Conviction: Devine (19 page)

“Hairdressers and Primark would solve that.”

“Oh, fuck you, you mad bitch!”

“I’m not your bitch, Isla.”

“No, I’m
your
bitch.” I winked.

A
S I WAS DOING
Jake’s finances on the laptop and enjoying some rare peace while Leah took Henry out for the day, a ping alerted me to an email.

Frowning at the unfamiliar sender, I clicked on the icon and brought it up.

My mouth dried, even the tears that wanted to flow from me dried. My skin seemed too tight for my body and my lungs released all the air in one sudden gush but it was seeing Jake’s email address in the ‘cc’ line that made me shoot up and tear from the house.

“I swear to God, Adam. If you don’t move then I’m going to take your balls in there with me and leave the rest of you outside his fucking door!”

“Isla,” Adam hissed. “I’m telling you now is not a good time!”

“Don’t you dare take sides in this! You were my friend! Move!”

When he shook his head firmly, I stepped into him and brought my knee into his nuts then punched him in the side of the head and knocked him to the ground. It was the first time Jake’s training had come in useful, but damn if it didn’t make me smile.

“What the . . . ?” Jake spluttered as I burst into his office. The two Chinese fellas that sat opposite Jake stared at me.

“Don’t worry, I’m not a terrorist,” I told them quickly. “I’m Jake’s wife. Well, on paper!”

“What the fuck, Isla?” Jake seethed. “I’m in the middle of something.”

I laughed and shook my head. “I wouldn’t worry, darling. Someone else will sell you the same pieces for half the amount these greedy fuckers will!”

The sound Jake released reminded me of when you slowly pop a balloon and the air squeals as it deflates.

Both Chinese men stood up quickly and I trained my gun on the forehead of the one that looked the most important. “I suggest you settle back down before I make you all nice and holey.”

“What the hell are you doing?” Jake fumed as he stepped around his desk. Moving the gun to him, I curled my lip. “Don’t!”

He laughed. The bastard actually laughed. “Gonna shoot me are you, sweetheart?”

Narrowing my eyes on him, I shook my head. “Don’t try me, Jake.” I sensed Adam’s approach behind me and chuckled. “One more move, Adam, and you’ll be burying your boss and each of his Chinese friends.” Aware that he’d stopped, I nodded my head but kept my eyes trained on Jake. “Good boy. Now keep our visitors entertained please. Jake and I have something to discuss in private.”

“Isla, what the hell is going on?” Adam asked.

Jake took the opportunity, thinking Adam had my attention. Stupid man. His mouth fell open when I fired and the bullet whizzed over his shoulder, taking a couple of centimetres of skin with it. The hole that appeared in the wall behind him had me grinning like a loony.

“You stupid bitch!” Jake raged, his face reddening as he slapped his hand over the graze.

“Oh. A big tough man like you! Or is the fact that the
monster you created
actually had the gall to shoot at you?”

His eyes widened further with my bravado.

“Adam, take these gentlemen with you and get out. I need Jake to see something.” When he didn’t move, I fired another shot into the ceiling and screamed. “NOW!”

I ignored Adam’s huff and moved closer to Jake as he ushered out the arms dealers Jake had been mid-talk with.

Jake stared at me. “How dare you?” His tone was quiet but full of fury.

“Sit down!” I urged him onto a seat with a tip of the gun. “Now fire up your email.”

He narrowed his eyes but did as I asked, his stab at the keys making me angrier with him.

“Now,” I said quietly, trying to collect myself as my nerves came back to the forefront. “Open the mail from Nuke120.”

Huffing and gritting his teeth, Jake opened the email and played the video. He watched and tapped his fingers on the desk as if bored. “And what, Isla?” he hissed when the video stopped.

“Again!”

“You’ve fucking lost it!”

“Maybe. Play—it—again!”

He growled as he hit play again. “It’s a woman crying for fuck’s sake.”

“Look closer, Jake. Look at her!”

He bit into his tongue and moved his face closer, mocking me. “Yes, and she’s still a woman crying.”

Biting my own lip to contain my temper, I growled at him. “You stupid fool. Blind to every truth that’s put in front of you!”

“Isla!” he shouted. “I don’t get it!”

Shaking my head as my tears finally came, I prodded the screen, my fingertip blurring the display. “It’s you. It’s Tilly. It’s Henry. It’s your fucking mother!”

M
Y HEART COULDN’T KEEP
up with the pace of the blood rushing through my veins. My vision blurred and my gut twisted in shock.

“What—the—fuck?” I puffed out as I stared at the paused video in front of me, the screen making my mother’s face flicker. “I don’t . . .” My tongue felt too thick, the roof of my mouth sucking it upwards when I tried to talk. “It . . . it can’t be.”

