Page 104 of All Mine
‘They’re going to Tutto Mio,’ Etienne gasped down the phone. ‘Isabella. . .’ he said aloud, helplessly, and Walker stood too now, all three men moving instinctively together.
‘Did they say anything else?’ Etienne asked, needing to get off the phone, to move. He had only one thought in his head and that was to get there before the Dougalls did. To keep Isabella safe, to hold her tight.
Alex’s voice shuddered as it came through the phone speaker.
‘They said if you play with fire, you’re going to get burned.’
Etienne’s brain was laser sharp, focused only on working out the steps to take to keep Isabella safe. He glanced at his friends. Fox and Walker already had their phones out and were accessing their online bank accounts.
‘Transferred to you,’ Fox said.
‘Done.’ Walker pressed the button.
Etienne heard the double ping on his phone, notifying him of a deposit to his account. He checked the balance. £50,000. All there.
‘I’m transferring the money now, Al. Pay it to the Dougalls and let them know that it’s done.’ He hung up the phone and immediately accessed his bank app. The transfer took seconds his end but he knew it might take longer to show up in Alex’s account. He pulled on his jacket and headed to the front door.
‘They’re dangerous, Etienne,’ Walker said, following behind, still on his phone. ‘I’ll notify the police and I can scramble my fire crew on the substantial threat of fire.’ Etienne pulled on his coat, and zipped it purposefully.
Fox held the door for them, stopping Etienne as he went through with a firm grip on the shoulder.
‘If this was a game I was designing, I’d say the element of surprise would be your winning strategy.’
Etienne locked eyes with him and nodded his understanding, before sprinting in the direction of Tutto Mio.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Isabella
Isabella moved closer to Nonna, who stood frozen in the doorway, still holding the tray. Gabi looked urgently at her and Isabella could only look back and make a minute shake of her head. She cleared her throat.
‘Sorry,’ Isabella said again. ‘I think there’s been some confusion. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.’
The first man laughed, a spray of his spit misting the air.
‘You don’t give us orders,’ he said, sticking a toothpick in the corner of his mouth.
Nonna laid the tray down on the nearest table and Isabella moved in front of her.
‘The Dougalls give the orders.’
The other man, who had a chest the size of a beer keg, checked his phone.
‘They haven’t received the money yet,’ Barrel Chest said in a wide south London accent.
‘That’s okay,’ Toothpick replied. ‘We’ve got all the time in the world.’
This didn’t make any sense. Isabella looked from one to the other before trying again.
‘Look, I don’t know any Dougalls,’ she said. ‘And I don’t owe anyone any money.’
‘Your husband does, though, love,’ Toothpick said.
‘I don’t have a husband,’ she said, trying her best to keep her voice calm and even, but even she could hear the shake in it. ‘There must be some kind of misunderstanding. I’ll have to ask you to leave. Otherwise, I’ll have to call the police to sort it out.’
Toothpick lunged. For a big man, he was surprisingly fast. He slapped her phone out of her hand with such violence that it smashed on the floor. Nonna gasped. Isabella grasped her sore hand against her chest and shot a glance out the window towards the square, but it was dark and deserted.
‘Obviously your husband hasn’t told you his family secrets,’ Toothpick said. ‘But he and his brother owe alotof money to the Dougalls. And we’re here to make sure he pays up.’
