Page 37 of Red Flag
Nix leaned against the wall, crossing his arms and ankles as he watched closely.
His messy hair was dripping with champagne.
I had to keep him in my peripheral vision whenever he looked like that.
“Don’t worry about it,”Crissaid, shaking his head. “You have enough on your plate. You do what you’ve got to.”
“You got any family over there?” Nix asked, almost cuttingCrisoff. “Anyone to support you?”
“My brother’s a lawyer,” I said, phone back out, already getting up our texts.
“That’s not what I asked,” he retorted. “Someone tosupportyou.”
“My brother,” I repeated. “He’ll support me legally and emotionally.” I’d have to stay at his too. I didn’t have the emotional capacity to stay at mine. I’d rather sleep amongst the fish in the Thames than stay with my mother.
LIVIE: 911. Legal help. Vinny Garvs.
And then I was buying plane tickets. As much as I hated flying, it was the only direct route.
“I have a plane that can take you,” Nix said, and I looked up from my phone to make direct eye contact withSaliha. Her eyes were wide and flickered from me to Nix and back.
“I’m okay, thank you,” I said.
With the press blasting every celebrity that made a pit-stop on a private jet, accumulating the impact on global warming in article after article, I couldn’t let him use his plane.
It was one thing to get on a plane with hundreds of others; it was another to do it alone. A smaller plane seemed less safe and stable than a commercial one.
But… that was kind of him, I guessed.
“Thank you, though,” I repeated.
He only grunted. “Fine. Don’t forget, I have the Domestic Violence Aid event. Let me know if anything changes.” And, as if he didn’t willingly bring up something on his calendar, he walked out of the pit box.
Chapter 10
I was a bag of nerves. My brother had been my rock for the last three days, letting me come back to stay in his spare room, despite my flat only being a twenty-minute tube ride away.
I couldn’t be there alone.
Yesterday, we had an informal conversation with the police, whereOluchi, the MP, also joined us.
Today, I spoke toVinny’sfamily’s legal team. They wanted everything I had, and luckily for them, I was meticulous about what I kept on my clients.
Every mention of them in the public eye was stored in folders by the month, week and, closer to the end ofVinny’slife, the day. That’s how much shit he had to deal with.
It wasn’t just articles.
Social media posts by verified — and sometimes highly notable — accounts. Especially in those last few weeks.
Vinny’swife, Samantha, also wanted to change the law on websites being held responsible for their members’ cyberbullying. I had plenty of ammunition for her to use.
But it had been draining, and even though it was now over, and I could technically go home, I was still exhausted.
And nervous.
Because I’d been without my phone for some time.
And today was the day Nixon was meant to be a speaker at the women’s aid charity in Bangkok after seeing how his dirt bike stadium was being built. He was very capable of messing both up. I wasn’t even aware if he’d made it there on time.
