‘I loved him.’
‘The Ignotum?’
‘No, not him. I loved Leon Ganis, my father, who worked hard, looked after me and gave me everything he could.’
‘Except freedom,’ Rosie added quickly. ‘The third engine?’
‘There isn’t one. Just those two. Strong enough to count for five or ten.’
We were nearing the bottom of the ice cream tub.
Rosie licked her spoon clean and walked behind my chair.
‘Are you expecting words of wisdom?’ she wound her arms around me.
‘No.’
‘Good. I don’t know any. Like you, I’m just a clueless teenager groping my way through. The one thing that we both know...’
‘What one thing?’
She kissed me on the temple. ‘The only thing you can do. Deal with it.’
* * *
At almost 5 am there were two cars parked by the gate. Seeing my headlights from afar, three people jumped out and quickly positioned themselves in front of the gate. I stopped and slid down the window by a fraction. Enough for them to hear me but, with the early morning light working against them, not enough to take any photos.
‘If you don’t move away, I’ll get a helicopter to lift me out of here within a few minutes. I’ll leave you to talk to my little Evora to your heart’s content. If you do as I say, I’ll send you out hot drinks and a decent breakfast.’
A few face-saving minutes later, they settled for creature comforts.
Presumably alerted by the car engine Bakir opened the front door.
‘Could you get the Boys to take a large, no effort spared breakfast to those poor souls by the gate, please?’
‘Why?’
‘Because it’s cold out there and they’re trying to earn a living.’
I ran upstairs two at a time.
Hugh was fast asleep, stretched out on his front, his face buried in pillows.
I quickly undressed down to my knickers, pulled on his pyjama top and slid into the bed. The sound of his breathing muted out almost instantly.
‘Have you come back?’ He made no move to bring me closer to him.
There was just the question mark hanging between us in the semi-darkness.
I turned to my side and nestled for a bit until my head settled in its usual place on his chest. ‘It won’t be all plain sailing. But, we’ll deal with it. Together.’
~ THE END ~
Table of Contents
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
The Eunuch's Ward (The String Quartet) Page 21
