Page 29 of Vow of Revenge
My head was spinning. I was wearing the bracelet in the town car and… ugh! That meant I would have to go back to Kaleb’s house. I had to get my bracelet back, whatever the cost. Between the idea of seeing Kaleb again and the tiredness fogging my mind, I was reduced to a bumbling idiot. “I’m in between articles at the moment. How is Wendy?” I quickly diverted his questioning and put the onus of conversation on him.
The waitress half-filled my flute with pale pink champagne. My guts instantly flipped when the sweet alcohol scent bubbled out.
Cal steepled his fingers. “Oh, she’s grand. Hosting a luncheon this afternoon and then dining with the usual witches.” His mouth quirked. “Syrah, have you asked about getting a promotion? You deserve to earn more.”
She drummed the table with her nails like she was agitated. “I’m just not sure if I want that. Perhaps I should open my own store. I’d love to have my own fashion boutique?” Her eyes twinkled with possibilities.
Clearing his throat, Cal raised his brows with acceptance. “Why don’t you pull together a proposal and we can discuss it further.” He sipped water from a paper-thin glass and held the menu out, squinting to focus on the fancy font. “Oh, Freya, this menu gets harder to read every time we come here.”
I giggled at his unfortunate struggle. “Just order your usual, Dad. You always have the same dish in here.”
“I must have left my reading glasses at the office.” He clucked his tongue when the search for his glasses ended empty handed. “Provençal stuffed squid it is then.” The menu slammed shut, and he nodded at the waiter who stood by our table.
Syrah gasped, her fingers grazed her lips, her eyes stretched wide. The mobile phone clutched in her palm was glowing. “Excuse me please, Dad, I need to take this.”
She chucked the fresh napkin on the table, pushed back the grey velvet chair and trotted out of earshot.
Cal’s eyebrows sprang up. “I wonder who is more important than her father?”
I instinctively knew, but I wouldn’t give away her secret. “Oh, Dad, come on. No one in this world is more important than you.”
His gaze lingered on my face, the softness in his eyes morphed to melancholy. A brief moment of silence passed between us. “Freya, I love you with all my heart.”
My emotions burst, it felt like millions of tiny love hearts were dancing inside the chambers of my lungs. I had so much love for this man. He was my hero and the only man who had shown me what unconditional love meant. I was his child by paper but a daughter in his heart. “I love you too, Dad.” I rested my palm over his hand and squeezed gently.
Syrah floated back to the table, high in the sky on a fluffy cloud. The not so subtle grin on her pretty lips was the tell-tale sign that she got the call she’d been waiting on. Brett De Courcy rang her.
“Everything okay?” I mouthed.
Daintily perching on the chair, she lifted the menu to cover her rosy cheeks and gather composure. With a subtle nod, she tried to hide her grin.
“And who was that, my dear?” Cal tapped his pinkie ring on the glass tumbler.
Her breathing faltered, and I knew she was fighting against her instincts to lie. “Work.” She swallowed, accepting the lie. “I think I’ll go for the lobster today.” Seamless change of subject.
“Very well. I guess you don’t get to eat the most expensive meals on the menu with your tight budget.” He nodded, sporting an impish, self-satisfying grin. Cal knew all too well that Syrah used her credit cards more than she breathed oxygen.
He slipped off his suit jacket and immediately it was taken away by a tentative waitress. Resting both elbows on the edge of the table, he looked across the tables over his linked fingers. “Would you like me to escort you to the Gala, Freya? I’m sure Danny will be only too happy to take Syrah.”
My knight in shining armour. “It’s okay.” I smiled. “It’s business. I’m happy to go alone.”
“She’ll have me!” Syrah finally joined the conversation with a hint of urgency. If Cal went with me, it would ruin her plans to go with the guy who wasn’t her current boyfriend.
“Yes. I’ll have my sister.” I paused. “Girls night!” I quickly added before Cal decided it was a good idea to be my chaperone.
“Fine.” He relented. “Behave yourselves, or I will follow through on my threat to hire security guards. I’ll order them to stick to you both like cling film.”
“Ugh!” Syrah slumped back in her chair. The idea of strangers following us around as the zero fun police wasn’t exactly appealing.
“Don’t worry. It’s a work function. I have to be on my best behaviour, and something tells me Syrah will be too.” I smirked, watching her eyes flare with secrets.
The sunrise felt good on my back. My track shoes splashed in the overnight rainfall that settled in dips. Without my earpods in, I focused on the early birdsong that harmonised with my fast pace and the shallow panting of Champ as he darted between the trees. I felt energised for once, which I put down to the solid six hours of undisturbed sleep. It was a few days after my weekend binge of drugs, sex and waffles. Tilly wanted to make waffles from scratch, and Brett had no fucking clue how. I found a recipe on some fancy old bird’s cookery website. Turns out the ingredient measurements were for a family, their neighbours and even the squirrels in the garden. We made a batch of twenty-five waffles, plus a tiny one for Champ. On the upside, the chemicals had left my bloodstream and my head had finally slipped out of my ass, leaving my paranoia behind.
I was back on form, buying and selling to international hot shots who had galleries and collections of priceless crap hoarded away.
Drawing in fresh air, my mind cleared like sudden relief. The haze of the sun glowed in the fine mist ahead, and I picked up speed. I’d woken up with a lightness in my chest instead of the heavy weight that constantly dragged me down. I’ll agree, it was a pleasant rarity to have the face of Freya Beaumont drifting in and out of my consciousness.
The truth was, she only appeared in my thoughts because I’d spent a few hours before bed plotting her demise and planning how to break her heart.
