Alberto turned his head and looked at her. Then he looked away again. ‘We had sex, Layla. It was good, but it was sex. That’s all.’
Layla gasped as if he’d punched her.
Alberto suppressed a sigh. This was so hard. It was crucifying him, but he knew he had to do it – make her let go, make her despise him, if he could. It would be cruel to do otherwise.
‘Do you know how many women throw themselves at me in the space of a year?’ he asked her.
‘I don’t…’ she said, faltering.
‘Dozens.’ He glanced at her face. It was a picture of distress. Quickly he looked away. He couldn’t afford to weaken. Not now. ‘This afternoon was nice. Let’s not read too much into it though, OK?’
Layla could only stare back at him blankly. Nice? She couldn’t believe he was saying these horrible things, not to her. He was making his feelings very plain, though. He was going to take off somewhere, and she wasn’t invited along for the ride.
The instant Max got to Holland Park, he knew something was wrong. Paul was asleep in his car. And Bri opened the front door looking as if he’d been dragged through a hedge. He was sweaty and pale.
‘What’s up with you?’ said Max, marching Molly inside while Tony followed on with Junior. ‘And I just passed Paul, he’s asleep out there. What the fuck’s going on?’
‘Something happened, Boss.’ Bri’s speech was laboured, disjointed.
‘Where’s Annie?’ demanded Max.
‘Let me go, will you?’ whined Molly.
Max gave her a shake. ‘Shut up, you.’ He turned back to Bri. ‘What’s happened?’
‘Sorry, Boss. Nothing I could do. Bastard came to-’
‘Who?’ A hot bolt of panic shot through Max’s gut.
‘Big guy, long red hair. Hit me with a taser. Didn’t see it coming. Went down like a sack of shit. Couldn’t move.’
‘Where’s Annie?’ Max repeated, his mouth going dry.
‘He took her. I couldn’t stop him.’
‘What’s going on?’ asked Alberto, catching the last few words as he came up the steps, Layla trailing behind him.
‘That’s what I want to find out,’ said Max, thinking fast. Bri had seen Rufus Malone, he was certain of that. And Malone had snatched Annie.
Layla was surging forward, her face twisted with anxiety. ‘What’s happened? Where’s Mum?’
For Layla’s sake, Max knew he had to clamp down the panic rising in him. He couldn’t allow his fear at the thought of what that bastard might do to Annie spiral out of control. Looking his daughter in the eye, he told her, ‘We’re going to find her.’
The colour drained from her face and she sagged a little, as if she might faint. ‘It was him, wasn’t it? He’s been here. Oh my God, no!’