Page 130 of Worth Every Penny

I bite hard on the inside of my cheek to shut down the urge. Jack, meanwhile, has turned to face the cupboards, so he’s not looking at me, although I’m pretty sure I can see his shoulders shaking.

“Why? Why did he do it?” she wails. “Why?”

“It’s going to be all right.” Another token attempt at comfort.

She tugs out of my arms. “How? How will it be all right? All our stuff is gone. Those paintings your father collected.” I don’t dare comment that she was all too ready to get rid of them before. “The Stephen Condar. That was a unique piece. And my jewellery. Thank goodness I was wearing my rings, but all my necklaces, my diamond brooch, my earrings… all gone. That’s your inheritance… vanished.”

“The police will do everything they can,” I say, realising I haven’t seen a single police officer. “Did you call them? Have you reported it?”

“No,” replies Mum at the exact moment Jack twists to face me and says, “Yes.”

I look confusedly between the two of them. “Yes or no? Which is it?”

“It’s in hand,” Jack affirms.

“Oh, Jack. You’re so wonderful.” Mum totters across the room to throw herself into his arms and I breathe a sigh of relief. “Such a capable boy.”

She squashes him in a bear hug, and every hint of misplaced amusement from his face is gone. “I’m thirty-five, Mum. I’m hardly a boy.”

Mum gives a girlish giggle and wipes her tears with the back of her hand, sniffling as she does. “You’ll always be my baby boy,” she tells him. “I’m so grateful to have you to take care of me.”

My lips pinch as that familiar knot of jealousy twists my insides. So much of Mum’s heart is taken up with Jack that there’s nothing left for me. I’m not even sure why I’m here. She has everything she needs and wants in him.

“I’ll run you a bath,” I say.

She spins out of Jack’s arms to stare at me. “As if a bath would fix this. You have no idea the pain I’m suffering, do you? If only I had a daughter who could really understand how hard this is.” She clasps her heart with both hands. “But you’ve never had a decent relationship. You’ll never know what this feels like. How painful this is.”

Anger snaps my restraint, and I speak before I’ve thought it through. “Actually, Mum, I’ve been seeing someone.”

Jack makes eyes at me again, shaking his head, urging me to stop.

Mum pulls back. “Have you?”

“Yes. Someone you know. And the sex is amazing.” I speak fast, and my furious tone doesn’t match my words.

Jack looks like he’s about to retch.

“Good Lord, Kate,” Mum whines. “I don’t want to know.” She pulls a disgusted face, but she can’t keep it up and a moment later she’s peering at me, eyes agog. “Who is it?”

“Nico. It’s Nico Hawkston. So I’d appreciate it if you quit making comments about how no man is ever going to choose me, because Nico did.”

Mum grabs Jack’s arm like she might fall flat on her face if she doesn’t. “Oh, my… oh, goodness…”

“Yes. Oh my goodness, indeed,” I say with vitriol. I allow a moment for the news to sink in before I shrug and add, “I guess I’ll go and run you that bath now.”

I walk away as calmly as I can, praying that I get out of the kitchen before she has the chance to ask if my relationship with Nico is still ongoing. I’m not about to give her the satisfaction of telling her it’s already over, and that I do, in fact, knowexactlyhow she’s feeling.

Because I’m just as heartbroken as she is.

40

NICO

The air conditioning in the car is blasting. Outside, it’s swelteringly hot. One of those London summer days we’re not equipped to deal with. The city is melting.

I’m parked on the street outside Matt’s Kensington house. Behind us, in a dark-windowed sedan, is Elliot Maxwell.

“I’m not coming in,” I say. “Gemma’s going to have more than enough to handle without me, too.”

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