Night edges into dawn, and still Bryce and I are up waiting for more news. It has been hours since Max last called, and I am getting increasingly panicked. Sleep evades us both.

“What if he’s killed her, Bryce?”

“Shh, don’t think like that,” he says, holding me close. We are sitting on the sofa in the living room watching the clock. I stare at his mobile phone, willing it to ring. Then it does.

Bryce snatches it up. His eyebrows pull together as he answers in single syllables.

He flicks off the mobile. “They’ve found Nisha.”

“Is she okay? Are they bringing her home?” I ask, the words coming out in a rush.

“She’s at Chelsea and Westminster hospital…”

“What has the bastard done to her?” I say, standing.

“She’s being checked out by a doctor. I could hear her in the background cursing like a fishwife. From what I can gather, Nisha gave her captors as good as she got. They think she’ll be fine to come back home in a couple of hours.”

“What about Smithy?”

“According to Cal, he got away. Saw the guys coming and did a runner. The police are on to him now.”

“Where did they find her?”

“Clifford tracked his mobile back to a warehouse in Brixton. She was being kept there by some of Smithy’s men. Max and Hudson got into a scuffle with them. Max was slashed across his bicep with a knife.”

“What?!”

“He’s okay, they’re sorting him out now. He needed a few stitches.”

“A few? How many is a few?”

“Fifty or so…”

“Fifty? I want to see them. Now,” I say, striding towards the stairs. Bryce catches up with me.

“Louisa, they’ll be sent home in a few hours. Clifford has already got the police in to take statements. Once there, it’s unlikely you’ll get a chance to speak with them for long.”

“But…” I can feel my body begin to shake with relief. Adrenaline courses through me. “Thank God she’s okay.” Suddenly I find that my legs seem incapable of holding up my weight.

“Hey, come sit,” Bryce says, capturing my arm and steering me back towards the sofa. “I’m going to grab you some tea and toast. You need to eat and sleep, you’re exhausted.” He leaves me for a moment to fix me some breakfast. I watch him as he moves around the kitchen. He looks exhausted too. I remember how I spoke to him last night and I feel a surge of guilt. None of this was his fault, neither was it Max or Hudson’s.

“Here we go,” he says, placing a tray on the coffee table in front of us.

I pick up a cup of tea and take a sip. My stomach grumbles as the liquid hits my stomach.

“Who’s Clifford?” In all the worry, I’d forgotten to ask.

“He heads up our security detail. Calum is part of their team.”

“Security detail? Why do you need a team of security?”

Bryce sighs. “Freed Corp is a multi-million-pound company, Louisa. This isn’t the first time we’ve been targeted by criminals.” Bryce looks at me, as though he’s trying to weigh up his options. “There’s something you should know.”

My stomach does a little summersault at the possibility I am not going to like what he’s about to tell me, but I follow him back to the sofa and take a seat anyway.

“A few years back, when the company really took off we hooked up with a business man called Luke Amory. He was a great guy who gave us some sound business advice. He introduced us to a gentleman called Santiago Garcia who owned some real estate in Columbia. Luke thought it would be a good idea that we start broadening our horizons and look for places to build our luxury holiday apartments abroad. Max and I weren’t keen. I didn’t know much about Santiago, but Hudson always liked taking risks and at the time he was seeing Luke’s daughter Beth, so his business sense was skewed by his feelings for her.”

“Feelings? Hudson told me he’d never…” I begin.

“Aside from you, Beth was the first woman who I think Hudson could have eventually opened up to. Except,” Hudson stalls, pressing his fingers against his eyes.

“Except what?”

“Except the business deal didn’t go according to plan. Luke, Hudson and Beth travelled to Columbia to meet with Santiago. Beth was just there for the holiday while Luke and Hudson finalised the deal. While they were out there, Luke found out Santiago had some dodgy businesses on the side, that he wasn’t the person he presented himself to be.”

“What business?”

“Drugs, cocaine mainly. He was, still is no doubt, one of the most powerful drug lords of all Columbia.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“When Luke pulled out of the deal, things got nasty, quickly. Santiago Garcia took it upon himself to punish Luke by sending his minions to attack Beth. She was beaten badly, she spent a month in hospital out there. Hudson stayed with her the whole time. He flew her home when they knew she would be strong enough to survive the flight. During that time Luke had a massive heart attack and died. It was a fucking mess, Louisa. Since then, we’ve got our own security detail. Hudson still has eyes on Santiago. I worry that he’ll eventually try to take revenge.”

