And that was what everyone, especially I, needed.
I looked around the room. It would probably be a little while before I got to come back to London and see Missy again. Things on the estate were just too precarious right now. My number one priority was keeping a roof over Riley's head. This watch was going to be the way that I did it. I was so tired. So many games and so many lies. How would the conversation go if I did tell him the truth?
How was he when he was upset? Would he get upset? It would be totally justified if he did. I knew that I would be in his position. Upset… more like raging mad. No man would react happily to a secret of that magnitude being kept from him. Even if his reaction was good, what then? Riley was illegitimate, and also in line for a different title. What would his family say? What would they do to me? I was nothing and nobody. They would ruin me, and they wouldn’t even break a sweat doing it.
Unfortunately, not knowing his real dad, and believing the man was dead was probably the safest state for Riley to be in. For Niall, what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. It wasn’t disregard or disrespect that was making me do it. It was mine and my son’s safety that hung in the balance here.
I wondered whether if he would forgive me if he did end up learning the truth. My phone dinging with a text message interrupted my thoughts. It was Niall, telling me to meet him at a restaurant not far from the townhouse. I told him that I would be there. And started getting ready. Finally, all this was coming to an end. After I returned the watch, I could probably still catch the last train back to Belshire. I could see my little boy and begin what was going to be the unpleasant process of forgetting that Niall Bridges existed.
I ran through the conversation in my head again and again all the way to the restaurant. I didn’t trust myself when I was with him. I needed to stay strictly on script because if I didn’t, I was ending up back in a bed with him and I could not do that again. My feelings were in enough of a muddle already. When I got to the restaurant, I was directed to a private dining room. Niall was already there waiting for me, a bottle of wine on the table. Oh no, this was not a date. He got up and pulled my chair out for me.
“Thank you,” I said, sitting. “I hope you weren't waiting for long.”
“Not at all,” he said. He poured me a glass of wine and then signalled to the waiter. Instead of coming to take our order, he left the room. “I would have sent a car for you if you asked me.”
“No problem at all,” I said. “I am the reason why you had to come here anyway. I'm the one who should have sent you the car.” The waiter reappeared with a tray of food and started placing plates on the table.
“You ordered already?” I asked.
“I hope that’s alright,” he said. The food looked amazing but honestly, I wasn’t thinking about that at all. I wasn’t even hungry. Come to think about it, I didn’t want this encounter lasting longer than it needed to. The wine and the food and pulling my chair out felt a little too much like a date. I pulled the watch and the appraisal slip out. I put them down on the table instead of placing them in his hand which I immediately regretted because of how petty it made me feel.
“Here you go, before I forget.” He picked up the watch and then the slip.
“Looks like it appreciated it in value since the last time I held it,” he said.
“I took good care of it,” I said. “I know how much it means to you.” He folded the watch and slipped it into his pocket rather than put it around his wrist.
“Will you take a check?” he asked. This was the part that I was waiting for. The point of getting the watch in the first place was money but Niall didn’t know that, and he could
n’t know that. In his mind, as far as he was concerned, I had money. I was rich. A person like me didn’t need to beg for handouts. If he still wanted to do it, then I’d take it but he couldn’t know how much I needed the money.
I shook my head. “The money isn’t necessary,” I said. “I’ve already put you through the rigmarole of getting it back.”
“I shouldn’t even have given it to you in the first place,” he said.
“I can’t charge you for an heirloom,” I insisted. He leaned back, frowning as he looked at me.
“If I remember correctly, I did lose, fair and square. The money, if not the watch belongs to you.”
“I remember and you’re right. I just don’t think it would be proper to charge you for it when it’s so valuable to you.”
He unearthed a checkbook and a pen. He came prepared. I sat in silence as he scratched some writing onto the check and ripped it out. He handed it to me, and I stared at the amount, confirming that it was actually what I saw. My hands started sweating and my heart slammed into my rib cage.
“Is this some sort of joke?” I asked.
“You need the money. You didn’t send the watch to an appraiser for fun, did you?”
“This is a check for one hundred thousand pounds.”
“That is how much the watch is worth to me,” he said.
“This is far too much. I could never.”
“You need the money, Eddy, just take it.”
I felt my stomach drop. “W-What do you mean I need the money?”
“I know that you need the money, Eddy. Take it.”