CHAPTER 6

 

Kian packed back and forth across the patio, his mobile phone clamped to his ear.  “What the fuck have you done?” he grunted at Sinead.

  He’d woken up this morning to the sound of his mobile vibrating on the bedside table.  Kian had reluctantly disentangled himself from Cate, settling her on her right side so she wasn’t lying on her bruised thigh.  He couldn’t believe he’d been so reckless last night – he should have known that the plaster at the edge of the swimming pool was rough and cutting into her soft skin.  If he hadn’t been so intent on staking his claim on her body, he would have realised her thigh was slamming into the side of the swimming pool.  He was so riddled with guilt; he’d selfishly believed that if he could embed himself deeply enough inside Cate then maybe she wouldn’t leave him.

  After smoothing the covers over his wife’s sleeping body, he picked up his phone and looked at the screen.  It was an unknown number; his stomach plummeted.

  Sensing that he needed to be away from the villa when he took the call, he went downstairs and walked to the far end of the patio.

  “Finally,” Jenna said, when he answered the phone.  Hearing her voice, he had a sudden urge to throw his phone into the steep valley below.

  “Why are you calling me?” he asked coldly.

  “Your sister’s fucked everything up and you need to fix it.”  Jenna explained that she’d been fired from Cut and she suspected that Sinead was behind it.

  “Let me talk to her and I’ll call you back,” Kian said.

  “You’d better,” Jenna replied before hanging up.

  “I didn’t do anything,” Sinead protested when he called her.  “If the skank had kept her mouth shut, she’d still have her job at Cut.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Sinead explained that she’d been at Cut; she’d needed a new bikini for her holiday in Dubai with her fiancé, Fabrizio.  Fabrizio Corelli was one of Kian’s team-mates at Manchester Rovers.

  “Jenna kept pestering me, asking if she thought Cate would leave you if she found out what you’d done.  I kept quiet because I didn’t want to stir things up but then that night, I got a call from Ciel – she’s the owner of Cut.  She must have overhead Jenna because she wanted to know if it was true?”

  “I hope you told her to fuck off.”

  “I wasn’t going to lie to her; she’s got her business to think about.  Do you know how many WAGs shop at Cut?  If any of them found out that she employed skanky, little home wreckers with big mouths, they’d never go back.  I like Ciel.”

  “Yeah well because of your good friend, Ciel, Jenna’s threatening to go to the papers unless I double what she used to make at Cut each month.”

  Sinead sighed.  “Don’t you dare blame me or Ciel for this, the only person responsible for this mess is you.  If you hadn’t been with Jenna in the 1st place…”

  Kian knew she was right but he didn’t want to hear it so he switched his phone off.

  As he walked back inside the villa, he almost bumped into Cate.

  “Is everything OK,” she asked softly.  He couldn’t look at her, couldn’t see the concern pooling in those beautiful black eyes so he’d made up an excuse about going for a run just so he could get out of the villa.  He couldn’t be around her right now; the fucking guilt was gnawing away at him.  He didn’t deserve her concern; he didn’t deserve any part of her.

  He picked up his phone and made one more call, “Ben, I need your help.”

 

When her phone rang, Cate rushed to answer it.  For the last three days, Kian had been gone before she woke up and hadn’t come home until long after she’d gone to sleep.  She only knew he’d been back to the villa because every morning she found the clothes he must have worn the day before stuffed in his suitcase.  She picked up yesterday’s t-shirt and it stank of booze.

  “Hey, sis,” It was her older sister, Remy.  Villa Castillo belonged to her husband, Vincenzo’s family.  Remy had brought their two sons, Rocco and Luca, to visit their great-aunt Lucia and she wanted to invite them for a meal.  “The food will be amazing,” Remy gushed.

  Cate looked at Lola, who was sat forlornly at the side of the swimming pool.  She was still waiting for Kian to teach her how to swim; Cate had offered countless times but Lola wanted her Daddy.  She loved spending time with her cousins though; Cate crossed her fingers that it would put a smile on her face, she hated seeing her little girl look so sad.  “We’d love to,” Cate decided.  She would make up an excuse later for why Kian wasn’t there.

  Kian still hadn’t come home when it was time to leave for Lucia’s so Cate left a note for him on the kitchen table.  He hadn’t taken the rental car with him wherever he’d gone so at least Cate didn’t have to worry about him driving drunk. 

  “Are you excited to see your cousins?” she asked Lola.

  “I guess,” Lola said, cuddling Max close to her chest.  “Mummy, where’s Daddy?”

  “He’s…” Cate didn’t know how to answer that.  “He’s doing some extra training so he’ll be ready when the new season starts.”

