Page 205 of The Grand Duel
We don’t end up painting. We eat on the porch as the first drops of rain start to fall for the night, the dogs curled up by the outdoor fire that’s been installed. Every idea I had for the porch has been implemented.
The fire and soft lighting.
The plants and rug he’s placed under the table that I showed him for inspiration.
The hammock he’s lying in as he watches me now.
I laughed at him for it all, that I was only trying to spark his own ideas, but he simply told me I have excellent taste.
“So, you didn’t want to be a solicitor?”
“No,” I tell him, stroking Daisy from my spot on the floor. “When I was in college, I planned to become a barrister. It was when Jovie told me she was pregnant and everything with Mum and Dad happened that I knew I’d have to rethink. There was no way I’d be able to get my degree and work a job alongside.”
“So you trained at FTR whilst you earned your honours.”
“Yep. It all worked out eventually.”
He frowns. “But you didn’t get to do what you planned.”
I shrug. “It’s the way it goes sometimes, isn’t it?”
He watches me with a pensive look on his face. “You could train now. Scarlet put her life on hold for years because of her dad’s health. It’s why she’s still training now. It’s been hard but it’s possible, she’s proof of it.”
“I could train now, and I love that Scarlet did that for herself, but right now, I’m making enough money to live, support Jovie, and save.” I shrug, feeling like I’m still in the middle of putting everything right in our lives. “I can’t pass up the security the two jobs give me for anything.”
“Not even your dream job?”
“No.” I can’t even comprehend doing something so selfish.
His brows lift in surprise and then he rests his arm behind his head. “I guess not everyone has the luxury of pulling their vocation out of a hat.”
“Exactly.” I smile. “You went to university with all of the guys—Mason, Elliot, and your friend Lance?”
“I did. Although Lance was younger, and we met him later. He is smarter than the lot of us.”
“Will you tell me about him?”
He smiles sadly up at the porch roof. “What do you want to know? It’s a heck of a story.”
“Well, what does he mean to you?”
He thinks on it for a minute and then blows out a breath. “I don’t really know, to be honest. It’s been years since I’ve seen him—the week after the trial when he was moved out to Thameside. I guess you could say I’m just angry at him right now. For the way he’s treating Scarlet and himself.”
“Not for what he did?”
He looks down at me. “Never. Do you know what he did?”
I shake my head. “After the way it seemed to upset you in Italy, I didn’t want to push you. I was hoping you’d talk to me about it when you were ready.”
He nods. “Nina and Mason were separated for a time when Ellis was born, it was around the time that they were figuring it all out when that happened. We’d been celebrating their engagement the night before and Nina and Scarlet got up early the next morning to start packing up Nina’s apartment so she could move into the penthouse. Lance arrived a little while later to find…a blood bath, honestly. He thought this guy, Joey—a good friend of Nina’s—had hurt Nina and was going to hurt Scarlet.”
“Oh my god.” I swallow, sitting up slightly. “Wait…Nina was hurt?” I shake my head, trying to process what he’s said. “What happened?”
“She’d been shot by accident after a scuffle between her mum and Joey. He was a good guy and just happened to be stopping in that morning to see Nina. When things went wrong, he tried to help her. It was Nina’s mum who was responsible, but she had already took off when Lance arrived, and Joey was frantic, not making any sense. All it took was a split second, and it was done. Lance shot Joey the second he believed he was a danger to Scarlet. He got eight years for manslaughter, and the best I’ve managed with any appeal is seven.”
I blink over and over, my eyes full with tears. “I had no idea…I’m so sorry. You’d never know that Nina has been through something like that.”
“No, you wouldn’t,” he mutters.