Thief of Hearts (25 page)

Stu leaned forward, his shoulders rigid. “You don’t understand. He’s not just going to let this fly. He doesn’t like loose ends and that means he’s going to try and do something to tie them up.”

“You mean, to tie us up?” Alfie questioned nervously.

Stu exhaled and dropped back into the seat. “I can’t protect you from him.”

I looked at him through my mirror again and our eyes locked. It was then that I saw how powerless he felt. He’d been in control but I’d gone and ruined all that. Now everything was up in the air. I really was stupid, always thinking with something other than my head. This time it had been with my soft foolish heart.

“We need to come up with a plan. A story to explain everything away and gain his trust again. Do you have a way of contacting him?” I asked and Stu looked at me like I was being naïve.

“I’ve got a number,” Stu replied, “but look, I think you just need to stay out of this from now on. I’ll figure something out.”

I opened my mouth to say something but came up short. I was at a loss for words yet again. When I turned onto our street and stopped the car outside the flat, I turned off the engine and we all just sat in silence for a minute. Our brains were working overtime to come up with a solution. It was only as I was lost in thought that I noticed the suspiciously out-of-place gentleman standing at the end of the street.

He was big and muscular, but he wore a suit. He looked like he should be working security for the government or something. When I glanced through my side mirror I saw a similarly dressed man at the other end of the street. This didn’t bode well.

“Stu,” I whispered, afraid that even halfway down the street they might hear me.

He didn’t answer so I whispered louder. “Stu!”

His tired gaze flicked to mine. “What is it, Andrea?”

I cocked my head ever so slightly to indicate both gentlemen. Alfie made a move to turn in his seat but I grabbed him and urged him not to look. Stu let out a whispered string of expletives.

“All right, this is what you’re going to do,” he ordered, his mouth barely moving as he spoke. “Start the car back up real slow and get us out of here as quick as you can.”

I nodded and brought my hand to my keys. I was shaking. I started the engine and put my foot on the gas. Just as I pulled out onto the road I hit the brakes and let out a startled yelp, because one of the men was now standing directly in front of my car. I tried to reverse but the other was standing behind it. They both had shoulders so wide they might as well have been brick walls.

“Throw the keys out the window,” one of them shouted. I looked to Stu, his face angry yet resigned. Finally, he nodded and I did as the man requested. My keys hit the ground and the man picked them up. “Now all of you get out of the car and head inside. You’ve got a visitor.”

I’d never been so nervous in my entire life. Alfie looked just as terrified. This wasn’t our world. We didn’t belong here. Stu was the only one who didn’t look frightened. If I was honest, he looked like he was weighing his chances of taking on both men in a fight. He must have decided the odds were against him because he didn’t initiate any violence.

I took Alfie’s hand in mine as we headed for the door of our flat. It was already open. The lock was bashed in and the door ajar. We both took a step inside and entered the living room, Stu close behind us. I sucked in a breath when I saw the entire place had been ransacked. My gaze travelled over our trashed living room before we all stopped short. My heart pounded as I stared at the dapper gentleman lounging casually on our worn-out sofa.

He wasn’t a stranger. In fact, I recognised him instantly.

Perhaps this was our world, after all.

Alfie dropped my hand and took a hesitant step backward, his voice hushed as he whispered, “Dad?”

“Alfred, my boy, it’s been a long time. My, look how you’ve grown,” said Raymond, his gaze sharp as he took in his son.

I did a quick mental calculation. Alfie hadn’t seen his dad since he was seventeen when he was prosecuted and sent away for committing fraud. That was over a decade ago. I heard my cousin’s breathing quicken as he clutched my hand again, his grip so tight it was almost crushing.

“Get out,” he said, voice quiet.

“Well, that’s no way to greet your father,” Raymond chided.

“Get out, please get out,” Alfie went on, louder now. He started to hyperventilate and I quickly realised he was having a panic attack.

“You need to leave,” I ordered, channelling as much authority into my voice as possible. Raymond, or should I say ‘the Duke’, chuckled, a hint of cruelty behind it. “Oh, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Can’t you see that he doesn’t want you here?” I shouted, my protective instincts kicking in. “He doesn’t want to see you, so just go.”

“Andrea, don’t . . .” Alfie pleaded and I immediately regretted my outburst. Obviously, he didn’t want us having a domestic with his dad in front of Stu and the two suited men standing in the doorway.

Speak of the devil . . . Stu’s every muscle was coiled tight. In fact, I’d never seen him look so furious. The funny thing was, he didn’t look surprised. Not. One. Bit.

He’d known
.

Quick as lightning my hostility found a new target. “You knew!” I exclaimed hoarsely, my voice catching with emotion. “You knew all along, didn’t you?”

Suddenly, everything made sense, how ‘the Duke’ knew so much about us, how he targeted us from the very beginning. Betrayal. It was an ugly, painful sore to experience, but that’s what I felt. I had trusted Stu. I had trusted his thoughts, his promises. I had trusted him with my heart. And he did this.
How could he?

