I'm pacing the living room later that night, staring down at my phone waiting for either Allison or Luca to call me. The last message I got from Allison said that she was fine and that she was on her way home with Myles driving her there. The last time I heard from Luca was in the car before he had to go into court.
Other than that, I haven't heard anything else from anyone.
I only stop pacing when I hear someone walk into the living room. I look at Jones and Lyla who are standing side-by-side at the doorway.
"Miss. Fletcher," Jones begins, clasping his hand together in front of him, "I have now spoken to both Carlo and Mr. Madden."
"And?" I press.
I'm sick of not knowing what's happening. I need to know what's going to happen next and where I stand with whatever the plan is going forward. I didn't even have anything for dinner over the worry of not knowing what's going to happen next. That's how worried I am.
"I have been advised to tell you that you are not to leave the premises unless it's necessary."
"And if it is, Jones has to drive you." Lyla adds.
I glare the two of them. "And what? Have I to be a prisoner in this place until I go back to America?"
Jones and Lyla share a look with each other that I can't place before looking back at me.
"If you wish to leave for whatever the reason, I will be escorting you." Jones reiterates.
"Miss. Nash has been informed of this and she is all too happy for Myles to be driving her around for the time being." Lyla says.
"I doubt that," I scoff.
"It's for both of your safety's."
"It's also non-negotiable," Jones finishes.
Jones and Lyla turn and start walking away. I shake my head and rest my hands on my hips. If they want to try and treat me like a prisoner, I'm not going to stand for it. I should be doing things to take my mind off of all the crazy things that are happening, not going crazy doing nothing.
"I'm going out on Friday night," I announce, causing them both to stop walking and turn back to look at me. I nod with raised brows. "I've made plans with Allison to go and see my gran and I would like to be able to drive there for myself."
"That is not an option," Jones says firmly.
"And I don't care whether it's an option or not. If I'm not going to be going anywhere tomorrow, I'll be going out the following day which just so happens to be Friday night with my best friend."
"Then I will be driving you." Jones repeats as if I didn't hear him the first time he said it.
"No, you won't." I walk towards them. "I'll be driving myself. Follow us closely if you wish but I'm driving myself."
"Miss. Fletcher," Lyla starts.
I hold up a hand and she stops speaking. "Clearly, Luca thinks it's best for me to be hauled up in here like a prisoner but that is something I'm not."
"We never said you were," Lyla says softly.
"I came home to spend time with my family and best friend, and that is something I'm going to do." I push past them and head for the stairs. "So I suggest you tell Luca to build a bridge and get fucking over it. He's in New York and I'm here in London. There's nothing he can do to change that when he's needed more over there than he is here."
I walk up the stairs without looking back at them.
If they're going to treat me like I'm a prisoner in a place I should feel at home in, I'll play their game. I simply won't let them treat me in such a way that makes me feel like I can't do anything without someone being there.
Thursday comes and goes with a drag, and before I know it it's Friday night. I've had quite a few phone calls from Luca, each seeming more and more strained than the last. I can tell that the case is starting to get to him with the way he speaks to me and how the phone calls are at staggered times of the day.
He doesn't seem as happy to speak to me like he usually is. Instead, he's yawning in the middle of conversations and cutting our phone calls short because something to do with the case comes up. For all he keeps telling me that everything is fine, I know all too well that it's not.
He didn't even put up a fight when I mentioned to him that I would be driving myself to my gran's instead of Jones driving me. It's not like him to just let something like that slide but he did. It was like he didn't care what I was doing. He was only caring about getting off the phone to do work.
That's it.
Nothing else was said. Nothing else was done. The calls just end with a simple goodbye and we go about our days like we never spoke. It's not how a newly engaged couple should act but it's how we're acting.
"How are we supposed to have any fun with Jones following us that close?" Allison moans, flopping back in the passenger seat after looking in the mirror at Jones following us closely.
I sigh. "Easy answer: we're not. He didn't like the fact that I told him I was going to drive us here tonight but I don't care. I'm way beyond caring right now."
Allison groans loudly and checks the time on her watch. "Are you sure your gran is okay with us coming by tonight? I mean, I know it's getting late but will they-"
"Since when was half seven late?" I frown and glance at her. "There's something seriously wrong with you if you think that's late." I indicate and turn in my grandparent's street. "Anyway, my gran said it's just her that's home because my grandpa is out with my uncle tonight."
I pull into my grandparent's driveway, parking directly in front of the pale blue painted garage door, and we get out the car. Jones comes to a stop down the road, out of sight of the living room window encase my gran gets suspicious but close enough that he can see what's happening and when we leave.
"My choice of words may be uncalled for here," Allison starts, "but I can't believe that you still have all the items you had from your relationship with Luca the first time around. I thought they would've been the first things to get burned when summertime came along."
