Page 3 of Worth Every Penny
The phone rings.
“Me again,” Seb says when I answer. “The sober Hawkston just turned up at my room.”
My eyes widen. “Matt came back?”
“Probably couldn’t wait to get the fuck away from Gemma,” Seb whispers, all levity gone from his voice.
Matt, our middle brother, ditched us early last night when it was clear where the evening was headed. He’d never cheat on his wife, but everyone knows his marriage is fucked. I’d take these empty one night stands over that shit any day.
There’s a fumbling noise on the other end of the line, and when Matt’s deep voice sounds, I realise they’ve passed the handset between them. “I’ve got you a clean suit,” he says. “And shirt.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
A relieved chuckle escapes me. “You’d make a great PA if you want to quit the hotel business.”
He grunts. “Figured you wouldn’t have the foresight to think about your clothes, beyond how quickly you could get out of them.”
I wasn’t that fucking desperate. “I’ll have you know I folded my shirt last night.”
Matt scoffs. “Course you did.” I can almost hear him rolling his eyes. “I called your housekeeper. She sent it all over in a car.”
“Tell me she sent boxers.”
“And socks. There’s even a bottle of cologne in here. They’re at reception. I was going to bring them up, but Seb suspected you might have company.”
I side-eye the woman, who’s squeezing back into the little black dress she was wearing last night. She notices me looking and turns on the sultry eyes again.
“She’s leaving,” I say pointedly.
The woman pouts like a dejected toddler, blinking rapidly at me, but I’m immune to the act. I put my hand over the phone and hold it away from my mouth, so there’s no doubt I’m talking to her.
“Thanks for a great night, but I’ve got back-to-back meetings all day.” Her expression doesn’t change and I sigh. “You need to get out of this hotel room in the next five minutes or I’m calling security.”
She scowls and flaps a pair of black nylon tights in my direction. “Jesus. Fuck. All right, all right.” She pulls the tightson so fast that a ladder appears all the way up the back of her leg and she glances down to inspect the damage, cursing under her breath. Her eyes flash at me like it’s my fault.
She picks up her shoes and flips me the middle finger before striding into the corridor barefoot.
The door slams and I bring the phone back to my ear. “Coast’s clear. Can you bring the stuff up to my room?”
Matt’s laughter blows a harsh breath down the phone. “Only you, Nico. Only you.”
2
KATE
Icheck my watch. Mum is twenty minutes late, and she hasn’t contacted me to explain why. I wouldn’t stand for this from anyone else, but because Mum might carve my heart out and eat it if I abandon her, I’m still waiting outside Oxford Street Tube station during rush hour, freezing my tits off.
Maybe something’s wrong, and here I am thinking bad things about the woman who brought me into the world. Anxiety swirls in my stomach, and when my phone buzzes, I feel a flush of relief. Maybe that’s her now, contacting me to explain her tardiness.
I open my phone to find three messages from my brother, Jack.
Jack: Where are you?
Jack: I told you to get here early.
Jack: I’ve got news! Big news. Huge-fucking-news. We’re celebrating! I want to have a toast before anyone else gets here.