‘Some accident,’ her captor exploded.‘Two minutes later she’s on your bloody tail, chasingmyvan, chasingmyworkers.Who is she?What did you say to her?’
‘Please, I tell her nothing,’ Viyan bleated, trying to sound as inarticulate and terrified as possible.‘Please believe me …’
‘But that’s just it, Viyan.I don’t believe you.I don’t believe a single word that comes out of your cunning little mouth.You’re trying to trick me and I don’t like being tricked …’
‘No, I promise.I didn’t—’
But she didn’t get to finish her sentence, the back of Leyla’s hand connecting sharply with her cheek, rocking her head back.Before she could recover, her attacker moved in for the kill, gripping her hair with one hand, whilst snatching up the bread knife from the table with the other.
‘I’m going to give you one last chance, Viyan.Tell me what you did or I will slit your throat.Do you understand?’
Wide-eyed, Viyan was frozen to the spot, unable to respond.
‘I will carve you up right here,’ her attacker promised darkly, pushing the serrated teeth against Viyan’s neck.‘Then I’ll make the rest of them clean up the mess.’
The pair stood in the centre of the room, locked together.Viyan could hear her own pulse beating fiercely in her ears, the artery on her neck seeming to bulge as the sharp metal bit into her skin.
‘Well?’her attacker shrieked.‘What have you got to say to me?’
A terrible silence filled the room, only the steady tick tock of the wall clock cutting through the tension.Viyan closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then replied calmly:
‘I.Did.Nothing.’
Screaming in rage, Leyla stepped away, driving her spare hand into Viyan’s stomach, before tossing the knife angrily back onto the table.
‘Get her out of here,’ she screamed, as her accomplices hurried in to do her bidding, grasping Viyan roughly by the arms.‘Tieher to the post and beat her.Beat her within an inch of her life.And make the others watch.I want them tofeelthe price of disobedience.’
Enraged, Leyla glared at her captive for a moment, before Viyan was dragged out of the house, back into the weak sunshine of the yard.Ahead of her, she spotted the punishment post, on whose rough surface much innocent blood had been shed during the last two years.Viyan shuddered inwardly at the awful pain that awaited her, the tearing of flesh and shattering of bone that was her due, yet despite her fear, she nevertheless felt a small thrill of triumph.Yes, she would suffer, yes, she would be humiliated, but she had not given in, she had not confessed, she had notbuckled.
She would live to fight another day.
Chapter 38
She gripped the stem of her wine glass, smiling awkwardly at her hostess.Emilia knew she had to make her move – the question waswhen.
‘I never thought I’d see the pair of us sitting here like this,’ Louisa said dryly, taking a generous swig of her wine.‘I was under the impression that you hated my guts.’
Emilia maintained her smile, determined to appear friendly and unthreatening, even though she knew Louisa was testing her, seeking an ulterior motive for this surprise visit.Casting an eye over the living room, a dusty space littered with cardboard boxes, a bright white rug in the centre the only available floorspace for her outstretched legs, she replied, apparently candidly:
‘I did, once.But that was years ago, a bloody waterfall has passed under the bridge since then.And, besides, what’s the point in holding grudges?I’m sure you suffered at his hands as much as we did.’
‘That’s true enough,’ Louisa replied, relaxing back into her chair.‘He was no better lover than he was a father.He took what he needed and then …’
‘You must have had some good times though, amongst all the bullshit?’Emilia insisted.‘I know he could be selfish anduncaring and distant at times, but he could also be generous and fun …’
‘Oh, he was,’ her companion responded, smiling at the memory.‘But it never lasted.He had a wife, other women on the go, it was a question of waiting your turn.’
Emilia once more forced herself to smile, but really she just wanted to scream.It was bad enough hearing about the fun times her father had had with other women, but his mistress’s total lack of agency and self-respect was if anything even worse.Emilia wouldneverlet herself be treated that way by a man.
‘That’s the way it goes, I suppose,’ she replied, disingenuously.‘Papa was a rolling stone …’
‘That he was,’ Louisa replied promptly, barking with laughter.‘Though I called him a lot worse.You wouldn’t believe the rows we had.Still, the making up was always good …’
Emilia swallowed her disgust, pushing away images of her father pitching up for snatched, loveless trysts in this dusty, cluttered tomb.Keeping her counsel, Emilia let her father’s ex-lover talk, dredging her memory banks for happier times, re-living her youth when an affair with a married man, and a criminal to boot, felt dangerous and exciting.Smiling and nodding, Emilia’s eye now drifted to the cluttered floor, to the white fluffy rug in front of her.Making a quick calculation, she took a tiny sip of her wine, then rose quickly, interrupting her companion’s flow of memories.
‘Here, let me top you up, you’re nearly empty,’ she said, reaching for the bottle.
‘No rush, my love, you’ve barely touched yours.’
