Chapter Thirty-Four
Nick froze – that was Gabe’s voice. She had just thrown a bucket of icy water over Gabriel in front of all the journalists and now he must be standing there dripping wet whilst they all took photos of him.
All this was going through her mind as she sprinted downstairs. Opening the front door ajar she stood behind the door unseen, then closed it again as he hurried indoors. Outside the clamour of the press pack rose, shouts and questions barracked her, and she slammed the door shut on their baying voices.
She turned to Gabe. Her aim had been excellent – he had been drenched and was now dripping on the carpet. Surprisingly, he was grinning.
‘That is an ideal if unorthodox way to greet your guests in a heatwave! Would you mind if I took my top off though and maybe you have a towel?’
Nick watched as he took his top off and couldn’t help but be distracted by a well-honed torso.
‘If you don’t mind?’
With a start, she blushed and then dashed back upstairs. As she returned, she found Ohana trying to lick Gabe’s face whilst he held the dog in his arms. Just watching the semi-naked man and the dog for a tiny second cleared all Nick’s thoughts of trials and accusations.
‘Here you go,’ she said clearing her throat. ‘There’s always some spare clothes in the wardrobe,’ she said as she held out a towel and a polo shirt. ‘I think this is Seb’s, my brother-in-law.’
Gabe towelled his hair dry and then struggled into the pale blue top.
Nick watched as the fabric strained across his chest, ending just above his hips, the sleeves tight across his biceps. He smiled again.
‘Is Seb a girl?’
Oh God , groaned Nick. First she’d thrown water over him and then she’d given him Ari’s top to wear. Trying to apologise Gabe waved her off.
‘How about a drink instead and you can explain what half of Fleet Street are doing outside.’
‘Those bastards,’ snapped Nick. ‘You didn’t tell them who you were, did you? Or let them take a photo?’
‘God, no. Never talk to the press. Family mantra, I’m afraid. They may have got a picture but I’m a very low bit player in the family and I never make it to the social events, so they probably don’t have a clue who I am. So, what’s going on?’
Despite the heat, Nick liked to talk over problems with a coffee so switched on the kettle and began to grind the beans. She briefly considered the wisdom of talking to Gabe and then realised it didn’t matter even if he did say anything to his family. It was now a matter of public record. She began to recount the FCA investigation. As soon as she had mentioned FCA Gabe’s face had winced and as she continued, his expression became more and more serious.
‘So you see, I’m completely innocent, but in my eyes only. ’
‘And mine.’
‘What?’
‘Look, Letta, I haven’t known you long but in that short time I know you wouldn’t do that. It’s just not you. So what now?’
Nick exhaled loudly. ‘That’s just it. I have no idea. I was going through my diaries. I keep a handwritten ledger every day of what I have done. My diaries for that week confirm I was trading in those companies. All those trades were done on behalf of the Hiverton Estate. No one else, according to my notes, was involved or benefitted from it. But that’s not what the digital records show – they show I used a client’s funds and pocketed the profits. Now, that’s tantamount to stealing and they’ll throw the bloody book at me.’
‘But you did make these trades?’
‘Yes. But I didn’t mix the funding sources to do so.’
‘And yet the digital records show that you did.’
Nick’s shoulders sagged. ‘Yes.’
‘And your handwritten notes only confirm the trade, but don’t clear you of misusing funds.’
‘No.’ Now Nick’s voice was tired and flat. She sipped at her drink. ‘My solicitor advised me to plead guilty, which now I understand. I won’t, but that means a court case, and I dread the idea of dragging the family name through the courts. I can’t stand the idea that I am about to utterly destroy our reputation.’
She sobbed once and then caught her breath. Ohana was scratching at the back door and Nick was grateful for the excuse to do something and recover herself. She picked the dog up and gave her some food .
‘Let me represent you,’ said Gabe suddenly. ‘I know you’re innocent.’
‘What!’
‘I know my way around financial law.’
‘You don’t think your father might have an opinion on that? Besides, I have a team.’
The pair fell silent. Nick was overwhelmed by his offer, and then she became angry with herself for wondering if he had an ulterior motive. She had to stop thinking like this.
‘Fair enough,’ said Gabe sadly. ‘I probably feel too much like the enemy after the evictions.’
‘Yes. No. Honestly, I don’t think you knew about that and I am incredibly grateful that you have offered to represent me, but it just wouldn’t work. I mean, I know Harrington’s aren’t involved in this, but I still think it would cause some sort of conflict of interest.’
In the hallway the letterbox clattered, and a voice shouted through, ‘Have you any comment on defrauding your investors, Lady Nicks-it-all?’
‘Oh, for fuck’s sake. Lady Nicks-it-all? That’s going to sodding stick, isn’t it?’ she wailed. If she had one of Seb’s shooting rifles with her right now, she wasn’t sure she would trust herself with it.
‘Hold on.’ Gabe picked up his phone and called someone.
‘Yes, can you send a pair over to Foix Place? Two will be fine. Basic stuff, just ensure no one comes to the door. PDQ please. Thanks.’
Hanging up, he turned back to Nick. ‘I can’t keep this out of the paper, but I can make sure those vultures get as little as possible. We often have to hire security for our clients, at least I can do this for you.’
‘And in the meantime, I have to hide in here?’ she snarled, sick at the idea of making it to the papers. ‘Sorry, that was bloody ungracious of me. Thank you. In fact, I should start getting my butt into gear.’ Her phone rang and she saw it was Ari. ‘Hold on, I have to take this.’
