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“We need to come clean with your dad,” he said decisively, “try to back out of this before there’s any cause for resentment. I don’t want him to end up hating you because of me.”
Distress swamped her. “No! It’s too soon.”
“Let me be the judge of that.”
“Please, no. If we bail out now, we blow it.”
“Hush, this is about damage limitation…” He paused until she nodded. “This dinner thing, it might be because he’s onto me. It’s been oddly quiet since I arrived here. I’ve been enjoying the working environment, surprisingly, but I’m always waiting for the axe to fall.”
Her stomach knotted hearing him say that.
“I’m not going to sit here until the police arrive. I’m going to declare myself.”
“No!” Every option sounded like a minefield.
“Don’t fret,” he interrupted. “I won’t reveal you employed me.”
“I did employ you, therefore I’ll b e the one to say when you reveal who and what you are.”
“You’re playing for time.”
“I am.” She swallowed hard. “Let’s get the dinner over and then we can make a plan, after.”
“It’s tonight?”
She nodded.
“Fuck! Right, okay…we better get a move on.” He shoved the table back against the wall. Reaching into one of the boxes, he grabbed a couple of printable forms, handing her one.
“You think of everything,” she said.
“I do try.” With one hand on the door handle he glanced at her one last time “Ready?”
Torn, Lara nodded, and followed him out.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
A resigned acceptance settled between them over the course of the day.
Draco wound up the database, just in case things ended badly at Compton Senior’s homestead that evening.
He was proud of the work he’d done during his faux placement. He’d added some nifty features to the new database, shortcuts and extra pages for new categories of information, stuff that hadn’t been done before. Lara imported all the current information, double checking it all thoroughly before agreeing it was done.
Back at the apartment they quietly prepared, showering and changing their clothes. Lara booked a taxi. During the journey they held hands.
“Still worrying about your grandmother?” she asked.
Draco was running over his prepared story, in case he had to use it that evening. She wanted to talk though. “Yes, but I’m assured things are going well.”
“I can’t imagine you with a cuddly grandmother.”
“She’s a wonderful woman, traditional. She looked after us more than our Mum did.”
“Maybe that explains why I keep seeing old fashioned attitudes in you.”
It puzzled him, but he supposed it might be true.
“I’ve got a great aunt too, her sister, she can be scary. Together they are formidable”