Alfie’s dad must’ve found out that we’d been living together for the past few years. Furthermore, he knew how resistant Alfie was to new people and that the only way for Stu to meet him was through me.

Alfie gasped and turned away from his dad to face Stu. His expression was horrified. “Did you?” he asked in a tiny voice. His feelings were hurt, and it was in that moment that I realised just how fond Alfie had grown of Stu. He might’ve denied it if asked, but I could see he’d considered him trustworthy, a friend. I’d never seen him look so betrayed and I didn’t know who I was angrier for: me or my cousin.

Stu cleared his throat, his expression torn as his brows drew together. “Let me explain—”

“There’s nothing to explain. I should’ve known you were hiding something. You’ve been lying to us from the start.”

“Andrea, I couldn’t tell you. You have to believe me.”

“I don’t want to hear it. Just leave,” I growled, turning to Raymond. “Both of you can leave. I don’t even know why you came here.”

“Andrea, darling, sit down and be quiet,” Raymond ordered, standing from the couch and walking towards Stu. “I take it that’s the painting,” he went on, eyeing the case eagerly.

Without a word Stu handed it to him and Raymond grinned as he ran his fingers over the leather. He carried it to the coffee table, set it down and then sat again. He flicked open the locks and exhaled a breath once he saw the painting.

“Magnificent.”

I couldn’t argue with him. I eyed the piece, completely identical to the one Alfie had painted. Raymond ever so gently touched his fingers to the canvas.

“D-don’t do that,” Alfie stammered and his father shot him a cynical glance, placing his fingers more firmly against the paint as though in challenge. “There might be something on your skin that could corrupt the canvas,” Alfie went on.

“I think you’ll find my hands are perfectly clean, Alfred,” Raymond replied.

“Don’t be a prick,” said Stu, and Alfie’s dad’s gaze cut to him.

“I’ll thank you to keep quiet. You’re hardly in a position to tell me what to do.” He paused, his attention sliding to me. “It seems you went above and beyond the call of duty in regards to what I sent you here to achieve.”

Stu opened his mouth to speak but Raymond held up a hand. “Don’t bother. It’s clear to me you allowed yourself to develop feelings for my niece. How tragic. And there was me, thinking I’d found a heartless hardened criminal to do my bidding.”

“Fuck you,
Raymond
,” Stu swore, the way he said his name dripping with disrespect.

Raymond chuckled a mirthless laugh. “Are you testing me, son?”

“Why can’t you just leave?” Alfie interjected. My cousin was still hyperventilating. I wrapped an arm around his shoulders and whispered for him to take slow, deep breaths. Then I narrowed my gaze on Raymond. “Why did you even come here? You could’ve collected the case from Stu earlier without the need to drag us into it.”

“Ah, but I’ve had my men following young Stuart all morning, you see. And I’m sure you can imagine my surprise when they told me he made a stop here of all places instead of coming directly to meet me. Something was amiss.”

“Is that why you ransacked our flat? Nothing was amiss. Alfie wanted to see the painting since he’s been working day and night to replicate it. It was the least he deserved for all his hard work.”

Raymond dismissed me with a glance, his attention going to his son. “Still so sentimental.”

Alfie wheezed a shaky breath. Raymond rolled his eyes heavenward and I wanted to punch him in that moment. It was his fault Alfie’s mum was a neurotic wreck all through his childhood, and it was his fault they were left with nothing and my cousin had to paint counterfeits in order to save their house. He wasn’t a father. He was nothing.

“For crying out loud, Alfred, calm down. You’d swear I was holding a knife to your throat. If it’s the money you’re worried about you can relax. I’m a man of my word. I’ll pay you everything you’re owed once the sale of the painting is finalised.”

“You can stuff your money. We don’t want it,” I barked, letting go of my cousin to face his dad head-on.

“Oh darling, of everyone in this room you’re the last person who should be refusing a payout.”

I gaped at him. “Look at you, still so obsessed. This has nothing to do with money. This has to do with you leaving your wife and child penniless and desperate. He never wanted to see you again, and he never should have to. Now you’re exploiting him for your own gain. You’re a worthless excuse for a father.”

Raymond huffed a careless laugh. “It’s not my fault he’s always been soft.”

“It’s exactly your fault. You were too busy working so hard to defraud people out of their money when you should’ve been raising your son. As far as I’m concerned they never should’ve let you out of prison.”

“Well, luckily that’s not your decision to make,” said Raymond, his attention falling to Alfie again. “Aren’t you even going to say anything, son?”

Alfie glanced up coldly and shook his head.

“Good Lord, still as soft as ever.”

“If not being soft means being like you then you can keep it,” Alfie finally muttered.

“Ah, he speaks.”

“You’ve got your painting. You can go now. I have nothing to say to you.”

