Page 96 of Joker in the Pack

I sighed as the phone kept ringing, and I slipped out of the kitchen to take the call. No point in putting off the inevitable.

“Olivia, I need to apologise for what I said yesterday.”

“It’s okay. Apology accepted.”

He couldn’t help it. I realised that now. Tate was one of those men who always had to know best.

“Thank you, darling. I really shouldn’t have flown off the handle. I’m just worried about you, that’s all.”

His reasonableness made me feel even worse. “You don’t need to worry, I promise. Nye knows what he’s doing.”

“Let me take you out for dinner to make it up to you.”

Yes, Edward all over again. Everything could be fixed by three courses, as long as the restaurant served pretentious food at ridiculous prices.

“It’s a kind offer, Tate, but I’m not in the right frame of mind for any of this right now.”

Gah! Why couldn’t I just come out and say what I really felt? That someone else had replaced him in my affections, unrequited or not?

“I guess I can understand that. A rain check, then?”

“Okay.”

“I’ll call you in a day or two; we can slot something in then.”

Why did he make me sound like a business meeting?

“Uh…”

His voice softened. “I’ll be thinking of you, darling. No other woman has affected me in quite the way you do. Until we meet again, I’ll treasure the softness of your lips against mine.”

Those words didn’t have the effect they once might have done. Old Olivia would have swooned at his feet, but in the past few weeks, I’d learned more about myself and the future I wanted.

However, I still struggled to put that into words. “I’ll be thinking of you too.”

Grrr.Olivia, you’re a coward.

Angry with myself for being so weak, I headed back to the kitchen, where Nye had inhaled a bag of crisps in my absence. I picked up the empty packet and put it in the bin, then carried on with the sandwiches.

“I’ve got people out looking for Ronnie’s cellmate,” Nye said. “Plus, I’ve got Ronnie’s police files. His name came up in connection with a fair few burglaries, and only the local bobby’s incompetence meant he didn’t get banged up for those too. Fucked up the chain of evidence, according to my source.”

“You mean Graham?”

He glanced at his screen. “Yep. Know him?”

“He came round after the first break-in. Someone had to remind him to fingerprint.”

“Asshole. Hardly surprising Ronnie and his father got away with what they did for so long.”

“So, what now?”

“We wait.”

“That’s it?”

“My team are out doing the legwork. I get the best job.”

“What’s that?”

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