“You can pay me next month, Clover. I know you’re good for it.”
“You’ve been saying that for three months, Bobby. And you can’t provide for your husband or your baby if I’m not paying you! So please, for me, go and find a different job. Take care of yourself because I can’t—” I stumble to a halt as Bobby takes my hand in his and squeezes it gently.
“Clover. I say this with all the love, but please shut the fuck up. I’m on your side, you understand? I’ve been by your side since your uncle fucked you over, and I will stay here until you’re rolling in your millions and you can pay me all the wages you owe, okay?”
“But your baby?—”
“Hey,” he interrupts. “Trust me, Frankie and I have hadlongtalks about this and I’m not the only provider in the family. We’re in a good place and you’re my friend, Clover. Hell, I wouldn’t even be here— fuck, I wouldn’t even have found Frankie if it wasn’t for you. So you listen to me and you listen good. I am not going any?—”
Frantic beeping rises from Bobby’s hip and we both glance down at his phone. Conversation forgotten, he pulls his phone out and flicks through a couple of apps. Then his eyes snap open wide. “Oh, shit.”
“What? What is it?”
“It’s the manor.”
“Oh, fuck, is Malcom home already?”
He flips his phone around to show me live footage from the CCTV camera outside the Byrne manor and my heart plummets.
“No, but you’ve got visitors.”
The raceto Byrne Manor is anything but glamorous. In the chaos of crushing bills, barely any sleep and the constant looming threat of what will happen when my Uncle Malcom returns at the end of the month, I hadn’t spared much thought to Dean. With how badly I fucked up the plan to get his attention at the party, I really hadn’t expected to see him again.
A shame, really, because he’s pretty handsome for an older guy.
But he’s here. He’s really turned up at the Byrne manor which means he knows who I am, to an extent.
Bobby and I race across the city and make it to the manor within ten minutes, and it’s pure luck that Dean is still there by the time we pull into the driveway.
My heart is thundering a million miles a minute and sweat coats my palms. Dean steps away from the front door and turns to face the car as Bobby pulls in alongside the car already parked, and another man I don’t recognize pushes up from the hood of that car.
Is this a friend?
“What if that’s a cop?” I hiss at Bobby through the smile I plaster on my face while fiddling with my seatbelt. “What if he worked out the truth?”
“Don’t think like that,” Bobby whispers back. “Just act natural. I mean, he’s already seen your ugly crying face, right?”
The shock at Bobby’s comment does wonders for the panic in my chest and by the time Bobby opens my door and I climb out, my head is a little less flooded with frantic panic.
“Dean? What are you doing here?”
Dean slides one hand through his gorgeous hair and smiles at me with a dazzling row of white teeth. “Clover. It’s good to see you again.”
My knees knock together, but I cover for myself by acting like it’s the uneven gravel that’s responsible for my shaky steps. “It’s good to see you too. Is everything okay?”
“Yes.” Dean’s smile widens. “This is Jack, my bodyguard.”
The man next to the car loosely salutes in our direction. “Pleasure.”
“Nice to meet you, Jack,” I say, then I hurriedly turn to Bobby. “This is Bobby. He’s mine.”
Bobby greets everyone with his trademark lopsided grin. “Dean Savoy. You’re even more handsome in the flesh.”
Dean’s eyes widen slightly, then he laughs and holds out his hand for Bobby to shake. “So they tell me.”
Bobby shakes his hand and then steps back, urging me forward with a look and a wiggle of his brows.
“I’m sorry,” I say, moving past Dean and breathing in a delicious waft of his peppermint aftershave. “Is there something I can help you with?”
