Florrie, Hayley, and I had spent over an hour looking at the hedgerow to watch for the family of voles Florrie had spotted.
But I missed Mike.
I turned to Claire as we walked up the big lawn towards the house.
“Honestly, Claire.” I shielded my eyes from the sun so I could look at her. “It really is totally illogical for you to carry guilt. I’m very grateful to have been allowed in Buckingham Manor at all and?—”
My words cut off when I realised Claire had stopped in the middle of the lawn, her arms straight down by her sides, and her hands bunched into fists. “Vicky, if youeverrefer to yourself as beinggratefulto be in the home that you, by blood, are entitled to, I genuinely will lose my shit. You are Dad’s daughter, you are mysister, and you fucking well deserve to be here as much as anyone else. Understand me?”
“Are you angry?” I asked in a small voice.
Claire closed her eyes as her jaw clenched.
“Yes, Vicky,” she said, and I flinched, but then she opened her eyes, and her expression softened. “I’m very fucking angry,but mostly, at myself. Not at you. And I would feel a lot better if you would get angry with me too, okay?”
I chewed my bottom lip. “Um… maybe I could come up with something to be angry with you about.Do youalwaysrecycle?”
Claire’s frown faded into a smile at my question. “I don’t like rinsing out the plastic containers that raw chicken comes in. Sometimes I’ll just chuck them in the normal bin dirty.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Okay, well, Iamangry with you now.”
“Good,” she said, starting off again towards the house.
“Seriously, Claire,” I said, jogging after her to catch up. “Maybe you could put the containers in the dishwasher? Then you wouldn’t have to be involved with the chicken gunk and?—”
Claire laughed as we came into the boot room. “Vics, I promise, I will clean out the chicken gunk from now on, or at least, I’ll ask the staff to do it. Happy?”
I blew out a relieved sigh, and she laughed again. Then I heard Mike’s voice through the wall. He was talking to Margot.
“Go on then,” said Claire, and I pushed out of the boot room to the main hallway. But just as I was about to open the door to the kitchen, I paused when I heard my name.
“Vicky has no idea about your sham investment company,” Mike said, his voice clipped and annoyed. “And you won’t be telling her, either.”
“We’ve gone over this, Mike. Of course I won’t tell her that I’m behind Highcliffe Investments. That’s the whole point. She has to think your relationship with her was completely organic, and that you came to your senses on your own. I don’t want her to know that a little incentive was required from me. Just remember, don’t hurt her. Without my money, your business would be on its knees by now. If you keep making her happy, I’m sure there’ll be more capital available from Highcliffe Investments on the horizon. You could do with a new van, for example.”
My hand dropped to my side from where it was hovering over the door handle, and I took a step back, bumping into Claire, who was just behind me.
The ringing in my ears was too loud to hear anything more as my vision went blurry.
Mike at the gala dinner when he’d never gone to one before.
Mike looking after me when I had a meltdown.
Mike’s look of disgust when he’d delivered my coffee table all those weeks ago. How he told me he wouldn’t touch me with a barge pole.
I nodded my head a couple of times, muttering, “Okay, okay. Alright. Yes.” Because honestly, it made perfect sense. And it tracked with the rest of my relationships.
Either people were there under familial obligation or pecuniary interest—and Mike Mayweather was no different.
Claire touched my shoulder, and I flinched away. I could see her lips moving fast, but the buzzing in my ears meant I couldn’t hear the words she was saying.
I stumbled back a few steps, and the kitchen door flew open. Mike’s huge frame filled the doorway, his face pale as he stared at me with horror-stricken eyes. His lips were moving too, and although I could feel the room vibrating with the timbre of his low voice, I couldn’t make out his words either.
Then he moved towards me, and I did hear a high-pitched sound of distress.
Mike flinched, and I realised it was coming from me.
I held my hand up in front of me to ward him off, and he stopped his approach, hands up in surrender as if I was a wild animal he didn’t want to spook. At the back of my mind, I knew I needed to get control of myself. This situation was embarrassing enough without going into a full-blown meltdown. I didn’t think my pride wouldeverrecover if a being-paid-to-be-with-me Mike had to carry me out of the Manor.
