Page 86 of The Surrender

Mine.

Chapter 20

After working out, I make my way to the car park around the back of the gym, smiling when I press the button on my fob, making my Jaguar beep.

“Is this your car, miss?”

I slow, seeing a man standing on the other side of my Jaguar. The attendant. “Yes, it’s mine.”

He appears regretful. “You might want to call the police.”

“Why?” My heart starts to slow, uncertainty plaguing me as I approach him. He’s looking at the side of my car, a massive frown on his face.

And my stomach falls to the concrete when I see what he’s looking at. “Oh my God,” I whisper, my eyes running up and down the paintwork.

“Looks like someone’s got it in for you.”

I stare at the words scratched into the doors of my brand-new car.

Gold-Digging Bitch

“Any idea who?”

“No.” My mind isn’t allowing me to consider that. The words stretch over the driver’s door, onto the wing, big bold letters that could be read from the other side of fucking town. I blink and look at the guy, dazed. But I can see what he’s thinking.Gold digger.

“Brand new too, huh?” He heads across the car park, pulling his mobile from his pocket. My eyes bat back and forth between him andmy car. Do I need to call the police? I don’t know. My brain finally clears for me to contemplate who’d do this.Gold-digging bitch?Naturally, Katherine springs to mind first. But she doesn’t even know I have a car to vandalise. No one knows I have a car.

I look up and around, seeing a camera mounted on a nearby pillar. “Can you check the footage?” I ask, going after him as he heads to a cabin on the far side of the car park.

“All recordings are stored at our main office, love. I’ve let my boss know, but it’s company policy to only release footage on police request.”

I recoil, chasing his heels. “But what if I don’t want to involve the police?”

He goes into the cabin and plonks himself on an old, threadbare swivel chair, hitching a brow. I can’t say I appreciate the conclusion he’s obviously drawing.I’m not a gold-digging bitch!“Then I guess you get your car fixed and get on with life.”

“And what about your company? This is supposed to be a secure car park.”

He points his pen to a sign on the pinboard, and I roll my eyes at the large print informing me that my car is left at my own risk. “No one can steal your car, miss, but we have a pedestrian gate.”

“Well, I didn’t consider that someone would purposely target me for a hate campaign today,” I grumble, turning on my trainers and leaving. I’m obviously getting nowhere. I’ve not even had my new car for forty-eight hours. I open the door, refusing to look at the handiwork someone’s made of my new pride and joy, and throw my bags on the passenger seat, slipping in.

The barrier rises when I pull up, and Jude’s ringing me before I’ve turned onto the main road. I feel a wretched lump grow in my throat, my face screwing up. I absolutely do not want to tell him about this, but it’s not like I can hide it. So I take a breath and answer his call, bracing myself.

The burning rage emanating from him as he stares at the scratched-in words is ripe, forcing me to keep my distance to avoid the heat. He looks fit to burst. “And they wouldn’t show you the CCTV footage?” he says to my car.

“Only the police.”

Jude reaches for his cheek and wipes roughly. An angry sweat? “Gold-digging bitch,” he breathes, and I flinch.

I am not asking him who he thinks did this. Do I even need to? I’ll leave this for him to deal with, because I’m truly fearful of what I’m capable of when it comes to Katherine Jenkins.

On a weighted sigh, Jude comes to me and cups my cheeks, dropping a lingering kiss onto my forehead. “Why don’t you head upstairs and take a shower. I’ll be up soon.”

“Why? Where are you going?”

“I’ve got a few calls to make.” He encourages me onwards, pulling his phone out and wandering off towards the rose gardens. I watch him go, his pace slow, one hand in the pocket of his jeans.

“A few calls to make,” I muse, taking backwards steps towards Arlington Hall. Did he have those calls to make before I arrived with my vandalised car? My cheeks balloon with my exasperated exhale as I turn and pass through the glass doors. Evelyn Harrison brings a needed smile to my face, and I take her in with new eyes, appreciating her more than ever.