Page 68 of The Island of Hopes and Dreams

‘Because he has a life in the US?’

‘Yes, a wife and?—’

‘He’smarried?’ Lola heard her voice go up a notch. Although actually that nugget of information didn’t throw her as much as she thought it should. He’d kept so much hidden, why would this be any different?

Lola thought back. In the early days of their relationship, she hadn’t thought much about him travelling to the US for work or him being away for a week or two at a time. A year or so later, it had begun to feel like a reprieve, even if he had called her every day. But she’d never once considered he was already married.

Barnaby’s calm and authoritative voice broke through her thoughts. ‘He has a wife and a child. From the digging that was done, she seems content to be a homemaker living off him in a multi-million-dollar New York apartment.’

‘So, very much the quiet, subservient partner he craves, leaving him free to do what the hell he wanted in another country…’ Lola’s voice petered out. She pulled her cardigan tight.

Barnaby nodded. ‘I think it’s impossible to understand someone’s psyche when it’s the opposite of how a sane person would treat someone. He obviously likes the control and the freedom of doing what he pleases. Perhaps he gets off on the thrill of seducing someone new?—’

‘And trying to control them too? It’s not as if he could really have tied me down with marriage if he’s already married to someone else.’

‘In another country. From what we’ve found out, I wouldn’t put it past him. Who knows what we’d find if we continued to dig.’

‘Shit.’ Lola rubbed her fingers across her forehead and grabbed the throw next to her, clenching it tight. ‘How could I have been so naïve?’

Barnaby leaned closer, resting his arms on the polished wood of his desk, and looked intently at her through the screen. ‘You weren’t naïve, Lola, he was just good at lying and manipulating you. The upside to all of this is he seems to have cut his losses here and gone back to the US.’

‘You think permanently?’

‘I believe so, because whatever he was trying to get from you didn’t work – or perhaps you proved to be too much work. His last message to you said as much.’ He gave her a grave smile. ‘You didn’t play ball; you didn’t submit to pressure. However much he tried to unsettle and control, you were having none of it. He’s obviously someone who enjoys playing games and getting the upper hand, but you never let him.’

‘Thanks to you lot too; thanks to Rhys.’

‘Exactly.’ Barnaby nodded. ‘But most of it has to do with your strength and your ability to follow your gut. I’m confident that Jarek’s out of your life because he’s returned to his old one. Previous one, whatever you want to call it.’

‘And his wife and child? Are they okay?’

‘From everything the PI found out, his wife seems happy?—’

‘That could all be on the surface, though.’

‘True. But it could also be that this desire to control and play games is achieved through having an affair. You just happened to be his victim.’

Lola breathed out slowly and stared out of the steel-framed window with its view across the rooftops of Islington. A firework glittered red, then gold as it lit up the darkness. ‘Why would his wife put up with it?’

‘Because of the lifestyle he gives her,’ Barnaby suggested. ‘A New York address with a Central Park view; money is power and perhaps she’s fine with that. There’s no sign or suggestion of physical abuse; obviously emotional abuse is harder to define. All I can assure you is thatyou’refinally free of him.’

Lola had assumed it would feel like a weight lifting, but it was more complicated than that. The hidden scars remained and would take time to heal. Perhaps they would always be there. She just needed to learn to live with them, to thrive despite them.

She released her hold on the throw and met Barnaby’s steady gaze. ‘I can’t thank you enough.’

‘I saw first-hand what sort of man he is – we all did, so I’m glad I could help in some way and give you the assurance that he’s finally out of your life. The date for the court hearing has come through for the injunction and I doubt very much he’s going to contest it. You can rest easy, Lola.’ He cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair. ‘You’ve been keeping in touch with Rhys?’

He was fishing for something. Lola knew that he and Rhys were in contact.

‘Yeah,’ she said smoothly. ‘I like hearing about his European escapades.’ What she didn’t say was that they messaged frequently, she caught herself thinking about him more times than she could count, and her heart would do that little fluttery thing every time she received a text from him. If missing someone, thinking about them constantly and wishing she was with them meant she was obsessed, then Rhys was an obsession.

‘He’s been worried about you dealing with this all alone.’

‘I’m not alone, not really.’ She heard it for the lie it was when she was at home by herself. ‘My friends have all been fabulously supportive; Rhys too from afar. And you, Barnaby, you’ve been amazing, thank you.’

‘I’m just glad you’re okay.’ He frowned, looking unsure if he should say something more, then added, ‘And Rhys will be happy that this difficult chapter is over for you, because it is, Lola. I promise you it is.’

Lola didn’t quite know what she felt after saying goodbye to Barnaby. She’d hoped for the impossible and it seemed to have come true. Not that the news Barnaby had given her had erased the hurt Jarek had caused, but that constant tightness in her chest now had a real chance of healing and she could look forward rather than constantly over her shoulder. She was free from a mentally abusive relationship that had echoed long after she’d ended it.

---