Public Property (23 page)

‘
If I wanted t
o feel like I was appearing on
Oprah
I could probably
get
an audience with the woman herself
.’

‘
I am sure Eric doesn’t like the situation any more than you do. Who would want to be estranged from their
daughter
?
’

‘
Look, can we stick to talking about the project please? There was more to it than being pissed with him for making you leave town, believe me
.’

‘
Sometimes, in business, you have to do things you aren’t proud of to get what you want
.’

‘
What exactly are you saying?
That the things he did were jus
tified?
’

‘
Obviously I can’t comment on any
thing
specific he did back then
.
B
ut speaking as a business man
,
I know
what a cut throat place
the business world
can be
.
I know what risks you have to take
.’

‘
Well
,
Jonny, it was never about what he did to make his billions. It was how he behaved when he walked back through the front door of the house every night. It wa
s how I
’
d hide in my wardrobe
if he was in a black mood.
I
t was about him telling me over and over again how he wanted a son and what a disappointment I was
.
A
nd it was about him stabbing me in the arm with a
bread knife.’ S
he pulled at the collar of her
jumper
and revealed her shoulder
. There was
a small but deep scar at the top of her arm.

‘
You always said that scar was where you
scraped it on a nail,’
Jonathan
remarked. He swallowed.

‘
I did
,
didn’t I? Now I wonder who made up that
story
?
’

She was shaking now. Not because the wind was twice as cold up high in the sky, but because she’d been forced to remember those times again.
Her childhood with that monster.

‘
My God
.’
He put his hands to his mouth.

‘
So you see, you may have this happy family ideal in your head
,
but it is never going to happen in my world
.’
She straightened the collar of her jumper.

‘
I didn’t think the article was true. I was sure Russell Buchanan was cashing in on you and embellishing things
.’

‘
You read that artic
le about me?’

‘
It was all over the papers
.’

‘
But you didn’t believe it? Why not? I told you what my parents were like
.’

‘
I don’t know
.
I just didn’t think anyone could really do those things to their child
.’

‘
You don’t know my father
.
H
e
’
ll stop at nothing to get what he wants and that article in the paper today has probably just made my life
h
ell again
.’

‘
You think Eric will be displeased?
’

‘
It
’
s been reported in the national press that his only
child
’
s told someone he isn’t coming to her wedding
. Then she topped it off by saying he was dead. That translates to
she wishes he was dead
.
W
ouldn’t you be displeased? He
’l
l be furious
.’

‘
What d
o
you think he
’
ll do?
’

‘
You want me to be honest?
’

‘
Ye
s.’

‘
I think he
’
ll probably try to kill me
.’

That night Nicholas and Freya went into the pandemonium that was
c
entral Hollywood. Nicholas had lived
there
before they
’
d moved to
Mayleaf
.
It was like being in an all-
action entertainment park
.
G
reat for a night out but not so pleasant to live in.

They
’
d visited three bars already and had been tailed by paparazzi the whole time. Now
,
they
’d decided on
a members
-
only casino
,
just to get a break from being photographed.

‘
So are we agreed? We gamble
a hundred thousand dollars
and that’s it. And whatever we make we split between my charity and yours
,’ Nicholas said.

‘
Make it
a hundred thousand dollars
each
.
I feel lucky
.’ She smiled.

‘
OK
.’
He put his arm around her and they headed to the cashier.

‘
Mr
Kaden
,
Miss Johnson
,
i
t’s nice to see you again
,’
Sammy, the middle
-
aged croupier at the roulette table greeted as
they
sat down.

‘
Hi
,
Sammy
.
H
ow’s the wheel going tonight? Anyone win big?
’
Freya asked
.

‘
As you know
,
I
’
m not allowed to provide you with that information
.
L
et’s just say I think Lady Luck is wearing red tonight
.’

‘Our chips are just being brought down from upstairs. We’ll eat the nuts while we wait,’ Freya told him, scooping up a handful.

‘
So
,
how did your lunch with Jonny go?
’

‘
Fine.
He’s having some plans drawn up for me to look at
. T
hen his architect can get together with mine and fight it out
.’

‘
He wasn’t what I expected
,’ Nicholas admitted.

‘
No? Well
,
what were you expecting?
’

‘
I didn’t think he would be so confident
.’

‘
Oh he’s always been like that
.’

‘
I’m not sure I liked it
.’

‘
He’s a talker that’s all
and he’s developed a
plum
m
y
accent.
S
ometimes
that
comes across as arrogance
.
I don’t think it’s really that
.’

‘
Well you’re the one
who
knows him
.’

‘I really think he means well with the charity and I can’t turn down that sort of help
.
’ Her phone rang and she took it out and checked the screen.
‘
I
t’s Emma, I’d better answer it.
L
ook
,
I
won’t be a minute, stick twenty thousand dollars
on red number
twenty.’

She got off her seat and headed out of t
he room towards the toilets.

‘
Hi,
Em
.’

‘
Hi
.
I just thought I
’
d give you a
Melly
update
.’

‘
Oh how is she? You sound better
.
H
as she p
erked up a bit?’

‘
She’s almost fully recovered. She’s keeping down her milk and she
’
s been really happy so far today
.
W
e got a good night’s sleep last night
.’

‘
That’s great news
.
I’m so pleased
.’

‘
So
,
how are things with you?
’

‘
Oh you know, hovering between chaotic and terrifying. I’m putting a brave face on things
.’

The whole of the sentence sounded less than convincing.

‘
What’s happened?
’

Freya explained about the newspaper article.

‘
I don’
t know what to say
.
T
his is the last thing you need when you
’
re planning to get married next month
,’
Emma
told her
.

‘
I know and we’ve
thought
about it and we
’
d really like to get married
o
n Corfu
.
B
ut after
all
this I don’t know whether it’s going to be possible
.’

She could almost feel the perfect wedding dream evaporating.

‘
I don’t think you should let this newspaper article dictate where you get married
.’

‘
It isn’t that
.
I
t’s what my father might decide to do about it
.’

‘
What does Nick say?
’

‘
He tells me not to worry about it
. He says
my father won’t be concerned and everything will be happy ever after and roses around the door
.
B
ut I keep telling him he doesn’t know my father like I do. And
…
there’s something I haven’t told Nick yet
.’ She dropped her voice to a whisper.

‘
What?
’

‘
I got a l
etter this morning, in the post. It had
the word
“bitch”
on it. It was like one of those ransom notes you get in movies
.
A
ll the letters
were
cut up out of a newspaper
.’

‘Oh my God!’

‘
It’s my father and that
’s
just the start
.’

‘
Freya
,
why haven’t you told Nick?
’

‘
Because I want
to try and handle this myself.’

‘
Freya
,
I really think you should tell Nick
.’

‘
I
will
tell him,
just not yet
.’

‘
Well, if you’re sure you know what you’re doing
.’

‘
Ye
a
h I do
.
L
isten
,
I’m going to have to go because I’ve left Nick at
the roulette wheel with two hundred thousand dollars in chips
coming
and I’ve told you what he
’
s like at gambling
.’

‘
You said he couldn’t back a winner in a one horse race
.’