The Marriage Act(91)

Jeffrey’s phone vibrated for the third time within the hour. Each call had come from his supervisor Adrian and he had ignored every one of them. Nothing was going to interrupt these important moments with Luca. As he looked up, he noticed Luca’s attention had shifted from the movie to the window, as if waiting for someone to appear. Jeffrey poured them both another glass of wine.

‘Are you thinking about Noah?’ Jeffrey asked hesitantly.

‘Not as much as I thought I might, which kind of says something, doesn’t it?’

‘And what do you think it says?’

Luca turned to him and placed his hand gently on his arm. ‘Jeffrey, tonight you’re my friend, not my counsellor.’

‘Sorry,’ he blushed. He couldn’t recall the last time anyone had referred to him as a friend, if ever. When his phone vibrated again, he switched it off.

‘The first couple of days without him were tough,’ Luca continued, ‘but now I feel like the dark clouds are in someone else’s sky. And I don’t know if it’s because he and I aren’t in the same room constantly discussing the state of our relationship or because I’m accepting that, despite our DNA match, perhaps we don’t work in the confines of a marriage. Which should make me sad, but it doesn’t. And, honestly, I can’t remember the last time I laughed as much as I have with you over the last few days.’

Warmth radiated across Jeffrey’s body. ‘It’s probably best not to mention that to Noah,’ he said. ‘He really doesn’t like me, does he?’

‘Not especially, no.’

Jeffrey rehearsed how to say the next line in his head before he said it. ‘And how about you? Do you like me?’

‘What do you think?’

Luca tilted his head and offered a slightly drunken grin.

It was the confirmation Jeffrey had been so desperately waiting to hear. He hadn’t imagined any of this. Luca had fallen for him like he had fallen for Luca. He moved his hands towards Luca’s face, allowing them to briefly graze his cheeks.

And before Luca could say anything, Jeffrey punched him hard in the side of the head to disorientate him, then pushed his own body on top of him and wrapped his hands around his throat.





75


Anthony




‘What are you doing in here . . . ?’ Jada’s voice trailed off as she entered the bedroom to find Anthony, alongside four suitcases stacked upright against the wardrobe.

Weeks had passed since the couple had last shared a bed, but now he was perched on the end of it, fingers in a steeple-like position and covering his mouth. ‘We need to talk,’ her husband began.

Jada sensed his solemnity. Instead of declining his request as she had done so many times of late, she took a seat in the armchair opposite, retaining the space between them.

‘I love you more than you will ever know and I have treated you badly,’ Anthony continued. ‘I’m struggling to forgive myself just as much as you are struggling to forgive me. And I can’t see a way forwards for us while we’re living under the same roof. So I think it’s for the best if we take a timeout.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘I want us to separate.’

‘Separate? Really? Just like that,’ Jada said, folding her arms.

Anthony nodded slowly.

‘That’s your answer to our problems, is it? Out of sight, out of mind.’

‘No, not at all. But you know as well as I do that we can’t continue like this. It isn’t fair on either of us and it’s only a matter of time before Matthew realizes there’s something wrong.’

‘So you’re already packed and moving out.’

‘No, I want you and Matthew to.’

Jada pushed her head back and laughed. ‘Say what?’

‘I want you to go and stay with your mum and stepdad at their place in Florida for a while.’

‘Oh, this just gets better! So not only do you want your family out of the house, you want us out of the country too? Well, fuck you, Anthony. We’re not going anywhere.’

‘It’s not like that,’ Anthony replied calmly. ‘I’ve given this a lot of thought and it’s the best possible solution. I’ve packed yours and Matthew’s clothes and toiletries and booked a car to take you to Heathrow Airport. Your flight leaves tonight.’

‘I don’t believe this! You think you can just click your fingers and you get what you want? A marriage, if that’s what you can call this, doesn’t work like that. What about my job? What about Matthew’s education?’

‘You can work and he can study remotely.’

‘You’ve got it all planned out, haven’t you? You’re the one who’s in the wrong but we’re the ones being punished?’

Anthony rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands and rose to his feet. ‘Jada, I will always love you but sometimes we have to accept that isn’t enough to hold a relationship together.’

‘And now you’re trying to lecture me on what makes a relationship work? How about not lying to your wife for years about what she can and cannot say?’

Anthony averted his gaze to their Audite, then back at Jada. He had only recently explained the device would not be recording them and now he was trying to tell her he had been wrong. It wasn’t their relationship that was being spied upon, it was him. Hyde had been watching him. ‘I’m sorry,’ he mouthed.