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“You knew it was arson?” One of the bar staff asks, looking a little taken aback.
“We had an idea, the club was safe, we check it regularly, our standards are high.”
She nods her head in agreement. Then I pass out the photos of the faces. One by one, we remove eight of them. Leaving us with twelve to find. The rest will be passed to the other clubs to see ifthey recognise anyone, or if they club-hopped, met with friends, have a history, are drug users etc. I’m not stupid I know what goes on in and around the club. We try to eliminate it all but we can only do so much.
“Thanks guys, just to reassure you all. You’ll still be getting paid, it’s going to be all hands on deck while we refurbish, so if you can help in any way we would appreciate it. Speak to Bobby and he can assign you jobs. But take a few days off while we arrange everything and come back on Monday.” With that, they all file out of the room, chatting, whispering, concern on all their faces.
Even with everything going on, I can’t stop looking at my phone. She’s not messaged me or called me since this morning, I got one of my security team guys to keep an eye on her, and he says she is still travelling. At least I know he is keeping an eye on her.
“Right, I’ll be back in the UK tomorrow. Bobby has it all handled here, I’ll put Issac second in command to help him,” I say to Dan, picking up the phone and taking it off the speaker.
“You sound bad mate, what’s wrong?” I fill him in about Millie going to London on her own, the house, but what he says next makes me want to punch him in the balls.
“I thought you knew about it, Em told me about the house, said it was like going on a spy mission. But she shouldn’t be there on her own, I’ll go meet her if you want?”
“You knew? Wait Em was with her when they changed the locks? I’m going to fucking kill you when I’m back!” I shout at him on the phone.
“Don’t shoot the messenger, I only found out when it had been done, when we got back after the stag and hen do. I was pissed off too mate, but I thought Millie would have told you, that’s some pretty big shit to deal with on your own. Look, I’ll book a train ticket and meet her there.” All his words come out in arush. Trying to make amends with me. But it does not stifle the fire I have in me right now.
“I’m still going to punch you! But I have Owen on it, I know she is safe.”
“Try it, you know I’ll beat your ass!” he says, laughing. There was no way on earth he would be able to do that, and he knows it but it made me laugh.
“In your dreams, mate,” I laugh.
“Yeah, I know. But a man can dream,” he sighs, which makes me laugh even more. That’s the best thing about Dan, he knows when you feel like shit and knows how to make you laugh. It’s why he is my right-hand man; he keeps me level-headed and calm in most situations. After hanging up, I finally got a message from Millie.
Mil:Arrived and just met with Charlie. How is your day? xx
Me:Glad you arrived okay, my day is shit. It was arson, I’ll tell you about it later. Call me when you are back and keep me updated xx
Mil:Oh god, that’s awful. Yes I’ll call you when I’m back. And yes I will keep you updated xx
I can almost see the eye roll as she messages me back.
Chapter twenty-two
No Going Back
Millie
Walking into the estate agent’s with Charlie, I find it a bit surreal that I’m about to sell my home, where I grew up, where all my childhood memories are from, where I had all the love from my parents. And being here really makes it hit home, seeing it on display in the window, everything how I left it. But then the images of that night come back, all I can see is what happened, how he hurt me, I can’t live there anymore. Not with these memories, I just can’t do it. I know I have made the right decision, but it’s still hard. It’s all I have left of them.
Charlie sees me looking at the pictures on the wall. She spins me around and hugs me.
“I can see how hard this is for you. Are you sure it’s what you want? I mean it’s the last thing your parents gave you.” I know she is trying to comfort me, and I know she cares but I just…I don’t know. My feelings are all over the place. So much has changed in the last few months. I’ve gone from almost dying at the hands of someone I thought loved me in a house I thought I would have forever to someone who has disconnected herself,moved far away, and has a man who loves me and is willing to do anything to help me.
Closing my eyes, I lean into her shoulder and take a big breath in. “Yes, it’s the right thing to do,” I say, turning around and pointing at the picture.
“You see that room? That’s where he did it. It’s all I can see, everything is broken, and if I keep it, it’s all I’ll ever see. I’ll be living under the shadow of what happened that night. The shadow of him. And I’m done being under the shadow of him.” It’s like something clicks in me, I can’t say what it is, but I know something has changed, and changed for the better. It’s almost like the final piece of getting my life back.
“Enough said,” Charlie says. She turns to the man at the desk, waving her hand.
“She’ll sell to the highest bidder.”
The man’s face lights up, and we walk over, sitting down in front of his desk. It’s not as nice as Em’s offices but it works.
“That’s great news,” he says, typing something on his laptop. “I have a couple of things for you to look over, then I’ll tell you the highest bid.”
