Page 86 of Outlier

So I swallowed, squared my shoulders, and stood my ground. I thought back to the techniques Abdul had taught me, taking deep, slow breaths in through my nose and out through my mouth.

“M-Margot,” I started to say, then broke off when I realised how shaky my voice sounded. I swallowed and cleared my throat before I spoke again. “I’ve just realised that I have to be back in London to prepare for the meeting tomorrow.”

“Vicky, baby, please.” I could hear Mike’s voice now. He sounded panicked, desperate almost. But his guilt simply didn’t interest me. He’d seen an opportunity, and he’d taken it. God knows, I’d been stalking him for long enough—he probably thought he could kill two birds with one stone: get paid and eventually get me out of his life permanently. “You don’t understand. It was never about the money. I didn’t even know that Margot?—”

“What wasn’t about the goddamn money?” Ollie clipped as he strode into the house. I closed my eyes, my humiliation now complete. “What the fuck are you talking about, Mayweather?”

“This is all a misunderstanding,” cried Margot, her face paling, “I invested in Mike’s company, and well… I may have encouraged Mike to?—”

“Fucking hell, Mum,” snapped Ollie, completely furious now. “What on earth have you done now?”

“I’m with Vicky because I want to be with her,” said Mike to Ollie before turning back to me. “I’m with you because I want to be, sweetheart. Please. I love you. Please, Vicky, youhaveto believe me.”

I wanted to believe him, I really, really did. But too many negative voices lived in my head:

Ice princess.

Freak.

Empty inside.

Why can’t you just be normal?

Why do you ruin everything?

Are you her carer or something?

Of course, he’d want to be paid. Carers were paid, lovers were not.

“I would have given you the money,” I whispered. “If you’d have asked, I would have given you anything.”

“You piece of shit,” Ollie roared as he launched himself at Mike, taking them both down to the floor.

“What the fuck is going on?” shouted Felix as he ran in through the door, followed by Lucy, Lottie, Hayley and Florrie.

I edged away as Felix started trying to pull Ollie off Mike, who didn’t seem to be punching back. Years of practice, of trying to be invisible in this house finally paid off as I darted into the space behind the pantry and through a corridor that I knew led outside to the driveway.

Now what? My car and driver were in London.

Then a spray of gravel showered my feet, and I took a startled step back. I blinked at Ollie’s Aston Martin in front of me. The window went down, and Claire looked up at me from the driver’s seat, sunglasses and a determined expression on her face.

“Let’s getthe fuckout of here.”

Chapter 28

All I’ve ever wanted

Mike

“Look, mate,”said Felix as he strode down the corridor towards me. “You need to fuck off now, understand me?”

I tried to look beyond him at the conference room where I’d glimpsed Vicky sitting between a concerned-looking Lottie and Tabitha. When I’d caught Lottie’s eye, she’d frowned at me and gave a sharp head shake. Then, when Felix had seen me, he’d taken action.

“I need to see her,” I said. “You don’t understand. I can’t?—”

“This is her place of business, you dickhead. She’s busy.”

“At least tell me if she’s okay. I’m driving myself crazy here. She had that other meeting with the police, but they wouldn’t let me in the station when I went. She won’t return my calls. I don’t think she even reads my messages.”