24

24

STACEY

“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” Tobias asks as I pack my suitcase.

I nod, even though I know he can’t see me. “There’s no reason for me to stay.”

“And you trust this Barry to successfully hide you? How can he change your identity?” I hear him shift on his bed. “You can’t fly without a passport.”

“He already had a new passport made for me, just in case, and once I have it, I can set up new bank accounts and all the other legal documents.”

“You’ve told him my demands?”

I roll my eyes. “Yes, he’s aware you want me nearby. I couldn’t talk much since Lisa was in labour. They had a girl by the way. A home birth. Her name is Eva.”

“I don’t care,” he huffs. “I want to know everything. Do you hear me? Everything. Don’t you dare leave the manor without security, and you stay by Barry’s side. When you all fly over here, I want a meeting set up with him.”

Of course he does. Protective ass.

When I don’t reply, because I’m violently shoving more of my clothes into the suitcase and trying to close it, Tobias says, “I’m sorry about my son. Kade had no right to treat you that way. You deserve better.”

I pause. “I guess it was my own fault. Kade said before that we were done; I just thought it was different this time.”

“He cares about you – I know it.”

I laugh as I shake my head. “Yeah, he has a funny way of showing it.”

“I have some more information on the Sawyers, but I don’t want you getting involved. I want you to focus on yourself. Your brother is still out there, and we don’t know how far he’ll go to get you.”

“What do you know about the Sawyers?”

“They’re heavily involved in the underworld.”

I tilt my head. “What exactly does that mean?”

“Organised crime – a lot of it twisted. They’re very dangerous, Stacey. I want you to listen to me when I say this. Do not get involved.”

I chew my lip. “But Kade is with them.”

“Let me deal with that.” Then everything goes muffled as someone enters his cell – he’s shoved the phone under his pillow, I assume.

The call cuts out seconds later, just as a message comes through.

Barry: I have a car waiting for you next to the fountain. Three cars will follow to ensure you arrive at my apartment safely. Try to rest, Miss Rhodes. We don’t fly to America until my daughter has had all of her checks.

Barry: I’m sorry it’s come to this. Please believe me when I say that Mr Mitchell always goes above and beyond to protect you, and I will do the same.

Me: Thank you, Barry. I’m so sorry I’m doing this when you and Lisa just had a baby. I could stay at a hotel for a few weeks? Or would you prefer I wait here a little longer?

Barry: No need, Miss Rhodes. Lisa is excited to meet you. My job is to protect you, and if you’re here, it makes my job easier.

I sniff and put my phone into my purse, my eyes falling on the ripped tutu I’d pulled off in a tear-filled rage. I showered in cold water to try to stop the panic attack, but all I could do was sob into the frigid water as my back slid down the tiles.

I tried to tell him, and he called me pathetic.

Luciella is in a mood with me because she caught me sneaking out of Kade’s room not long after he vanished. She shook her head and said I’d never learn, clearly not knowing my heart was in the middle of shattering.

I tried to call Tylar, but her phone was off.

Kyle picked up on the second ring, but he couldn’t talk because he was at work.

Barry answered right away and stayed on the phone with me until I stopped crying – until his wife came on the line, with the softest voice ever, hours after having a baby, and somehow, I calmed enough that I could talk without hyperventilating.

That was when they both suggested I come down to Newcastle to them – that I should take up Barry’s offer to make me disappear. So I agreed.

By the time I carry my suitcase downstairs, my music is off, and everyone’s gone home. Base and Luciella are in the kitchen, and I peek in just as he takes her hand and says something to her in Russian, which makes her huff and demand he say it in English.

I back away from them. I can message her and Tylar later and explain. Kyle will be furious, but I have no idea what else to do. Stay locked up in the manor for the rest of my life? Wait on Chris hunting me down?

Or get a new life.

The driver takes my suitcase and opens the car door, and I thank him as I climb in.

“Spanish Sahara” by Foals plays on the radio while we drive through the Scottish back roads, and for once, I don’t cry about my situation.

I might be sore from how hard he fucked me, but I don’t think of Kade and what went down between us hours ago, the words he threw at me while I begged on my knees for him to stay and listen. I don’t even think about the disappointment in my friend’s face when she realised I was with her brother after she told me not to.

All the way to Newcastle, to Barry’s apartment, I try to think of new things.

Should I cut and dye my hair? Where will I work? Will Tobias get fed up with me when I visit every chance I get?

And finally, will there be a dance studio nearby?

Lisa cradles her baby girl against her chest while she feeds as Barry helps me up the steps to their home. It’s already packed up, and they have suitcases lining the hallway.

Barry notices me staring at the luggage. “We’ve been packed for weeks.” He shrugs. “We figured you’d take the offer eventually, and we were already planning to move.”

“And you’re okay with going so soon after having a baby?”

“Of course. I hate it here anyway,” Lisa replies. She has warm brown eyes and her blonde hair looks thick from her pregnancy. “It’s great to finally meet you, Stacey. I’m really sorry for everything that’s happening, but I promise my husband will keep you safe.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you hungry? I can defrost lasagne.”

Barry laughs. “It’s six in the morning, baby.”

I look at him, and his cheeks go red. I’m so used to the bossy, fed-up, unenthusiastic side of him that I didn’t ever think he’d be sweet. I smile at him, and he rubs the back of his head and follows us into the kitchen.

He goes to his daughter, grinning down at her as she wraps her little fingers around his pinkie, and takes her to get a nappy change.

Lisa dishes up two plates and we sit at the breakfast bar. “I love seeing this side to him. He was always a doting husband, but a father? I think I might need to have ten babies to keep seeing that look on his face.”

He does look completely mesmerised by his daughter. Little baby Eva.

It takes an hour for me to get to know Lisa properly. We seem to like all the same things. She’s three years older than me, yet she has her life sorted – twenty-five with a loving husband, a baby, enough money to sell a house and buy a new one whenever she pleases. She has her own online fashion business – designing dresses and fabrics.

I’m jealous of the life she has.

I’m about to run away from my life and start afresh, and I have no idea what I’m going to do.

She grabs her laptop and shows me the different places she’s been looking at – big lovely houses in the city, some on the outskirts, then she gets excited that there’s a house near a Starbucks.

I giggle with her when we hear Barry gagging – covering her mouth and nose with his top with a nappy bag on one hand, baby Eva in the other.

I don’t hold her when they offer, and Barry understands. Lisa probably doesn’t, but I’m sure her husband will explain later.

She goes to rest while Eva’s napping, and Barry sits down with me, going over my new identity and how I go about not getting caught – handing me a passport with my picture on it with a completely new name.

He takes my phone, dismantles it, then puts it into a folder. The new phone is the same but with a new number. I’ve not to use it to reach out right away – I’ve to be discreet, careful and not use it socially.

Then he places a bank card down and paperwork. “I need you to sign these.”

“What are they?”

“Don’t make a big deal when I tell you, okay?”

I stare at him, unblinking, and he sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Kade set up a sort of safety net for you and his family. Each one of you got a lump sum – to be given if he passes away. This is me honouring that deal while he’s still alive.”

I glance at the paperwork, then my eyes lift to him. “Is this a joke?”

“Nope.”

“Kade gave me eighty-six million pounds?”

“Yep,” he replies. “Please sign it so we can move along. I’ve got loads of stuff to go through.”

It takes me an hour to sign it, and Barry is close to losing his patience.

A couple of days later, Eva is cleared to fly.

And my next chapter starts.