  “He promised he was going to teach me how to swim,” Lola said.  “Did I do something bad?”

  “No, of course not,” Cate blinked away tears.  At that moment, she could have killed Kian.  “Tomorrow, if Daddy has to do more training, I’ll teach you how to swim.”

  “But,” Lola’s bottom lip began to tremble, “I wanted Daddy to teach me.”

  “I know, sweetheart.  How about tomorrow morning, we get up early and go into town?  We can have breakfast at the café on the front with the big umbrellas and watch the tourist boats.”

  “Can I have ice cream for breakfast?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Whatever flavour I want?”

  “Whatever flavour you want,” Cate grinned.  “When we come back, we’ll spend the rest of the day in the pool.  We’ll have so much fun, I promise.”

  “Maybe when we get back, Daddy will be home?” Lola said quietly.

  They had a lovely evening with Lucia, Remy and the boys.  Remy seemed to accept Cate’s excuse for why Kian wasn’t there and Lola loved tearing around the barn with her cousins. 

  “The poor thing’s worn out,” Lucia smiled, stroking Lola’s cheek.  She’d fallen asleep on Cate’s lap after dinner.

  “Now you know how I feel,” Remy watched her two sons in the courtyard, still chasing the poor hens.

  “Vincenzo was just like that at their age,” Lucia said, “it’s good that they’ve got each other.”

  Cate could feel her own eyes drooping, “I’d better get this one home.”

  She stood up, shifting Lola so that her head was on Cate’s shoulder.  “Thank you so much for having us.  The food was amazing, I wish I could cook even half as well.”

  Lucia flushed with pride, “like everything, it takes time.  It’s a shame Kian couldn’t be here.”

  “I’ll show you out,” Remy volunteered.  As they walked across to where Cate’s car was parked, her skirt snagged on a gate post.  “Cate?” Remy gasped in shock, “what the hell’s that?”  Her skirt had hitched up, revealing the large blue-black bruise on her thigh.

  “It’s fine,” Cate struggled to smooth down her skirt.  She didn’t want to jostle Lola too much.

  “It’s not fine,” Remy seethed.  “I’ll kill him.  Is that why he’s not here tonight?”

  She stood in front of the car door and folded her arms across her chest, “you’re not going back to him.”

  “He didn’t hit me,” Cate protested.  When Remy still wouldn’t budge, Cate pleaded, “at least let me put Lola down?”

  Cate settled Lola down on the backseat and quietly closed the door.  “I don’t want you going back there,” Remy insisted.

  Cate didn’t want to go back to the villa either but not for the reasons Remy thought.  She sat down on the bonnet of the car.  “It’s really not what you think.  Kian would never ever hurt me physically.”

  “But he hurts you in other ways?” Remy asked softly. 

  “He’s just disappointed about what happened at the World Cup, that’s all.”

  “Stay here tonight,” Remy gave Cate a hug.  “There’s plenty of room.”

  Even though she was sorely tempted, all she had to look forward to back at the villa was a cold, empty bed, she shook her head.  “I can’t.” 

  Remy didn’t press her any further.  “Will you text me when you get back?  I’m worried about you, sis.”

  When she got back to the villa, Cate noticed that the lights were on in the kitchen.  She took Lola upstairs and put her to bed, fortunately she didn’t wake up.  She texted Remy that she was back safely before she went downstairs to confront Kian.  The back door was locked so he wasn’t outside and he wasn’t in the kitchen so she switched off the lights.  She found him in the lounge, sprawled across the sofa.  He was fast asleep. 

  Desperate to be near him, Cate slipped off her shoes and lay down beside him on the sofa.  Even though he was still asleep, Kian wrapped his arm around her waist, his hand heavy on her hipbone, pulling her flush against his body.  They fitted together so perfectly.  Cate savoured all the little things she’d missed over the past few nights; the dark hairs on his calves which tickled her skin, the scent of his body wash, the comforting thump-thump of his heartbeat against her cheek. 

  When Cate woke up the next morning, he was gone again. 

  “Does Max not want some ice cream?” Cate asked as she watched Lola put her cuddly toy on the bottom step.

  “He’s going to wait here in case Daddy comes home,” Lola explained.

  Cate had a huge lump in the back of her throat, “we’ll bring him something back then.”

  When they got back to the villa, Lola jumped out of the car and raced ahead.  As she unlocked the front door, Cate braced herself for Lola’s disappointment.  “Where’s Max?”

  Cate put the shopping bags down and followed her daughter to the bottom of the stairs.  The cuddly toy had gone.  “Daddy must be home,” Lola cried, running up the stairs.  “Daddy?”

