.”
“Find out about him before I get back. I’ll be there tomorrow. Early.”
He hangs up, leaving me and Seb blinking at one another.
Seb stands, digs his hands deep into his pockets and looks at his shoes. “I think that went quite well.”
“Absolute car crash.”
Seb meets my eye. “Yup.” He shrugs. “I’ll get Elliot Maxwell on the case. He’ll be able to turn up anything we need to know about the guy.”
“There is one more thing we know.” I lean back in my chair and put my hands behind my head. Casual . “Kate has a picture of his van on her phone.”
Seb’s expression shifts from amazed to smug in half a second, settling into a suggestive smile. “How do you know that?”
I give him my best ‘ don’t dare insinuate anything ’ glare. “Charlie told me he saw it.”
“Ah. Ask her about it then.” Seb’s eyes gleam with mischief as he scratches the back of his neck, like he’s pondering some new way of teasing me. Whatever he’s about to say is likely to be as irritating as fuck. “By the way,” he begins, his grin spreading wider with each word. “You should get someone in here to clean the windows. There are smudges over there that look a lot like you had a woman pressed up against the glass.”