Page 107 of All Mine
They watched, still holding each other as Walker stood his team down. It took two policemen to handcuff Barrel and fit him into a police car, and Toothpick was handcuffed too before being loaded onto a stretcher and wheeled into a waiting ambulance.
They saw Etienne pause in the centre of the square, alone. He pulled his phone from his pocket and held it to his ear, looking upwards, jaw taut. Then, whatever he heard on the other end made him squeeze his eyes tight shut, his head sagging backwards on his shoulders in relief. Blood ran through his hairline and dripped down his forehead, but he seemed not to notice it as he pocketed his phone again, then walked decisively towards Tutto Mio. A single firework shot into the sky behind him, exploding into a million white stars.
The other women drifted away from her as Etienne stepped in the doorway. But she didn’t notice. She only registered the noise of his feet as he crunched through glass towards her.
He stopped before her, within touching distance. His eyes were searching her face and they looked hopeful, apologetic, fierce, terrified. She could feel the tears trembling on her own lashes. Neither of them spoke, but when he put his arms around her and pulled her to his chest, she weaved her arms about his neck, holding on.
‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered, pulling her tightly so that she fit against every part of him. ‘I’m so sorry, Bella.’
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Etienne
It was almost midnight and Etienne had only let Isabella out of his arms while he took his turn to give the police his statement.
His interview had taken the longest as he shared the entire story of Alex’s debt and the link to the Dougalls. The two police officers shared a look.
‘This might be just what we need to nail them,’ one said, but the other looked unconvinced. Etienne knew he was debating the fact that the Dougalls were nowhere near the attack itself.
‘Even if it’s not, it’s enough to bring them in for questioning.’
While Etienne would love to see them thrown in jail, so long as they left Alex and Isabella alone from now on, it was enough. And with the two-word message Alex had told him he received on transfer of the money; it seemed it was over.Debt Paid.Thank God.
The ambulance crew had dressed Etienne’s head wound and Isabella had held his hand throughout. Gabi had used Isabella’s phone and texted the Girl Gang WhatsApp and Wren, Rosie and Amber had dropped everything, turning up to sweep broken glass and make tea. Walker had organised a skip for the following day to clear out the piles of broken furniture. Nonna had passed around several glasses of rum and then taken herself off to bed.
Since finalising his statement, he had kept hold of Isabella’s hand. It felt like the most natural and obvious thing in the world and he wasn’t letting go.
Once everyone had gone, and Gabi had also gone to bed to watch an action film for research, Etienne sat with Isabella on the sofa and told her everything. Starting five years ago– no, before that, he corrected himself– when Alex started his gambling. How it got worse when their parents died. How Etienne had let him down by not giving him the money, by putting a woman first. He’d dropped his head at that point, not through embarrassment but through the realisation that what he felt those years ago was nothing,nothing, compared to what he felt for Isabella.
‘So that’s the whole fear of commitment thing,’ she said gently, finally understanding.
He told her about Alex’s phone call. How he would do anything to right his wrong and get what was left of his family back together.
‘You could have told me,’ she said. ‘I would have helped.’ It was such an Isabella thing to say that it stopped him in his tracks, wondering how he could have got it all so wrong.
He wound his fingers through hers. ‘Everything I did, I did to keep you safe,’ he said, squeezing her hand gently to make his point. ‘I’ve never felt like this for anyone before and I promise I will never hurt you again.’
He passed her a cushion to get comfy and told her the whole story, explained about Walker’s concern that the Dougalls were behind the fires. The sudden fear when Alex told him the Dougalls knew who he was. The overriding worry he was going to drag her into danger.
When he stopped talking, she was curled in the corner of the sofa so that she could face him, still holding his hand. In the silence he could hear the clock in the square chime midnight.
‘I feel the same, you know,’ Isabella said quietly. ‘About you.’
Their eyes met and held, and there was something burning so strongly there that it hurt his chest.
‘Since the first time I saw you, I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind. I was drawn back, time and time again,’ she said. ‘I just want to be with you.’
He smoothed her hair away from her face. ‘That’s good, because I’m not letting you go again. Not ever.’
He couldn’t stay away any longer. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her, gently, conscious of her bruises. Her lips met his and his heart swelled with the tenderness of the kiss.
He pulled away to look into her face, only then noticing the shadows under her eyes, the paleness of her skin. Isabella smiled but it turned into a yawn, and he wanted to wrap her up in a blanket and watch her sleep. She stretched her arms above her head, letting go of his hand, and it felt strange and empty without her. She pushed herself to standing and he felt his shoulders sag. It was obviously time to go. She stretched again, before looking back at him.
‘Do you needto go home?’ she asked, tilting her head to one side.
He exhaled slowly.
‘No,’ he said. ‘Ineedto stay here.’
