“Rune hasn’t set fire to anything yet. Maybe I could get her a laptop?” Alaric quickly shook his head. “No, Naz already got her one at Christmas.”
Was Naz another business partner?
“How about a book? Does she like reading? Or play any musical instruments? What about chocolate? You can’t go wrong with chocolate at boarding school.”
“Actually, you can. Rune’s diabetic.”
Shit. “Sorry.”
“Hey, you weren’t to know. And she’s not musical, but yeah, she likes reading. Is there a bookstore on Oxford Street?”
“Not on Oxford Street itself. Foyles is nearby, but… No, it doesn’t matter.”
“But what?”
Was it my place to say? Oh, what the hell. “As I mentioned, I went to boarding school, and my father often used to send me gifts.” Or rather, his secretary did. “But what I really valued more than anything was his time. I barely remember all the clothes and candy and toiletries, but I’ll never forget the day he picked me up and took me to Hickstead to watch the showjumping one afternoon.”
I later came to realise he’d done it out of guilt after Mother found out about his latest affair, but still… I’d enjoyed myself.
“So you think I should take her out somewhere?”
“If you have the time. And your business partner too, if she’s fond of him.”
“Ravi. I’ll talk to him tonight. So, the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question—where should we take her? We normally just go for lunch.”
“What about an activity you can do together and then lunch afterwards? Is she at school in London? You could go to the Science Museum?”
“About an hour north of London. Ridgeview was the best place we could find.”
And quite possibly the most expensive too. “Ridgeview Prep? I went to Marlborough Ladies’ College—we used to play Ridgeview at hockey.”
Mostly, they’d beaten us. Okay, they’d thrashed us in every match except one. We’d been so overjoyed at winning that Rebecca Mornington had opened the sloe gin she’d snuck in for a special occasion, and we all got a hangover and a detention.
“I heard the team’s pretty good, but Rune isn’t into sports.”
“There’s bound to be something in the local area. How about I look while you drive? Although I wouldn’t recommend driving to Oxford Street.”
“I need to drop my car back at Judd’s place. Another business partner,” he explained. “I’m staying there. Then we can take the Tube.”
It was still rush hour, which meant we’d be packed in like sardines, but with Alaric beside me, I couldn’t get too upset about that. I pulled my phone out to research gifts, but before I could consult Google, it buzzed in my hand.
Gemma: OMG, I heard what happened! Henrietta said it was my fault, but I swear I don’t remember leaving that cleaning caddy by the Heath Robert. I told Hugo he should fire me instead, but he just said that management decisions were final and slammed his office door. The painting wasn’t even damaged. I reckon he’s got PMT >:(
I was fairly certain men couldn’t get PMT, not unless it stood for Pocketing Money from Thieves. But I didn’t want to leave Gemma upset over something that wasn’t her fault, no matter what Henrietta might have said.
Me: You’re probably right—he’s been a bit weird lately. And at least I don’t need to bow down to Henrietta anymore.
Gemma: I’ll miss you. If it’s just me and Henrietta all day, I’ll probably get arrested for murder.
Me: I’ll miss you too. Meet up for dinner soon?
Gemma: Or a coffee? One lunchtime? Ry always likes us to eat dinner together.
Control freak. On the plus side, Gemma sounded chattier than she had in ages, and since I had no job, coffee was actually a much better idea.
Me: Perfect. I’ll call you next week :)
“Everything okay?” Alaric asked.
“It’s just Gemma. You remember her from the gallery? Apparently, she offered to get fired as tribute, but Hugo turned her down.”
“Well, we both know why.” He reached across and gave my hand a kindly squeeze. “Sometimes, the dark days are fate’s way of making the light seem brighter.”
“I hope you’re right. Because right now, I’m all out of matches.”
CHAPTER 24 - ALARIC
ALARIC GRASPED THE overhead rail and wrapped his other arm around Bethany’s waist, using the gifts they’d bought for Rune as a shield between her and the rest of the rabble. Yes, he’d vowed to keep his hands to himself, but they were on the Tube, and punks kept bumping into her. What else was he meant to do? Okay, so he could have hailed a cab, but he was an asshole.
“So, activities for tomorrow…” he said as they headed for Shoreditch. “Any ideas?”
“I came up with three options near Ridgeview. Ten-pin bowling, adventure golf, or an escape room. But the adventure golf’s outside, and there’s a sixty percent chance of showers.”
Attention to detail. Alaric liked that, and it made justifying a job offer that much easier. They needed an assistant who didn’t cut corners.
“Then scrap the golf. We can do that some other time.”
“Megabowl’s a fifteen-minute drive, and they serve food, so you could combine it with lunch. Breakout’s twenty minutes away, and I’ve found two restaurants nearby that look fun for a teenager—Noodle Nation and Pizzaland. All the places have parking available.”
Alaric had taken Rune bowling in the US, and she’d landed the ball in the gutter enough times that she’d gotten frustrated. Rune being Rune, she’d tackled the situation like a science problem rather than having fun, although her mood had improved after she drew a dozen complex mathematical equations out on napkins to work out the best angle and velocity for the ball. Fuck only knew who the asshole was who’d impregnated Rune’s mother, but he must have been a geek of some kind.
“Tell me more about the escape room.”
“You get shut in for sixty minutes, and you have to find clues and solve puzzles to unlock the door.”
Which all sounded great apart from the “shut in” part. He didn’t want to remind Rune of her past.
“Could you get out early if necessary?”
“It says there’s a panic button, and the room itself looks quite big. There’s a picture on the website. The only thing is that they recommend teams of four to six people. Does Rune have a friend she could bring?”
A good question. Rune was a loner—it came up at every parent-teacher conference. She said she was happy, but Alaric still worried that she spent more time in the library than hanging out with her peers. There didn’t seem to be any bullying, and she got on fine with her lab partners, or so she said. And she’d willingly spend time with the guys from Sirius. She just didn’t socialise with kids her own age.
“I don’t think there’s anyone.”
“So perhaps the bowling…”
“What are you doing tomorrow?”
Bethany went doe-eyed. “Me?”
“Or I could always put an advert on Craigslist. Do you have Craigslist over here? Wanted: willing victim for pizza, puzzles, and present-opening.”