Chapter 27
‘So, I’ll see you Friday,’ Justin said, as he zipped up his pants.
‘And will you be needing a blow job in the car park?’ Tara gave her best icy smile as she reached for her bathrobe and wrapped it around herself.
‘I’ve asked a couple of estate agents to call round,’ he said, after a second. ‘They’ll check with you first to make sure it’s convenient.’
Tara’s stomach clenched. ‘It won’t be. Call them back and tell them you’ve changed your mind. Because it will be very embarrassing – for you – when I don’t let them in.’
He gave a heavy sigh. ‘Tar—’
‘No, don’t Tar, me. You can’t put this house on the market unless I agree. And I don’t.’
‘Where’s the harm in finding out what it’s worth?’
‘No.’
Tara glanced back, over her shoulder, over the steep dell that was the property’s surrounding land.
The garden was all hers. She’d done everything, other than the heavy landscaping, and it had taken years of planning and hard physical labour.
Built on the crest of a wooded valley, the house overlooked a paved path that wound its way through birch, rowan and hazel trees.
Ferns, huge and luscious, lined the way while great swathes of flowers appeared like wonderful surprises.
She’d made the most of a natural spring, coaxing it into tiny pools, rushing streams and waterfalls.
In her heart of hearts, Tara sometimes wondered if she loved this house as much as she loved her children.
And now, having done nothing wrong, she was expected to give it up.
‘You can’t stay here, Tara. You know that. You can’t afford it and it’s far too big for you.’
‘It was too big for four of us, but I don’t remember you having a problem then.’
Justin was fully dressed now, ready to go back to his new life. She wondered if he’d even bother to wash his cock before putting it in the analyst that night.
‘You’re putting off the inevitable,’ he told her.
‘Then I’ll put it off as long as I can. You set this whole process in motion, Justin, so you’ll have to see it through. You can’t sell this house until the finances are settled and that’s months away. Maybe the court will give it to me outright, who knows?’
Small chance of that, but even the possibility would piss Justin off no end.
He gave a short, unpleasant laugh as he left the room. ‘You’re not taking this Logan Quick bollocks seriously, are you?’ He shook his head, before turning to leave the room. ‘Oh, Tara.’
Forcing a house sale would be understandable if Justin needed the money, but he didn’t.
He had a flat in Notting Hill that he shared with the Bedlington Terrier.
The two of them had just returned from a two-week holiday in Barbados.
He couldn’t even argue that he’d give the money to the children; he’d made it perfectly clear they’d be expected to make their own fortunes, just as he had.
Justin had a perfectly nice, well-funded lifestyle with a woman fifteen years his junior and was probably seeing more of his children than he had when they were younger.
He was happier than he’d been in decades.
Which meant that selling the house was about taking it away from her.
‘I mean it about the estate agents,’ she called to her husband’s retreating feet on the stairs. ‘Don’t you dare send them round here.’
There was a pause when he reached the bottom. Then, ‘I’m stopping your allowance,’ he called up. ‘There’s enough in the joint account for this month. After that, you’re on your own.’
Tara crossed quickly to the top of the stairs. ‘You can’t do that,’ she said, as fear grabbed a tight hold of her stomach.
He looked up. ‘Watch me.’
She had no savings that she could access. All their money was held jointly, but she had no idea of the details, let alone the passwords that would enable her to access funds.
‘Of course, if you decide to be reasonable, we can come to a financial arrangement very quickly.’ He gave a nasty smile, a second before retrieving his keys from the table by the front door. ‘I’ll let the estate agents contact you directly, shall I?’
A cold wind rushed through the house as Justin left. Trembling, Tara returned to the bedroom. She sat by the window and picked up her phone. Dialled a number. It was answered on the fourth ring.
‘Am I speaking to Amanda Holt?’ Tara said. ‘Logan Quick’s former wife?’