Page 45

Zara didn’t know what she was going to do. But to see Tess trying to fight for the place with all she had… Zara couldn’t keep this from her. She deserved to know. Zara would have to take whatever was coming to her. She would take Tess’s rage. She would take a broken heart,

‘It’s the bank,’ Zara said, trying to keep her voice steady and failing. ‘They’re trying to make you default, Tess. You were right. They’re rigging the game. They do want you to fail.’

Zara waited to see what Tess would do. She wondered if she might break something.

But she just went back to her chair and sat down. ‘Say more,’ she said neutrally.

‘I saw an email,’ Zara told her. ‘It wasn’t meant for me, but I saw it. They’re doing this on purpose, Tess. They’re trying to push you into a corner so they can… They want to sell the place.’

‘Sell it?’ Tess repeated.

OK, one last terrible bit to say, and then it was done. ‘Yes. To… Deborah. She’s been talking to them. She’s offering well over market price to ensure she gets the place.’

Tess stared at her as if the words had physically struck her. Zara braced herself for the explosion, for the wave of anger and betrayal she felt sure was coming. She’d dreaded this moment, dreaded seeing Tess’s trust shattered.

But Tess didn’t cry or scream. She started laughing. A strange, breathy laugh that sent a shiver down Zara’s spine.

‘Of course,’ Tess said, shaking her head, still spluttering. ‘Of course it’s Deborah. Because who else would be that… calculating? That cruel?’

Zara’s heart sank. She didn’t know how to respond. ‘Tess…’

Tess kept laughing, but it was a hollow, desperate sound, like she was on the edge of hysteria. ‘I mean, it makes sense, doesn’t it? My sister was right. Capitalism, man.’

‘It’s not your fault,’ Zara said quickly. ‘You’ve done everything you could. More than anyone else would have.’

‘Yeah, well,’ Tess said, still laughing, ‘that’s not exactly comforting right now.’ She wiped at her eyes, even though there were no tears there. ‘They’re going to take it, aren’t they? After everything we’ve tried, they’re just going to…’

‘No,’ Zara said, and the word came out sharp, forceful. ‘Not if I have anything to do with it.’

Tess’s laughter stopped, and she looked at Zara in amused confusion. ‘What can we do?’ she asked. ‘They’re the bank, Zara. The Man. They have the money, I don’t. It’s the way it goes.’ She shook her head. “It’s Chinatown, Jake!”

she laughed. Clearly, the hysteria had not quite passed.

Zara took a breath, steeling herself. She knew now she couldn’t let this happen. She would do everything she could. All Tess had ever asked was to keep running this place, and she deserved to do that. Her love for the place was pure. Deborah and her boss were cynical bastards who thought they could take what they wanted because they had or controlled money.

‘We’ll find a way to make them stop,’ Zara vowed.

For a moment, Tess just stared at her. ‘You… you’re serious.’

‘Yes,’ Zara said, her voice firm. ‘This isn’t over, Tess. I have the email, for god’s sake.’

She got out her phone and went into her email to show Tess the proof. But as she scrolled through her inbox, it wasn’t there.

‘Wait…’ She searched for the email using keywords. Nothing. ‘Oh God,’ she whispered.

‘What is it?’

Zara looked up, her eyes wide and stricken. ‘It’s vanished. He got it pulled from the server. He knew I wouldn’t delete it.’

Tess shook her head. ‘Yeah, of course he did.’

Zara threw her phone at the floor with as much force as she could muster. ‘The fuckers!’

‘Hey! Easy!’ Tess said, oddly mild. She picked up the phone and handed it to Zara. ‘I just had this place redone. Don’t need you smashing it up. It’ll hurt the resale value.’

Zara looked at Tess, unable to accept how she was taking this. ‘You said this would happen. This exact thing. And now it’s happening.’

‘Yes,’ Tess conceded evenly.

‘And I said it wouldn’t. I said they were fair! I told you that you could trust them!’ Zara cried.

Tess shrugged. ‘Yeah.’

‘So!’ Zara cried.

Tess looked confused. ‘So…’

‘So, I did this!’ Zara exclaimed.

Tess looked suddenly quite angry. It must have been hitting her only now. Zara was glad. She deserved whatever blame needed to be heaped on her for her part in this.

‘The fuck you did!’ Tess cried.

Zara stared at her, open-mouthed. ‘What?’

‘This is not on you.’

‘Aren’t you worried I might have been in on this all along?’ Zara asked plainly.

Tess tutted, irritated. ‘If that was the case, you wouldn’t be telling me about the Empire’s evil scheme and offering to blow up the Death Star.’ Tess rolled her eyes. ‘Christ, I must be really upset to reference Star Wars. I fucking hate those films.’

Zara liked Star Wars. But it wasn’t the time to bring that up. ‘You’re not angry with me?’ she asked quietly.

Tess shook her head. ‘No. I knew this was a risk. You didn’t change my mind about that. I took the loan because it was my only option. I was going belly up anyway. It was the last thing to try. And I had to try it, or I couldn’t forgive myself.’

Zara let out the loudest sigh of sheer relief. ‘I thought you were going to end things between us.’

Tess looked stunned. ‘Why would I do that?’

‘Because I was instrumental in taking the only thing you care about from you,’ Zara explained.

‘I care about you!’ Tess exclaimed. She slapped her hand over her mouth instantly, as though she could stuff the words back in.

Zara dropped her phone for the second time. ‘You do?’