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“If you get the information, you get the money. If you don’t… I’ll tell Mack why you were at his office last night.”
I go cold. I can only imagine what Mack’s reaction would be. He’d be furious. He might even phone the police.
I don’t have a choice. I started this. I have nobody to blame but myself.
“All right,” I say dully.
“I’ll call tomorrow morning, eight a.m.,” he says. “Good luck tonight. Enjoy yourself.” And he chuckles before ending the call. Fucking bastard.
I sit there for a moment.
I want to bawl my eyes out. I’ve never hated anyone as much as I hate him right now.
But there’s nothing I can do about it. I’ve just got to get on with it, and finish this.
My throat tightens. A little part of me is sure there could have been something between me and Mack. But I’ll never be able to explore that, because I’ve ruined our relationship before it’s even begun.
I start the engine and head to the main road, trying not to think about Mack and his beautiful, planet-filled eyes.
Chapter Four
Sidnie
Just after five-thirty, I pull up outside the house I share with Caro and Hana and park a few cars down. When we finished university, I assumed that the two of them, being a couple, would want their own place at last, but they were keen to split the rent on a house, and that’s why the three of us still share. It’s a tiny two-bedroom house with a garden the size of a postage stamp just ten minutes out of the city not far from the preschool where Caro teaches, but it’s relatively quiet, and we’re quite comfortable here.
I let myself in the front door and go in, calling, “Hello?”
“We’re in the kitchen.”
I go through and find them in the process of making pizzas. Caro, or Caroline, is average height and pretty with long dark-brown hair she mostly wears in a braid over one shoulder. She’s been my best friend since high school. She told me she was gay when she was sixteen, although I’d already guessed. She’s gentle, funny, and brilliant with young children, and in her element now she’s qualified as an Early Childhood Teacher.
Hana’s parents are Korean, but she was born in New Zealand, and she’s very striking, with short black hair and flashing eyes. She was in my English class at uni, and I knew Caro would be both shocked and entranced by her mischievous and quirky nature. As soon as I discovered she was gay too, I introduced them, and as I expected, they hit it off immediately. It was only a few months later that Hana moved in.
“We’re making you a roast veggie pizza,” Hana says as I plonk myself down in one of the chairs at the table.
“And we’ve bought a giant packet of Maltesers and splashed out on two bottles of Pinot Gris that were on special,” Caro adds, “so we’re all set for the evening.”
“Actually, I’ll have to take a rain check,” I tell them. “I have a date.”
They both stare at me, eyebrows rising. “What?” Caro grins. “Simon finally asked you out, did he?” He’s a trainee at Lubricanz and the only guy there who’s less than fifty years old, with a face like the pizza they’re making, and a brace.
“Nope.” I chew my bottom lip. “His name’s Mack Hart. And he’s a billionaire.”
Comically, their jaws drop together. “Right,” Caro says, pulling up a chair. “Tell us everything.”
I don’t, of course, leaving out the bit about how I ended up covering for Pippa, and how I was spying on him. Neither Caro nor Hana know anything about the pickle I’ve got myself into, and I intend to keep it that way. But I tell them everything else, and when I explain how he found the dirty poem I’d written, they both collapse into helpless laughter.
I make it seem as if I’m scared witless because I’m so out of my depth, which actually isn’t far from the truth either.
“What was his name again?” Hana’s pulled out her phone. I tell her, and she Googles him. “Fucking hell.” She shows me his photo to confirm she’s got the right person, and when I nod, shows it to Caro.
“Sid!” she exclaims. “Oh my God. He’s gorgeous.”
“I know.” I pull a face. “That’s why I’m terrified.”
“Aw!” Hana gives me a pitying look. “He’s still an ordinary guy beneath all the money.”
“He used to work as a waiter and a barista,” I confirm. “But even so, now he’s so rich he could have any woman he wants. Why does he want me?”