“What happened to Beth?”

Bryce doesn’t answer for a moment, he seems to be gathering the courage to speak. He looks at me directly, his hazel eyes haunted. “Beth is in a nursing home. She’s paralysed from the neck down. She also suffers with severe post-traumatic stress and barely talks. We pay for around-the-clock care for her. Hudson visits her once a month. He would go more often but I don’t think he can take the guilt. Besides, she barely knows he’s there anyway. It’s fucked up.” Bryce rests his head in his hands.

Placing my mug of tea back on the table, I scoot closer to him and put my arm around his broad shoulders. “I’m sorry.” I don’t know what else to say. Bryce seems as affected by this tragedy as much as Hudson must be. “You’re fond of Beth too?” I ask gently.

He lifts his head. “We all are. She was a nice person. You would have liked her, but the Beth we all knew isn’t around anymore. She checked out the night those bastards almost killed her.” Bryce allows me to pull him close, his arm snaking around my back.

“I didn’t mean to put Nisha in harm’s way. I honestly thought she’d be okay. The possibility that she could’ve ended up like Beth… I would never have forgiven myself.”

“I know that. But no more secrets, okay? If we’re going to do this, be together, all of us, then there mustn’t be any secrets. Agreed?”

“Yes, darling. You know I’ll do anything to make you happy,” Bryce says, bringing his face close to mine. “I meant everything I said last night.”

“I believe you,” I say, and I do.

* * *

We must have fallen asleep on the sofa, because the sound of the front door slamming and footsteps climbing the stairs wakes us both up. I untangle myself from Bryce’s warm arms and am immediately on my feet. The wall clock says it’s two in the afternoon. They’ve been gone a lot longer than I expected.

Hudson is the first to step onto the floor. He looks utterly exhausted and there is a huge purple bruise blooming around his right eye.

“Damn it, Hud, that’s one shiner you’ve got there,” Bryce says.

“Don’t worry, the guy who gave it to me is worse off.”

“Where’s Nisha?” I say, rushing forward. I want to hug him, but not before I see Nisha first. I catch Hudson’s eye and give him an apologetic look.

“It’s okay,” he says, shaking his head.

“I’m coming, Lou,” Nisha says, climbing the stairs. Max and Calum are following behind her. I can’t see any obvious marks on her face, although she is holding herself awkwardly, so I know she’s in pain. The moment our eyes meet, whatever strength she’s holding on to dissolves and tears flood down her face. Now it’s my turn to be strong as she throws her arms around me. We hold onto each other for a long time. Over her shoulder, I can see Max looking deathly pale and Calum, utterly defeated.

“I’m so sorry, Nish, this is all my fault,” I whisper into her hair. I can feel the wet of her tears against my neck. “Come on, let me take you to your room.” We move past Calum; he steps forward as though to speak with Nisha, but he hesitates for too long and we pass him by. I look over my shoulder at the four men watching us walk away. “I’m going to stay with Nish for a while, okay. I’ll come see you as soon as I can,” I say directly to Max. He gives me a tight smile.

“Don’t sweat it, Icy. We’ll all be here waiting.”

Closing the door gently behind us, I manoeuvre Nisha to her bed. She is shaking like a leaf.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask gently.

Nish wipes away her tears on the back of her top. In fact, I realise it’s Calum’s jumper she’s wearing. He must have given it to her at the hospital or something.

“No, I don’t. I just want to sleep,” Nisha says, her voice quiet.

“Do you want me to stay?”

“Please. But I want to have a bath first.” She moves to get up, but I rest my hand on her arm.

“I’ll do it.”

“Thanks,” she mumbles.

I head into her en suite, turn the taps on and pour in some bubble bath, leaving the water to run. When I step back into the room I am shocked by the bruises covering Nisha’s back.

“Nisha!” I cry, covering my mouth with my hands. Tears well in my eyes. She looks over her shoulder at me, covering her front with Calum’s jumper.

“That fucking bastard. I’m so sorry.” An anger overwhelms me, drying up my tears in an instant.

“I fought him, Louisa. I fought so hard. That prick ruined my date with Cal…” she says in a half-hearted attempt to make what happened to her sound trivial. It wasn’t as though Smithy had poured drink over her, he’d fucking kidnapped her.

“That man will never hurt you again,” I say vehemently as I pull her in for a hug. Neither of us is able to articulate in that moment just how we feel. Instead we cling onto one another, just like we’d done all those years ago on the park bench when we first met.