And so I found myself heading out to some woods on the outskirts of the city, keeping a tactful distance from the little duck-egg blue Fiat speeding along ahead of me. She was clearly far more eager to get there than me. It had rained earlier, heavy and incessant. I’d thought we were going to have to reschedule, but it’d cleared, leaving the evening warm and bright. Water still lay on the roads, but the last of the sun’s rays gleamed on it and turned it to gold.

I could hear the tyres, slick with moisture and threatening to skid, through the open windows. That was the least of my worries. Most girls, heading out alone to meet a group of men in the middle of nowhere, would have shown signs of hesitation…irregular speed…slowing down for no good reason…maybe even pulling over. Not this one. Her driving displayed nothing but reckless anticipation. I sighed inwardly. My only anticipation was of a train wreck. I encountered girls like this only too often but, generally, their father wasn’t a member of Parliament.

When I’d realised who it was, I’d understood what was at stake. I thought back to the consultation I’d had with him prior to tonight’s proceedings. Giles Flint was a hawk-faced old codger nowadays, but he’d been handsome enough in his day. That, along with his title and his wealth, had made him a force to be reckoned with as far as the ladies were concerned.

He’d been in no rush to find himself a wife, but had finally settled on some French model, a flighty nervous type, who needed more in the way of attention than Giles could spare her. She’d duly popped out young Felicity, before dying in a car “accident” on the way to meet a lover.

No charges were ever brought, naturally, but a shadow had hung over Giles’s name ever since. I knew how he felt, and I could see why he was so desperate to keep this current situation in-house. I’d known Giles years. Max, his nephew, had been at public school with me, and he’d been a close friend of my father’s before…

Her car slowed down for the first time. Even round the country bends it hadn’t given up speed, so this sudden dip in acceleration could only mean she was looking for something. And it seemed she’d found it. It matched the destination I’d put into my GPS, anyway.

I turned it off now, holding back as she indicated to turn. I hadn’t needed it in the end. I’d managed to keep her in sight at all times, far enough away to avoid being noticed, but close enough to keep a watchful eye on her. This was essential, in case she’d somehow arranged another place to hold her fuckfest. With the current security breach, I couldn’t discount any possibility.

I pulled up and let the car idle, waiting until she’d swerved in between the wooden gateposts and parked before I followed her in. She wouldn’t have had any idea, but there were men right by those gateposts, hidden in the shadows, waiting to deter undesirables by any means necessary.

I’d given her enough time, so I revved the car up and pulled in, holding my hand up in recognition to the guys by the gateposts. The chipped billboard advertised the wooded expanse beyond as a nature reserve. The shadows lay long across the car park already, and I hoped we’d get this thing over with before night fell. It’d make it a hell of a lot easier. Video never came out as well in night-vision.

As I parked up, I thought again about my meeting with Giles. He’d made it clear I owed him, and I couldn’t argue. He’d got me out of enough holes in the past, mainly related to the clubs I owned, and he didn’t trust anyone else to run this little sideshow for him. Anyway, he was of the firm belief that, once she was in the situation for real, his precious flower would wilt like a frost-struck bloom and that would be the end of it.

I was about to find out how well he knew his daughter.

Seven

Leo was standing in the doorway when I finally noticed him. He hesitated for a moment, before walking over to where I was still perched on the arm of the chair. He knelt down on the seat in front of me, and put his arms round me. I just sat there. I didn’t even pull away. I felt oddly vague and distant, and just let him carry on hugging me, while I stayed there, immobile.

Was it because I didn’t love him enough? Should I have opened up to him more? Was this my own fault? Thoughts kept passing through my head, but they were distant and impersonal, as if typed on paper, and they didn’t really register.

Finally, he tipped his head back, and looked at me. ‘I’m so sorry, Princess.’

I looked back at him, really noticing him for the first time. He seemed unchanged. His hair was the same brown, the cow’s lick at the front making it stick up as always; his eyes the same hazel; the tiny scar on his lip, which most people didn’t notice, still in its place. But he was someone else. I didn’t know this man before me at all.

‘What are you doing?’ I said, finally pulling away from him.

‘I’m trying to apologise.’ He took hold of my hands, and squeezed them, staring earnestly into my eyes. ‘I’m sorry, babe, really. I’m so sorry.’

Sorry for getting caught, you mean.

‘Who was she?’ I pulled my hands away, and stood up.

‘Who was…’ he began, then took one look at my face, and caved in. ‘I don’t know, babe. Some local tart, I think. She didn’t exactly talk a lot. It was Johnno, picked her up. She was all over him.’

‘I’m sure Kitty’ll be pleased to hear that.’ Johnno was team captain. Kitty, his wife, was a glamour model. As Chief WAG, she ruled the others – me, too, when I went to the matches – with an iron fist. No velvet glove. What she wanted, we did.

‘She’s already told him she wants a divorce.’ Leo rolled his eyes. ‘She would. But we’re stronger than that, aren’t we, Princess? We’re solid. We’ll get through this.’

I wanted to believe him, to make it all okay again. I just didn’t know how. ‘I don’t know, Leo. I can’t… What if I’d never found out? Would you have come home with a little gift for me?’

‘Wh…what do you mean?’

He looked genuinely puzzled, so I spelt it out for him. Literally. ‘An STD, Leo? Chlamydia, gonorrhoea, God – I don’t know – AIDS?’

‘Oh, come on, babe.’ He almost laughed. ‘We’re footballers, not fucking idiots. We always… We used something.’

I stared at him for a moment more. Always… ‘Footballers…idiots… it’s the same thing to me.’ I turned and walked into the kitchen, trying to focus. At least I’d stopped crying – my anger had seen to that – but I didn’t know what to do or say. We’d built a whole life here together, Mum was right, and the flat – I’d never be able to afford it on my own. We’d been together over nine years. Was I going to throw it all away?

He followed me out and came up behind me. He wrapped one arm around my waist, lifted up my hair with the other, and started to nuzzle my neck. I actually shuddered. He laughed, as if he couldn’t believe it. ‘Come on, babe. It was nothing. Less than nothing. Just lads together. If you’d come with us…’

I rounded on him. ‘Don’t you dare blame this on me.’

He held his hands up, and stepped backwards. ‘I…I’m sorry. I just meant…’

‘I know exactly what you meant, you… you fucker.’

He didn’t say anything for a moment, then laughed again. ‘I’ve never heard you swear, babe. Come on…’ He came in towards me, putting his hands on my hips, and looked me in the eyes, so straight and true I knew he was lying. ‘She was nothing to me…to any of us. You’re everything…my world. I’ll prove it to you.’ He took my hand, and led me upstairs. I wanted it to be all right. I wanted him to make it all right, and I let him take me.

Once upstairs, he led me into the bedroom. ‘We’re solid, Princess.’ He took me in his arms, and began to kiss me gently.