Page 48 of The Girlfriend’s Secret

It actually sounds quite good. I could do with some time to myself. I’ll get off the bed at some point and have a shower and maybe I’ll be feeling better when Joel returns.

‘That sounds like a plan,’ I say, forcing a smile onto my face.

Joel gets dressed as I watch some more TV, and by the time he is ready to go, I am feeling lazy but settled.

‘I’ll be back soon,’ he says, giving me another kiss. ‘Then we’ll get some food.’

I am hungry so the prospect of a meal is inviting, but right now, this bed and a warm shower at some point are even more inviting, so I wave my boyfriend off before snuggling further into my pillow.

I guess Joel wants a walk to clear his head and that is a good thing. He’s most likely checking his bank account at regular intervals too, to see if the inheritance money has gone into his account. It should be anytime now and I’m sure the moment it shows up will be a moment full of conflicting emotions. Sadness that he gained this money from the death of a loved one. But excitement about how the money could be used to fund the next part of his life.

It wasn’t my idea to get him to spend the money on a place for us to live. I would never tell him how to spend his inheritance, and I certainly knew that making any suggestions would run the risk of drawing Liane’s ire. Particularly if that suggestion had been to spend the cash on a city-centre apartment that I got to live in too. But the idea of the apartment is all Joel’s, and it does make sense that our next step would be to move into our own place together. We are sticking around here rather than returning to travelling, and we are sticking together, despite what his mother might want. But there is no respite from my paranoia because I know that at some point, I’ll have to see him again.

Scott. The man I think is a murderer. I can’t avoid him forever. He’ll pop up again somewhere. I can’t expect him not to. He’ll want to see his brother. There will be some kind of family occasion, whatever it might be, so this isn’t going to get any easier. But going to the police will only make it harder, so I’m stuck in the middle.

Right now, I’m nothing but a woman with a conspiracy theory.

I eventually make it off the bed and into the shower and it feels good to have the strong jets of water hitting my aching body. I still feel stiff from my exploits last night in which I had to squeeze myself under a bed and stay there for far longer than I wanted to, but the warm water is soothing my aches and pains.

After the shower, I wrap a warm towel around my wet body and take a good look at myself in the mirror. The toll of the last few days is plain to see. It’s written all over my face, from the bags under my eyes to the wrinkles on my forehead that I could have sworn were not there before. It’s not anything that a bit of make-up can’t conceal, but still, as I stand here and stare at myself, I hardly look like someone who is capable of standing up to anyone who wants to shut me up.

That’s why I better be careful.

I can’t allow myself to be alone with Scott if the situation ever arose.

I can’t give him the chance to silence me like he silenced Valerie.

I dry my hair, then go back into the bedroom to get dressed. But I’ve not even removed my tightly wrapped towel from around my body when I hear a knock at the door.

Who could that be? Joel back already and having to knock after forgetting his room key? Or an employee of the hotel coming here to check everything is okay with our stay? Maybe Joel did go ahead and order something from room service, perhaps a treat for me while he is gone. I wouldn’t put it past him, so as I make my way to the door, I have a smile on my face at the prospect of being greeted by a big bottle of champagne or some tasty snacks. But then I open the door and my smile instantly dissolves. That’s because it’s not room service. Instead, it’s the last thing I wanted to see.

Scott is here.

And now my biggest fear just came true.

I am alone with him.

THIRTY-FOUR

SCOTT

THIRTY MINUTES EARLIER

We need to talk.

That was the simple message that I received from my brother at lunchtime and the message that has led to me being here, at this hotel in the city centre. I should be back at my garage now, still wearing my overalls and still covered in grease. Instead, I am here, in this plush building, wearing a white shirt and black jeans, and I am here because of one important thing.

I love my brother.

That’s why I have to hear what he has to say for himself.

I spot my sibling seated at a table in the hotel bar, two beers in front of him, in preparation for my arrival. Of course he knows what I like to drink. It’s the same thing he likes to drink. Our taste for beer is just one of the many things we have in common. I once thought we had the same taste in women too, based on the appearances of the various females that have frequented our lives in the past.

But I don’t think that anymore.

I stopped thinking that the moment I realised my brother’s latest girlfriend was a threat.

‘Hey,’ Joel says when he sees me approaching and he stands up before holding out his hand for me to shake.