Chapter 93
Chapter 93
Clive’s POV
Breakfast is an ordeal as Jake sits directly opposite Claire and doesn’t take his eyes off her. I kick him under the table as I sit next to him. He shoots me a smug look whilst he forks eggs into his mouth. The way he eats is like some kind of heathen.
“What’s on the agenda for you two lovebirds today then?” he asks with his mouth full.
Claire looks up at me for some kind of direction. “I have errands to run in town. Claire if you like you can come with me. Up to you. I’m guessing you might like to get out a bit.”
She nods and takes a sip of her orange juice. Hector lays by her side, it’s like he is always guarding her of late.
“That would be nice, I could do with getting some things, but I don’t have any money yet. I’m waiting for Nathalie to transfer some funds. Could I borrow some cash from you please, Clive?” Her voice is low and I can sense she feels humiliated to even have to ask me.
“Already the little gold-digger aren’t you, Claire? Just like the last one,” Jake says with a sneer. She glances at him, her cheeks flushing.
“I’m asking for a loan, Jake,” she retorts pointedly. “Not for money that I won’t pay back. You should mind your own business.”
That takes me by surprise, she has some spirit and fight left in her. Hector must sense the tension at the table as he lets out a low whine.
“Everything, Claire is my business. You will come to see that soon,” Jake tells her as he points his knife at her. Jeez-us, he needs to be under control, the sooner the better.
“Jake,” I say with a strong warning tone to my voice. Claire stares him out.
“Okay both of you, stop. We have to live under one roof for now. Pack it in,” I say to Jake as I slap him on the back of the head. In a flash, he has the knife swiveled in his hand and pointed at me.
“Don’t do that again, Clive.” He throws the knife on the plate making an awful clanking sound which makes Claire jump and Hector sit bolt upright. Claire pats him on the head and says soothing words to him. He nuzzles her hand and calms down.
“Sorry about that, he’s a bit quick off the mark,” I try to explain.
“It’s fine, Clive. Not your fault. I’ll drink my coffee and go and get changed into more suitable outdoor clothes for the cold weather.” With that she knocks back her mug of coffee and slides the chair back.
“Shall I clear up first?” she asks as she picks up her plate and cutlery and takes it to the kitchen sink.
“Nah, hen leave it. We’ve got a dishwasher and these aren’t any fancy kind of plates. They can go straight in. I’ll deal with it. You go up and get changed.”
I watch as she leaves the kitchen and makes her way into the hallway. As soon as she is out of sight I go and find Jake.
He is to be found in the boot room polishing a pair of old army boots.
“What the fuck was that about, you idiot?”
He glares at me with that menacing look in his eyes that can make a grown man shiver. But I know him and I know his secrets. He doesn’t scare me any.
“She’s a gold-digger. Why do you think she sought you out when she was running from Jonathan?”
He finishes polishing the right boot and places it on the ground and picks up the left one. He spits on it and rubs it in with an old rag that has seen better days.
“Hush, she doesn’t know that you know anything about Jonathan. What do you want to do? Let her know we know everything and are involved? Are you out of your tiny fucking mind, Jake?”
He rests the boot on his thighs. “We need to get things moving before she suspects, Clive. She isn’t stupid and it won’t be long before she starts sniffing around about the woman in the woods. Her twin has resources, right?”
It’s true, Nathalie has access to a lot of everything and knows some shady, desperate people who will do literally anything for a quick buck or two.
“Just be more careful, alright?”
He shrugs his shoulders.
“Clive, Clive. I’m ready.” I hear her voice coming from the far end of the kitchen. I give Jake a look to keep his mouth shut, he merely arches an eyebrow at me.
“Coming, just in the boot room, Claire,” I shout at and make my way towards her. Before I exit the boot room, I grab my wax jacket and place my arms through it and slip into a pair of well-worn boots.
I find her dressed in black leggings I picked up for her the other day and a red wool jumper that I found in my mother’s wardrobe. I’m surprised at how well it actually fits her.
One day, I will go through my deceased mother’s clothes and personal belongings and give some things to charity and some will need to be put in the rubbish. Her old room is left exactly as it was. Some might say that ten years is a long time not to have touched anything. I don’t care what other people say.
The clothes, well let’s just say – they’ve come in handy every now and then. The only DNA on them will be from my mother.
“Right you are, let’s get cracking then, shall we?”
She nods and opens the front door allowing a gust of chilly air to come through. Hector bounds out and makes his way to his tree and cocks his leg before hovering around my Range Rover.
I open the door for Claire to get in and wait until she is seated and close the door for her. Hector hops in the back and I make my way to the driver’s side.
“I’m looking forward to going into town,” she tells me.
“It’ll do you good. We can use my card and you don’t have to worry about paying me back, Claire. It will be fine.”
“Honestly, I can’t take your money, Clive.”
I won’t hear of her paying me back, the least trail to me the better.
She looks so innocent with those big eyes of hers and a faint smile on her face.
It almost makes my heart squeeze, when I think about what is in store for her next.