“Bloody hell,” I sighed. “Invoice you? That’s not very romantic, is it?”
His lips were twitching. I was getting to the big bastard, I knew it. “Okay, look . . . I am grateful for your help last night and for agreeing to do this for Henry, and me. I promise it won’t take up too much of your time. But we willnotbe pretend lovers, regular lovers, engaged or anything of that nature.”
“Okay, whatever you say Dully Dullerson.”
Barclay let out a slow, relieved breath, then paused as he caught me winking at him again.
Chapter 10
She’s my girlfriend
Barclay
“Mr Clifton, I’d be happier ifyourteam could put a man on her.”
Sam sighed. “You barely let us put a man onyou, Mr Lucas. I don’t think that–”
“I do not live in a rough part of Brixton. And I am not a five-foot-nothing female,” I snapped, annoyed with the ultra-cautious Sam for being so cavalier about Kira’s safety, when I was barely allowed out for a run without it becoming a major logistical nightmare. “I fail to see the problem with extending the security team to her and having fewer men covering me. I know I’ve had threats, but Nick’s life has been under threat for years and he’s alright.”
Sam’s company had been contracted by the government to make sureIwas safe. I paid for my brother’s security myself on top, and now I wanted to pay for Kira’s.
“That’s beside the point, sir. We’re protectingyou. Hire a separate team for her if you’re concerned.”
“I don’t want another lot of security personnel for her. I trust you guys. If it’s me they want to hurt, then they could very well target her in the process.”
“She’s been seen at your houseonce,” Sam said. “It’s not like she’s–”
“She’s my girlfriend,” I blurted out before I could control my words – a very unusual state of affairs for a man who had made a career of controlled and measured responses.
Visions of that tiny flat in Brixton with its shitty security system and the crappy locks that Kira seemed to forget to fasten anyway filled my mind. I imagined all the times she must have taken the night bus, or simply walked home. Her petite frame in those outrageous outfits – no attempt at fading into the background, not one single care or thought for her own safety. For some reason, none of that was acceptable to me. I tried to justify it by telling myself that I only cared for Henry’s sake – after all, she had been the one to bring him back into the land of the living. But way back in the depths of my subconscious, I knew that wasn’t entirely true.
“With all due respect, sir,” Sam did not look at all pleased with this development, “please, tell me that is a joke.”
“Uh . . .” Bloody hell, did Sam realise I was trying to pull a fast one? If this man didn’t buy it, then I’d have a hard time convincing the rest of the country. “Well, no, I’m not joking. We’ve been seeing each other.”
Sam rolled his eyes.
I frowned. It wasn’t like Sam wasthatdeferential to me, but he had never been openly disrespectful before.
“Do you have a problem with that, Mr Clifton?”
“Can I be frank with you?” he asked. I nodded. “She is the definition of loose cannon. Keeping an eye on her will be like herding a feral cat. Have youreadthe file we made on her? She’s fucking crazy. Apart from the stunts she pulls to raise money for that African charity, she once took two weeks off work to sit up a tree in Burgess Park because they wanted to cut it down to build a new café.”
“Okay, I’ll admit she’s a little unconventional but-”
“Every year she goes out to the countryside for some sort of pagan, Wiccan feminist ritual that her mum organises.”
“Okay.” My eyebrows went up as I drew out the word.
“And I’m not trekking out to Epping Forest to watch a load of perimenopausal women frolicking in the mud and dancing around a fire under the full moon.”
“What?” Heat surged through me as I imagined mud-covered Kira prancing around Epping Forest.
“I’m not saying I’m against scantily clad, muddy females, and your Kira is an attractive girl, but she goes withher mum. Most of the other birds there are her mum’s age or older. That is some scary shit right there.”
I swallowed. “Right, yes, well . . .”
“And that’s not even touching on the gay clubs, the strip clubs–”
