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But Ican’tgo to the police…I just can’t. And he knows it.
‘If it’s money you’re after, you’ll have to give me time,’ I say, trying to work out how best to raise the funds. If that’s what it takes to make him leave Belle alone, then so be it.
‘It’s not just about money though, is it?’ he says. ‘No, it’s the…inconvenienceof what happened. You made a lot of trouble for Vaughn. For all of us. There was a lot to clean up.’
Don’t think about the past…I tell myself. Treat this as a business negotiation. Just deal with it and move on.
‘Five grand,’ I say, knowing that won’t even come close. But a deal must start somewhere.
He laughs, sitting on the stool next to me, sliding it closer. ‘No,’ he whispers in my ear, his lips touching my skin.
I pull back, shifting away from him. ‘Ten grand in cash and you can have it by Wednesday. Then you tell Belle it’s over, that you’ve made a mistake, and you get the hell out of our lives.’
He sits there staring at me, licking crumbs from around his mouth, his dark eyes sizing me up, enjoying my agony.
‘You’re placing a value on your daughter? Surely she’s worth more than that.’
‘I don’t have any more,’ I tell him. ‘And what’s Vaughn going to do if I refuse? Go to the police and tell them where the money came from in the first place?’ I scoff at him. ‘Stalemate.’
‘Fine,’ he says in a voice that sends shivers down my spine. ‘Then I’ll be marching Belle off to the registry office before you can say “congratulations” and stopping off at the police station afterwards to tell them what you did. So it’s not actually stalemate at all, is it?’
I stare at him, praying he’s bluffing as my body shakes, unable to reply even if I wanted to, because Belle is standing in the doorway.
‘Hi, Mum!’ she sings out. ‘Oh my God, did you see what else Jack gave me?’ Her hair is damp and she’s wearing her fluffy pink dressing gown, the one she’s had since she was about fourteen.
All I can do is look at her, imagining her reaction if she found out the truth. Rob’s reaction…Amber’s.Everyone’s…
‘Mum? He gave me a car! The BMW on the drive is all mine, can you believe it?’
But the grin on her face soon falls away as she looks between the pair of us. Perhaps she sees something in my eyes, or wonders why Jack is alone in the kitchen with me, dressed only in his underpants. My daughter pads barefoot up to the monster sitting beside me and slips her arm around his shoulders. And there’s nothing I can do to stop her.
‘Is everything OK?’ she asks, a worried look on her face.
‘Of course, my darling,’ Jack replies, not taking his eyes off me. ‘Your Mum and I were just getting to know each other. Weren’t we, Hannah?’
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
HANNAH – NOW
It had been impossible to get to sleep, and even when I did, I tossed and turned, then lay staring at the ceiling. Rob was snoring softly beside me, but it wasn’t that which drove me to get up and come downstairs to my study in the early hours.
No,hewas the reason.
Earlier yesterday evening, after Belle had come downstairs in her robe, chattering excitedly about the new car – the ridiculousness of which hasn’t quite sunk in yet – Jack had disappeared back upstairs and returned shortly after, fully dressed.
I refused to say goodbye when he cheerily told me he was going, that he’d see me soon, though I’d nearly wept from relief. The only good thing about the brief encounter was that Rob wasn’t home to witness it. Belle had trailed after Jack to the front door, speaking in a high-pitched baby voice as they said a lingering farewell, sounding as if they were going to be parted forever. I wish.
Then she returned to the kitchen, and she must have thought she was in for a grilling about the car, as I vaguely remember her spouting off things like Jack paying for the insurance and fuel as well as teaching her to drive. And she promised me that she’d be safe.
Safe…she has no idea that she’s the opposite of that right now.
I’d tried to listen to her, but my mind was running through a snapshot of my financial picture – both personal and corporate – and what I could sell or borrow against to raise funds, or if Rob would notice if I sold my car. But even after a quick add-up of everything that initially came to mind, I knew it wasn’t going to be anywhere near enough. How the hell was I going to raise enough money to get rid of him?
Now, in the glow from the anglepoise lamp on my desk, I sit hunched over my laptop, poring through my bank statements, wondering if I could take a director’s loan from my business without raising suspicion. And even if I did scrape enough together, getting a large sum of cash without being asked some very probing questions by the bank and my accountant would be nigh on impossible.
‘Han?’
I look up.