Gabe nodded and got up to make the pair of them a fresh cup of coffee. Nick watched as Ohana ran back into the kitchen and followed after him. She briefly smiled at the sight of the pale blue polo top stretched across his shoulders and then steeling herself she spoke to her sister.
‘Ari, it’s a sodding mess—’ and she proceeded to explain what they were up against. Ari suggested that she was going to send over a security team, but Nick explained that Gabe had already set that up.
‘Is this the Gabe that Paddy mentioned, from Ireland?’
‘Yes. Long story. But probably not right now.’
‘Okay. Look, I’ve got in touch with Davinia.’ Davinia Joy was the estate’s publicist. She mostly handled Clem and occasionally Paddy and was worth her weight in gold.
‘Can she help?’
‘I don’t know – she’s created miracles out of less. Remember when Clem was in Florence with Otto? If she can gloss over that she may be able to do something here. At the very least she can keep abreast of the story and let us know what we are going to wake up to. I’ve rung the girls – expect calls, and I sent Aster a text, so God knows what to expect from her. In the meantime, wait until it’s dark then come up here and stay with us. ’
‘I don’t have a car.’
‘Hire one and get it delivered.’
‘That would rather tip off the paps, wouldn’t it? They don’t deliver cars in the dead of night.’
‘But I don’t want you there on your own.’
‘I’ll be okay, I have Ohana. Look, I agree, I don’t want to be here either. When I have a solution, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, I need to get back to the accounts and start again and see what the hell has happened. And I am so sorry for all this.’
Ringing off, with Ari’s admonishment that she wasn’t to blame still ringing in her ears, she sipped on the fresh coffee that Gabe handed her.
‘I have an idea.’
Nick raised an eyebrow.
‘I couldn’t help but overhear and I have a suggestion. Why don’t you lay low at my place? The house Raffy and I are working on. No, hear me out. One wing is properly inhabitable. Neither of us live there full time so you would have the place to yourself. Ohana would have bags of space to run around. We have great Wi-Fi so you could continue your work, and no one would suspect for an instant that you were staying at a Harrington property. The only other people there are the builders working on the other wing. You’d even be doing us a favour if you were able to keep an eye on works?’
Gabe took a breath as he finished rushing through his proposal and Nick stared at him, trying to find a flaw in the plan.
‘I get that it’s a bit rushed. And you probably still haven’t decided if you can trust me. But I won’t be there, I spend most of my time in London, for my sins, and no one will know you are there. Stay as long as you like. If it helps, I can promise to not visit at all. I just feel that my brother and I owe you a roof over your head having turfed you out of your own.’
The more he talked, the more the idea appealed. She had been tempted to go and stay with one of the girls but her feeling of shame would simply be magnified every time she looked at one of her sisters. Plus, none of them were short on opinions and whilst Paddy would be the easiest to stay with and the least likely to tell her what to do, her twin was tired and pregnant and didn’t need another burden right now.
‘It will be better for Ohana as well if she can get outside without worrying about photographers?’
Grimacing, Nick saw that Ohana had had an accident by the back door and was whining softly.
‘At least she had the right idea,’ said Gabe. ‘She’s as smart as her mistress, I reckon.’
‘I don’t feel like the smartest person right now.’ Nick hurried over and picked up Ohana giving her a quick cuddle and reassuring her that it wasn’t her fault.
‘Quite frankly, after all you’ve been going through, I’m impressed you can string a sentence together.’
‘Which makes me wonder if saying yes to your offer is an act of genius or stupidity.’
‘Genius. There’s a car up there that will be at your disposal – it’s only an old Golf, if that’s good enough for your ladyship? Is Letta the Bold ready to sally forth into a new adventure? ’
He grinned at her and whilst she felt an urge to say ‘yes’ she choked it down and counselled caution.
‘Thank you, but I’ll manage here just fine.’
She tried not to be bothered as his face fell.
‘Now, I need to get back to the paperwork and I need to start calling my clients, which frankly is not a task I am looking forward to. I want to let them know personally before the press start creating a stink.’
Retrieving his top from the tumble dryer, she handed back his shirt and threw the polo shirt in the laundry pile. As she walked him to the front door, she tossed him a bobble hat and a scarf from under the stairs.
‘To disguise you.’
‘In this heat I’ll probably pass out after ten yards. Still, it’s a good idea.’
Just as Nick was about to open the door she stopped and looked at him,
‘Why did you come over, by the way? I don’t think you said?’
Gabe rolled his eyes. ‘No, I didn’t, did I? It was to let you know that we have issued a full refund of your deposit without inspection. A small way to apologise. Rafe also wants you to know we will supply excellent references.’
‘And how did you get my address?’
‘You gave the concierge your forwarding address.’
‘Do you think that’s where the reporters got my address from then? Only I didn’t tell anyone.’
‘I doubt it, our staff are very discreet, most likely that a stringer got lucky this morning. Took a gamble that you would have moved into the family townhouse and then told everyone else?’
Nick nodded, but that didn’t seem likely. Still, for now it wasn’t high on her list of things to sort out.
‘Can I try one last time to convince you to come to the Cotswolds?’
Nick shook her head and opened the door as Gabe gave her a worried look then dashed out past two security men at the front of the house. She wanted to stay and watch him until he was completely out of sight, but the press pack had surged forward, and she slammed the door again.