Page 62 of All Mine (The All Mine #1)

Etienne

The boys were not in bed before Walker and Etienne arrived and now Fox was letting them officially ‘wear themselves out’ before trying again.

To say Reggie and George were pleased with the reprieve was an understatement.

They immediately set up position at the back window, noses pressed to the glass, to spot any early fireworks.

Fox wiped a hand across his face. ‘You never know, they might one day decide they want to go to bed,’ he said, lifting his bottle of beer. The three of them took their usual seats at Fox’s kitchen table.

‘Only if they’re older and there is someone they fancy in it,’ Walker said, deadpan. The boys were now having an earnest, whispered conversation. It looked like trouble. Reggie skidded across the kitchen and landed at Etienne’s chair.

‘Is Isabella your girlfriend?’ he demanded, poking him with a surprisingly pointy finger.

Etienne’s beer went down the wrong way and he swallowed painfully.

‘No,’ he sighed. ‘We’re just friends.’ He noticed Walker and Fox glance at each other.

In fact, they weren’t even that any more. He’d be surprised if she ever spoke to him again after the way he treated her. Maybe he could try to explain it after Alex came home. When it was safe. But until then, he had to live with it. And without her.

‘Good,’ Reggie said with a satisfied nod. ‘’Cos I’m going to marry her.’

Etienne spat his beer out. Walker clapped him on the back.

‘Don’t you think she might be a bit old for you?’ Fox said, smiling.

‘She won’t be when I’ve grown up to her age.’ Reggie shrugged in perfect child logic before turning on the spot and legging it to the front room. George ran after him.

‘He’s been like this since you guys went into his school that day,’ Fox said, shaking his head. ‘Smitten.’

‘Is that true?’ Walker asked him, studying his face.

‘What?’

‘The “just good friends” story?’ Both of them were watching him now.

Etienne rubbed his hands through his hair.

‘I don’t think we’re even that any more,’ Etienne muttered. Fox put another beer on the table in front of him, seeing as he’d snorted half of his across the kitchen. He took a long sip but it didn’t make him feel any better.

‘We were friends,’ he started, ‘at the beginning. Then we were having non-sex and that was amazing.’ He closed his eyes for a moment. ‘Better than most of the actual sex I’ve ever had.’

He sighed. Walker and Fox waited.

‘And then we ended up spending more time together. The karaoke, the cocktails, the school visit. And she’s fun, you know?’ His friends both nodded in agreement as if they’d known this all along and Etienne was catching up.

‘And then I realised I was looking out for her. Making opportunities to see her. I kept looking at her window to catch a glimpse.’ He threw an almost embarrassed look at Walker, who took a long swig of his beer but said nothing.

‘And she’s kind. Like, she’d help anyone, wouldn’t she?’ Again, he looked at them for confirmation he didn’t need. They nodded. ‘Even when she was so busy with Tutto Mio, she took time out to take me to the grave. She organised the Spare Room Sleepover.’

He rubbed his stubble.

‘And then I thought I had indigestion, but it only ever happened when she was around. And I realised it wasn’t anything to do with a dodgy meal. It was proper feelings, right here.’ He put his hand on his chest.

‘And then I held her hand.’ He dropped his face into his hands for a full ten seconds before raising it to face them and saying, ‘And never wanted to let go.’

Fox raised an eyebrow. Walker sat forward in his chair.

‘But I had to make her stay away from me, in case the Dougalls were going to target me. So, I told her I had a better offer. I really hurt her. And I can’t think of anything else apart from how much I want to be with her.’

There followed a silence so complete they realised the boys were no longer playing noisily in the front room. Instead, they were standing side by side in the doorway, listening to every word: Reggie wide-eyed, George sucking his thumb.

‘I love her, don’t I?’ Etienne said slowly, feeling the awe and relief in saying the words out loud for the first time.

Walker and Fox looked at each other and clinked beer bottles.

‘That’s what we think,’ Fox said.

‘You knew?’ Etienne asked in disbelief.

‘Have done for ages,’ Walker agreed, high fiving Fox across the table.

‘No!’ said Reggie, kicking the table leg with a tiny foot. ‘Not fair.’

