‘Aaron,’ she said, putting so much heat into the word he finally shut up. ‘I’m not guilty of the charge that’s been laid against me. You know why?’ She was probably spilling the beans about Sue’s defence strategy, but she was past caring. ‘Recording conversationson purpose,that’s what’s illegal. Guess what?’
He held his hands up in the air like he was placating an hysterical victim. Well, newsflash, buddy: she was not hysterical, she was angry. And she, Vera De Rossi, was done with feeling ashamed and feeling like a victim.
‘Vee, babe—’
‘My aunt had dementia. She didn’t have conversations, which you would know if you’d ever bothered to visit her with me when you and I were together. I’m not guilty, I’m going to win this court case, and you and your mean-spirited mates at Acacia View can get the heck out of my face.’
She finished on a roar, and though her roar was coming out all breathy and choppy, it felt like she’d unstoppered a cork.
‘You don’t know what—’
‘Quit bugging me, Aaron.’
‘You’ll regret this when you calm down.’
‘Get out of my doorway so I can shut my door.’ Where the heck was her phone? Was Aaron really going to not leave? Did she need to call thepolice?
The sound of a throat clearing made her spin towards the stairs.
A man stood there, one hand on the banister railing, looking like six feet of chiselled sunshine. ‘Everything okay up here?’
Josh.
His horrified gaze skittered over Vera, her face pale but determined, trying to get rid of the jackass lodged in her doorway.
Aaron.
Ex-boss.
Ex-boyfriend.
And soon to be ex a couple of front teeth if he, Joshua Preston Cody, had anything to do with it.
Vera looked at him. ‘Aaron’s just leaving. If he doesn’t then—well, yes, actually, I would like your help. If you’re offering, that is.’
He took a predatory step forward. ‘Oh, I’m offering,’ he said, his eyes on Aaron’s. ‘Downstairs. Now.’
The guy turned his head to stare at him and Josh felt a degree of satisfaction when the man’s eyes narrowed. ‘I’m going. Cool your jets, mate.’
‘I’m not your mate.’
The guy, Aaron, stood stock-still for a moment, as though debating whether or not to make an issue out of leaving, then hit the stairs.
‘I’ll call you soon,’ he called up to Vera.
‘Please don’t,’ Josh heard her mutter.
He waited until the slap of thin-soled shoes had disappeared down the stairwell, then took a breath. ‘You want to tell me what that was about?’
She slumped in the doorway. ‘I think … I think he’s a bit unhinged, Josh. He wasn’t listening to a thing I was saying.’
‘Maybe it’s time you talked to someone about that. It doesn’t have to be me …’ Hell, he was the last guy on the planet who was going to be bothering her at her door like that jackass. ‘But someone.’
‘Josh?’
She looked vulnerable, and wretched. He stayed where he was, because it killed him to see her like that and know she didn’t want his help.
‘Yes?’