Page 81 of The Bonus

“We were leaving to go to ballet and I had toast hanging out of my mouth and then he turned up and I knew that he knew and I cried and then Dom went into crazy guard dog protection mode and I thought Gabriel was going to kill him.”

“Oh…Grace. Shit, this is bad. This is really, really bad.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose as I listen. “You think?”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know, he was furious and he left and then?—”

“And then what?” She cuts me off.

“I googled him and he’s getting married soon.”

“To who?”

“I don’t know, some beautiful Italian bitch.”

“Good, good riddance. Fuck off, asshole, and leave us alone.”

“Why would he come here when he’s getting married?” I whisper angrily.

Silence.

I can almost hear her brain ticking over.

“I mean…it doesn’t make sense,” I stammer. “Why now?”

“Oh…” She gasps as if having some kind of revelation.

“What?”

“He wants to buy you.”

“What?” I frown.

“He wants to ensure you never talk so that his new wife never finds out about his illegitimate children.”

That idea rolls around in my brain, that doesn’t sound like him. “I don’t know…”

“Think about it, why else would he be coming now? How would he have found out now if he didn’t know all along?”

My eyes widen. “You think he’s known all along?”

“I don’t know, but this is fucking suspicious if you ask me.”

“What if he tries to take them?” I whisper as I begin to panic. “What if he wants custody?”

“He won’t.”

“What if he takes me to court, I don’t have the money he does to pay for fancy lawyers.”

“He won’t,” she says. “Trust me, he’s coming to make sure you never talk.”

“You think?”

“I know.”

Fear fills me. “Deb…”

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