Chapter 36 Liv
Chapter 36
Liv
‘I’ll see you back at the house,’ says Brandon as he kisses me goodbye.
Rupert and Ingrid are exhausted, their eyelids half closed as the excitement of the night catches up with them. I wave them off as they walk down the staircase and back to the car.
The two other yogis I’ve taken on have agreed to join me for a 5 a.m. start tomorrow, when we’ll clean up before the first clients arrive. Within a day of advertising on Facebook, classes were fully subscribed for the next seven days. I can breathe easy for now.
Anna has sent me a video clip of the speeches, which I watch as I walk. Brandon told the room how proud he was of me and I told everyone how I couldn’t have done any of it without him.
It’s then that my new world comes crashing down around me.
‘I must say I’m a little disappointed I didn’t get a mention in the thank-yous.’
I gasp and retreat two steps when I see him. Harrison is sitting in my office behind the desk, scrolling through his phone. My conscience wasn’t playing tricks on me earlier. He was here. He is still here. His head is completely shaved allowing the lighting above to bounce off it. His brow is furrowed, making his dark eyes unreadable. His thin lips hide a tongue as sharp as a razor blade. He is as wide in size as he is in presence. Then I realise he isn’t alone. On the sofa in the corner of the room is a dark, bearded man, twenty-something by my guess, whose muscular frame is visible even under his leather jacket. The word ‘hate’ is tattooed on both sets of knuckles. Neither man is looking at me.
‘Quite the little business you’ve carved out for yourself here, isn’t it?’ Harrison asks, patting out a crease in his dark pinstriped jacket. ‘Found a gap in the market and you’ve filled it.’
‘What ... what are you doing here?’ I stutter.
‘I’ve come to see exactly how you’re spending my investment. My invitation to the party must have got lost in the post.’
‘I want you to leave.’
The look he gives me is familiar. Disdain.
‘Don’t worry, Olivia, we won’t outstay our welcome.’
He pushes back his chair and stands up, pulling his white shirt cuffs out from beneath his jacket sleeves.
‘For what it’s worth, I think you’ve done a wonderful job with the place,’ he continues as he approaches me. I take several more steps back until I’m in the centre of the corridor. ‘I can see where my money has been spent, and likewise in your beautiful home.’
He nods to the other man, who removes a phone from his pocket, dials a number and thrusts the screen in my direction. He has FaceTimed someone. The footage is dimly lit and it takes a moment for me to realise what I’m seeing. I recognise a painting on the wall. It’s in my lounge.
The person he has called is in my house, right now.
‘How long will it take your husband and children to get home?’ Harrison asks me. ‘Fifteen, perhaps twenty minutes?’
My throat is too dry to answer.
‘It’s been a long night for them all, so I imagine it won’t take them long to fall asleep. And probably a deep one. Children can sleep through anything, can’t they? Sometimes they won’t so much as stir, no matter who is in their room.’
My hand trembles as I try to swipe the phone from him. He pulls it away and squares up to me. I back down.
‘What do you want?’ I ask him.
‘Our relationship has reached its end, Olivia.’ He slips his phone back into his pocket. ‘My visit, and that of my associate, signifies the end of an arrangement you forced upon me. Do you understand? And count yourself lucky I am giving you this warning at all. Because if I ever hear from or see you again, I promise you that my associate and his associates will be only too happy to visit you. When they do, you will not have a family to return home to. And I am nothing if not a man of my word.’
His accomplice shoves me, hard, against the wall. I lose my balance and fall to the floor. I can barely breathe as I watch them leave.