  Cate knew he wasn’t there; she’d always been able to feel him when he was close by.  She went back and picked up the shopping bags and was about to take them upstairs to the kitchen.  “Daddy’s not here,” Lola frowned.  “Where’s Max?”

  “Let me put these away and then we’ll find him.  Perhaps he decided to go swimming, it’s such a hot day?”

  “There he is,” Lola found him in the corner of the entrance hall, “why is he all dusty?”

  When they got upstairs to the kitchen, Cate put the shopping bags down on the table and picked up Max.  “I think he wanted to play hide and seek and he got all dusty looking for the best hiding place.”  She cleaned him up and handed him back to Lola.

  “Bad Max,” Lola admonished, “you were supposed to be keeping watch for Daddy to come home.”

  “Why don’t we put Max here?” Cate said, sitting him on the top of the fridge.  “While we’re outside in the pool, he can think about what he’s done.”

  “I don’t want to go in the pool,” Lola frowned.  “I want my Daddy.”

  “Come on,” Cate took her by the hand and led her upstairs.  She found Lola’s new swimming costume and helped her put it on.

  Lola was still being stubborn when they went outside, “No, I’m not going in the pool.”

  “OK,” Cate shrugged, “I’m going in and I’ve got all these lovely new toys to play with.  I’m going to have so much fun.”

  Lola stood at the top of the steps near Cate.  “Daddy was going to teach me how to swim, he promised.”

  “I know sweetheart,” Cate said, reaching out her arms.  “But just think how proud Daddy will be when you show him how good you are at swimming?”

  Lola took to swimming so easily.  Cate was in awe of her daughter, of her fearlessness.  “Mummy,” Lola said later that evening, when they were having dinner outside on the patio.  “Will you wake me up really early tomorrow so we can go swimming again?”

  Cate laughed, “how early?”  Lola loved her sleep.

  “Really, really early,” Lola giggled.  “I love it.”

  When Kian came back that night, it was dark.  Lola was already asleep and Cate was outside, picking up the pool toys.  “Hey,” Kian said awkwardly.  “Do you want a hand?”

  Cate thought about poor Max, still sat on top of the fridge.  Kian must have been in such a rush to get out of the villa before Cate and Lola came back that he’d kicked Max clear across the entrance hall.

  “Cate, please don’t be mad at me.”

  Cate’s laughter was hollow.  “How can I be anything else?  The only time I’ve seen you in the last three days was when I found you passed out drunk on the sofa.”

  She took a step towards him.  “Where have you been?  Have you been drinking again?” 

  Kian took a step back, “It was the Final today.  I went to a bar and had a few drinks, it’s no big deal.”

  “No big deal?” Cate took another step forward.  “You’ve been out all day. I didn’t know where you were.”

  “Cate…”  Kian was teetering on the edge of the swimming pool.  He reached out to Cate.

  “No, don’t touch me,” Cate shoved at his chest, sending him flying backwards into the pool.

  “What the…?” Kian spluttered.

  “You’re giving me whiplash,” Cate yelled.  “One minute you’re telling me you want to quit playing for England so you can spend more time with me and Lo and then you spend the whole day getting drunk and watching the World Cup Final.  You’re supposed to be on holiday with your family.  You promised your daughter that you’d teach her how to swim.”

  “Kian,” Cate cried, as he grabbed the backs of her knees, pulling her into the water with him.

  “I couldn’t talk with you up there and me in here.”

  “And you couldn’t have just climbed out?” Cate coughed.  She started to swim across to the steps leading out of the pool.

  Kian grabbed her around the waist, holding her back against his chest.  “Let me go,” Cate protested.

  “I can’t,” Kian said, holding tight.  “I’m sorry.  I’ll do it tomorrow.”

  Cate struggled in his arms until she could turn and face him.  “Don’t bother.  Today, while you were in a bar somewhere getting drunk and watching football, I spent the day teaching our daughter how to swim and you know what, you missed out.  Our daughter is amazing.”

  “I know,” Kian said, regret etched across his face.  “I know.”

  “Then why weren’t you here?” Cate asked.  The anger had seeped out, leaving her feeling deflated.  “Please tell me what happened at the World Cup?”

  Kian slid his hand in Cate’s hair, holding the back of her head, “I need to kiss you.”

  “No,” Cate protested, struggling against his firm grip.  “I need you to talk to me.”

  “You know,” Kian said softly, brushing his lips against hers.  “I’m no good with words.”

  “This time, I need words,” Cate was determined not to give in.  She kept her mouth clamped shut.  Kian expertly licked and nibbled at her soft, pink lips.  Cate cursed that he knew her so well.  She tried hard to ignore the fluttering in her stomach.  “Give in to me.”

