Page 34 of Private Lives

Carla never visited him. When their son Jonas came to stay, Matthew picked him up and dropped him off at the beautiful Notting Hill home that Carla shared with her second husband. They had a cordial but remote relationship, which was the way he liked it, because he wasn’t sure if he could ever forgive her for what she had done.

There was a rap on the door and Matt slipped Erica’s card back into his pocket before he opened it.

‘Hi, Matt,’ Carla said softly. ‘How are you?’

She looked beautiful and more casual than usual, in a white summer dress, her honey-blond hair pulled back into a simple ponytail. From the moment he had first seen her in a crowded bar in Fulham, she’d always had the power to floor him with her beauty.

‘You heard about Larry?’

He’d tried to contact her about Larry’s heart attack the day it had happened. After all, Larry was Jonas’s grandfather, and although the two of them had only met a handful of times, Matt had decided to let his ex-wife know. He had got through to Carla’s voicemail and she had yet to call him back about it. Matt could only suppose it was the purpose of her visit.

‘How is he?’ she said briskly.

‘He leaves hospital today, although he’s got to watch out for another attack.’

‘I was sorry to hear about it.’

Matthew looked at her carefully. Larry’s illness was clearly not the reason she was here. As he scanned her face, he noticed that her eyes were rimmed pink. He had a stab of panic about his son.

‘Carla, what’s wrong? Where’s Jonas?’

‘Don’t worry. Jonas is fine. Although I’ve been better.’

She wrapped her thin, sinewy arms around her body. She had slimmed down since they had lived together and she was groomed and styled immaculately. The perfect little millionaire’s wife, he thought, immediately regretting the childishness. Then again, he knew he was still bitter. The night he had found out about Carla’s affair still felt like yesterday. He remembered waving her off on a girls’ night out. He remembered how she had forgotten her mobile and how he had seen it chirping on the breakfast bar, an insistent text message waiting to be answered. So he’d opened the message just to stop the noise. My bed is still warm from you, when can you get away again? Dxx

And just like that, his marriage, the stable family life he had always craved, was over.

‘Can I get you anything?’ he asked, walking over to the kitchen. ‘Drink?’

‘Coffee. One of your specials.’

He’d had so little contact with Carla’s life in the last few years, but still there was this code between them. He guessed four years of marriage did that to you.

He brewed up a mug using the shiny chrome single-guy coffee machine and took it through to the living room. Carla was standing by his bookcase, looking at a framed photograph of her and Jonas lying in the sand cracking up with laughter. He knew it wasn’t the done thing to keep photos of your ex-wife this long after the divorce, but well, it was a great picture, especially of Jonas. He’d been so excited to be on holiday.

She looked around at him and he could see that her eyes were full of tears. ‘We look so happy there,’ she managed, before her face crumpled and she was sobbing. He walked over and put an awkward arm around her shoulders.

‘What’s up?’ he said gently. ‘What is it?’

‘David’s left me.’ Her words were almost inaudible among the sobs. ‘He’s left me.’

My bed is still warm from you, when can you get away again? Dxx

David. A Notting Hill banker and a former client who’d invited Matt and Carla to his Christmas party after his divorce had been finalised. Six months later, Matt had found out that David and Carla had been having an affair from that very night. When he’d finally confronted her, Carla was defiant, telling Matthew that for all his desire to escape his father’s influence, he had turned into him, devoting more time to his work than his family.

‘Jonas barely knows you,’ she had said with a brutality that was designed to wound.

She’d left him that night and moved straight into David’s house, taking Jonas with her. The next day she’d delivered the coup de grâce by serving divorce papers on him, citing his ‘unreasonable behaviour’.

For three years Matthew had hated D

avid, funnelling all his anger and hurt on to the man who had taken his family away. He’d tried to step away from it, but it was always there in the back of his mind, colouring everything he did. Carla and Jonas were the real reason he had taken the job at Donovan Pierce. It was an opportunity to make some real money; money that would bring him back his pride, money that would pay for the best schools and holidays for Jonas. His son would want for nothing and he would pay for it. He’d hated David giving his family the security and comfort his ex-wife had always wanted. Donovan Pierce was the chance to level the playing field, make him David’s equal.

Except David had gone. Matthew took a deep breath. How long he had wanted to hear those words. The banker with the smart house, the fast car, the fortune, the man who had turned Carla’s head and taken his son. But somehow, now it had come, the victory felt hollow.

‘Have you got a tissue?’ sniffed Carla.

He gave her a piece of kitchen roll.