Tell Me - Ashe Barker Page 0,65
that he’d been holding his breath. He shuddered as he privately acknowledged how desperate he’d been when he thought, in those few panicked moments, that he might have lost her. And it would have been his own fault. He should never have let her leave the office on her own. Stephen was right about that much, at least.
And talking of Stephen… “Come on. If we’re going to make your gran proud and brazen this out, let’s get started.” He stood and held out his hand to Thea. She took it and got to her feet.
“So, who have you pissed off, Thea?” Stephen regarded the pair of them under his eyebrows as they sipped tea in Thea’s living room.
“Me? Why should this vendetta be aimed at me? Surely this is as much about Tony.”
Tony shook his head. “I thought so too at first. But my connection with Kershaw’s is less well known. Stephen is my godfather, but only my family and close friends would be aware of that. To most he’s just a business associate, a friend perhaps. Not enough to justify going round to his house and posting that picture through his letterbox. My hunch is the same as Stephen’s, this bastard has it in for you. I’m caught in the crossfire, but the real target is you, Thea. So why would that be? And more to the point, how did they get that picture?”
“At the club the other night, you said you saw the flash.”
“I did. That's not what I mean though. That was when the picture was taken, sure enough. But someone had to have known we were going to be there that night, at The Wicked Club. I’m guessing they paid someone to sign in, probably as a guest, with instructions to take a photo. It’d be good to know who that guest with the camera was, but what we really need to find out is who wanted that picture so much.
“Agreed. But how will we ever find that out?”
“We’ll buy the information. If someone was prepared to do this for money, my guess is they’ll be happy to tell us who paid them, if we offer more cash. It’s worth trying, anyway.”
“I’ll chip in.” Stephen leaned forward, his expression intent. “Whatever that bastard got for the pictures in the first place, we’ll double it.”
Tony glanced at him. “We don't expect you to pay. I can cover it.”
“No way. I’ve been dragged into this, and I intend to see it sorted. Mrs Richmond is set to take over Kershaw’s when I retire, which I hope won’t be too long now. I need her back at the helm, in control, on top of things. If I have to pay a few quid, it’ll be worth it. Anyway, I want to help nail this malicious creep.”
“I never said I’d take over. You can’t retire yet.” Thea stared at her elderly employer, her eyes widening.
She reminded Tony of a rabbit caught in headlights and he wondered why she was so opposed to this development. It seemed to him a natural progression in her career. She might be a submissive in her relationship with him, but Thea was nothing if not ambitious at work.
“You will. There’s no one else. Except him, obviously,” Stephen jerked his thumb in Tony's direction, “but he’s got too much on already, what with this new company he’s taken on. No, it’ll have to be you. I’ve had the papers drawn up.”
“What papers? You can’t have.”
“The contract of sale. You can buy the company from me, at a preferential rate, of course. The bank has already approved the loan in principle, the firm is excellent surety. And don't you look at me like that. You knew I was considering this, talking to the bank and the solicitors.”
“Talking, not deciding. It’s up to me, not you. And I say no. I’ll work with whoever takes over, whether it’s Tony or someone else. And I’ll help in the transition. But I’m not buying Kershaw’s.”
Tony had seen Thea agitated often enough. He’d seen her body tremble as he flogged her, and he’d watched her shake with lust as he edged her to the brink of orgasm and held her there, but he’d never seen her so defensive before. It was obvious to him that she could run Kershaw’s in her sleep, so what was the big objection? He was curious, but they all had more pressing matters to contend with right now.
“We’ll come back to this. First, I need to