But it was. It fucking was.

Turning slowly, I stared at Isla. My head shook from side to side as her eyes softened and she dropped to her knees before me. “She’s alive, Jake. She’s alive.”

I covered my mouth as I replayed the video over and over. She was sat in a room, on a chair. She was obviously older, and the grey of her hair hurt me for some strange reason. She looked haggard. Nothing like the photo my dad had always showed me.

Looking up at the sender’s name, I hit reply.

‘Who are you?’

“Are you okay?” Isla asked softly from her position on the floor. Looking at her hurt, so I just nodded.

Almost instantly I received a reply from Nuke120, Isla kneeling up so she could see.

‘We need to meet.’

‘Where and when?’

‘I’ll be in touch. This isn’t secure.’

Isla looked at me. “Be careful, Jake. It could be a trap.”

“I don’t care. That’s my mother. I need to find her.”

She nodded, smiling softly as she accepted my need. “Why would your father tell you she died when she didn’t? What kind of animal could do that?”

Looking down at her, the urge to touch her overwhelmed me. Reaching out, I ran my thumb under her eyes, the dark bags breaking my heart. “You’re exhausted.” She lifted her hand, covering mine. The choked sob that came from her made my stomach clench. “Why, Isla? I loved you so much. I gave you everything, even my soul. Why?”

Shaking her head firmly, tears poured from her. “Baby,” she croaked. “I didn’t. I wouldn’t. You have to believe me. Kris loves you as much as I do.”

I dropped my hand. “If I ever find Kris he’s a dead man.”

“Jake! WE didn’t do anything. The pictures are obviously photoshopped.”

I laughed at her lame excuses as I opened up a folder on my laptop. “And these are actors are they?”

She paled when a video of her and Kris in my house mocked her excuse.

“He’s an idiot if he can’t see it, Isla.”

“He’s never seen past the end of his nose. He’s a fool in love,” Isla replied with a smile. “Unfortunately, he chose to fall in love with me.”

Kris pushed her up against the wall and moved his mouth to her ear. “Then you need to hurry the fuck up and put him out of his misery. I, for one, need you to.”

Clicking stop, I slowly turned to look at her. She was gawping at me, her eyes brimming with tears. “How could you?”

I was too angry, knowing if I moved I would hurt her. Gritting my teeth, I hissed. “It’s my house. If I chose to install CCTV without you knowing then that’s up to me. Caught you out though, didn’t it? I thought nothing of it until I received the photos, then it all made sense!”

She shot upright, the tightening on her face telling me she had another migraine.

“You idiot!” She raged. Before I could grab her wrist, her hand shot out and she slapped me, my face snapping sideways with the force. “This wasn’t about you!”

Shaking my head, I turned away, her lies killing me more and more.

“Jake!” she shouted. “It wasn’t about you! Listen to me! It was about Richard, the damn gate guy!”

My neck snapped as I spun around to her. “What?”

She shook her head. “What’s love without trust, Jake? You of all people know that lies ruin lives. You’ve sat back and allowed someone to manipulate our marriage.”

“Isla?” I stared at her, my heart beating hard. I had thought the photos to be altered but the conversation she’d had with Kris had slipped into my mind and the two together, along with them spending a lot of time together, had influenced everything in my head. “Then why did Kris whisper in your ear that he needed you to tell him?”

“Because he was angry with me. Richard’s been giving me the creeps, constantly touching me, looking at me, even buying me things. Kris wants to kill him. I just want to sack him. We both knew you would go for the murder option. You had just come in through the front door so he whispered it to me. He was just warning me that he was struggling to control his temper around him. Kris is one of my best friends, Jake. He’s your oldest friend.”

I closed my eyes.

“I can’t believe you’ve been spying on me.”

“It’s just my thing. I worry about you, especially with who I am.”

“Oh, don’t make the excuse that it’s for my safety. It isn’t. It’s so you can spy on me!”

The way her stunning eyes flickered and her bottom lip trembled was so cute. However, when I smiled at her, reaching for her, she backed away causing me to growl in frustration.

“Don’t!” She shook her head. Paling, she winced and squeezed her eyes shut.

“The new meds aren’t working?”

“The new meds aren’t the problem,” she said quietly, her eyes fixing on mine.

The way she looked at me told me everything. I stared at her blankly for roughly ten seconds before a smile came, then a grin then a fucking laugh. “Oh my God! You’re having another me!”

She stared at me. “No, I’m not.”

I slammed to a halt. I was sure she’d been trying to tell me she was pregnant. “Oh.”

Her lips curved. “This time we’re having a me.”

I couldn’t move as she looked at me, her pretty smile wide and happy. “A girl?”

She nodded. “Yeah, well that’s the order I put in, but you know, if Asda deliver we could get anything.”