“Are you sure about this, Yvette?” Sheila asked. She kept a hand pressed to her chest and her breathing was heavy. “I’m so worried about you. We’ve only just got you back, and now you’re going to meet the man you tried to escape from. I blame him for all this.”
“It wasn’t all about Victor, Mum,” Yvette said. “It’s more about the decisions and actions I made over the last twelve months. He is Connor’s father.”
“We’ve read his letter,” Naomi insisted. “I saw him in the café with you, and how he treated you. He’s been in prison...”
Yvette nodded solemnly. “I’m scared of him, too. He’s shaped my life for a long time. But this is more for me than him. I’m desperate to start afresh. I want to feel stronger with no more running or hiding. I want to be with my family and not have to look over my shoulder. I know I could do this officially, through mediation, but that could take weeks and months to set up. I thought about writing him a letter, but I’m just so tired and I want to take charge of things. I don’t want anything hanging over my head any longer.”
Mitchell could see both sides of the situation. He could feel the worry and stress humming around the room. However, he could also understand how Yvette wanted to take this big step forward and move on.
“I’ll be with you,” he told her. “You’re not on your own.”
“Thank you.” She nodded nervously.
The others didn’t say anything and Mitchell’s spirits faded when he sensed they didn’t think he was enough.
“Everything will be fine,” he assured them. “Really.”
Liza raised her eyes at him. “What if that’s not enough?”
* * *
The air was warm and thick outside, so Mitchell’s breathing felt labored as he walked with Yvette toward the Slab. She looked twitchily around her, and Mitchell’s own legs felt jellylike from nerves.
“The last time I saw Victor, he was hammering on my apartment door,” she said. “He’s probably still furious with me.”
“We’ll be in a public place. You’re not alone.”
She walked without speaking for a while. “I know. Thanks for coming with me, Mitchell.”
Everyone who passed them was in a happier place, buoyed on by the reappearance of the sunshine. Dogs scampered along the pavement, joggers wore smiles along with their Apple earbuds and office workers donned sunglasses and chatted on their mobiles.
Mitchell and Yvette reached the middle of the bridge five minutes before the agreed rendezvous time with Victor. The pavement was lined with low concrete benches. A couple lay draped across one of them, kissing languidly. On another, a man lay on his back with his socks and shoes off and a newspaper covering his face.
Mitchell and Yvette approached an empty bench. She perched on the edge, and her feet shuffled on the ground. Mitchell decided to stand a few meters away, surveying his surroundings until Victor arrived. He pressed his back against the railing and when he crooked his leg, he felt his mobile phone pushed down in his pocket.
Last night, he had used it to call Graham, and he thought back to their conversation.
“What can I do for you, Mitchy Boy?” Graham had asked when Mitchell said he’d like to call in a second favor, if possible.
“I’m trying to find out what I can about a man called Victor Sonetti. Yvette knew him through work and discovered he was embezzling funds. She reported him to her company and Victor was sent to prison. He got out recently and Yvette could be in danger. Do you think Mason and Tony can help us at all?” He recalled Graham’s words, about how he was glad the men were his friends not his enemies.
“I told you, Mitchy Boy. They know everything about everything. Do you want them to do some digging around?”
“It’s just some background information, if we need it.” Mitchell explained the situation further and told Graham he was accompanying Yvette to meet Victor.
“Do you want the boys to come along, too, as backup? Brute force?” Graham asked.
“Hopefully I won’t need that. And I’m sorry to ask you to do this.”
“That’s what friends are for,” Graham said. “Now what do you want to know?”
On the bridge, Mitchell saw Yvette’s eyes widen. He sensed her stiffening as he watched a small bald man walking a Pomeranian dog on a leash. He whistled nonchalantly as he approached them.
Mitchell frowned, thinking this couldn’t possibly be Victor. In his head, he’d imagined him to be big and muscly with tattooed arms, or maybe a slick guy in a pin-striped suit. But this man was now smiling. He wore jogging pants and a faded lilac T-shirt. “Is that him?” he asked.
“Yes,” she murmured. “Appearances can be deceptive.”
“It’ll be okay.”
She nodded at him and stuck out her chin. “We’ll see.”
“Yvette.” Victor picked up his small dog and held it to his chest. Though his tone was friendly, he didn’t acknowledge Mitchell’s presence. “It’s wonderful to see you. You look fantastic—well, maybe a touch pale. This is my new friend, Penny. I brought her to say hi.”
Mitchell studied the man. Although he smiled, his eyes were small and purplish like pomegranate seeds.
Yvette shrank like a caterpillar curling against touch.
Victor lowered his dog to the pavement. “Where’s Connor?” he asked lightly, looking around.
“He’s at home with my family.”
“That’s a shame, I so wanted to meet him. You kept it from me that I was a father, but that’s not the only thing you didn’t tell me, eh? I only borrowed that money for us, you know, so we could have a better future together.”
“You stole thousands, Victor. What did you expect me to do?”
“Didn’t expect my own girlfriend to turn against me, that’s for sure. And you didn’t tell me you were pregnant, either.”
“I didn’t know about it, until later.”
“Would it have made any difference? Would you have kept your mouth shut? We could have been a family with nice cash to spend.”
“No,” she said firmly.
His eyes narrowed instantly. “I thought not, should have known you were a conniving cow.”
“That’s enough.” Mitchell stepped forward. “Yvette agreed to meet you here as planned. Don’t abuse that.”
Victor’s lips twitched into a smirk. “Ah, you’re the new boyfriend I presume?”