Page 67 of Going Solo (The Brent Boys #2)
Chapter Thirty-Nine
D espite Fiona’s explicit instructions not to leave the house, we left the house. I tried to talk Cole out of it, but he wasn’t having it. When he told Mitch where we were going, Mitch tried to talk him out of it. No luck. And full credit to him, because I wouldn’t say no to Mitch for love nor money nor access to Shawn Mendes’s private hard drive. Mitch was terrifying. But Cole paid his wages. So, that’s how we found ourselves parked up opposite Maxime’s in a big black SUV. Maxime’s was a ritzy members’ club for creative types that took up two floors of a renovated Victorian hospital on a quiet back street on the Saint Giles side of Soho.
“There she is,” Cole said, throwing open the door and bounding across the street to confront Felicity Quant.
Felicity wore a beaded, champagne-coloured minidress that glittered in the streetlights. Her oversized sunglasses were staked through her severe bob. A small handbag hung from one skinny arm, while the other skinny arm flew up in the air in search of a black cab. As Cole reached her, she looked startled.
Mitch opened his door. “Stay in the car.”
Thanks to the SUV’s soundproofing, I missed the first volley of exchanges. But I didn’t miss the look on Felicity’s face. Her initial shock dissipated, and she seemed to grow in height and confidence—like a cobra rising in warning above a threat. As I lowered the electric window, I could hear Cole shouting.
“Why are you doing this to me?”
Felicity maintained her poise. “Have you been drinking again, Cole? Are you high? Why must you throw your life away like this?”
Cole stepped forward, fists at his side, and I was horrified by the thought that he might be violent. That wasn’t the Cole I knew, but this woman had been his captor and torturer for a decade—who knew what that might drive him to? Mitch stepped in, putting a hand on Cole’s chest. Felicity looked at him like she’d only now noticed him.
“Michelle?” she said. “Oh my God, I hardly recognised you. Those in?—”
“Don’t you dare use his dead name!” Cole yelled, arms flailing wildly.
I certainly hadn’t seen that coming.
“I suggest you calm down, Cole,” Felicity said. “You’re embarrassing yourself with this childish display.” She was looking around distractedly—possibly searching for that cab, maybe a police officer, perhaps even her own security detail. Why didn’t she have one?
“I know you’re behind Jasper’s book,” Cole spat.
Felicity shook her head. “Is that what this is about? If your ex wants to tell the world you’re a terrible shag, that’s up to him. Nothing to do with me.”
“Liar!”
“Be careful, Cole,” she said, looking dead at him. “A word like that has consequences.”
“You vindictive bitch.”
“Ah, name-calling. I think this conversation is done, don’t you?”
Felicity turned to look up the street, raising her arm again. A black cab flashed its lights. But Cole wasn’t finished.
“You’ve made your money off me, why can’t you leave me in peace?”
She swung around to face him. “I think you’ll find that you made your money off me . If it weren’t for me, you’d be up to your armpits in cow shit right now. A little gratitude wouldn’t go amiss.”
“Gratitude?” Cole’s arms were thrashing. “After everything you’ve put me through? After everything you put Toby through?” He swung an arm around and pointed to me sitting in the car. The gorgon’s eyes met mine, and my body turned to stone. The leaden weight started in my stomach and radiated out until I was frozen solid, unable to move. Felicity slowly turned her gaze back towards Cole, a smile cracking across her face.
“Marriage material?” She laughed, almost uncontrollably. “This is too much! You’re even more tragic than I thought.” She looked over at me again. “The pair of you.”
“Toby is the best thing that ever happened to me,” Cole said. “And you’ve tried to ruin it twice.”
“Twice?” Felicity said—and her smile grew even wider. The black cab rolled up to the kerb, blocking my view. When it was gone, so was she. Cole stood there, under the brightly lit awning of Maxime’s, looking shattered. Fiona was going to kill him—and she was the least of our worries.