BooksBarbecue
Back The Lucky Eight
Chapters (64)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Prologue
  4. Five Years Later
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-one
  26. Twenty-two
  27. Twenty-three
  28. Twenty-four
  29. Twenty-five
  30. Twenty-six
  31. Twenty-seven
  32. Twenty-eight
  33. Twenty-nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-one
  36. Thirty-two
  37. Thirty-three
  38. Thirty-four
  39. Thirty-five
  40. Thirty-six
  41. Thirty-seven
  42. Thirty-eight
  43. Thirty-nine
  44. Forty
  45. Forty-one
  46. Forty-two
  47. Forty-three
  48. Forty-four
  49. Forty-five
  50. Forty-six
  51. Forty-seven
  52. Forty-eight
  53. Forty-nine
  54. Fifty
  55. Fifty-one
  56. Fifty-two
  57. Fifty-three
  58. Fifty-four
  59. Fifty-five
  60. Epilogue
  61. Acknowledgements
  62. Canelo Crime
  63. About the Author
  64. Also by Sheila Bugler

Clodagh couldn’t stop looking at it. Her brain whirling as she thought of the different ways she’d make Adam pay for what he’d done. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t hear the car pulling up in the driveway, or the front door opening. And she was completely unaware of the sound of footsteps crossing the hall and coming up the stairs. She only realised there was someone else in the house, was when she heard Adam’s voice, right behind her.

‘Where the hell did you get that?’

Forty-five

Clodagh slammed the laptop shut, stood up and turned to face him.

‘What are you doing back so early?’ she said.

‘There’s a problem with the trains. Jake can’t get to Lewes so we’ve rescheduled for another day.’ Adam nodded at the laptop. ‘What’s going on, Clodagh?’

‘You tell me.’ She crossed her arms, waited for him to say something that would explain the unexplainable. ‘You knew about it, didn’t you? Because you didn’t ask me what I was reading. You asked me where I got it.’

She watched his face while he tried to formulate an answer. She saw anger and fear, but not surprise. He knows. The knowledge winded her. She didn’t know what she’d expected, but not this.

‘It’s true then.’ Her voice sounded like a stranger’s. She waited for the rush of emotions to come – fear and grief and anger – but nothing happened. She didn’t feel anything at all. Shock had left her numb. Shock at what he’d done and how well he’d hidden his real self from her. Shock at her own stupidity for not seeing what had been happening in her sister’s marriage.

‘No. I didn’t do those things that she’s written there. I loved Vivienne. I’d never have hurt her. Even after what she did, I still loved her. How pathetic is that?’

The words on the memory stick filled every corner of Clodagh’s mind. Four emails, all documenting a cycle of abuse and control over the two years of Vivienne’s marriage. All carried out by someone Clodagh had loved. She had shared a bed and a life with Adam, had sex with him. Her skin crawled with revulsion.

He took a step towards her and she put her hand up.

‘Don’t you dare come near me.’

‘Clodagh, listen to me. Please. Vivienne made that stuff up.’

‘You’re a liar.’

He was standing too close. The stink of his body clogging the inside of her mouth and nose. She knew the smell would never leave her. No matter how much distance she put between them, it would always be here, clinging to her, reminding her of who he was and what he’d done.