BooksBarbecue
Back The Favor Save as PDF
Chapters (78)
  1. Title Page
  2. Dedication
  3. Prologue
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty-One
  25. Twenty-Two
  26. Twenty-Three
  27. Twenty-Four
  28. Twenty-Five
  29. Twenty-Six
  30. Twenty-Seven
  31. Twenty-Eight
  32. Twenty-Nine
  33. Thirty
  34. Thirty-One
  35. Thirty-Two
  36. Thirty-Three
  37. Thirty-Four
  38. Thirty-Five
  39. Thirty-Six
  40. Thirty-Seven
  41. Thirty-Eight
  42. Thirty-Nine
  43. Forty
  44. Forty-One
  45. Forty-Two
  46. Forty-Three
  47. Forty-Four
  48. Forty-Five
  49. Forty-Six
  50. Forty-Seven
  51. Forty-Eight
  52. Forty-Nine
  53. Fifty
  54. Fifty-One
  55. Fifty-Two
  56. Fifty-Three
  57. Fifty-Four
  58. Fifty-Five
  59. Fifty-Six
  60. Fifty-Seven
  61. Fifty-Eight
  62. Fifty-Nine
  63. Sixty
  64. Sixty-One
  65. Sixty-Two
  66. Sixty-Three
  67. Sixty-Four
  68. Sixty-Five
  69. Sixty-Six
  70. Sixty-Seven
  71. Sixty-Eight
  72. Sixty-Nine
  73. Seventy
  74. Acknowledgments
  75. About the Author
  76. Remarkable Praise for Nicci French
  77. Also by Nicci French
  78. About the Publisher

Before she could respond or do anything, the door opened and Erika emerged in a funk of steam, pink-faced in a dressing gown. She smiled knowingly at Jude.

“Good party,” she said.

Jude just walked past her and closed the door. There was a rudimentary shower in the bath and the water wasn’t much more than a trickle, but she washed herself as best she could. When she reentered the bedroom, Vin was standing in the middle of the room in boxer shorts, buttoning a checked shirt. He looked at Jude appraisingly.

“We could go back to bed,” he said.

Jude felt she couldn’t even look at him.

“I’ve got to go.”

He stepped forward and put his arms round her. He slipped one hand inside the towel and ran it down her damp back. The towel came unfastened and she shook herself free of him and stepped back, clutching the towel against her. He smiled at her and she felt like it was scalding water being poured over her. He leaned close to her and she thought, almost with horror, that he was going to nuzzle her or kiss her. But what he did was even worse. He whispered into her ear.

“I know you fucked him,” he said.

“What?”

He leaned back and looked at her with a kind of ebullience.

“All that talk about just seeing him once and doing him a favor. Did you think anyone believed that?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t get me wrong,” he said. “I don’t blame you. Or him. Not after last night. I mean, it was fun, wasn’t it?” he said.

Jude stepped away from him. She bent down and picked up her knickers and pulled them on, trying to keep the towel wrapped around her.

“This was a mistake.”

“Don’t say that. You’re beautiful. A class act. You should loosen up a bit. Let yourself enjoy life.”

Jude found herself unable to reply to this. She felt that if there had been a heavy object to hand she would have hit him with it, yet he hadn’t forced himself on her. She had done it. She had given in. Getting dressed in her crumpled and stained gray suit in front of his gaze felt so ghastly and took so long. She had to sit on the bed to fasten up her shoes. When she had finished, she stood up and made herself look at him.

“It was the wrong time,” she said.

Vin smiled again. “It didn’t feel wrong to me. I’ll always remember the feel of you. The taste of you. You’re part of the family now.”