“I’m busy.” I glare at Danny and Tristan in the hallway.
Unfortunately, Lucy, the traitor, has other ideas. She leaps all over the two of them, begging them to come inside. I feel slightly appeased that their custom-made designer suits are being slobbered over.
Danny pets Lucy. “Your security is rubbish. A welcoming guard dog and an unlocked front door.”
“And?” I shrug. “If anyone decides to rob the place, they’ll find me here. I’d be happy for the boxing practice.”
He strolls past me into the lounge area. Tristan follows.
“Didn’t you hear I’m busy?” I mutter.
“Fuck off.” Tristan snorts. “What are you doing then?”
“I’m babysitting.”
He narrows his eyes on me.
“Poppy’s in the garden.”
Tristan looks out the window to see my seven-year-old niece.
“She’s the only company I can tolerate right now,” I say wryly.
They follow me into the kitchen.
“Were you working today?” Tristan’s lips quirk. “You can never tell with you since you dress like a fitness instructor rather than a CEO.”
I wave off his words. “What’s the point of being a CEO if you can’t wear what you like? Anyway, I worked from home today.”
Danny eyes me. “Since when do you work from home? You look rough. Very buff but rough. Is that all you’re doing now—punching the shit out of a boxing bag?”
“And my trainer. There are worse things I could be doing for stress relief.”
“True.” He shrugs. “I’m glad you’re hiding here rather than out banging women like you usually do when something goes wrong.”
“I’d rather have my dick slammed in a door than pick up a woman.” There would always be women. Plenty of women. But I had no interest in another pointless night with a woman I had no connection to.
He pauses and glances at Tristan before turning his attention to me. “So, are you going to keep us hanging? Your messages were a little cryptic. Have the police taken him in for questioning yet?”
“No.” I open the fridge and rummage through the mountains of meat to find three beers.
“Why not?” Danny asks.
I lean against the open fridge. “I haven’t told them about Bonnie’s dad yet.”
“Why not?” Tristan prompts.
“I don’t fucking know, mate,” I snap, slamming the fridge door closed. Ignoring them, I flip the lids off the beers with an opener.
Danny leans over the kitchen counter to take a beer. “I think you do know.” He pauses, studying me. “When did you see her last?”
“Four days ago.” An uneasiness fills my gut. I didn’t plan for us to have rough sex. Hell, I didn’t even plan for her to come to my house. “It’s over. I’ve nipped it in the bud.”
“You’ve nipped it in the bud?” Danny barks, folding his arms over his chest.
“Do you hear yourself?” Tristan chips in, inspecting me through slanted eyes. I’m not in the mood for their little tag team pep talk. “So, what, that’s it? You’re not going to try to work through this?”
“I don’t tolerate liars,” I say through clenched teeth.
Danny sighs. “I don’t know the girl well but I’m sure she was just scared, Jack.”
“She lied to me for weeks. Maybe years.” I let out an angry laugh. “Who the fuck knows?”
Danny shakes his head, frowning. “People make mistakes. That’s how relationships work.”
I glare back at him. “Since when are you the morality police?”
He swears under his breath. “Hasn’t she been punished enough? You’re not the only one who has lost a parent here. Bonnie might never be able to have the same relationship with her dad.”
“That’s not my problem anymore,” I bite back. “I don’t trust her. If she told me we would have worked through it.” I rub my neck, agitated. “I don’t blame her for her dad’s actions, I blame her for lying to me. I disclosed everything to her—what Wicks said, what was happening with the barmaid, and she still lied to my face. She might never have told me if I hadn’t found the ring.”
“Okay.” Tristan nods. “I get that. But you can be a little intimidating sometimes, Jack. Especially about this. She was probably scared to lose you.”
“Bollocks,” I sneer, taking an angry swig of beer. “Now, are you done with the intervention? Because you two aren’t very good at it.”
Danny smiles. “No, we’re not done. People don’t always react how you want them to, Jack. She’s not a puppet.” He shoots a look at Tristan. “Remember how volatile Charlie and I were when we first started dating? But I love her, so I didn’t give up.”
“You and Charlie didn’t have to work through a murder, Walker.”
His brows lift. “You’re not the only one having to deal with this. Don’t you think she needs you too right now? This is a terrible situation for her to be in.”
My jaw tightens. “She should have thought about that before lying to me.”
“Fuck’s sake, mate, you sound like a broken record,” Tristan says. “You saw the news article of you two, right? You were caught fighting in the street.”
“And? I’m in the news all the time.”
“Bonnie’s not. She’s not used to the media circus that surrounds you. You deliberately tried to protect her from it. Now you’re gonna feed her to the sharks?”
“It was just a random person who saw an opportunity,” I grumble. “The story has already died.”
Tristan frowns, cocking his head at me. “You’ve already lost one of the most important people in your life. Are you really willing to lose Bonnie as well?”
I look away. They don’t get it. She’s not the woman I thought she was. All the times she made me believe I was the most important guy in the world to her, with those big blue eyes and that soft voice, she was keeping something massive from me.
She made me believe that we were serious. That she loved me. I confided in her. I would have told her anything. I would have given her everything.
But you don’t lie this big to someone you love.
And no matter how much her tears are haunting me, my nan was right. If I can’t trust Bonnie, I can’t lay a foundation with her.
They exchange glances then Danny sighs and shakes his head. “You’re a stubborn shit, Knight. You and Lucy can sit here farting. You’ll regret this sooner than you think.”
Bonnie
“Are you ready, love?” Mum wraps her arm around me.
No. I’ll never be ready for this. We stand on the steps in front of the Hackney police station in East London.
I told Dad we were going to the police today if he didn’t do it. I know he thinks I’m bluffing, that his little girl would never do this to him. My dad always said that I was the person that kept him going.
Would I still be after this?
Perhaps, I’ll be able to sleep a little easier.
At least Mum knows. I’ve never needed Mum so badly.
“We’re doing the right thing.” She looks at me supportively. “Your father will realise that.”
My stepdad Phil doesn’t think he’ll do time. It would likely be a suspended prison sentence if anything.
But he’s neglecting the fact that Dad’s opposition is the Knight family, and they have connections.
I smile sadly at her. Regardless of what sentence Dad does or doesn’t get, he won’t forgive me for this.
I take her hand and climb the rest of the steps to the station.
