“My Dad’s the reason they were attacked.”

“Why do you think that?” As far as I knew, no-one had directly connected Gary to Maisie’s attack, so I had no idea where Shaun got that idea from.

“Winston told me.”

“Winston’s been talking to you?” I asked angrily. How fucking dare he come near Shaun. Shaun was a minor who lost his only parent. There had to be laws against a detective approaching him without my permission. That piece of shit, dirty cop would pay at some point. I’d make sure of it.

Shaun nodded. “He said Dad was involved in a criminal enterprise and that you were as well. That’s why Maisie was attacked.”

Jesus. He implicated me as well. If Winston was dirty, he might be trying to pin the blame on me and make me look like a bad witness. Bringing him down as going to be nigh on impossible.

“Listen, Shaun. Your father is not responsible for what happened to Maisie. I am. I think about it every day. It haunts me when I close my eyes. But whatever the case, her injuries are nothing to do with you. Nothing. You do not need to feel guilty in any way. Do you understand?”

Shaun paused for a few seconds and nodded. “I should apologize to her. She looked pretty upset.”

“Fortunately for you, I’ve got a lot of experience in the area of upsetting and then apologising to women, so you’re in good hands.”

Shaun smiled and let me put my arm around his shoulder. “Does Maisie know?” he asked. “About your involvement?”

Now it was my turn to feel like shit. “No,” I replied. “She doesn’t. I didn’t tell her back then because I wanted to deal with the situation myself. And because I was a coward. Now, I just don’t want her to hate me.”

“She won’t hate you,” Shaun said. “She’s kind of awesome. And she thinks the world of you, so I can’t imagine she would ever hate you. Unless you mess with her sister.”

I laughed. “Yeah, that would definitely put me in her bad books. Fortunately, her sister’s kind of awesome too.”

I let Shaun play some video games before bed, and sent a quick text to Michelle, before disappearing to my workout room to make a phone call.

“Hello, West London Police Station. How can I help?”

“Can you put me through to Chief Superintendent Hodgson, please?” I asked. “Tell him it’s Oliver Cornish.”

“Oh, certainly Mr. Cornish,” said the sweet female voice on the other end of the line who clearly recognized my name.

“Oliver, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Hodgson said when she picked up the phone.

“Hey, officer, sorry to bother you so late. Wasn’t sure you’d still be there.”

“Yeah, my schedule’s all over the place these days. What can I do for you?”

“It’s Winston.”

“Shit, what’s he done now?”

“He’s been speaking to Shaun without my permission.”

“Fuck’s sake. He’s getting desperate, I suppose.”

“Is there anything you can do at your end to rein him in?” I asked. “I don’t mind the police investigating me, and I’ve always fully cooperated, but it has to stop at some point. This has been going on for years.”

“I’ll do my best. I’m not technically his boss, but I go drinking with the man who is. I’ll have a word.”

“Thanks, detective.”

“Was there something else?” Hodgson asked, noticing that I hadn’t ended the call.

“It looks like I’m back in the England team,” I said. “Might be playing at the World Cup.”

“Yeah, so I heard. I was just waiting for the right time to try and bum some tickets off you actually. You don’t sound too happy at the prospect though.”

“Am I taking a stupid risk?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. By playing in a high-profile tournament. The last time I did that I attracted the attention of those scum who attacked Maisie.”

“They’re all behind bars now,” Hodgson insisted. “And they ain’t going anywhere.”

“There could be more out there.”

“We got them all, I promise. The first few we arrested blabbed like little babies and the rest came crumbling down. You’re perfectly safe to play in the tournament.”

“It’s not my safety I’m worried about.”

“You should be. Because if you don’t play and, more importantly, don’t get me tickets, I will come down on you like a tonne of bricks. Winston will be the least of your problems.”

I laughed. “Okay, I take your point.”

The last time I played for England in a World Cup, I’d put those I loved at risk. If I thought there was any chance of them being harmed again, I would pull out of the squad immediately.

I knew my fears were ungrounded. The betting ring had been shut down years ago. If only my guilt had disappeared with it. Maybe if I righted the wrongs of 2007 I could finally learn to live with myself. Whether Maisie and Michelle would ever learn to forgive me was another matter entirely.

Oliver convinced me to go back to the same pub where I had burst into tears in front of everyone. I recognized a few of the bar staff and customers, but if they had any idea who I was, they didn’t bother showing it. Even Oliver got largely ignored; probably because he was wearing that God-awful Chargers hat.

We ordered a few drinks, but there were no tables so we just hung around by one of the gambling machines. I’d never been one for gambling and after putting £10 into the machine and getting nothing in return, I decided my original instincts had been correct.

“Are we being a little naive leaving Maisie and Shaun alone again?” I asked. “I know what happens when couples have a fight and then make up again.”

Oliver smiled. “Yeah, there’s nothing like make-up sex. We need to have a good old fashioned fight sometime, and then make up.”

“Are you already getting bored of the sex we have?” I asked.

Oliver raised his eyebrows. “I think we both know there is nothing boring about the sex we have. I can barely keep up. Anyway, you don’t need to worry about the kids. They’re not alone.”

“That’s not all that comforting. Now it sounds like a party.”

“There are a load of strange men in the house as well.”

“Not sounding any better, Oliver.”

“Builders,” he said, smiling. “I’ve hired some builders to make a few alterations to one of the spare room.”

“Dare I even ask what kind of monstrosity you’re building in there now? An indoor sauna perhaps?”

“I’m converting the room with the pool table into a bedroom. That way Maisie can stay over and, by extension, so can you.”

“Oh,” I exclaimed, a bit surprised by the news. “So we can be together every night now?”

“Yep. I even made sure that the bedroom is the one furthest from ours. So, for example, should you ever feel the need to make a lot of noise you can do so without being overheard.”

I gave Oliver a gentle slap on the arm, but touching his skin just made me want to finish our drinks and go straight home or back to the hotel. I started running my fingers up his forearm, and brushed my leg against his.

I usually never got turned on in public, but right now I was ready for the taking. I was already damp between my thighs and Oliver knew it. I’d opened up to him so completely that Oliver could now read me just by looking into my eyes. He knew I wanted him right now, but he just stared at me as he slowly drank his beer.

We were in full view of everyone in the pub, so there wasn’t much more I could do without attracting attention, but I squeezed his firm forearm and bit my lip as I did so, letting out a barely audible gasp.

Oliver finished his drink, so I drunk the rest of my cocktail and picked up my purse assuming we were about to leave. Instead Oliver ordered another round of drinks.

“What are you doing?” I asked impatiently. “I’m ready to leave.”