have anything, go anywhere. Of course Princess Verity would want to go and meet Harrison Gables, not least because I wanted to go and meet Harrison Gables. I couldn’t hide the resentment from my voice. “Why tell me that? That’s so fucking unfair.”
She shook her head. “No! That’s the thing! He wants to send you.”
My belly fluttered and twisted. “Me?! Why?”
“Maybe because you’re his daughter?”
I tried not to shoot her nasty eyes. All this time and she still defended him. She’d never stopped defending him. It was sad really.
I forced myself to breathe, telling myself this was some stupid game, some stupid trick, even though my heart was daring to hope, daring to dream.
“What does he want? He must want something?” I couldn’t stop the pout. “Verity need a kidney donor or something? Maybe they want to harvest my sub-standard DNA to save precious. He’ll need to come up with more than Harrison Gables in exchange for my organs.”
Mum rolled her eyes. “Ask him,” she said, and gestured to my phone. “Who knows? It could be something good. Have you considered that?”
No. I hadn’t considered that. There was little point. It was never good. I stood mute, just staring. Harrison fucking Gables.
“Alright,” I relented. “I’ll call him.”
Mum looked relieved. She chivvied me along with frantic hands, and then she said the ominous words.
Ominous words that never boded well.
“Think before you give an answer,” she said. “I mean it, Katie, you need to think about things. Don’t go bladdering in there making rash decisions.”
I dialled the number before she could make me promise anything.
“Call her,” I said. Rick was staring at his phone, pretending to be tapping away on some thing or another, but I knew. His brows were too serious.
“No.”
“Call her. See if she’s coming back this afternoon.”
“No!” he said. “Just give her some time, will you?”
I smirked. “Don’t pretend you aren’t shitting it. You want to know if she’s coming back. So, call her.”
“You’re wasted, you know that? You should start up an agony aunt column. Ask Doctor Carl. It would be an instant hit.”
“Mock all you like, my advice is sound. People just don’t want to hear the truth.” I turned my nose up at his little veggie crackers and grabbed some bread from the bread bin. “You don’t really think she’s coming back, do you?”
“I do actually,” he said. “I know she’ll be back. I’m just not sure when.”
“Next weekend. If she wants to get paid.”
He rolled his eyes at me. “And that’s what I’m supposed to say, is it? Hey, Katie! You’d better be back here Saturday. It’ll be two dicks next time. We’ll have lube.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
He sighed, and nibbled at his veggie delight. “It’s just so… base.”
“And?”
“And… just… non-seductive.”
“We’re supposed to pay her and seduce her now, are we?” I stuck the bread in the toaster. “Surely she should be seducing us, no?”
“Doesn’t mean we can’t make an effort.”
“We made an effort.”
“You uncorked a bottle of red. Big deal.”
I groaned. “So, what do you suggest? Candlelight and truffles?” I smirked. “Then dick?”
“This place is intimidating.”
I laughed. “Is it hell. It’s just a fucking house, Rick, not a bastard castle.”
“That’s not what I mean,” he said. “She’s walking onto our turf. It’s intimidating.”
“And this is where we live.”
He sighed. “Let’s go away. Take her with us. Just for the weekend.”
“Out?”
“Brighton. Manchester. Anywhere.”
“And then what?” I watched the steam from the toaster. Rick and his soft fucking ideas.
“And then we drink, and relax, and have fun.” His eyes sparkled. “And then she takes two cocks.”
“She isn’t going to take two first go, Rick, even I know that.”
He shook his head. “She’ll take two, trust me. It’s all in the technique.”
“We’ll tear her apart.”
“Trust me.”
The toaster popped. “I’ll be happy to trust you,” I smirked. “Just as long as you can pissing well get her there.”
He smiled. “So, we’ll go? Brighton?”
“Wherever you want,” I said. “No expense spared…”
He punched the air.
“…on one condition.”
“What condition?”
I took a seat at the table. Focused on him deadpan.
“You’ve got to promise me we’ll both be buried to the balls in that tight little snatch before the night is out. Otherwise it’s no fucking deal.”
He held out a hand. “You’ve got yourself a deal, partner.”
“Katie!”
Urgh. His fucking voice. Such a snobby, self-righteous fucking prick.
“You called?”
He sighed, made a right fucking mountain out of it. “You could have returned my calls sooner. It’s unfortunate I had to call your mother.”
“She said.”
“Did she explain? It’s a great opportunity, Katie, I’m very serious.”