Public Property (31 page)

Eric smiled and nodded
,
rest
ing
his cigar in the ashtray on the desk.
Nicholas swallowed. Eric thumped his hands down on the desk and leaned towards Nicholas, his lips curled into a snarl.

‘
How dare you come into my office
,
sit there and ins
ult me! I thought better of you.
I thought you might have a little respect for me. I didn
’
t think you were foolish enough to try and pick an argument with me
,’
Eric hissed.

‘
You don’t frighten me
.
L
ook at yourself! A small man in a flash suit, hiding behind a big desk and two, even bigger, security guards. Appearing from behind a false bookcase! What was that all about?
Who do you see yourself as
,
Eric?
Some kind of Bond villain?
’
He held firm in his seat
.

‘
If I were you I
’
d keep that smart mouth of yours in check. I have a feeling you
’
ve been with Jane for too long
.
S
ome of her acridness has rubbed off on you
.’

‘
The only people you attack are those you think are smaller and weaker than you. I am
not
one of them
.’

‘W
hat makes you think I won’t finish you
right here and now?’
Eric wanted to know.

‘Y
ou don’t have it in you
.
You don’t sully your own hands.
Y
ou pay people to do it for you
.’

‘N
ot when it’s personal
.’

‘
Listen, you can do whatever you like to me
. You can
have me assaulted, have me killed if you must, but leave Freya alone
.
S
he
’
s suffered enough
.’

‘
You
’
d put your
self in the firing line for her. H
ow touching
.’

‘
I love her
.
I would do absolutely anything in my power to protect her. That’s why I
’
m here now. Don’t think for a moment I really want to be anywhere near you, let alone in the same room as you
.
Y
ou disgust me
.’

‘
It’s a funny thing isn’t it?
W
hat disgusts people. I mean
,
what
’
s your definition of disgusting
,
Nick?
’
Eric queried
.
H
e sat back in his seat and picked up the cigar again.

‘
What are you talking about? I don’t have time for this
.
I’ve said what
I came
to say
.’ He stood up, turned away.

‘
Sit down!
’
Eric ordered.

‘Go to h
ell
!
I’m not answerable to you
.’ He headed towards the door.

‘
Oh
,
trust me
,
Nick
.
Y
ou
’
ll want to hear this
.’

Nicholas turned back round to face him.

‘
Please, sit back down
.
I think you
’
ll need to
.’

‘
I’m not in to playing games
.’ He walked back to the desk and Eric.

‘
I understand you’ve met my son
.’ He relit his cigar and raised his eyes to meet Nicholas’.

‘
I’m sorry, you’ve lost me
.’

‘
You met my son
,
the other day.
N
ow, he
’
s a fine boy, almost a chip off the old block. I mean he has definitely inherited my business brain
.
H
e’s rich and successful and he
’
s going places. In fact the only defect he has is a rather pathetic weakness in the emotional department
,’
Eric told him.

‘
I’m still not with you
.
I didn’t know you had a son
.’

‘
No, well, it isn’t something I
’
ve broadcast
. I
n this case, all parties concerned have kept their mouths shut. But despite his
rather
unsavoury
conception
,
he
’
s turned out rather well. His name
’
s Jonathan by the way
.
I believe Jane still calls him Jonny
.’

‘
Oh my God
.’
He took a breath and moistened his lips.

‘
I did say you
’
d want to stay and hear it
,
didn’t I? So
,
now who
’s
disgusting
,
Nick?
Jane for sleeping with her half-
brother
?
O
r me
for parting them when I could?’

‘
My God
.
T
his is sick
.
You
are sick
.
I don’t believe a word of it
.’ Nicholas rose from his seat.

‘
You’d better believe it
,
because he
’
s the only reason I
’
m not having you and Jane wiped off the face of the planet. He came to me
.
H
e heard about your driver’s little incident and he begged me
, he
pleaded with me to leave his sister alone. It was pathetic
.
I
t was utter weakness
.
H
e was sniveling and groveling and it made me feel nauseous.
And do you know?
D
espite everything
,
I think he still loves her.
It’s
a little frighteni
ng considering their genealogy, b
ut I suppose deep fe
elings never leave you do they?’
Eric continued.

‘
If you are lying about this
,
I swear to God I
’
ll kill you
.’

‘
Empty threats bore me
,
Nick.
No, it’s the truth
. Jane has a half-
brother
.
H
er ex-fiancé
.’

‘
Is he planning on telling her?
Because he
’
s just pledged a whole stack of money to her charity
.’

‘
Is he planning on telling her? Well, he was sworn to silence by me until I lifted that bar about
…
ooo
, it must
be an hour ago now. His begging and pleading hit a nerve with me
.
P
erhaps I
’
m getting sentimental in my old age.
I
told him
I
’
d leave you and Jane alone
…o
n the condition
he told her the truth about his parentage. I thought that news should be just enough to ruin her wedding day and more
importantly your wedding
night
.
I mean
,
how
is she going to feel knowing she
’
s slept with her brother?
’ Eric
smiled
a smug, self-satisfied grin.

‘
You are one sick fuck
,
do you know that?
’

‘
You can leave now
.
Y
ou know where the door is
.’ He dropped his gaze and picked up some paperwork from the desk.

‘
Stay away from me and stay away from Freya
,
or I promise you
,
I will make you pay
,’ Nicholas warned. He stood up, fixed his eyes on Eric.

‘
Goodbye
,
Nick
.
I would say it’
s been a treat
. B
ut, well
…
it hasn’t
.’

‘
The feeling
’
s mutual
.’ Nicholas headed for the door.

‘
Oh
,
and by the way, j
ust so we’re clear about things.
I don’t waste my time sending
threatening
notes
. I find
actions usually work best.
S
o
,
whoever has it in for Jane on that score
,
it isn’t me
. Letters, they’re so amateur.’

Nicholas didn’t reply
.
He pulled
open the door and left the office.

‘
Thanks for coming
,
Roger
and for
organising
the glazier.
I do appreciate it
,’
Freya spoke.

The police had been and gone, the glazier had fixed the broken windo
w and Freya and Roger were
rejoining Jolie in the living room with fresh drinks and nibbles.

‘It isn’t a problem.
S
top thanking me. I’m just surprised someone got over that fence that’s all
,’ Roger said. He sat down in an armchair.

‘
Oh don’t! I know exactly what Nick is going to say when he gets home
.
H
e
’
s going to say
that’s it, we have to have the electric fence bac
k
. Jolie
,
we had this twenty foot high
electric fence at our old house and it was so ugly
.
The
birds kept getting electrocuted when they landed on it and
…’ Freya began.

‘
She’s exaggerating
.
T
hey got slightly singed
.’ Roger laughed.

‘
It was cruel and it was like living in a compound
.
L
ike
Guantana
mo Bay or something
.’

‘
I’m not sure I
’
d like one around my home
,’
Jolie admitted as she helped herself to some
potat
o chips.

‘
I know you have reservations about them
,
but it
’
s one sure way of almost guaranteeing
no one can get in here again
,’
Roger stated.

‘Notice he said “alm
ost
”
guaranteeing
,
’ Freya said to Jolie.

‘
Well
,
the only way someone could get in would be if there was a major power out
,
or if it was turned off from the inside
.’

‘
Oh
,
enough! I don’t
want to talk about security any
more tonight
.
W
e have
Moonlighting
to get through yet
.’
Freya got up and headed towards the DVD player.