Page 67 of Knotting Hill
“An appointment to see if he can help. That’s all.”
I gulp. He is obviously very close to his grandmother, or he wouldn’t be here asking me this. “I honestly don’t know if I can help.”
“Please just ask him to see us. We will pay him for his time.”
We stare at each other for a few more moments, but then I make a decision. If Dad says no, he says no. But if he says yes, a woman’s life might be prolonged, and a family’s suffering will be eased.
“Okay,” I say with a nod, my high ponytail bobbing.
He swoops at me, giving me a crushing hug. “Thank you. Thank you.”
“I’ll just ask,” I say, pushing him away. “I have zero influence over anything.”
“I understand. That is all I ask.”
I smile and lean forward to pick up my glass as he sits back down and picks up his as well.
We both take a sip, and then, a noise cuts through the silence. It sounds like something hitting the window of my balcony. I stand up, startled, and Franco follows.
“Wait here,” he says, holding up his hand and placing his wine back on the table. He crosses over to the balcony and opens the doors as I stand there, hovering between waiting and going to investigate.
“Was it a bird?” I call out.
He sticks his head back inside with a broad grin. “Not a bird.”
“What was it then?” I stride forward, drink still in hand, to discover that my balcony is covered in rose petals of all differentshades, having been thrown up in a bag which exploded in a burst of gorgeousness.
“What the fuck?” I ask, moving to the railing to peer over. “Oh, for fuck’s sake.”
Looking back up at me are the St. Lucs. Well, I think it’s them. It’s hard to tell around the shiny heart-shaped balloons and bouquets of aromatic flowers that I can smell from here there are so many.
“Him?” JP growls, whacking a balloon to the side when he claps eyes on Franco. “You are mad with me, so you go to him?”
“Piss off,” I growl, deciding on the spur of the moment to dump the rest of my wine on him, to Josh’s silent delight. “This isn’t what it looks like, nor is it any of your business. What are you doing here?”
“Last ditch effort,” Josh calls up, trying not to laugh, and gripping JP’s t-shirt roughly. “If you still want us to fuck off after this, we will go.”
I grit my teeth. A crowd is forming, elbowing each other and capturing this cringe-fest on social media. Franco is snickering behind his hand like it’s the most entertaining thing in the world.
JP runs his hand through his damp hair and pulls himself together with a clenched jaw. “Storm Rivers,” he says formally. “I know this is a shitshow, and I’m sorry. It’s not what you think, at all. My father is a douche canoe, yeah, you heard me,” he says over his shoulder to the growing crowd with their phones held up. “He royally screwed up what is undoubtedly the best thing that has ever happened to me and to us. I don’t give a shit about the trust. I just want you. If you are worried in any way that this is about the money, you don’t need to be. So we have something to say. All in, cards on the table.” He takes a deep breath, and with a smirk that makes my heart skip a beat, he says. “We’rejust a pack, standing in front of an omega, asking her to mate with us.”
I press my lips together to stop from laughing. Not because it’s funny, but because it’s so corny, I can’t fathom why they thought that would work.
“You’re going to have to do a lot better than that,” Franco calls down. “I’m not seeing any tears of joy up here.”
“You, shut the fuck up,” JP snarls.
“Okay,” Russell says. “If that didn’t get you. Gentlemen, we have to move to contingency.”
I peer down, curiosity getting the better of me. “What’s the contingency?”
Josh bends down to press the play button on an old Boombox that he got from who the fuck knows where, and my heart stops when the old song,In the Still of the Night,byBoyz II Men,blasts out.
JP and Russell step back to allow Josh centre stage as they start to sing. With his hand over his heart, he belts out the lyrics.
Du-du-du-du-du; sha doop shobe doo
Sha doop shobe doo