‘Oh my God,’ said Etienne. ‘I’m in love with Isabella Tucci.’

Reggie harrumphed and grabbed an unsuspecting George in a headlock, marching him through and out of the kitchen. ‘We’re going to bed,’ he said as they stomped up the stairs.

‘Two miracles in one day,’ Fox muttered as he followed them swiftly to make sure the job got done.

Walker grinned at him and clinked his bottle against Etienne’s, who sat back in his chair, winded by his own feelings.

Isabella had worked her way so far under his skin that she’d embedded herself right in his heart.

He finally acknowledged all his trips past Tutto Mio were to bump into her.

He realised that he’d accepted her ‘no-sex’ deal in the first place only because he wanted to spend more time with her.

Every time she smiled at him, his heart lifted.

And every time he held her, he never wanted to let go.

His phone rang. Alex’s name on the screen dragged him back to the present with a jolt. He showed Walker the screen as he answered it, putting it on loudspeaker.

This time Alex didn’t wait for Etienne to speak before starting himself.

‘Et, you’re in danger! It’s all gone wrong!’

Etienne stood up with his fists on the table, leaving the phone between them. ‘What’s happened?’

‘The Dougalls suddenly rang, saying they wanted the money transferred now.’

‘I thought we still had six days to get it together. . .’ Etienne said. ‘But I can do that — ’

Alex cut in.

‘I knew you’d say that so I told them I didn’t have it, but I would get it from you and could transfer it straight away.’

Etienne made a noise of agreement.

‘And then they got really mad and said they’d already waited too long. Four years too long.’

Walker’s eyes widened as he focused on the phone screen.

‘And they said they’d come and get it themselves.’

Walker and Etienne’s eyes locked. This was bad. They both knew it.

‘Have they found out where I am?’ Etienne asked, trying to keep his voice level, thinking about old Fred Barrow at home watching the television in his slippers.

‘Old Man Dougall saw you on the evening news. They know the name of your restaurant.’

Fox appeared in the doorway having put the boys to bed, glancing between the two, sensing the tense atmosphere.

Etienne put his hands to his head and wracked his brain, forcing himself to recall the interview. Had they asked him about The Bistro?

‘Did you see it?’ he mouthed at Walker and Fox but they both shook their heads.

He thought back. Isabella explaining how she organised the scheme. The interviewer asking whether they liked living in Honeybridge. And Isabella’s happy promotion of the restaurant, Tutto Mio.

The Dougalls thought they were a couple. And they now thought they owned a restaurant together.

‘They’re going to Tutto Mio,’ Etienne gasped down the phone. ‘Isabella. . .’ he said aloud, helplessly, and Walker stood too now, all three men moving instinctively together.

‘Did they say anything else?’ Etienne asked, needing to get off the phone, to move. He had only one thought in his head and that was to get there before the Dougalls did. To keep Isabella safe, to hold her tight.

Alex’s voice shuddered as it came through the phone speaker.

‘They said if you play with fire, you’re going to get burned.’

Etienne’s brain was laser sharp, focused only on working out the steps to take to keep Isabella safe. He glanced at his friends. Fox and Walker already had their phones out and were accessing their online bank accounts.

‘Transferred to you,’ Fox said.

‘Done.’ Walker pressed the button.

Etienne heard the double ping on his phone, notifying him of a deposit to his account. He checked the balance. ￡50,000. All there.

‘I’m transferring the money now, Al. Pay it to the Dougalls and let them know that it’s done.

’ He hung up the phone and immediately accessed his bank app.

The transfer took seconds his end but he knew it might take longer to show up in Alex’s account.

He pulled on his jacket and headed to the front door.

‘They’re dangerous, Etienne,’ Walker said, following behind, still on his phone. ‘I’ll notify the police and I can scramble my fire crew on the substantial threat of fire.’ Etienne pulled on his coat, and zipped it purposefully.

Fox held the door for them, stopping Etienne as he went through with a firm grip on the shoulder.

‘If this was a game I was designing, I’d say the element of surprise would be your winning strategy.’

Etienne locked eyes with him and nodded his understanding, before sprinting in the direction of Tutto Mio.