easy life on a platter. And that’s why she decided not to make him a child of privilege.’
It made a twisted kind of sense. Scarlett knew the level I lived at – comfortable, but not lavish. She knew I could afford the upkeep of a child, but not the indulgences of the rich. I only wished she’d trusted me enough to share her decision. ‘I can see her point,’ I said. ‘It would have been nice to hear it from her and not some tabloid hack, though.’
George blew a perfect smoke ring. Of course he did. I suspect George was born with the ability to blow perfect smoke rings. ‘Scarlett didn’t always observe the niceties of civilised intercourse,’ he said wearily. ‘She did well for someone who had such a deprived upbringing. And I don’t mean deprived in the material sense. I mean deprived of all those elements that make you and me at home in the world. Stuff we take for granted. Like waiting for everyone at the table to be served before we begin eating. Like understanding that it’s possible to cook a curry from scratch. Like always saying thank you when someone sends you a bunch of flowers. They live like savages, Stephanie. The way she described her childhood made me want to weep. So she didn’t always understand the obligations of friendship. She should have told you. But I understand why she didn’t.’
‘I do too. And it makes me sad.’ I stood up and patted George’s shoulder. ‘There is one good thing about Scarlett’s will.’
‘What’s that?’
I smiled. ‘I don’t think we’ll be hearing from Chrissie and Jade’s lawyers.’
46
You’d have thought I’d had enough shit to shovel for one day. But it wasn’t over yet. Not by a long chalk. I left George smoking his cigar in the ghastly grotto and headed back through the growing dusk across the car park to the hotel. I was almost home and dry when Pete stepped out from behind a parked SUV and blocked my way. ‘Hello, sweetheart,’ he said with the relaxed smile of a man who knows he’s welcome.
My step stuttered and I recoiled backwards. But not fast enough. Pete moved more quickly than me and before I knew it, I had my back to the vehicle and he had an arm on either side of me. He stepped into me, pressing me close to the van. His familiar smell hit me and I felt sick. Impossible to remember now that once I’d revelled in the animal smell of him, loved that masculine fragrance that clung to his skin. Now I’d have settled for Scarlett Smile rather than this.
‘Let me go, Pete,’ I said, trying to sound calmer than I felt.
‘I can’t do that, Stephanie. It’s been too long since I held you.’ He rubbed his face against my neck. I felt the faintest shadow of stubble. He’d shaved before he came out and his skin was almost smooth against mine. There was something repulsive about the sensation.
‘Let me go,’ I insisted, turning my face away. ‘You know this is wrong, Pete. It’s over.’
‘Don’t be silly, Stephanie. You need me now more than you ever did before. I know about the kid, you know. A boy needs a father if he’s not going to grow up a spoiled mummy’s boy. And I’m the perfect choice for the job.’ He was pressing me against the van. I could feel him growing hard against me. I was starting to feel genuinely afraid. This section of the car park was only overlooked by a few bedrooms and there were no lights on in any of them. His hot breath on my neck, his skin against mine, the pressure of his need combined to send a cold wave of fear through me. He’d never gone this far in his pursuit of me before.
‘I don’t need you, Pete. And I don’t want you. This isn’t right.’
‘Of course it’s right.’ His voice was harsher now. ‘You belong to me. You always have. Now we’re going to be a family. You and me and Jimmy. We’ll be together for ever.’
‘No,’ I shouted. ‘Get off me, Pete.’
His hand shot out and slapped me. I gasped at the shock and pain, felt my eyes widening in fear and horror. ‘Don’t shout at me, Stephanie. Know what my trouble is? I let you get away with far too much before. I should have disciplined you more and indulged you less.’
‘Stop it, Pete.’ I didn’t mind begging if it got me off the hook. I was terrified now, knowing how much stronger than me he was.
‘“Stop it, Pete,”’ he mimicked. ‘Listen to yourself, Steph anie. You don’t exactly sound like you mean it. In fact I know you don’t mean it.’
‘This is wrong, Pete.’
He gripped my cheeks tight in his hand, forcing my mouth into an O shape. ‘Where’s your policeman pal when you need him, eh? It’s not so much fun when you’ve not got a tame copper to warn me off, is it? What did you think you were doing, Stephanie, setting that plod on me? Do you really think he scared me, with his “It’s been pointed out to me that you are not an invited guest, sir. I’m afraid I’m going to have to escort you from the premises.” Pompous prick.’ He shook his head. ‘What? You couldn’t come and tell me yourself that I wasn’t welcome?’ He let go of my face, pushing my head back so it bounced painfully off the SUV’s window.
‘Like that would have worked,’ I spat back at him. ‘You can’t take a telling, can you? I am not your girlfriend,’ I said, syllable by angry syllable. ‘I never want to see you again.’
I tensed for the slap that never came. Instead, I heard the familiar clatter of cowboy boots on Tarmac. Rapidly followed by Simon saying, ‘What the fuck? Steph, are you OK?’
‘Leave it out, pal, she’s with me,’ Pete snarled.
I tried to wriggle free, but Pete’s weight told against me.
‘I think you better step away from the lady,’ Simon said. He looked more anxious than scary, but the bottom line was that he was a witness.
‘And I think you better butt out.’ To confront Simon, Pete had to turn sideways on to me. As he moved, I caught him off balance and pushed his hip forward as hard as I could. He stumbled away from me and that gave me enough time to get behind Simon. Forget feminism. At that moment I was more than happy to let a man protect me.
‘Are you OK, Steph?’ Simon didn’t take his eyes off Pete.
‘Thank you, yes.’
‘You’ve picked the wrong fight, mate,’ Pete said, eyes narrowing. ‘Never come between a man and his woman. Did they not teach you that at your posh school?’
‘He’s not my man and I am not his woman,’ I shouted. ‘He’s my ex but he can’t get that bit through his thick skull. It’s over, Pete. It’s been over for years. Now leave me alone.’
Pete took a step towards Simon, hands clenching into fists. What I could see but he couldn’t was that George was moving up behind him, taking in the whole scenario with one long sweep of his eyes. To my astonishment, George set himself square on his toes behind Pete then with a swift one-two, he rabbit-punched him in the kidneys.
Pete screamed in pain, half-turning as he fell to his knees. George side-stepped and gave him a mighty kick in the balls. Pete screamed again and rolled on to his side, curled up like a baby. ‘Leave her alone,’ George said in his dry, precise voice as he stepped over Pete’s moaning body, took my arm and swept me off towards the hotel.
Simon brought up the rear, exclaiming at George’s pugilistic skills. ‘That was well impressive, George,’ he said for the third time as we turned into the foyer.
‘I had no idea you were the James Bond sort of agent,’ I said, squeezing his arms.
‘I did a bit of boxing in the Guards,’ he said. ‘I train at a gym a couple of times a week, purely to keep fit. Haven’t hit a man in anger for thirty years.’ He winced. ‘I may have kicked him a little too hard. These are definitely not the shoes for it.’ He steered me away from the ballroom and into the hotel bar. We found a table in a corner and he sent Simon to the bar for large gins. ‘That was your ex, wasn’t it? The one you moved to Brighton to get away from?’
I nodded. ‘That bit worked just fine. He doesn’t know where I live. That’s why he turned up today. And why he turned up at Joshu’s memorial. He’s still not given up.’
‘That’s not good,’ he said.
Simon came back with the drinks. ‘Bloody right it’s not good. If George and I hadn’t happened to be there, that could have turned very nasty.’