  Cate shook her head as much as he would allow.

  Kian kissed along her jawline to her ear, “we need this.”  He upped the ante, kissing the base of her throat, which made her instantly wet.

  Cate felt the thick steel of his erection against her thigh.  She was perilously close to surrendering.  It would be so easy to try and fix their problems with sex.

  Cate knew she needed to get away but she couldn’t, not with Kian holding her like this.  She parted her legs, sliding the thigh which wasn’t bruised up between his legs.  It looked like she wanted the friction of his hard, jeans-clad thigh between her legs.  Cate rubbed her breasts against his t-shirt; the cold water had made her nipples bullet-hard.  Kian clenched his jaw; his hand loosened on the back of her head.

  She brought her leg up higher, allowing herself the feel of his thigh between her legs for a brief moment.  Kian’s legs were parted and he wasn’t looking, his lips were licking the erogenous zones on her neck.  Cate brought her leg down and then quickly back up again, kneeing him squarely in the balls.

  Howling in pain, he let go of Cate and she made her escape, quickly swimming across to the side of the pool.

  “Why the fuck did you do that?” Kian groaned, covering his manhood.

  “I’m not just a blow-up doll you can use and discard.  I want you to talk to me.”

  Kian followed her upstairs where she stowed away the pool toys.  “I love you, Cate.”  She waited to feel the warmth of his body pressed against hers, for him to make a move even with his sore balls.  Instead, he walked into the kitchen and opened the cupboard under the sink.

  His hand was still clutching his balls and Cate felt a teensy bit of regret, “do they really hurt?”

  “So fucking much,” Kian groaned.  “I’m going to have to start wearing one of those boxes around you.”

  “Why don’t you sit down and I’ll find something,” Cate offered.  She retrieved some ice from the freezer and wrapped it in a cloth.  “You’re going to need to remove your hands,” she smiled as she knelt between his legs.

  “I’ll do it,” Kian said, taking the ice from her hands.  “Seeing you like that isn’t helping.”

  Cate looked down; her nipples were still hard and poking through her white sundress.  “Sorry,” she quickly folded her arms across her chest.

  “Can I touch you?” Kian asked.  He reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.  “I’m so sorry if you thought I used you like one of those dolls.”

  “I just wish you’d talk to me,” Cate rested her head on his knee.  “I miss you.”

  Cate noticed a bulge in his side pocket, “what’s that?”

  Kian pulled out a white tube, “it’s for you, for your… bruise.”  He gestured to Cate’s thigh.

  “You know if you were like this all the time, I wouldn’t have kneed you in the… you know.”

  Kian smiled, “they’re balls, Cate.”

  The next morning when Cate woke up, Kian was still wrapped around her.  “Morning,” he said sleepily, lifting his head up off the pillow for a moment.

  “Morning,” Cate smiled, snuggling back against him.

  “Ow,” he yelped as her butt made contact with his groin.

  “Sorry,” Cate turned over so she was facing him.  “I completely forgot.  Are they still really sore?”

  “This doesn’t help,” Kian groaned, looking down at his morning wood.  “Maybe you should kiss them better.”

  “Maybe I will…” Cate teased, trailing her hand down the front of his t-shirt.  “If you tell me why you’ve been missing for the last couple of days?”

  “Ugh,” Kian fell back and covered his face with his arms, “does it really matter?  I’m here now.”

  “But for how long?” Cate asked.

  Before Kian could answer, Lola came running into the bedroom.  “Mummy, can we go... Daddy, you’re here?”  She skidded to a halt at the side of the bed.

  “I am,” Kian quickly sat up and shoved a pillow over his groin.  “Mummy said she taught you how to swim yesterday.”

  Lola beamed, “she did.  I’m really good, aren’t I, Mummy?”

  “After breakfast, you’ll have to show me,” Kian said.  Lola’s eyes lit up, “you’re not going out today?”

  Kian shook his head.  He reached for Cate’s hand and gave it a squeeze, “I’ll be here.”

  “Come on,” Cate said to Lo.  “Let’s get started on breakfast while Daddy gets dressed.  We need to get Max down from the naughty shelf.”

  Kian raised his eyebrows, “what did that furry little rascal do now?”

  When Lola wouldn’t answer, Cate stepped in, “it’s a long story, I’ll tell you later.  Come on, little one.”

  When they got to the doorway, Lola stopped and turned back, “you’re definitely not going out today?”

  “I promise, sweetheart,” Kian said softly.  “I’m sorry I haven’t been around much these last few days.”

  Lola ran back and threw herself at Kian, “Daddy, please don’t go away again, I missed you too much.”