“Well, now you’re just being rude. I was hoping we could talk about old times,” Raymond replied sarcastically. With a short huff of dissatisfaction, he closed over the case and locked it shut. He cast both of us one final dismissive glance before he stood and brushed down his slacks.

“Stuart, I’d like a word in private if you don’t mind.”

Stu’s eyes met mine briefly. I could see the apology in them but I didn’t want to hear it. A second later he followed Raymond outside. My heart felt like it was breaking apart piece by piece.

Everything between us had been a lie.

I’d told him all about Alfie’s childhood, and he hadn’t said a word. He’d known it was his dad behind all this, and he’d known exactly what a careless bastard the man was
and he hadn’t said a word.

As soon as they were gone Alfie deflated, tears streaming down his face as he silently cried. I pulled him into my arms, holding him close and whispering that everything was going to be all right, even though I knew it wouldn’t. Stu’s betrayal aside, seeing his dad again after all these years was going to set him back. He’d been doing so well since leaving his mother’s house and his troubled childhood behind, but now he was back there, lonely and helpless.

Vulnerable.

My cousin was a man made of glass, naturally sensitive, and always so close to shattering. It sounded like a bad thing but it was why I loved him. It was what made him so unique. Unwillingly, my thoughts travelled backwards, as something Stu once said to me rose forth.

You made me realise that softness is necessary. That we need both. People who are kind and who help others are needed, but so are people who are hard, toughened by experience.

Why was it his words I was remembering right then? His words that were helping me make sense of everything. Raymond was wrong to think Alfie’s softness was a weakness. It was what allowed him to create things no one else could, art that made people
feel.

His weakness created his strength. I just wished mine could be considered one, too. Unfortunately, my open-heart hadn’t achieved anything beautiful this time. It had brought me hurt. Alfie, too.

A few minutes passed and then I heard car doors slamming and engines starting up outside. I relaxed a little to know Raymond was finally leaving, even if he had left our flat turned upside down. Slowly, I helped Alfie to his room where he quietly climbed into bed and pulled the covers over himself. I rubbed soothingly at his back for a little while until I heard his breathing even out and knew he’d fallen asleep.

I’d unintentionally brought betrayal into his life and it made me feel truly awful.

As quietly as I could manage, I closed his door and went about putting the flat back to rights. If I could just focus on that task, maybe I could ignore how I was falling apart inside.

The last few weeks meant nothing.

Stu had just been using me.
Again.

I stopped short when I walked into the living room and he was sitting on the couch.

My hand went to my heart as though to shield it. “Why are you still here?”

Stu got up and came towards me. I backed up all the way to the other side of the room. His gaze was pleading, but I didn’t let it get to me. “Just let me help you clean the flat. It’s my fault the Duke’s men wrecked the place. I never should’ve brought the painting here. That’s why he turned everything over. He thought we were trying to hide something.”

“Yes well, you never should’ve done a lot of things, but there’s no changing that now. And will you please stop calling him the Duke? It sounds ridiculous. It always sounded ridiculous. He’s a horrible little man and you should’ve been straight with us from the beginning about who was actually behind all this.”

“Andrea, I couldn’t tell you. He was blackmailing me, remember? He didn’t ever want either of you to know it was him. He was going to take the painting and sell it and you’d never be any the wiser.”

“Oh, so that makes it better?”

“At least Alfie wouldn’t have had to go through seeing him. He’s clearly having some kind of a meltdown.”

“Alfie is none of your concern anymore.”

“You don’t own him.”

“No, but I protect him. He’s my family and he never trusts people,
but he trusted you
. He considered you a friend. The worst part is that I’m the one who brought you into his life, and I’m the one who encouraged him to spend time with you. Now he’s suffering and it’s all because I let you into our lives.”

He took a step toward me but I held up my hand. “Don’t. Don’t come any closer.”

“I promise if I could go back and change things I would.”

At this I bit out a humourless laugh. “No, you wouldn’t. Because if you did things any differently those men would’ve been paying a visit to your home instead of mine, and they wouldn’t have left at throwing a few bits of furniture around.”

“Exactly. My hands were tied.”

I frowned, my words stuttering, “N-no y-you still . . . God, I don’t even understand how you and Raymond were even in the same prison. He was prosecuted and sent to an open prison for white-collar crimes.”

“He got on the wrong side of one of the other inmates. This guy had a lot of sway with the higher ups and he didn’t want the Duke, I mean Raymond, around anymore, so he had him transferred,” Stu explained.

I gaped at him. “Is that even legal?”

“Half the stuff that goes on in prison isn’t legal. That’s what happens when you house a bunch of criminals together.”

“Yes well, I’ll know not to trust one in the future,” I said harshly, folding my arms across my chest.

“Andrea, please.”

“No, Stu, I don’t want to hear it. All I want to do right now is salvage what I can of my furniture, make sure my cousin is okay, and then go to bed. I don’t want to talk to you. I’m sick of talking.”

He mimicked me when he folded his arms and stood completely still. “I’m not going anywhere.”