Page 70 of An Unlikely Debutante

Before Lina could rise to her feet, Alex was by her side, crouching down next to her and checking she was not too badly injured. His fingers felt cool on the warm, sore patch of cheek where Uncle Tom’s palm had connected with her flesh.

‘What did he do to you?’ Alex asked, his voice low and soft, but with an undertone of repressed anger.

‘He just slapped me, truly it wasn’t even that hard.’

For a moment Lina wanted Alex to beat Uncle Tom; she wanted him to hurt him, to punish him for the slap and for the threats he’d been making the last few weeks. As her pulse slowed her anger subsided and gently, she laid a hand on Alex’s arm.

‘It was just a little slap,’ she repeated. ‘He’s a desperate man.’

‘That’s no excuse.’

Alex kissed her forehead, rose and walked over to where Tom was struggling to get up. There was naked fear in the older man’s eyes, as well as a hint of regret. Alex grasped him by the edges of his shirt and dragged him back towards Lina.

‘I should beat you to a pulp for what you just did,’ Alex said.

‘Please,’ Uncle Tom whispered, his voice barely audible. ‘It was a mistake. I’m sorry.’

For a long moment Alex eyed the man in his grasp, before disgustedly letting go of his shirt and pushing him none too gently into a chair.

‘I want to know everything,’ Alex said. ‘Why you’re trespassing on my property, why you hit Lina and why you broke into Lina’s room a few weeks ago. I assume that was you?’

Both Lina and Uncle Tom gave small nods and Lina felt her cheeks colouring.

‘She owes me money,’ Tom said.

‘I’ve paid you.’

‘Only just. You’re a slippery little fish, I wouldn’t have seen a penny if I hadn’t chased you.’

‘Why did she owe you money?’

‘We made a wager, she lost.’

‘Is this true?’ Alex asked, turning to Lina.

She nodded, unable to meet his eye.

‘So all this time you’ve been following Lina to remind her to pay you?’

‘It was my money. She lost the wager, she had to pay.’

‘And now she’s paid the debt?’

Uncle Tom nodded, his fingers darting to the pocket where he’d stashed the stack of notes Lina had handed over a few minutes before.

‘So why hit her?’ Alex asked, frowning.

Neither Uncle Tom or Lina spoke, both pressing their lips together, but for different reasons. Lina didn’t want Alex to know she’d even contemplated helping her uncle steal from him and Tom was no doubt still sore from when Alex had catapulted him across the terrace not ten minutes earlier.

‘Tell me,’ Alex said, his voice soft, directing his words to Lina.

‘When I couldn’t pay Uncle Tom straight away I made a deal,’ she said, looking down at her hands as she spoke. ‘We agreed I would have four weeks to find the money and instead of the ten pounds that I owed him I would pay fifteen.’

Alex nodded as Tom shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

‘The only way Uncle Tom would agree to the extension period was if I agreed to do something else for him...’ Lina paused, took a deep breath, then continued, ‘He wanted me to find out where you kept your money, so he could sneak into the house and steal it. I was also meant to let him know when the house would be empty so he was less likely to get caught.’

Biting her lip, Lina risked a glance up. Alex’s expression was inscrutable, but he didn’t look happy.