Page 30 of Fighting for the Forbidden
“I’ve got all day.”
Walking out to the balcony, I try to sit myself down without groaning in pain, but I’m unsuccessful.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just give me a few seconds.”
“Ben, you’re worrying me.”
Once I’ve caught my breath, I give Liv the short version of the events of the past thirty-six hours.
“You should be in fucking hospital, not chasing Lauren to Rome.”
“All right, Mum.”
“I’m serious. You need to look after yourself.”
“I’m hoping Lauren’s going to do that for me.”
“Ugh, you’re such a pig.”
“It’s part of the reason why you love me.”
“Hmm…yeah,” she mumbles.
“Is everything okay down there? I miss the beach.”
“Everything’s pretty much as it always is, just without you. You should bring Lauren to visit.”
“I intend to. If I ever make her see sense.”
“That’s kind of why I’m ringing.”
“To make Lauren see sense?”
“No. Yes. Kind of.”
“You’re going to need to give me a little more than that, Liv.”
“Okay, well, I’ve been looking into stuff, and I’ve found something you might find interesting.”
“Go on.”
“I’m going to send you some pictures over.”
I pull the phone from my ear, put Liv on speaker and wait for her messages.
My phone vibrates and I open the first picture. It’s a photo of a newspaper article about locals helping out to fix their community centre roof. Frowning, I zoom in and suddenly it makes sense.Image above: Nick Davis and Joseph Kingsman (aged 6) after donating their time to fix the roof.
Nick knew Joe prior to him being friends with Lauren? Questions start spinning around in my head as my phone buzzes again.
“I just thought that was interesting, but it’s the next one you really need to see. Ready?”
The three little dots bounce and my impatience grows as I wait to see what’s coming next.
It’s fuzzy when it first comes through, and it takes a while to load, but when it does, my eyes widen and my chin drops. “Holy fucking shit.”
