“Because your father offered.”
“What? He said you forced him.”
“Oh, did he? Sorry to disappoint you, Isabel, but that’s not quite true.”
“He…he offered me?”
“He did.”
“But why? Why would he do that?”
“Because he owed me a lot of money.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“I need an answer, Isabel. Are you willing to marry my son or do I have to kill your new best friend?”
“You swear you’ll leave him alone if I agree?”
“I swear.”
So that was how I ended up in the most surreal experience of my life, sat in a gangster’s house, having my hair brushed by his sour faced stylist, a wedding dress hanging up ready for me to step into. It had been only a few hours since I was on Ben’s doorstep and there I was, about to get married to a man I had no interest in, my life over.
As the brush was dragged through my hair, I thought about my father. Was it really possible that he’d offered me up to Tony in lieu of debts? Which of them was more likely to be a liar? A gangster? Or my father? Whatever the answer, I was trapped. If I wanted to keep Jake safe, I had to go through with it.
Tony had explained things very clearly. As long as I didn’t make a fuss, went to the church, said what I had to say, then came back to the mansion afterwards, all would be well. If I ran, if I refused, if I tried to escape at any point, Jake was a dead man.
I still thought Jake might rescue me, even as I stepped into the dress and walked down the drive to the waiting car, I thought there was still a chance he would leap in and save the day. But this was real life, not a fairytale, and he didn’t come. He was probably hiding somewhere, trying to keep out of Tony’s reach. I hoped he was safe, I hoped Tony was telling the truth, that he would leave him alone like he’d promised.
I climbed into the car, my wrists still sore from where they’d been bound. Could I call the police? Could I scream for help? I could do both of those things but then what would happen to Jake if I did? So many questions bounced around my head as I sat there waiting for the car to set off.
“You look beautiful,” Tony said, climbing into the car next to me. “Don’t look so sad. Life will be good. You will want for nothing. I’ll make sure of it.”
Jake wasn’t coming. My shoulders slumped as the engine started and we set off. I was being driven to my doom. There was no other way of seeing it. I was about to marry a man I hadn’t even met, a man who I knew was violent. I was doing it just so that Jake would be safe. What did that mean? Did it mean I loved him?
I thought about his face, I thought about the impact he’d had on me, that he’d turned me from being sure I wanted to return to my past to wanting to look to the future instead, a future that would be brighter with him in it. It was hard to admit to myself but Ben was the past, the past that was gone for a reason. Jake had opened my eyes to that, without doing anything specific, he’d made me see that love wasn’t faded memories of childhood, it was letting someone in who wanted to come in.
I did love him, I realised as we drove slowly out onto the street. I loved him, that was why I was doing this. For love. For him. I was ruining my life to save his.
THIRTY
JAKE
The drive seemed to take forever. I didn’t go straight to Tony’s mansion. I needed something first. I stopped at my flat to retrieve my case. Sitting in the car at the corner of the street, I looked down, my eyes scanning for anything suspicious.
Tony had two men watching the front, they stood out blatantly, leaning against a white van and looking straight at the flat. Subtlety was lost on some of his employees. I could probably have taken them but it would cost me too much time. Plus, they might get chance to warn him I was coming.
Moving round to the alleyway behind the block of flats, I was glad that no one was watching the back. His mistake. I was up the fire escape and at my floor in under a minute.
I was in my flat seconds later. Crossing to the bedroom, I knelt beside the bed and pulled up the loose floorboards. Once two were up, I was able to reach inside and bring out a black case. I carried it out under my arm.
Once back on the street, I climbed back into the car and then sped off towards Tony’s house. I pulled up at the corner of the street that led to his. It was a tree lined avenue with five houses on one side and only his on the other, set in its own ground behind a high stone wall. I leant into the back seat and grabbed the case, putting it on my lap before turning the combination lock and then opening it.
Inside was a dart gun, the perfect silent weapon for what I had planned. With that jammed in my pocket, I stepped out of the car and moved towards the street on foot. I knew the blindspots well enough to get past the external cameras on his wall without being seen, moving up the pavement under the protection of the leafy trees, timing my movements with the turn of the cameras.