"I know but I wasn't ready to get rid of everything at that point. Giving them to my gran to store somewhere was better than me keeping them where I knew where they were. A sort of out of sight out of mind thing."
"Still." She shrugs. "I don't see what looking through all of this stuff is going to achieve."
I grab her wrist and she looks at me as we stand at the front door. "Don't tell anyone but Luca hasn't been talking that much to me. He says he's fine but I know he's not. I know he's stressed and working insane hours but he won't admit it. The whole point in looking through my things from the past is to see if there's anything that will help swing the case in his favour. If there is, I'll find it."
"I see." Her brows rise and fall quickly. "Well, my lips are sealed. I hope we find something for not only your sake but for Luca's. The last thing he needs is to go back to his scrawny old self."
I frown and tilt my head to the side.
Allison shrugs. "What? Hey, even I can see how well he's filled out. I am a woman with an eye for good looking men you know."
"So now Luca is 'good looking' to you?" I tease. "Since when did my fiancé-"
"No! Not in that way," she defends quickly. "I am only in agreement that he has filled out like you had to."
"Sure you are." I roll my eyes with a grin. "Anyhow, my gran said that she had a feeling Luca and I would meet again and she was right. She was probably one of the very few people who held onto hope for Luca and me to make it to the end."
"Yeah, I'm not one of those people." She shakes her head. "Or I wasn't one of those people until this moment in time."
I knock the front door and walk into the house.
"Hi gran, it's just me and Allison." I call out.
"Alright, darling. I'll be right down with everything," my gran calls back.
Allison and I slip our shoes off, leaving them on the shoe rack by the front door, and walk into the living room. We take a seat, Allison sitting across from me on one of the two cream leather chairs and I sit on the couch. I place the car keys and my phone down on the coffee table between us.
"This should be everything, sweetie." My gran announces, walking into the living room holding a large black and silver hat box. "I'd apologise for the upgrade from two shoe boxes but trust me, it was needed. Your grandpa was going to throw out your old boxes full of this stuff when we got the loft converted but I stopped him." She places the box on the coffee table. "You know how men get when it comes to things like that. Your grandpa is the worst culprit of them all."
"It's fine. Thank you," I smile.
"There are some old photos of the two of you in there, too, so have fun."
My gran walks out of the living room and I reach for the box as Allison lifts the lid off it. I pull out the photo album that sits at the top while Allison pulls out a bunch of photos that aren't in the album.
"God, look how young we were back then," she comments, turning a photo around for me to see. We're standing side-by-side in a back garden and smiling away at the camera, Allison missing her front two teeth and me with my hair in bunches. "God here's hoping our kids don't get those looks."
I scoff. "You need to get a man first."
"I did ask Luca to find me one but no luck," she points out.
"I'd say go and get another bad boy but I think you've had your fair share of them to last a lifetime."
I flick through the rest of the photo album, smiling at each of the pictures I see that have Luca and I in them. There's a few where we're sitting next to each other just smiling at the camera, others with just him smiling at the camera or with my brother. Then there are the photos of the two of us with Allison and one of her old boyfriends.
Those were the days when things weren't as strenuous as they are now. There were no exes to mess things up. No drama being created out of nothing. Just peace and quiet where we could go about our everyday lives without having to look over our shoulders for people potentially following us.
I turn another page when a bout of nausea overcomes me and I shove the photo album away and run to the bathroom down the hall. I just make it into the bathroom when I'm sick and empty the contents of my stomach before landing in a heap on the floor. I cough a few times and press my hand to my forehead.
"Kaylee, are you alright?" My gran asks from the other side of the bathroom door I abruptly slammed shut.
"I-I'm fine," I assure weakly. I cough a few more times before she opens the door and comes into the bathroom. She takes a clear glass from next to the sink and fills it with cold water. She sits on the edge of the bath and offers it to me. "Thank you."
I take small sips then weakly get to my feet with my gran's help.
"Are you sure you're alright?" She repeats, not convinced by my first answer.
"I am." I rest back against the sink and continue to take small sips of water. "I've been stressed out recently and my eating habits are few and far between with it."
"Kaylee, you need to take care of yourself. How many times have I told you that?" She shakes her head and flushes the toilet for me. She reaches up to the shelf not far from me and hands me the mouthwash. "If it's not your dad that I worry about, it's you. I know things aren't how you thought they'd be but you need to have faith that it will all blow over and justice will be done."
"I know but I'll be fine. It's just all getting too much for me the now but I can handle it."
I give her my best assuring smile, which she believes, and she leaves me to freshen up. I rinse my mouth out with the mouthwash, doing it twice so rid my mouth of the sickness taste, wash my hands, and return to the living room.
"Sorry about that," I apologise.
I sit on the couch and pull the photo album back onto my lap.
"As long as you're alright," Allison mutters.
