Page 91 of Audacity

‘You can always call me,’ she says crisply, pressing a thick business card into my hand. ‘God knows, I love an excuse for a day trip to London. The shoe shops in Oxford are godawful.’ She looks me up and down. ‘Good luck to you, Athena. I have a funny feeling you’ll be a tonic for us all.’

‘I’m getting excited now,’ I confess to Gabe after she’s bid us a good evening. ‘I’ve been looking forward to the work, but Ihadn’t really thought through just how many amazing people I might cross paths with, doing this.’

‘With the foundation behind you, you should be able to get a direct line into almost anyone on this side of the pond. I know intelligence is like crack to you—you’ll be happy as a pig in shit, I should think. And speaking of farm animals, you ready to go see my family?’

We finish our drinks and make our way across the room to where the Sullivan table is. As we weave between the tables, our fellow guests stop us at regular intervals to greet Gabe. Each time, he introduces me as his girlfriend, and, each time, the light of pride and affection in his eyes as he looks at me makes my innards melt.

The Sullivan table is towards the front of the room, right in front of the living wall. Perfect. I’ll be able to ogle my man from up close when he’s giving his speech. Most of the family is already seated—apparently Gabe’s parents prefer to get settled with their drinks and have people come to them than work the room. It’s not a bad game plan.

I spotted his mum earlier. She’s in an ornate purple lace gown that I’m pretty sure is Reem Acra, and she looks beautiful. A quick scan of the table reveals Ronan, Mairead next to a man who must be her husband, Peter, Brendan—on his own, shock horror—and Eleanor. Torty’s on Brendan’s left, and I allow myself a moment to wonder idly if she’ll set her sights on him now that Gabe and I have gone public. And on his right is?—

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

There isn’t even time for me to react, except to clasp Gabe’s hand more tightly in what I wish was a warning but which he’ll just see as a sign of affection or nerves. As my gaze darts frantically around the table, some part of me registers Mairead’ssmile and Torty’s eyes widening as she takes in our clasped hands. But that’s not the threat here.

She’s not the threat.

The man sitting next to a bored-looking Brendan, swilling champagne as he recounts some tale, is the threat, because Giles Harrington not only knows exactly who I am.

He also knows exactly what my career of choice is.

CHAPTER 47

Athena

‘Evening, all,’ my boyfriend says. He squeezes my hand before letting it go, much to my dismay.

‘Look at the two of you!’ Maeve exclaims. She looks to be well-oiled already. ‘Aren’t you just the most gorgeous couple! Aren’t they, Ro?’

I force myself to smile tightly at her. ‘Good evening. It’s so nice to be here.’ But my gaze locks back on Giles Harrington as if magnetised, and I see the exact moment he recognises me. His jaw hangs slackly open before his mouth stretches into what can only be called a smirk. I stand there, utterly frozen, as Gabe starts speaking beside me.

‘I think, Athena, you know everybody, except for Mairead’s husband Peter, and one of Brendan’s NEDs, Giles Harrington. Giles, Peter, this is my girlfriend, Athena.’

I should be basking in the warmth of my brand, spanking new boyfriend’s pride and acknowledgment just now, but instead I am Marie Antoinette, my neck pressed to the rough wood of the guillotine, waiting for the blade to fall.

So that odious dickhead Harrington, who runs a multinational industrial machinery company, is one of SullivanConstruction’s non-executive directors. Who in the world could make this shit up?

He sets down his drink and straightens up in his chair, and I brace myself, turning my head towards Gabe for a single second, silently beseeching him to help me run for the hills or at least press rewind on this evening’s progress.

This was supposed to be my night of triumph.

I’m wearing a five-figure dress.

I’m here as the girlfriend of the best man I know.

The role of a lifetime is within reach. More than that—it’smine.

But as I watch Harrington open his mouth, I can already feel it all fading, as though it was never anything more than the cruellest of mirages.

‘Actually, Athena and I know each other, don’t we, Athena?’ he says, his pompous voice dripping with condescension. ‘She interviewed with me once, didn’t you, darling?’

Gabe stiffens next to me, and I know he’s clicked. He’s a gazelle, standing stock-still in the face of a lion making its presence known.

‘I did.’ I say nothing more. My only agency lies in how I react in this moment, and I’ll be damned if I give a man like him any oxygen at all.

---