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Caelan’s eyes dimmed. He could tell I wasn’t one hundred per cent certain on any of it.
“Plenty of good schools in Aberdeenshire. Y’ken? A short drive away.”
I inhaled deeply, ignoring his sarcasm. “What? Trekking through snow in deepest winter? With other little wee bairns.”
“I hadna thought o’ that.”
“Yes.”
An awkward silence passed.
“We’ll review things as we go along,” he assured me.
“I agree, we’ve still got to enjoy our time here first.”
“Two more weeks. Whatever shall we do?” He was grinning from ear to ear.
“I have no idea, whatsoever.”
It was later that day, we were wandering around Paphos, trying to stay cool in floaty, light clothing, seeking some dim tavern to have a cold drink inside and a delicious salad or burger, when we saw something in passing. One of the sports bars had a big screen and a news bulletin came on.
Words flashed across the screen that were quickly read by my eyes, but weren’t immediately processed, not properly. The scrolling headline was:
Gangster’s Moll Escapes Prison, Prison Guards Brainwashed
I kept telling myself it wasn’t what I thought it was, but… it was. Her mugshot flashed up, her name… Sherry Rathbone. At least they didn’t know yet that she was really Rebecca Horrocks.
“Christ,” he cursed beside me.
“You didn’t listen to me.”
“I thought…”
I looked into the pram and for a second, I was relieved our baby was safe, breathing, and with us. Not in the care of a nanny or his godparents, who were too aged to protect him against someone like that bitch. The nanny, too kind and sweet to know the real dangers of the world.
Caelan had believed her over his best friend. Eric had been right! Caelan’s judgement was impaired when it came to that woman.
Our bodyguard had been keeping to the shadows behind us but suddenly sidled up next to Caelan and muttered something to him I couldn’t hear. Caelan nodded and looked at me with pensive eyes. “We ought to return to the villa.”
I’d never been more in agreement, but I also knew, nowhere would really be safe for us now.
Chapter Forty-Six
By nightfall, we had three bodyguards in total. So I supposed we were quite safe, for now, so long as her filthy fingers didn’t reach so far.
We ate dinner in front of the TV while the baby slept upstairs. Meanwhile the bodyguards shared hushed conversation in the kitchen, deciding upon a strategy, perhaps.
No more eating outdoors in the dark for us for a while, then.
“You told the prince about her, did you?” It was an educated guess, given the haste with which two more bodyguards had made it here.
I could tell the men we were being guarded by were ex-military turned Royal protection officers. They had that look about them.
“The prince and I huv been drinking buddies for a while. I had to tell him eventually about the things that’d happened to you while I was in Ukraine.” The vein in his temple pulsed; I was still getting over him and this bloke who was an actual fucking prince going for pints together. “After I interrogated the Russian asset and it seemed Eric might be innocent after all, I was forced to lay out the alternative. That a woman I ken to be my mother but who is criminally minded and changed her identity, might be the one trying to send a message from prison. And also, yep, about yer father. Together we pulled some strings and let’s just say, lass… this could go very wrong for a lot of people if it doesna go right.”
“Nice to have friends though, I suppose?”
He tilted his head. “It sometimes only adds complications. My clearance is higher than his.”
