Page 81 of Voracious

Luciella is in a mood with me because she caught me sneaking out of Kade’s room not long after he vanished. She shook her head and said I’d never learn, clearly not knowing my heart was in the middle of shattering.

I tried to call Tylar, but her phone was off.

Kyle picked up on the second ring, but he couldn’t talk because he was at work.

Barry answered right away and stayed on the phone with me until I stopped crying – until his wife came on the line, with the softest voice ever, hours after having a baby, and somehow, I calmed enough that I could talk without hyperventilating.

That was when they both suggested I come down to Newcastle to them – that I should take up Barry’s offer to make me disappear. So I agreed.

By the time I carry my suitcase downstairs, my music is off, and everyone’s gone home. Base and Luciella are in the kitchen, and I peek in just as he takes her hand and says something to her in Russian, which makes her huff and demand he say it in English.

I back away from them. I can message her and Tylar later and explain. Kyle will be furious, but I have no idea what else to do. Stay locked up in the manor for the rest of my life? Wait on Chris hunting me down?

Or get a new life.

The driver takes my suitcase and opens the car door, and I thank him as I climb in.

“Spanish Sahara” by Foals plays on the radio while we drive through the Scottish back roads, and for once, I don’t cry about my situation.

I might be sore from how hard he fucked me, but I don’t think of Kade and what went down between us hours ago, the words he threw at me while I begged on my knees for him to stay and listen. I don’t even think about the disappointment in my friend’s face when she realised I was with her brother after she told me not to.

All the way to Newcastle, to Barry’s apartment, I try to think of new things.

Should I cut and dye my hair? Where will I work? Will Tobias get fed up with me when I visit every chance I get?

And finally, will there be a dance studio nearby?

Lisa cradles her baby girl against her chest while she feeds as Barry helps me up the steps to their home. It’s already packed up, and they have suitcases lining the hallway.

Barry notices me staring at the luggage. “We’ve been packed for weeks.” He shrugs. “We figured you’d take the offer eventually, and we were already planning to move.”

“And you’re okay with going so soon after having a baby?”

“Of course. I hate it here anyway,” Lisa replies. She has warm brown eyes and her blonde hair looks thick from her pregnancy. “It’s great to finally meet you, Stacey. I’m really sorry for everything that’s happening, but I promise my husband will keep you safe.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you hungry? I can defrost lasagne.”

Barry laughs. “It’s six in the morning, baby.”

I look at him, and his cheeks go red. I’m so used to the bossy, fed-up, unenthusiastic side of him that I didn’t ever think he’d be sweet. I smile at him, and he rubs the back of his head and follows us into the kitchen.

He goes to his daughter, grinning down at her as she wraps her little fingers around his pinkie, and takes her to get a nappy change.

Lisa dishes up two plates and we sit at the breakfast bar. “I love seeing this side to him. He was always a doting husband, but a father? I think I might need to have ten babies to keep seeing that look on his face.”

He does look completely mesmerised by his daughter. Little baby Eva.

It takes an hour for me to get to know Lisa properly. We seem to like all the same things. She’s three years older than me, yet she has her life sorted – twenty-five with a loving husband, a baby, enough money to sell a house and buy a new one whenever she pleases. She has her own online fashion business – designing dresses and fabrics.

I’m jealous of the life she has.

I’m about to run away from my life and start afresh, and I have no idea what I’m going to do.

She grabs her laptop and shows me the different places she’s been looking at – big lovely houses in the city, some on the outskirts, then she gets excited that there’s a house near a Starbucks.

I giggle with her when we hear Barry gagging – covering her mouth and nose with his top with a nappy bag on one hand, baby Eva in the other.

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