"You found anything yet?" I ask, running a hand down my face.
"I know you wouldn't want to look through all of the things on your old phone which is why I'm doing to do it for you." Allison points to the laptop on her lap. "You're gran gave it to me to use. You can continue to look through the rest of the photos for whatever it is you need and I'll deal with this."
"Thank you," I yawn.
After being sick, I only feel fit enough to fall into my bed and sleep. It's been a long time since I was last sick due to stress but I can tell that that's why I was sick. I've only been eating junk food when I do get a chance to eat which isn't great. I've been feeling more shakier without having something to give me a sugar boost which is why I've been turning to more and more junk food over the past few days.
There's only so much I can eat before I feel like I'm going to be sick but I never am. I think I've now reached my limit of how much junk I can eat before I'm finally sick which is most definitely not a good thing.
We spend the next thirty minutes in silence. We're only sitting in silence for no longer than ten minutes before my gran comes back into the living room with some homemade cakes and two cups of coffee for us. We thank her and she leaves us alone to get on with everything.
"Hey, tell me something." Allison pipes up. I look at her. "Were you aware of any voicemails on this phone?"
She holds the phone up as best she can with it connected to the laptop and shakes it a couple of times.
I shake my head. "No. Why?"
"There's a couple on here that are random but there's one that I think you may want to listen to. The others I wouldn't bother playing because it's just me asking where you are."
I move to sit next to her and take the wireless headphones she offers to me so I can listen to the message without her hearing it. She plays the message and I listen intensely at it, taking in all the words that are spoken until the message beeps at the end.
"Play that again," I request.
The message plays again and I stare at Allison. She keeps quiet and nods as the realisation hits home for me.
This is what I've been looking for to help in Luca's court case. This is some of the proof I needed to go in Luca's favour and the sooner he finds out about it, the quicker this whole case can be thrown out and we can all get on with our lives.
I take the headphones off and point to the screen. "If I phone Luca to get his lawyers email, can you send that to them?"
"I can," she smiles.
I reach for my phone and quickly call Luca. The phone rings a few times before he answers.
"Hi, Kaylee." He says, tiredness lacing his words. "What's-"
"You sound tired," I interrupt. "Did I disturb you?"
He yawns. "No, I'm fine. The court case is just draining and even more so when you're trying to find anything and everything to use against Nadia."
"That's what I was actually calling you about."
"What?"
"Can you tell me what your lawyers email address? Allison and I have found something that will help you in court."
"Kaylee, I don't think-"
"It's a voicemail from my old phone, Luca." I blurt out before he finishes. "More specifically a voicemail Nadia left me."
"Depending on what it says, I don't think it will be helpful."
"Then why would Nadia of all people leave me a voicemail when I didn't know she existed back then?"
"Kaylee, it won't matter!" He snaps. "It doesn't matter."
"I think your lawyers will say otherwise," I defend. "What have you-"
"If you're about to ask me what I have to lose, the answer is everything. I have scoured everything I have from the past to the present. I have searched every document that's stored on my iCloud. I have even rifled through old boxes of things that I've kept hidden in a storage locker and I still can't find a thing. The only thing I had that was worth something was on my old phone and those were the messages from you. They're gone and I have nothing else."
I adjust my grip on my phone and look at the box of old photos and photo albums now spread out over the coffee table. There are so many memories in those photos alone that even bringing any of them into the equation would leave Luca's chances of winning very slim.
I also know that he's getting frustrated about having nothing else to look into but taking it out on me isn't the way to go. What Allison and I have come across is something he really does need to hear. Something he really does need to use.
"Luca," I start calmly, " I know you're angry."
"I'm beyond angry, Kaylee! I never lose and I'm losing this. I have no control over what's being said in that courtroom and it's making me look like a criminal. I'm being made to look like a bad man who made someone have a baby for me when it's completely untrue."
"I know it is and I get where you're coming from but you've got to trust me with this. Your lawyer will know this is a sure thing to help you and it's something that can't be twisted because I have the original."
"What's his lawyer's name?" Allison whispers.
"Luca, who are your lawyers? At least tell me that."
"Why? So you can go over my head? So you can try and do what Nadia is doing? So you can do to me what she clearly loves doing to me?"
I roll my eyes and shake my head. "Luca, do you know what you can do? Fucking do one. You can phone me back when you've calmed the fuck down and come to your senses."
I end the call and slam my phone down on the coffee table.
"That was intense," Allison comments.
"Intense doesn't even cover it," I mutter.
"What do we do now? I mean, this will help him but if he doesn't want it-"
"Fuck what he wants," I abruptly interrupt. "If this is going to help him, we're going to find a way to help him. Even if we need to find his lawyers names ourselves. We need to get that voicemail to them and get it to them before I'm called to the stand next week."
"Okey-dokey. I'm on it."